Meet Alterra Mountain Company

[Wilhelmson]

I mean, the former owners must have been such philantropists that they sold their mountains for big $$. Like Steve Jobs v Bill Gates. But I get it, things will change more quickly and most likely many of the local nuances will be watered down or dissapear.

 

[HardDaysNight]

There’s a limited number of ways to skin the cat. I just don’t see how the Alterra strategy differs meaningfully from that of Vail. For each tier of pass the pricing is virtually identical, the skiing privileges you receive are comparable although, obviously, at different resorts, and the goal is to get bums on chair lifts and flog the punters accommodation, food, beverages, rentals, ski lessons, etc. One can debate the relative merits of the resorts in each camp but there’s nothing I’ve seen from Alterra that screams “high class” relative to Vail. They are direct head-to-head competitors- it’s that simple.

 

[Wasatchman]

There’s a limited number of ways to skin the cat. I just don’t see how the Alterra strategy differs meaningfully from that of Vail. For each tier of pass the pricing is virtually identical, the skiing privileges you receive are comparable although, obviously, at different resorts, and the goal is to get bums on chair lifts and flog the punters accommodation, food, beverages, rentals, ski lessons, etc. One can debate the relative merits of the resorts in each camp but there’s nothing I’ve seen from Alterra that screams “high class” relative to Vail. They are direct head-to-head competitors- it’s that simple.

You just said in one simple post what I've been trying to get at over who knows how many posts!

At the risk of detracting from your eloquent post, If I can add, even if Alterra did attempt a more premium experience than Vail, how are they going to do it at the same price point as Vail? That presumes out of the gate that Alterra is somehow going to operate much more efficiently than Vail in order to provide a more premium experience at the same price point. Meanwhile, Alterra is a newly formed entity versus Vail's years of experience with Epic Pass which would make that goal that much harder to do. Then you have the whole IKON Costco discount which would appear completely contrary to premium focus. As you say, nothing about how they are marketing it, price points, etc. in any way seems to point to a notable difference versus Vail.

Note: Edited for grammar

 

[HardDaysNight]

^^^Agree!

 

[Started at 53]

Costco..... I know a lot of wealthy people that shop at costco, one in fact has his own jet.

Never good to pre-judge folks

 

[fatbob]

Never good to pre-judge folks

Good to know you've changed your opinion on snowboarders.

 

[Wasatchman]

No

Costco..... I know a lot of wealthy people that shop at costco, one in fact has his own jet.

Never good to pre-judge folks

Not prejudging. If you're building a luxury, high end brand, it just does not make sense to tie it in to a volume discount store like Costco. That's all.

 

[Started at 53]

Good to know you've changed your opinion on snowboarders.

Where is my face palm emoji????

IF/When the day comes I want to ski on a mountain with snowboarders, I can always go to PCMR. But I doubt sans unusual circumstances that is going to happen anytime soon. I suspect the next time I have interaction, it will be at either GT or JH

 

[Started at 53]

No

Not prejudging. If you're building a luxury, high end brand, it just does not make sense to tie it in to a volume discount store like Costco. That's all.

I do agree, the Costco Ikon pass was a head scratcher to me too.

We are NOT buying Ikon passes. I just did not see the benefit

 

[Tricia]

Where is my face palm emoji????

I installed it for you some time ago

Costco..... I know a lot of wealthy people that shop at costco, one in fact has his own jet.

Never good to pre-judge folks

And yet there are a lot of opinions and judgement going on in this thread, about a company that isn't even a year old. Lets let them get going before we string them up by their toes.
*not directed at one person but a lot of opinions floating around.

 

[Wasatchman]

I installed it for you some time ago


And yet there are a lot of opinions and judgement going on in this thread, about a company that isn't even a year old. Lets let them get going before we string them up by their toes.
*not directed at one person but a lot of opinions floating around.

Since they bought Deer Valley last year, Alterra has:

1) Jacked up DV season pass prices significantly
2) Scalped the very popular Bob Wheaton out as GM

So far Tricia, most Utahns I know don't like how it has been going at DV. I did check in and it does seem the consensus was Wheaton was scalped.

Meanwhile saying their IKON strategy looks like Vail is what it is. If this is stringing them up by their toes, then I'm okay with being guilty of it.

 

[Tricia]

Since they bought Deer Valley last year, Alterra has:

1) Jacked up DV season pass prices significantly
2) Scalped the very popular Bob Wheaton out as GM

So far Tricia, most Utahns I know don't like how it has been going at DV. I did check in and it does seem the consensus was Wheaton was scalped.

Meanwhile saying their IKON strategy looks like Vail is what it is. If this is stringing them up by their toes, then I'm okay with being guilty of it.

I still think its too early to tell.
Maybe that's just me.

 

[fatbob]

I installed it for you some time ago


And yet there are a lot of opinions and judgement going on in this thread, about a company that isn't even a year old. Lets let them get going before we string them up by their toes.
*not directed at one person but a lot of opinions floating around.

If we don't debate things that have a material impact on the sport we love we are dropping the ball. This forum / website becomes just another PR mouthpiece for the industry.

IMV 1 year is plenty long enough to start to judge a business. There has been a lot of movement after all. The Ikon pass is clearly going head to head with Epic. A few high profile heads have rolled. And the Costco signal is bizarre if we are to believe that this is more sophisticated and not a play to maximise user base.

I guess we could see a lot over the course of the season. DV might decide to admit snowboarders, Squaw could even end its money hold practices and run Silvy every day possible. And Ikon pass dynamics might change the Front range market and/ or Tahoe considerably or have no real impact.

 

[David Chaus]

The Costco move is actually pretty interesting. As has been noted, many of the socio-economic class that Alterra says they are seeking do shop at Costco. Furthermore, there are a lot of high-end products available at Costco, though most Costco shoppers (sorry, members) aren’t seriously shopping for those items. Multi-resort ski passes aren’t going to be any interest to most Costco members, but for those who do ski or board, with the disposable income to travel for their preferred leisure activity, it’s another impulse item that would interest them.

And it has the advantage that the Epic Pass is not offered at Costco, which could have happened. So yeah, Alterra is competing against Vail. No surprises there.

I guess I don’t care if a company is marketing themselves as high-end or not; I’m only looking at what advantages it might have for me, not the cachet.

Disclaimer: I do not yet have either an Epic or Ikon pass for this season, nor do I yet have an MCP <gasp>.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

I suspect the Costco play is just good introductory marketing for a product that is new this season. There are skiers out there who are just now hearing about the Ikon Pass and this is a second shot at what is basically still the introductory pass.

 

[Goran M.]

Every time I go to Costco and see those travel brochures that offer travel to Bora Bora - I look around me ... and wonder ...?

OTOH, I know few people that took advantage of some Costco auto buying scheme that saved them over 10K on purchase of "high end" vehicle (Volvo XC90).

$10K is a lot of money to spend on a ski hill, just saying ...

I buy very few items at Costco - wine and $6.99 prosecco (great for Aperol Spritz).

 

[Jim McDonald]

No ax to grind here, but I am still ROTFLMAO at the juxtaposition of the word 'curate' and the brand Costco.

 

[sbooker]

Any of you well placed industry insiders have any intel on whether Mountain Collective Pass will remain after this winter? I hoping those involved will see it filling a gap that Ikon can't.

 

[Tricia]

Any of you well placed industry insiders have any intel on whether Mountain Collective Pass will remain after this winter? I hoping those involved will see it filling a gap that Ikon can't.

I don't see MCP going away entirely.
Its a different price point and offering a very different product.

 

[Jim McDonald]

I dunno. Telluride dropped MCP when it joined Epic.
Ikon came along too late in the year to be able to "encourage" key MCP resorts to go only with Ikon for this season, but next season will be a whole new ballgame.
I can imagine MCP losing Aspen, Snowbird, Jackson, SquAlpine.
Would that leave enough to make it viable as a business?
And would the remaining resorts quickly decide they'd be better off abandoning ship for the safe harbors of Epic/Ikon?
I'd hate to see that happen, but as a cold business decision it may be the right move.