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Colorado Vail and Beaver Creek hit $219 window ticket price

Tricia

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Tricia

Tricia

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I'm always baffled by how many holiday skiers pay for day tickets.
If you're going skiing with your family for a week during Christmas vacation, you can easily pay for an Epic Pass.
I wonder how these vacationers don't know about the pass deals. :huh:
 

Lauren

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I'm always baffled by how many holiday skiers pay for day tickets.
If you're going skiing with your family for a week during Christmas vacation, you can easily pay for an Epic Pass.
I wonder how these vacationers don't know about the pass deals. :huh:

I’ve wondered the same. But I did just hop on Epic’s Pass website and it appears that you can’t buy the Epic pass now, they’re done selling them for the season. So I guess if you didn’t plan ahead, you don’t have another choice other than paying for day tickets if you want to ski.
 

raisingarizona

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Does anyone actually pay that?

That’s insane. One day is a third of my season pass here.
 

KingGrump

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I'm always baffled by how many holiday skiers pay for day tickets.
If you're going skiing with your family for a week during Christmas vacation, you can easily pay for an Epic Pass.
I wonder how these vacationers don't know about the pass deals. :huh:

Not just Epic but multi- resort pass in general. I skied DV the lead in Sat of the President week last season. Mamie and I split up for the singles line a lot. Most of the skiers we rode with were skiing with day tickets. Many never heard of the Ikon pass. :huh:
 

fatbob

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It's about 2 things

- Price insensitivity
- Reinforcing a market perception of being the "best" premium product


Of course it doesn't hurt that the day pass rates also make Epic passes look like incredible value.

Price insensitivity means that by the time the average tourist has stumped up for travel and a condo then the price of a walk up lift ticket is hardly likely to deter them. I did once meet a somewhat disgruntled college kid who had "scored" an invite to a buddy's family condo but found he could only afford to buy a pass for one of the 3 days he was there.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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Does anyone actually pay that?

That’s insane. One day is a third of my season pass here. However, if someone is on a vacation, not just going for a day, they can get a multi day rate which is slightly less than daily walk up.
Yes. Shocking isn't it?
Not just Epic but multi- resort pass in general. I skied DV the lead in Sat of the President week last season. Mamie and I split up for the singles line a lot. Most of the skiers we rode with were skiing with day tickets. Many never heard of the Ikon pass. :huh:
I agree on the obvious (to us) multi-resort pass that many skiers have no clue about. Still shocking to me!
Even though the IKON pass was new, there were signs all over Deer Valley directing IKON pass holders where to pick up their tickets.:doh:

I know we're on the lunatic fringe here at Pugski, but I can't imagine researching for a vacation at one of these resorts and not seeing the benefit of a pass over paying day ticket prices.

But I did just hop on Epic’s Pass website and it appears that you can’t buy the Epic pass now, they’re done selling them for the season. So I guess if you didn’t plan ahead, you don’t have another choice other than paying for day tickets if you want to ski.
I realize that the pass product is no longer for sale, but you'd think that someone planning a vacation would have done some research on ticket prices for their vacation and see the pass prior to it going off sale.
 

DanoT

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A lot of resorts offer day tickets at up to 40% off when purchased online in advance and for a specific date, or some lodges offer attractively priced ski and stay packages. So you don't really know what amount a person wearing a lift ticket actually paid.
 

RobSN

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That’s insane. One day is a third of my season pass here.
One day is 110% of my season pass at Snowbowl - but then again, I snagged the "Old and crotchety" (65+) + "Weekday only" on a special sale of $199 at the end of last season! If you're retired and you don't like the absolutely mad crowds at the weekend anyway, a weekday only pass works out just fine.

But on Vail, my avatar is from Vail in December 1982 and although I only skied it in the winters of 1982-4, I have always looked back on it with fondness - but I have to say, absent an Epic Pass or a working Powerball ticket (all mine have previously been faulty models), at these prices that may well be the only way I'll look at it.
 

SSSdave

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Every day I ski Heavenly, I see long lines at the Gondola building walk up ticket windows. Of course some are redeeming discount ticket vouchers but expect significant numbers are not. Truth is there have always been numbers of wealthier people that just push through life activities ignoring costs as they have so much that even lift tickets are trivial. And then there are those of ordinary wealth that rarely plan anything that wake up each day and decide what to do then muddle along smiling with their head in the sand. Same people that driving up to Reno or South Lake Tahoe to gamble despite all the media news like tv showing a big winter storm is arriving that are caught on I80 by tv reporters, without tire chains, wearing shorts and t-shirts, no food but yeah 6-packs of beer, grinning out their car windows like clueless morons, stuck at some chain check point.
 
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mdf

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I think the fact that mulit-resort season passes aren't sold during the season catches many people by surprise. It is not that unusual to plan a February vacation in December, especially members of your group have potential time conflicts you have to work around.

The single-mountain passes are mostly available all season long.
 

David Chaus

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I was appalled at walk-up ticket prices, and even the discounted, online advance day ticket prices, or the Buddy ticket/Ski with Family or Friends tickets that I found. It made more sense for me to buy my SO an Ikon Pass to join me for my Gathering road trip, even though she won’t ski nearly as many days as I will. Just brought it last week.
 

OldJarhead

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The below discussion comes from Facebook and has some validity to it.
Ridiculous.
Gotta buy a pass, if the number of days skiing justifies it.

  • Lee Kniess
    I bought my first ski pass at Camelback in the 70s solely because I ski enough days to MORE than justify the cost. That aspect of skiing has not changed and will not change. If YOU don't plan ahead you will pay the cost.​
  • Darcy Canu
    Most folks aren’t lucky enough to be able to get to the slopes a lot, like you n me; children, jobs, family get into the mix.
    At the mtn I ski at, 4 day tickets are now more than I paid for my pass.
    I DID plan ahead, but families that would like to ski just can’t invest that kinda $ in family passes, and the travel, and food, and the stay.
    It’s a poor situation and getting worse. Fewer future skiers.​
    I could not afford to ski the Epic Mountains near me without the Epic Military Veteran Pass. The difference between the Regular Epic Pass and the Epic Military Pass is enough to take a second look at just skiing Ski Santa Fe - since I can ski there for free and skiing Taos only during their https://taos.org/events/not-forgotten-veteran-outreach-appreciation-ski-week/. I am willing to ski at Ski Cooper because they offer a good discount for old people and there are some inexpensive accommodations in the Leadville, Co area.​

 

OldJarhead

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Not just Epic but multi- resort pass in general. I skied DV the lead in Sat of the President week last season. Mamie and I split up for the singles line a lot. Most of the skiers we rode with were skiing with day tickets. Many never heard of the Ikon pass. :huh:
They have enough money that it doesn't make any difference. I doubt if many of those you saw in those lines rode the bus from downtown SLC to DV.
 

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