We definitely noticed a dip in mountain traffic over the weekend here. On Saturday, when we had 15", Ski-Ra and I never waited longer than 5 minutes to get on a lift. Interesting article on how Steamboat day pass is now $199 and also the effects of the blackout on the Ikon pass.
Did others who ski at Alterra resorts see a dip in skiers/riders?
https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news...DciXvhoKuLg4Ezpda1KobZ9IfnOLIuYhDHET_xaCGMvz8
This seems like a very positive result for Ikon resorts who have blackouts on the Base pass, be they partner resorts or the "premium" Alterra resorts like Steamboat and DV.
As expected, the proportion of traffic Ikon Base pass holders goes way down during peak holiday times. Their traffic on the mountain is hopefully replaced in some form by people purchasing day tickets. The resort is getting more money per ticket from the people buying day tickets, multi-day tickets, or tickets as part of lodging packages than they would get through people using their Ikon Base pass. Additionally, having the Ikon Base holders off the mountain means the mountain is less crowded for the day ticketers/season pass holders/non-base Ikon pass holders who remain.
Andrew Stoller, a manager at Ski Haus, noticed the ski gear and rental business saw fewer visitors from the Front Range during the holiday. Those guests tend to be Ikon passholders. Instead, he saw more people from eastern and southern states. Those customers filled the gaps left by a lack of people with Ikon passes.
This is good - the resort is bringing in money from out-of-state. These are probably people who will spend more not only on the their lift tickets but also on food, retail, lodging, lessons, etc.
I don't have the actual number here, but I remember someone posting something that as many as 75% of Ikon Passes sold are Base passes. That's really good news for the resorts with Base pass blackouts, because as
@Ron has experienced, it keeps crowds down during the peak times, and helps bring crowds in during off-peak times. I wouldn't be surprised if Ikon is continually evaluating which days to blackout in conjunction with their partners. I have nothing to back this up, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are more blackout dates in the future.
This goes back to the Ikon Lightning Rod thread, but if Ikon is in fact driving more traffic to specific partner resorts than they can handle, that presents a compelling argument to raise the price of the Ikon Pass, OR add more blackouts to the Base pass and create more differentiation between the Base and normal Ikon Passes. Maybe the normal Ikon Pass becomes a truly premium pass, and less of an Epic Pass competitor? This forum is in no way a representative slice of all of the skiers out there, but it's feeling more and more like there's an appetite for a better experience (less crowding) even if that experience costs more. As
@Muleski has suggested, Alterra has bigger ambitions than merely trying to mimic Vail and their pass product. The Ikon Pass is merely one step in a series of steps to increase the valuation of the company in preparation for an acquisition or IPO. Both Alterra and Ikon are in their infancy, and I'm curious to see what happens next.
lets how A Basin fares next season in regards to crowds if they stay out of the Ikon. With the Epic it has been mayhem pretty much daily.
