Do multi resort passes make for more relaxed skiing?

[Johnny V.]

I was going to post this under the "Ikon-Lightning Rod" thread, but I decided to start a new one..........

Do you feel that having a multi resort pass makes for a more relaxed day of skiing rather than "I paid $100 + dollars for this ticket and I'm going to ski until my legs drop off" approach? I'm finding on our current IKON tour that this is true (of course it could be old age). My wife and I seem to be willing to bag it early if we're not feeling the love,either due to conditions or fatigue. Some days are open to close or close to it whereas some days we quit at 2:00-2:30 or so. One day at Jackson Hole we quit it at 12:30 rather than fight the thick fog-we both agreed we weren't having any fun.

Thoughts and opinions?

 

[Andy Mink]

Absolutely. If I paid full price ($150? $180? $200?) I'd feel obligated to go as long as I could no matter the conditions or how well I was skiing. At Big Sky I didn't feel bad about saying "I'm done" at 2pm. Or 1pm. Maybe fewer total runs but much more enjoyable than trying to eek out one more run on dead legs or bad conditions. Same goes for our local hill pass. I've been up for one run or just a few more than once. Last year we went up, opened the car door, closed it, and went to breakfast.

EDIT: I also don't feel obligated to race to the bottom to get back up again. I really liked stopping and talking or looking at the scenery when the clouds allow.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I think having a season pass in general puts forth that relaxed feeling. No need to calculate out the per run cost when you have a multi pass or regular old school season pass. End result is the same, bag it whenever you want free of guilt. It's nice not to have that I paid x for this daily so I have to cram in as many runs as I can. High fun, low guilt days = happiness

 

[aliebe]

No doubt. Bought a pass for the balance of this year and next. Went yesterday, conditions sucked. Didn't bat an eye for bailing after 1 run.

 

[Woodsrider427]

Definitely yes for us. On our Utah trip last week my daughter didn't feel like skiing one day so I went by myself for a few hours (while she slept in) and came back to have lunch with her. I would never have done that if I needed to buy a ticket. Also, our last day there was a Saturday and she wasn't sure she wanted to ski another day. At the last minute we decided to head up to Solitude at 10:30 after checking out, we figured it wouldn't cost us anything but time if it wasn't good. Glad we did, it turned out to be one of the best afternoons we had and again we wouldn't have gone if we had to buy tickets. Definitely great flexibility having a pass.

 

[Jenny]

Absolutely. For all of those same reasons mentioned above.

 

[LKLA]

I was going to post this under the "Ikon-Lightning Rod" thread, but I decided to start a new one..........

Do you feel that having a multi resort pass makes for a more relaxed day of skiing rather than "I paid $100 + dollars for this ticket and I'm going to ski until my legs drop off" approach? I'm finding on our current IKON tour that this is true (of course it could be old age). My wife and I seem to be willing to bag it early if we're not feeling the love,either due to conditions or fatigue. Some days are open to close or close to it whereas some days we quit at 2:00-2:30 or so. One day at Jackson Hole we quit it at 12:30 rather than fight the thick fog-we both agreed we weren't having any fun.

Thoughts and opinions?

With a pass the money has already been spent so the resorts hope that people will adopt a "laid-back" approach to skiing and instead spend time eating and drinking and shopping and that they visit the resort even if they don't end up sking much on every visit. They hope this will lead to more revenue at the end of the season from each skier as a pass holder (and make-up for the discount in pricing on the pass) vs as a window ticket buyer.

It is sort of another advantage of buying a pass - not feeling that pressure you might otherwise feel from buying a window ticket).Though, the cost of entry is just one cost variable. There are many others costs that are often on par, or higher such as travel and Iodging...or have a lot of “value” such as the use of limited vacation time (for me time is actually the most important variable). Skiing often involves a big investment for many people that goes well beyond the cost of a ticket or pass. Any of these other costs can put pressure on people to maximize their time out on the mountain.

But of course this is something that changes from person to person and there is no right or wrong answer. I know people who ski a couple of times a year and ski until they are kicked off the mountain (their schedules only allow them a couple of days) and others who ski a few times a year and spend more time having lunch than skiing (they like the atmosphere more than the skiing itself). I know plenty of folks who buy a pass with the laser focus of skiing as many days as they can and staying out as long as the lifts are running and others who buy a pass and barely use it (this last group seems to be where most people I am friendly with fall in).

 

[Brad J]

I am not in the relax group, If I am spending a week skiing and I paid for airfare, hotel ect I feel and want to ski bell to bell for the entire time I am there, even on ski days at home I tend to do the same. I guess its in my DNA , If I invest the time and $$$ , I am going to ski as much as possible during that time , I have all summer to relax on the boat, and to be honest I am bad at that.

 

[BS Slarver]

Agree 1000%
We crunch and justify the numbers with any pass purchased and try to get our day rate between $ 20 - $ 40 a day.
Some days runs between work with only 3 to 4 hrs and some days bell to bell, weather dependent, I have a powder clause at work !

Max Pass last year with the early buy in price that included Belleyare, Windham, Killington
Bigsky, Solitude, Brighton and Steamboat.

A solo big sky pass this year with discounted “bring a buddy “ pass options for family and friends - Not sure how some peps do the rack rate.
How’s the road trip going anyway - @Johnny V

 

[Johnny V.]

How’s the road trip going anyway - @Johnny V

Great! We've caught some great snow starting at Big Sky. All things must come to an end though-tomorrow is our last day before we head home.

 

[Ski&ride]

Any season pass, not necessarily a multi-resort pass.

I started buying season pass about 5-6 years ago. I definitely started skiing shorter days.

Ikon is targeting people who want to travel. Those same people probably prefer to ski shorter days so they can sit back to enjoy other aspect of their travel destinations. So yes, "more relaxed" is their way of justifying skiing shorter days without guilt.

Not sure the same applies to other "multi-resort" passes like Epic or Peak pass.

 

[mdf]

No, for me the (self-imposed) pressure comes from the limited number of days I can get away, not from what I paid for them. Now if i was retired and had a pass, that might make a difference.

 

[Green08]

Season pass reduces stress in the sense that it allows me to feel like I don't need to maximize every moment the lifts are open.

A season pass does add some pressure to get as many days, and therefore value, out of the pass as possible.

For me, MULTI resort passes drive a desire/stress to ski new places that are now included. I would be using plenty of partner days if I had an Ikon Pass, but I don't.

If travel is creating extra expenses (gas, car, plane, lodging, eating out...), that is going to push me to get the most out of the trip as I can. But, that is not exclusive to skiing or having a season pass to me.

 

[Sibhusky]

A season pass in general makes it easy to say "bag it" if I'm tired or conditions suck, so you'd think it would reduce the time on snow. BUT, it also makes it less of an investment to see if conditions are good when they seem like it might be a marginal day for skiing. Living close means I can head up and check it out without much hassle or time investment -- which a multi resort pass probably doesn't offer unless your particular hill is on that pass. Because it's not just money, it's travel and hassle costs that come into play as well.

 

[Tricia]

Having multi report passes makes skiing more relaxed for us for a few reasons.
When we travel, we can be flexible where we end up skiing based on weather, and where people will be that reach out to ski with us. On a recent trip to Utah, we skied a couple days on the IKON and a day on the Epic pass.
We also don't feel as obligated to ski for a long day, which makes for a productive lifestyle. We can hit the slopes for a few hours in the morning and get some writing done in the afternoon.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

I haven't purchased a pass since the winter of 1968-69, but I'm thinking that we'll probably have to for next season. Don't know what it will be because I don't know where I'll be

 

[Mike King]

https://www.outsideonline.com/23899...ignmonitor outsidemagazine&utm_term=READ MORE

 

[Andy Mink]

https://www.outsideonline.com/2389964/ski-pass-epic-ikon?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Dispatch-03142019&utm_content=Dispatch-03142019+Version+A+CID_863c024a2587fb2a29a8508533368b99&utm_source=campaignmonitor outsidemagazine&utm_term=READ MORE

Discussion on this article is here.

 

[Slim]

@Johnny V. I think your real question is does a season pass make you ski more relaxed. I don’t think the fact of whether it is for one or several resorts matters.

For me, in my home town, it does a little bit. Mostly though, it makes it more worth to go in marginal conditions, or when I have only a short time.

For my Ikon Pass, which can only be used on vacation, it does not. After all, when otherwise I might have bought a 4 pack or 8 pack of tickets, but I figured out it was cheaper to buy an Ikon base pass. However, I still am only there for 8 days, and still have paid a lot of money for passes, lodging and travel, so I am going to make full use of those ski days.

The one thing that is more relaxed, is about choosing a resort. Since I don’t have to commit as much, or as early, I am less stressed about whether I picked the right one. But that is not about during the actual ski day.

 

[RuleMiHa]

With season passes I tend to ski many more shorter days. With multi-resort passes, I tend to ski more days because I schedule trips in order to make sure I get value out of the pass.