Colorado Aspen Prepares for Ikon Influx

[Mike King]

From the Aspen Times:

https://www.aspentimes.com/news/loc...utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sunrise-rundown

 

[Rich McP]

So Mike, is this people saying, "Oh my god! Look what happened?!?!" You know, the clueless. Or is it people saying, "Christ! Just like Epic! I knew this was gonna happen!" The article doesn't talk about that. Very little actual quoting of folks.

 

[James]

Maybe they should just ban cars going up to Highlands after 10am? Or something.

 

[SpikeDog]

I like the article's comment that "Ikon passes get the average Joe skiing Aspen, not just the super-rich". Seems reasonable. The other little nugget of wisdom was the increased visits by the 25-34 year old demographic, which should be encouraging.

Always fun to scroll down to the 'local's comments". A comment that all Ikon passholders are rude?!? WTF? NIMBY syndrome.

 

[coskigirl]

So Mike, is this people saying, "Oh my god! Look what happened?!?!" You know, the clueless. Or is it people saying, "Christ! Just like Epic! I knew this was gonna happen!" The article doesn't talk about that. Very little actual quoting of folks.

Aspen has never had an Epic issue so they aren't comparing it like Abasin patrons are.

 

[mikel]

Interesting article. I think in general the consensus has been that Ikon has not had a huge affect on ski resorts and the larger crowds (real or perceived) could be attributed to a great snow season. They even bring up the great snow with "skier visits were up 20% last season over the previous one, with the main driver being a banner snow year" but also sure make it seem like Ikon is having an affect at least at Highlands. "Ikon crowds" and "will make adjustments to deal with the masses this upcoming season" makes it sound like they are anticipating crowding because of Ikon.

 

[KingGrump]

Wow, the comments posted below the article is rather, shall we say, xenophobic.

Hope those folks don't have to leave their precious little valley and visit somewhere else.

 

[cantunamunch]

Wow, the comments posted below the article is rather, shall we say, xenophobic.

Hope those folks don't have to leave their precious little valley and visit somewhere else.

I get the impression that comments section is highly moderated/curated.

 

[fatbob]

Hmm the only relevant bit of the article to me is this

Kaplan noted that skier visits were up 20% last season over the previous one, with the main driver being a banner snow year.

Local passholders were about 45% of that increase, and 40% of the skier visits over the weekends were Ikon Pass holders, with most of them hailing from the Front Range and California.

Kaplan also said 70% of the Ikon pass holders were new to Aspen-Snowmass, and the largest demographic was between 25 and 34 years old.

“They look and act like a local,” he said, adding they are younger and more accomplished skiers, which is why they flock to Highlands for steeper terrain.

So nearly half the increase was locals and Ikon passholders were much less than half the people on the hill at weekends (with no data given on how much ordinary tourist passes had been canibalized by Ikon). California stats don't surprise me - OK you have Squalpinites and Mammothistas potentially taking a road trip but also 2 huge economic powerhouses in fly in distance of the "prestige" of Aspen

Last sentence about Ikonites being better skiers than the average touron is probably what hurts the #localism most.

 

[KingGrump]

“They look and act like a local,” he said, adding they are younger and more accomplished skiers, which is why they flock to Highlands for steeper terrain.

I read that too. IMO, younger, yes. More accomplished? May be. Most likely still expoeriencing an acute case of YAMIS* and haven't experience a life altering injury yet.

YAMIS - Young Adult Male Immortality Syndrome.

 

[HardDaysNight]

but also sure make it seem like Ikon is having an affect at least at Highlands. "Ikon crowds" and "will make adjustments to deal with the masses this upcoming season" makes it sound like they are anticipating crowding because of Ikon.

Something of a volte face for Kaplan who was very insistent that Ikon had nothing to do with crowding and that complaining locals were a disgrace to decency. Unfortunately for his credibility some of us don’t suffer from Korsakoff’s syndrome!

 

[fatbob]

I read that too. IMO, younger, yes. More accomplished? May be. Most likely still expoeriencing an acute case of YAMIS* and haven't experience a life altering injury yet.

You don't need to get totally get off my lawn about it just yet. I think it is fair to say Aspen has a fair amount of visitors in the Deer Valley/Beaver Creek cruise around on nice blues demographic. So by that baseline keen active skiers who had early adopted on Ikon were likely on average to be a) more skilled and b) less likely to be visiting Aspen to experience the challenge of Fanny Hill (....it's funny because I'm a Brit ok...).

 

[fatbob]

A comment that all Ikon passholders are rude?!? WTF? NIMBY syndrome.

Well...I did take a covert snap of one lady's fartbag because it was a classic of its kind in Bogner embroidery and y'know Aspen/Gorsuch cliches etc. But we later rode a chair together and had an enjoyable chat.
so I did feel kinda bad about objectifying her...

 

[SBrown]

Highlands doesn’t have a lot of parking, so it doesn’t surprise me that it was a sore spot. I don’t ski there weekends anyway, and I spent a lot more pow days at Snowmass this past year because it spreads people out so much — and yes, all the young chargers love Highlands. As do I, but they ski things so much faster than I do!

 

[SBrown]

...Always fun to scroll down to the 'local's comments". A comment that all Ikon passholders are rude?!? WTF? NIMBY syndrome.

Ironic, eh?

 

[KingGrump]

You don't need to get totally get off my lawn about it just yet. I think it is fair to say Aspen has a fair amount of visitors in the Deer Valley/Beaver Creek cruise around on nice blues demographic. So by that baseline keen active skiers who had early adopted on Ikon were likely on average to be a) more skilled and b) less likely to be visiting Aspen to experience the challenge of Fanny Hill (....it's funny because I'm a Brit ok...).

I did run into couple of the rude Ikon group on the groomers. And yes, they rude and clueless.
Don't believe they were FR or CA. It was a weekday. Good old fashion tourist/vacationers. Mainly groomer straight liners.
Invited a few of them for a ride on the temerity lift. No takers.
I guess Scuds are all the same all over.

 

[fatbob]

Temerity has to be one of the best lifts on the planet. If you got down once as a minimum you have survival skills, if you want to ride it again then you probably are already above the average ski tourist ( IDK I guess there is a way you could long traverse in to the end of the skiers left cattrack)

 

[KingGrump]

Have to agree Temerity is really nice. My favorite off there is Power Line into Mushroom.
During the last Aspen gathering, our old and slow group (@Lady_Salina , @Unpiste and Mamie) were doing laps off Temerity. Picking up and dropping off people on top of every run.
The gathering is going back to Aspen next year.

 

[Nancy Hummel]

Whether the crowds are from the better snow year or Ikon, I think it is great of Skico to acknowledge they can do better and do what they can to make it better for everyone.

Skico seems to care that all people who visit the mountains have a great experience.

I agree about the comments. One woman complained that Skico "shoved an Ikon pass down her throat." Ridiculous. It does not appear to me that pass prices were any different so the Ikon pass is a nice perk for days when you want to ski with friends somewhere else.

The other comments are just rude.

 

[fatbob]

SkiCo in my opinion are a class act. It is some years since I corresponded with Dave Perry after a frustrating day but I was very impressed by his prompt (next morning) and seemingly personal response. Don't know if his offer is still good as I was on Ikon last year when I visited. Don't think I am treading on any toes here but no problem if a mod wants to ding it

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Dear Mr Perry

In the spirit of your invitation for comment that appears on the back of your trail map I write to express my disappointment at the experience of Snowmass today.

For context I am a UK visitor who does a lot of skiing and has experienced many resorts across Western US and Canada in addition to widespread travel in Europe and Southern Hemisphere.

Before I made the considerable drive from Eagle County to Aspen to utilise one of my precious day tickets I checked the daily snow report . This assured me in a banner that Aspen Snowmass was 100% open and further that specifically for Snowmass 96% of expert terrain and 97% of advanced terrain was open. This proved to be a considerable and one might suspect deliberate misrepresentation. I had been encouraged to visit Snowmass by reports from proud locals of the Cirque and Hanging Valley areas and was reassured from my morning check that the majority would be open.

It was then extremely disappointing to arrive at the top of the Village Express to have a mountain ambassador tell me that almost all of this terrain was closed and had been closed the day before and that the reason was snow preservation as conditions had been getting too soft. Please note that my ire has nothing to do with surface conditions. I am well aware that skiing is a weather dependent sport and one has to take the rough with the smooth. I could even understand short term or short notice closure due to environmental risk factors but it was clear from my conversation that there was little expectation that the terrain would open and that this was known well in advance. In which case I question why the blatant misreporting? I discovered that not even the Garrett Gulch runs were open.

Further I don't consider the stated reason of snow preservation to be an acceptable reason to penalise paying guests in the present.

The situation was further compounded by the fact that access to the only advanced terrain that appeared to be open ( Cirque Headwall) was via the Cirque Poma and the queue for this was excessive primarily due to your queue jumping policy for ski school. In one cycle at least 5 groups who arrived later than me in line were able to load the poma ahead. Insult was further added to injury when it appeared they were largely uploading to ski not the advanced terrain but the flat groomer. Can I encourage you to amend this queue jumping policy in circumstances where access to advanced terrain is so clearly limited?

Less this just comes across as an extended whinge the day was not without its positives. Your staff were unfailingly polite and professional ( bar the queue jumping issue which I understand is your policy not a specific individual behaviour).

I am however afraid to say that the overall impression given, primarily through your false morning advertising, was of rather a kick in the teeth for the advanced skier. With the greatest respect, and while recognising them as a core demographic for you, I would not have chosen to visit to dice with Spring Break hordes on blue groomers. It is an unfortunate outcome for a resort which aspires to be premium and one which you claim to be world class. On my experience today I wouldn't say Snowmass holds a candle to true world class destinations. Perhaps I was just the victim of an off day.

Yours sincerely


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and the response

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Thank you for taking the time to write me Mr XXX.

First, please accept my apology for the misleading information we gave you which resulted in your understandable disappointment. You are absolutely correct – we should have and could have anticipated the closures of the steep terrain based on the forecast and adjusted our information and messaging to reflect that.

Also, the Ambassador was incorrect, which we also take responsibility for. The sole reason for the closures of the steep terrain was skier safety, not snow preservation. We were in a cycle of record-breaking warm weather (three days) where the snowpack did not fully freeze during the night. Although we can’t forecast with absolute certainty, we could have done better. The opportunity to open or close the steep terrain on Snowmass (and our other mountains) fluctuates hour by hour during this type of weather and if it had been slightly colder the night before we would have been able to open some aspects of the terrain you were seeking. What ended up happening was closure of terrain because of extreme risk of wet-slab avalanche, which we actually experienced at Aspen Highlands when a skier went into a closed area yesterday (thankfully nobody was injured).

Regarding the ski school line at the Cirque – although those in lessons do have the privilege of having special access, the pros should be using their best judgement so as to not overly inconvenience guests like you in the main queue. I appreciate this feedback and we will make sure we re-visit this situation with our ski pros.

I hope that you will be able to return to try our mountains again with our compliments. If you can let us know when this may be possible we will set up a complimentary ticket for another day.

Once again, thank you for your honest and frank feedback, it will help us to improve.

Sincerely,

David