Colorado A-Basin Reopening on Wednesday, May 27

[tball]

So you locals who didn't CHOOSE to use your passes enough that you feel you got ripped off by the resorts (especially when A Basin could have remained closes) either need to get more creative, make skiing a bigger priority (we have missed out on a lot of income by making our ski trips a priority but we know the kids will be out of the house in a few years so money means nothing compared to memories), or just plain quit your bitching as the opportunity was there for most of the season, whether you took advantage of it or not. Sorry for the rant but damn, life sure is hard for us in America!

Yeah, it's easy to rationalize that someone else should quit bitching when they were damaged and you were not.

How about the folks who bought a season pass to use on a trip after the resorts were closed? Can they bitch if they were not refunded or otherwise fairly compensated?

Similar to those folks, I bought my A-basin Pass to use April-June. I have a very long history of doing that, as I have a place at another mountain I use while it's open.

I'm not alone. There's a large migration of dedicated skiers to A-basin after their home mountains close that buy season passes every year.

So, we should all just eat our season passes we couldn't use? Vail gave an 80% credit for those with zero days:

2019 2020 Pass Holder Credit | Epic Season Pass

19/20 Epic Pass Holders Are Eligible for 20/21 Pass Credit.

www.epicpass.com

What's fair compensation for those who were unable to use their A-basin Pass?

 

[ski otter 2]

Sorry, guess I'm double-posting photos and not knowing why.

 

[ski otter 2]

Yeah, it's easy to rationalize that someone else should quit bitching when they were damaged and you were not.

How about the folks who bought a season pass to use on a trip after the resorts were closed? Can they bitch if they were not refunded or otherwise fairly compensated?

Similar to those folks, I bought my A-basin Pass to use April-June. I have a very long history of doing that, as I have a place at another mountain I use while it's open.

I'm not alone. There's a large migration of dedicated skiers to A-basin after their home mountains close that buy season passes every year.

So, we should all just eat our season passes we couldn't use? Vail gave an 80% credit for those with zero days:

View attachment 104145

2019 2020 Pass Holder Credit | Epic Season Pass

19/20 Epic Pass Holders Are Eligible for 20/21 Pass Credit.

www.epicpass.com

What's fair compensation for those who were unable to use their A-basin Pass?

This makes a whole lot of sense, @tball. Well thought out. I suspect after this hard transition year, they may feel they can't afford to do it, at least initially.

I liked @surfandski 's gumption for himself and his family, and gratitude to A Basin for what they are trying to do, give us a wonderful ride. Good that far.

But everybody's got their own story, own circumstances, job situations, pressures, finances, plans. And @tball 's right: many, many folks just go to A Basin late (others go early and late, and not much in between). If A Basin could handle it, that credit scale would be fair, a good way to go, to compensate those who just ski late.

But we'll have to see: Vail is well-established, deep pockets, stable (in other ways, cutthroat strong); whereas A Basin took a huge leap of faith just this year, took a lot of risk to change things for the better for their skiers and boarders. Who knew it would be the Year of the Pandemic?

They may be pretty out on a limb because of that, as much as any of their passholders. Don't know, but not the year they hoped for, to make a successful transition, financially. I sure don't want to see them go under, rewarded for their pretty spectacular "good deed/risk" by having to fold under pressure.

 

[ski otter 2]

And so it goes. The end of another season. I just got the "Hope to see you this summer" email. No you are not skiing on closing day. I was 0 for 12.

Dang.

 

[Ken_R]

Pow Pow

 

[mikel]

many, many folks just go to A Basin late (others go early and late, and not much in between).

This would be me. This would be the guys I was on Eagle with in March and said they were saving their days for Spring. Made me wonder how many Ikon pass holders were doing this. There is definitely a subset that are into that A Basin springtime tradition.

 

[Ken_R]

This would be me. This would be the guys I was on Eagle with in March and said they were saving their days for Spring. Made me wonder how many Ikon pass holders were doing this. There is definitely a subset that are into that A Basin springtime tradition.

Do they offer a Spring Season Pass? If not they should

 

[Monique]

Do they offer a Spring Season Pass? If not they should

If you buy a pass in the spring for the following season, you can ski for the rest of the current season, IIRC.

 

[Ski&ride]

So you locals who didn't CHOOSE to use your passes enough that you feel you got ripped off by the resorts (especially when A Basin could have remained closes) either need to get more creative, make skiing a bigger priority (we have missed out on a lot of income by making our ski trips a priority but we know the kids will be out of the house in a few years so money means nothing compared to memories), or just plain quit your bitching as the opportunity was there for most of the season, whether you took advantage of it or not. Sorry for the rant but damn, life sure is hard for us in America!

It’s precisely because they were being “more creative” that they got hit with they got hit by the closure!

Many who bought AB passes (or even those with IKON but not using their AB days) were “creatively” mixing it up with other passes, “saving” their AB days for late in the season. They didn’t ski less than you do. They just did their skiing at places other than AB mid-season! That’s exactly the “creativeness” you so proud to exhibit!

I personally refuse to lead a 1-dimensional life! So no, skiing is not the top priority for me. But then, I didn’t buy a AB pass in addition to my Epic Pass either. So I’m not the one bitching. But I totally see the point of the bitching. It is about fairness.

Plus, it is about good will. AB had played its hands after leaving Vail. Some of those plays didn’t sit too well with some of its loyal customers. If AB plans to be “independent”, it’ll need to figure out what it takes. The “bitching“ is a tough love kind of feedback. Some of those who are “NOT bitching” may actually hurt AB more, as they may have already decided not to buy another pass at AB going forward. (I know one such person who’s not bitching. For he had no plan to buy another AB pass going forward. More of the ”cut the lose and go elsewhere” thing)

 

[mikel]

Do they offer a Spring Season Pass? If not they should

Once upon a time they did.

 

[ski otter 2]

Do they offer a Spring Season Pass? If not they should

Currently, I believe, but am not certain, that this past spring, they were only offering the one option, as @Monique stated. But they have often, traditionally, offered two pass options in Spring: a much reduced price spring pass, and a season pass for the next year, a bit reduced in price as an early purchase, that is good for both Spring and the full season to come - thus including two Springs for the price of one.

At various times, different years, I have bought one or the other.

 

[SBrown]

I don't think they do the spring thing anymore (the one that lasts the next season). I used to do that, ie buy a pass only every other year. It was great for the consumer, but perhaps they got wise to us...

 

[Monique]

I don't think they do the spring thing anymore (the one that lasts the next season). I used to do that, ie buy a pass only every other year. It was great for the consumer, but perhaps they got wise to us...

A victim of its own success!

 

[mdf]

I don't think they do the spring thing anymore (the one that lasts the next season). I used to do that, ie buy a pass only every other year. It was great for the consumer, but perhaps they got wise to us...

Yeah, what they were doing more recently was a package, where if you bought a spring pass you could buy next year's pass at a (substantial but nowhere=near-giving-it-away) discount. I did that every other year for a couple cycles.

 

[ski otter 2]

To me, the criticism of A Basin's lottery system early on was actually constructive criticism, often by those who care the most about A Bay, do not want to walk away. And, whatever they were responding to, it looks like A Basin leadership acted as if they took the criticism that way, since they changed up their lottery process to balance things out for season passholders very quickly. Almost head spin quickly, if you think about it.
All things considered, based on their performance, it looks to me like a next year season pass is a good bet for "creative" skiers, at least local ones, whether A Basin is forced into some kind of social distancing procedure or not. They've demonstrated they will look out for their season passholders, not let them get swamped by the Ikon passholders or anybody else.
And they've also demonstrated that of the Front Range ski areas, they are the most likely to open, in the best way they are able to, if at all possible.

 

[tball]

^^^ Agreed. A-basis will also be attractive next season because of the parking. (Never thought I'd say that!)

I sure don't want to be riding on a shuttle bus next season. Parking where you can walk to the lift (most of A-basin's) will be at a premium.

If you think about all the front range areas, there's a very heavy dependence on shuttles for parking. I do fear areas like A-basin, Loveland, Eldora, and MJ with free walk-to-lift parking may be overrun as a result, and close-in pay lots will be filling very early.

 

[ski otter 2]

I agree this is a good thing to look at, in addition to the strategic roll of gondolas. In this, the simpler/family areas seem to have an advantage.
Which areas rely most on shuttles, other than Copper?

Not sure it will effect me as much as many others, given I'm just a nearby four area skier (Copper, WP/MJ, Loveland and A Basin). Of these, probably Copper will be effected a lot, but maybe not the others. Copper is so dependent on those crowded buses; and its new bubble (keep the top up?) and gondola lifts are for now a liability to work around, even as they finally are working properly. (I'd already figured out that I will probably learn to take the walk from the free lot, around that pond, I guess, over to B lift area, no buses. I wonder what that will be like, if a lot of people do this also?)

At Winter Park, braving the walks from the WP free lots, rather than going over to the great free parking at MJ, were already a drag: the big lot over by the tunnel has a long walk, down those long stairs, unless you wait for the buses. (Few do now, seems like). And the other free place over towards MJ has that odd "over to the faux main street" village lift, that entails a long walk also. Winter Park also has the problem of a strategic gondola, going up Hughs. Guess I'll have to route myself around that lift semi-permanently - a shame.

 

[djetok]

^^^ Agreed. A-basis will also be attractive next season because of the parking. (Never thought I'd say that!)

I sure don't want to be riding on a shuttle bus next season. Parking where you can walk to the lift (most of A-basin's) will be at a premium.

If you think about all the front range areas, there's a very heavy dependence on shuttles for parking. I do fear areas like A-basin, Loveland, Eldora, and MJ with free walk-to-lift parking may be overrun as a result, and close-in pay lots will be filling very early.

This is why we are doing a Monarch pass this next season and not renewing Epics. Less crowds and the hope my wife lets me buy a house in Salida.

 

[tball]

This is why we are doing a Monarch pass this next season and not renewing Epics. Less crowds and the hope my wife lets me buy a house in Salida.

I love it. I've long had dreams of a simple life living in Salida, skiing Monarch every day, with regular powder/steep chasing trips to CB, Taos, and Wolf Creek. I guess you might as well head up to A-basin, Copper, and Loveland for the free days with the Monarch Pass to.

 

[djetok]

I love it. I've long had dreams of a simple life living in Salida, skiing Monarch every day, with regular powder/steep chasing trips to CB, Taos, and Wolf Creek. I guess you might as well head up to A-basin, Copper, and Loveland for the free days with the Monarch Pass to.

Yes thats the plan.