Rhetorical question? It’s because our brains are still wired to 10,000 years ago. When change nearly always meant danger, trouble, and even death.
It’s why people long for the good old days when houses were cheap and breast cancer was a death sentence and college was cheap for the lucky few who could get in and cars were death traps and there was only blindness if you had cataracts and black Americans couldn’t even use a public bathroom in the south - or even in Connecticut in the 60s when a restaurant wouldn’t let Louis Armstrong use their bathroom and…
I’m with you Bob, The only way we have managed to overcome reluctance to change is because of a commitment to science and progress, which is being stripped out of “public” schools and government. My worry is that more reactionary behavior will grow as a result of people looking for someone to lead them against change.
John Parikhal
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Timely article Bob. I’m up here at Northstar on a four day ski trip with wife and two kids. There’s hardly any snow, thank God for snowmaking. I probably would have canceled if I hadn’t bought the Epic passes early on. Basically just said f*ck it, let’s make the best of it. Probably would not have done so at the old prices. Skiing is essentially a "Don’t think about the cost" sport. Expenses are absurd either way.
Kia Kamran
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Just picked up the 4-day Crested Butte/Keystone pass (part of the EPIC/Vail world) for the 4th straight year for $240. At $60 a day that's less than I paid to ski 20 years ago. Saturdays can have some long lines so we avoid them or take mid-day off. Aside from that, zero complaints about the skiing. I'm sure holidays are no treat either but that's kinda all holiday travel.
I do think there are some legit negatives to the current model, in particular as to how it affects new or more casual skiers who don't pay attention to the various passes, deadlines, etc. But a lot of what pisses people off isn't really ski or ski-town specific, it's a reflection of the society we live in these days and you'll find some variation of it in just about any place people want to live. Which is a much bigger problem than the price of skiing.
Don Bartlett
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As a 69 yr old I agree skiing has never been cheaper, I buy an epic northeast weekday pass in April/May to get the best senior rate $240ish? and get out 25-30 days a year, bring my own lunch. My wife just turned 70 and gets an unlimited pass at a local mountain in Pa. near our grandkids for $70, next year I’ll get one too.
Not so cheap though for families with kids who need to go on the weekends.
Bruce Lorenz
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I’m at my house in S. Lake Tahoe for the holidays and Heavenly Ski Resort is owned by Vail Corp. The daily rate right now is $259.00 for a day ticket, 2 Day is $518.00 and 3 day is $729.00.
Crazy!
2 Years ago it was $160.00 a day.
I have a Military Epic Pass where I can ski any Vail resort and no blackouts otherwise we are here for 2 weeks and you can do the math. Wacky!
Val Garay
(Note: This was exactly my point. Heavenly has been on the Epic Pass for 16 years, people know to buy in advance for the deep discount, you break even on a season pass in four ski days over the holidays and the rest is gravy.)
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I chuckled at the stupidity of that article as well! Heading west and hitting multiple ski areas on my IKON, all's well in ski world thanks to the passes.
Peter Wheeler
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Great article Bob. I can say that Epic Pass got me more into skiing. I used to go 1x/year with a group of guys buying lift tix for the trip. This year I got a pass and took my family before Christmas to Breckenridge. Going back to Beaver Creek in Jan, and lining up a Keystone trip in Feb. Hoping for 2-3 more. I’m at the point in life I enjoy the camaraderie of the group, being outdoors, and the physical activity. It’s a win all round. You’re right, the mental financial hurdle isn’t there when you pay for the season upfront. Maybe I’ll see you on the slopes this season...
Gino Gennaro
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Just got back from Alta / family loves the Peruvian; we are regulars. The locals don’t love Ikon, but I sure do… Tom Shpetner
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Facts Bob. Good job.
Daniel Cignarella
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The author is railing against the sterilization of these places, and he’s right.
Just as every NHL/NBA arena has now been Oak Viewed to death, so goes every hedgefund transformation — the usual soul-removing ‘march forward’ — in scale and commodification only.
(Note: A canard that does not play out in reality. Every ski area is still unique in mountain and structures, you wouldn't know you were at a Vail or IKON resort unless you asked. Furthermore, advance pass sales have allowed a huge investment in infrastructure.)
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As a Colorado skier, the biggest issue I have with the duopoly is the inability to go across the moat. As an Epic pass holder, I'm paying full price if I want to ski Copper, Steamboat or Winter Park. Breck, Vail and Beaver Creek will cost me if I'm skiing Ikon. Back in the day, this NEVER used to be a problem. And I'm not paying close to 2 grand for both season passes.
The conglomerates should offer the ability to trade days with the other side.
Peter Duray-Bito
(Note: I have both Epic and IKON passes, many active skiers do. And one can purchase individual tickets good at other resorts at a deep discount prior to the season. Furthermore, the combined cost of Epic and IKON is still less than a season pass at many ski areas. An all access pass at Aspen costs $2,779 dollars if you buy it prior to September, if you buy it after December 2nd it costs $3,314. But it does come with an IKON base pass, not a full IKON pass. At Deer Valley a season pass is presently $3,525. With an IKON base pass it is $3,924. If you buy a base IKON pass and add $150 you can get 5 days at Aspen and at Deer Valley. If you have the full IKON pass you get 7 days. A full Epic Pass bought at the absolute last minute has no blackout dates and is good at 41 destinations. A full IKON pass is $1,079 and is good at 52 resorts, with some restrictions.)
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You’re of course correct that progress is inevitable, and business models change and it it’s just the way of it.
I have been skiing since I was 4 years old (I’m in my mid-40’s), mostly in the North Lake Tahoe/Truckee area.
Something changed over the pandemic. Palisades (formerly Squaw Valley & Alpine Meadows) has become, to me, almost un-skiable. Getting there takes ages, the parking lots are full, etc etc. (like Vail though, once you’re on the hill it’s fine as long as you avoid a couple impacted areas).
Progress, etc. I get it. But we have a unique situation here (I imagine at Vail as well, but probably not as bad) of remote tech workers moving here and working remotely (again, progress) but the issue is the infrastructure is nowhere near enough to deal with this many people. It’s ruining it.
This year I got a pass at a smaller but still good privately owned mountain.
Just a perspective.
Best,
Max Roman
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The problem for skiing is the short sightedness of this strategy of forcing pass-buying by making window purchases of lift tix beyond outrageous ($300 a day per person!). Who is going to buy an Epic or Icon pass for a family of four ($5,000 for the season in total before you get to the mountain) to try the sport out in an era of ever-diminishing snowfall? The little mountains where folks used to learn can't afford to operate advanced snow-making systems or provide adequate facilities. So we are in essence doing exactly what you are rightfully preaching against: barring the door to entry. Quarterly profits gleaned by the equity boys and girls until they drive the business into the ground, then move on.
Music and skiing are based on passion. But even passion can be extinguished by abject greed. To quote the great Huntz Hall. "Hey, I seen it myself!"
Charlie Sanders
President
North American Snowsport Journalists Association
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Like you, I have been a skier all my life. And I agree with your perspective on Ikon/Epic.
58 years of skiing have reminded me that, when I grew up in the midwest skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maple City, MI, weekends in the 70’s and 80’s were wildly busy. I remember many times waiting in lines for a half an hour to get to the top of the hill. This is not a new phenomenon that started with the Ikon/Epic passes. I’ve skied many times at both Epic/Ikon mountains, prior to the existence of these passes, on weekends when crowds were simply off the chart and that was from a la carte ticket purchases or local resort season passes. I ski afternoons/evenings midweek now for a couple hours, problem mostly fixed, it’s not a solution for everyone, but designing a system that works for everyone is pretty nigh impossible, and I do think that it’s important to make concessions in order to try to even out revenue for mountains impacted disproportionately by climate change. And if you don’t believe that climate change is impacting ski resorts, speak to someone at a resort (I’ve worked at several).
I lived in Park City in the late 80’s, worked at Cole Sport, and skied whenever I could. Yes, there were a lot fewer people skiing there than today, today’s bigger crush is also a by-product of Delta making Salt Lake a hub city (that and some of the most dependable light snow nationwide). And weekends were always incredibly busy and high speed lifts weren’t as ubiquitous back then so you waited longer in lines…hi-speeds are expensive to build and maintain, and as you’ve pointed out, there’s almost always a “most crowded” lift on the mountain - so get up early, get up it / past it, and ski some of the other runs/lifts. Chasing powder has *always* been a prize for the early bird.
In the 00’s, the conversation was all about the shrinking population of skiers. That’s starting to turn around, a huge thing for US skiing.
Epic/Ikon aren’t the only options out there either. Mountain Collective and Indy Pass work for more casual (or more road trip oriented) individuals, and they are both a lot cheaper than Epic/Ikon. And let’s not forget that these options often allow you to pay off your pass purchase monthly, which was never a thing previously and opens the door for those who don’t put aside savings to buy an expensive pass all at once.
Overall, as you’ve pointed out, subscription revenue is a win for mountains which is why they’re all pursuing it. And it’s a win for consumers too…without multi-mountain season passes, it would be expensive and largely prohibitive for much of the population to ski at multiple resorts over a winter. Last year for me…Big Sky, Tahoe, Alta, Mt. Bachelor, Red Mountain, thanks to Ikon. As an out-of-towner, I support the restaurants and shops and craft galleries, and by extension their employees, that locals might not.
I take issue with the author of this Slate article’s characterization of the commercialization of resorts as a required output of signing up to an Epic/Ikon pass. Sure that’s happened at some of the bigger resorts, but the author should visit Red Mountain in Rossland, B.C. This is a mountain that is not only an iKon pass mountain, but that also did a crowdfunding campaign enthusiastically embraced by the local Rossland community and diehard Red fans worldwide (including me), that takes pride in highlighting its role as an independent with a very independent feel - a number one rated ski bar, huge skiable terrain, super friendly people, still (wildly) uncrowded skiing, snow-cat day skiing for $15 per run, etc.
I do think that for mountains that are extremely popular, putting a number of days limit on the Epic/Ikon pass is a reasonable compromise to alleviate excessive skier traffic. This has happened at many locations (including A Basin as you’ve pointed out). This makes it possible for out of towners to visit, support the local economy for a weekend or a week, and then head home. If you’re a local and want to ski more - buy a local mountain season pass (I also usually pick up a midweek pass for my local mountain, Hood Meadows, which is only on Indy Pass), or alternately buy a day pass online or often at local businesses for a discount.
Skiing is expensive - it has always been - but there are options if you are creative, it is so worth it, and with Epic/Ikon it’s now achievable at a larger number of resorts than ever before. There are relatively few other sports that let you experience nature, whether in-bounds or out-of-bounds, the way skiing does.
dick huey
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Young woman we know recently graduated from nursing school. She got a job, but kept complaining about not making enough money. So, she started an OnlyFans page. Now she makes $100k a month. The moral of the story...if you're not making the rent on Spotify, porn is always an option.
Marty Winsch
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