I don't think it makes a hill of beans to DV pass sales - DV customers are DV customers,and Ikon is never going to give unlimited access to DV. The only impact it has on DV passholders is if more SLC locals switch to Ikon (as they now have a daily driver hill) and therefore are also around to max out their DV days.
I don't think this purchase was to undercut the Deer Valley passes, it is a different clientele and I doubt more than a very small percentage of people from SLC have DV passes.
There's been discussion in one of the other threads that DV pass sales this year have already been hurting, and Alterra decided to throw in a "free" Ikon pass along with DV passes partway through sales to try to juice them, so it's not a fully inelastic market. I suspect weakness in pass sales this year was largely due to poor pricing decisions, but it looks to me like some DV fans are already picking Ikon instead. I agree that having an all-access Ikon resort in the market isn't going to have a
huge impact on DV pass sales, but I think it would erode some.
The Alterra pass has had some sweet spots in it for sure, Colorado and Tahoe were good, Utah not so much with the limited days at Snowbird, Alta and DV, this gives the pass holder a core mountain and still have those other areas to treat them selves not not worry as much about counting their days.
If Solitude was the exactly wrong purchase for the SLC skiers, what was the right one? What were the options that were available?
I agree that Utah has not been an Ikon sweet spot in the way that Tahoe and Denver area. But I don't think Solitude changes this. During my years in Utah, the only spot I ever encountered "all lots full" signs was Solitude, on two different occasions. I know this is anecdotal evidence, and I'm not sure how true it really holds more broadly. And I'm not sure how easy or difficult it would be for Solitude to add parking.
If earning SLC-area market share was really a driving goal, then I think Brighton, Snowbird, Alta, or Snowbasin would've been stronger acquisitions. They're all starting from a higher baseline, and all have more parking slack to handle additional locals (although maybe not on powder days). Of course, "available" is a squishy concept, and Alterra may very well have pursued one or more of these without success.
From a business standpoint, I think the main opportunities at Solitude are to 1) increase lodging occupancy/returns, 2) increase spend in the village, and 3) increase profits for day/season pass sales. Treating Solitude as one of their carefully curated Ikon destinations helps Alterra move toward # 1 & #2. And if they can keep the uncrowded feeling and reputation, the increased tourist traffic can help them raise day/season pass rates to help toward #3. I think the Solitude purchase makes sense in this context, and the right strategy for implementing this is giving limited (5 or 7) days at Solitude on the Ikon pass.
Conversely, if they give unlimited Solitude access on Ikon, then yes, Ikon pass sales would likely increase in Utah. But most of those pass sales would take the place of higher-margin Solitude pass sales, with some new business/BCC/DV pass cannibalism thrown in. The added traffic to Solitude would degrade the visitor experience, putting downward pressure on Solitude Village tourism and day ticket sales. It looks like lose-lose to me.
Plus, unlike Tahoe and Denver, there isn't a massive population of Epic passholders in SLC for Alterra to try to turn.
I'm not sure that I agree with you about Solitude passes undercutting Deer Valley season passes. I think the customer bases are very different. Deer Valley is a pretty unique, high-end experience that caters to destination skiers and second-home owners. It also takes longer to drive to Deer Valley from Salt Lake City than LCC/BCC/Park City.
I do agree with you and
@fatbob about Alterra potentially giving only limited days at Solitude. Giving limited days at Deer Valley, Snowbird, and Alta (I know they don't own the last two) in contrast to Vail's unlimited model makes a ton of sense: the limited days are usually plenty for the destination skiers, who these mountains are hoping to lure, but aren't enough to entice locals to opt for the Ikon instead of a season pass at one of the resorts. But who knows? Maybe Alterra will make Solitude an unlimited option.
I skied at Solitude for the first time this year and loved it. It's a great mountain. I understand that people are feeling down about the potential for Solitude to get more crowded, but honestly, if any resort in the Salt Lake area needed more traffic, it was Solitude.
I don't know how much Alta or Snowbird would care if Solitude got added to the Ikon Pass
. I don't see it affecting Alta/Snowbird pass sales very much. While I loved Solitude, it doesn't have quite the terrain, views, or snow that Snowbird and Alta have. I could see myself flying out to Utah and skiing at both AltaBird and Solitude, but I wouldn't make a trip out to just ski at Solitude (or Brighton for that matter). And that's not a knock on Solitude, it's an acknowledgement of how many great resorts there are out there!
Relative drive times vary depending on day of week and starting location... I'd agree that DV has a bit of a handicap there, but not much. Plenty of locals are willing to drive an extra 5-10 minutes each way if they perceive better value or better experience. And I agree that DV and Solitude currently have pretty different clienteles, but I think Alterra would very much like Solitude's clientele to gradually shift closer to matching DV's, rather than vice versa.
I understand and sympathize with your hesitation to fly all the way to SLC and skip Alta or Snowbird. But I think Alterra has a good understanding that customers' approaches vary. There are plenty of tourists who will spend a week at Snowmass without ever skiing the other Aspen areas; or a week at Copper without ever hitting one of its neighbors. Solitude can similarly attract families who want to stay in one spot, and they already do it to some extent... but pairing with the existing Ikon infrastructure should help.
Alta and Snowbird management knows that they have strong cores of loyal passholders who they don't need to worry much about. But they're both looking at protecting margins on pass sales and going after the portion of the market that is
not committed to a specific mountain. The more attractive Ikon looks to those uncommitted skiers, the less willing Alta and Snowbird will be to stay in the deal.
