I just completed a survey from MCP and found a couple of questions intriguing. (I changed the below rankings before submitting as I had second thoughts.)
Mountain Collective Survey
- Thread starter coskigirl
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For those who are taking the survey...Question 18:
It would be great to partner with them.
It would be great to partner with them.
/\/\ Filled mine out earlier and listed Pugski.
In the 'what can we do to improve" comment section I asked them to add Jay Peak to the pass along with Okemo and Sugarloaf they already had built into the survey. One can dream..
In the 'what can we do to improve" comment section I asked them to add Jay Peak to the pass along with Okemo and Sugarloaf they already had built into the survey. One can dream..
Sure, I did that.
It is interesting that I bought my first MC pass before pugski existed, but to paraphrase Emerson by way of Asimov, "A foolish chronological consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
I also filled in PugSki.com for question #18.
I asked for more Canadian resorts to be added to MCP because it is getting too expensive for Canadians and Australians to ski in the USA.
I asked for more Canadian resorts to be added to MCP because it is getting too expensive for Canadians and Australians to ski in the USA.
I orgiinally thought Copper as #1, but I ski Copper more than the 2ish days for the MC, so it ended up being #7....
Thread Starter
TS
Same second thought I had!
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What criteria are they using to call those resorts "independent"?
Thread Starter
TS
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I'm guessing the vast majority of skiers/boarders have no clue that they are anything BUT independent at this point. Those of us that spend time on sites like this one are a little more informed.
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Obviously my MAX pass is gonna look different next year, but the MCP folks are circling like sharks around here. 
Non issue for me until it includes at least 5 days at a resort I actually want to visit...
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Currently on the MAXX Pass
Exactly - and getting a Maxx with 5 days on it at Copper AND Okemo AND Sugarloaf AND Killington AND Copper AND CB AND Big Sky is a far better deal for the skier than transferring those to a 2-day+ discount MCP.Obviously my MAX pass is gonna look different next year, but the MCP folks are circling like sharks around here.
I can't be the only one noticing that survey respondents are being groomed to vote for a net-worse-for-them option here. If anything, one could wish MAXX would acquire MCP resorts, not vice versa.
But the Max is more expensive than the MCP!
So it really depends on who's buying the pass. If you live in the south, where there's no nearby mountains, you're travelling to ski anyway. 5 days or 2 days is really something you can PLAN ahead for.
Further more, with MCP, you can pay 1/2 price to ski another day if the weather is conducive. With the MAX, you pay walk up price once you used up you 5 days. Since most of us who travel to ski spend more than 5 days in one trip anyway, the flexibility of the MCP can in some cases be a better deal than the MAX.
So it really depends on who's buying the pass. If you live in the south, where there's no nearby mountains, you're travelling to ski anyway. 5 days or 2 days is really something you can PLAN ahead for.
Further more, with MCP, you can pay 1/2 price to ski another day if the weather is conducive. With the MAX, you pay walk up price once you used up you 5 days. Since most of us who travel to ski spend more than 5 days in one trip anyway, the flexibility of the MCP can in some cases be a better deal than the MAX.
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So? The difference is ~$200 A) That difference is made up after skiing 4 days total at one resort, On day 5, 6 and 7 of skiing at one resort MAXX is ahead. And it stays ahead if one shifts resorts. B) None of the current prices will stay that way if the mountain shift actually happens.
For one resort:
5 Days of skiing MCP: You've paid 150% lift window price.
5 Days of skiing MAxx: Included with pass cost.
6 days of skiing MCP: 200% lift window price
6 days of skiing MAXX: 100% lift window price
7 days of skiing MCP: 250% lift window price
7 days of skiing MAXX: 200% lift window price
So it takes 8 days of skiing at the same resort for the curve to even out.
Flexibility? OK, let's look at that. How many resorts on the MCP have 4 hours drive therebetween or less?
Hmm Snowbird/Alta - Snowbasin that's 1 pairing
Banff /Sunshine - Lake Louise that's 2 total
Sure doesn't sound terribly flexible. Maybe we should just PLAN on yet another round of airfares.
How many resorts on the MAX have 4 hours drive therebetween or less?
Stoneham - Mont Sainte Anne 1 total
Gore - Belleayre 2
Gore - Whiteface 3
Okemo - Stratton- Killington - Pico that's 9 possible multiday pairings so far.
Eldora - Winter Park - Steamboat 12 pairings
Copper- Crested Butte 13 pairings
Brighton - Solitude 14
So that's at least 14 possible combinations of resort pairs that are achievable without spending a full 8 hour day in a car and without extra flying. I say at least because that algorithm only counts to-fro travel, and further pairings like WaWa - Sunapee - Loon are possible with a touring -type travel plan.
Sorry, but MAXX wins on flexibility for any given destination-skiing trip. There are at least 14 ways to spend 10 days skiing with zero added lift ticket cost and zero added airfare.
But, hey, Verschlimmbesserung is a good thing. Let's vote some resorts from the good pass to the iffy one.
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I have bought MCP twice. Both were seasons when I had already planned trips to more than one of their areas. It can take a bit to break even though. This season s my second with MCP. We are going to Taos with our ski club and our group rate would be $300 for 5 days, so I will lose money with MCP on that trip. We are also going to Telluride with friends and even with the 2 trips MCP is slightly more expensive. I will only save money because I plan on 4 or 5 days in Utah with the Gathering. Robin will just about break even and if we take an impromptu trip to Jackson or another to SLC she will come out ahead. Add in a couple days at Sugarbush and she will save close to $200 and it will make my purchase much more attractive as well.
I am not a big fan of most of the MAX pass areas here in the east. Too bad because there is a lot more opportunity to use their product around heah.
MCP if you are reading this - Please add more eastern areas!
I am not a big fan of most of the MAX pass areas here in the east. Too bad because there is a lot more opportunity to use their product around heah.
MCP if you are reading this - Please add more eastern areas!
I think I put Bachelor no. 1 and Kicking Horse no. 2 for areas to add.
And you missed that Lake Louise and Revelstoke are under 3 hours apart and Squaw and Mammoth are under 4 hours apart, both according to Google Maps. Snowmass to Telluride is only 7 minutes over 4 hours and UT MCP resorts to Jackson Hole and Jackson Hole to Sun Valley are between 4 and 5 hours apart so it is possible to ski more MCP locations than you listed, then drive most of the way to another and ski without missing a day or having an 8 hours drive between resorts.
What was the least expensive price for MAXX this year? I paid $389 for my MCP and $399 for my wife's.
I think for someone based in the West, with time to travel to multiple MCP resorts, it works better and you get to ski many of the top resorts in the country. I may get to 8 MCP area this year although I will probably only use one day at each of the Canadian areas, And it conditions dictate, going to Aspen, Telluride and Taos and skiing for free would be a bonus.
Sorry, but already filled out the survey and as this is the fifth year for me with MCP, I did not say Pugski.
Some of your post may be using outdated info as Alta and Snowbird have been separated on MCP so you get 2 days at two ski areas next to each other and you would not even have to change your lodging to ski both of them. With the addition of Snowbasin, many Gathering participants will get 7 days free if they bought early enough to get a third day and picked one of the UT MCP area for it.
And you missed that Lake Louise and Revelstoke are under 3 hours apart and Squaw and Mammoth are under 4 hours apart, both according to Google Maps. Snowmass to Telluride is only 7 minutes over 4 hours and UT MCP resorts to Jackson Hole and Jackson Hole to Sun Valley are between 4 and 5 hours apart so it is possible to ski more MCP locations than you listed, then drive most of the way to another and ski without missing a day or having an 8 hours drive between resorts.
What was the least expensive price for MAXX this year? I paid $389 for my MCP and $399 for my wife's.
I think for someone based in the West, with time to travel to multiple MCP resorts, it works better and you get to ski many of the top resorts in the country. I may get to 8 MCP area this year although I will probably only use one day at each of the Canadian areas, And it conditions dictate, going to Aspen, Telluride and Taos and skiing for free would be a bonus.
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I mostly didn't go west at all; for example I didn't include the Washington State possibilities for the MAX either. MAX was $629 in April, so $230 pricier than your wife's pass and $240 pricier than yours.
I completely agree with your point about 'you get to ski many of the top resorts in the country' - I think that the MCP is a halo resort discount program. I think it should also stay that way and stop trying to rob MAX of local alternatives. And I think it should stop trying to rob MAX of regional sweeteners - like Bachelor, Big Sky, Steamboat, KH
If anything, MCP makes sense as an added 'halo' package to MAX.
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I'm with you on both points. Sunapee is fun for a day but I'd get bored with 5 days. Same with Okemo, Stratton and Pico.
I'd love to see Jay Peak on the MCP, and I think they fit the destination resort profile of that pass. Burke and Bromley would be nice but they don't really fit the profile, IMO. Sugarloaf would be a great add but they're on MAX.
