Plattekill Conditions

[TheGreatAbyss]

The old Jiminy was a lot more like Plattekill. That six pac ruined the place.

When did that go in? Last time I was at Jiminy was like 12 years ago.

 

[Brownski]

When did that go in? Last time I was at Jiminy was like 12 years ago.

I’ve lost all sense of time. Wikipedia says 2000. I learned there in the late eighties, early nineties. It was really cool back then

 

[Ripitz]

It was really cool back then

You might have seen a kid in a blue CB jacket throwing sweet daffeys.

 

[Brownski]

You might have seen a kid in a blue CB jacket throwing sweet daffeys.

I had a hand-me-down red CB

 

[MarzNC]

Question about Plattekill season passes: how much have the prices changed since 2020?

 

[x10003q]

Here's what happened for Ikon for the 2023-24 season. I've been tracking Ikon in my own way since the first season. If you looked up Stuart's articles about multi-resort passes for the last couple years, he may mention the timing for price increases.

IKON SALES NOTES IN 2023
Early Mar: prices announced
~13Mar: sales begin
21Apr: deadline for renewal discount, lowest prices
??May: 2nd stage prices
13Oct: last price increase, $1309 Full, $979 Base, $1199 Base Plus (+150, 50, 50)
14Dec: last day to buy or defer to 2024-25

2023-24 IKON PRICES - renewal discount $100/$50
Full $1059->1159->1309,
Base Plus $1049->1149->1199,
Base $829->929->979;
Session 4-day ??->$469->539

I just paid $819 for my 2024-2025 Ikon base pass renewal including the $50 renewal discount. Last year the amount I paid for my Ikon base pass after the renewal discount was $779. It is still a huge deal.

 

[Harvey]

To me the main thing that stands out about the Plattekill pass price structure is just that it's pretty expensive relative to current industry norms, especially given the operating calendar. I don't mean that as a criticism or a claim that I know a better way to price it -- their ability to maintain operations and make regular infrastructure upgrades in a challenging environment is pretty good evidence that they have a business/pricing model that works on its own terms. But it suggests that the typical Plattekill pass holder is maybe motivated more by loyalty to the place than a strict expected-value calculation. And maybe ownership's focus is more on trying to deliver value to loyal return pass holders (eg through the growing reciprocal network) than by attracting new ones through price incentives.

This is very thoughtful response in my opinion.

The only thing I would change is I would remove "loyality" and replace it with "the quality of the experience."

 

[Harvey]

I think it's because he has to considering he's closed mid week. I guess the original calculation was:

1. We have a dedicated core skier base who own (or rent) in the area, and we don't want to give them much of a discount because they get the value prop and are going to buy anyway

2. To make a season pass attractive to everyone else while only being open 3 days a week, we'd have to discount it so much that it would negatively impact our revenue from the above group. Better to just sell them reasonably priced (and often discounted) lift tickets when they want to come.

The Hinkleys ran Plattekill for years as a weekend only place. When Laz bought the mountain out of bankruptcy in 1993 he tried 7 days a week and it almost put him under. The next year he went back to weekends.

Everybody makes their own value calculation. I can't figure out why someone buys an EV, but I accept that they are voting with their wallet.

You don't go up to a guy and say "why did you marry that girl?" You accept the fact that people's values are their own opinions, and they are entitled to them. If you run a business and no one values the experience, you go out of business. If you enter a market and most of your competitors go out of business, but you thrive and grow, you are doing something right.

 

[Ripitz]

Everybody makes their own value calculation.

Looking forward to some uphilling and hopefully another Powder Daize.

 

[TheGreatAbyss]

Everybody makes their own value calculation. I can't figure out why someone buys an EV, but I accept that they are voting with their wallet.

Not sure I'm following your comment our how the EV thread ended up in here, but I definitely get the value prop of Platty. That's why I drive farther then the 3 other Catskills options to go there, and with the partner network it's an even better proposition.

That doesn't change the math though that most people do in terms of how many days can I ski on this pass to make it worth it over just buying day tickets. Platty (before the new partner network) was hard to make that math work out, hence why I think they leaned into day tickets more then the rest of the industry is going.

The new partner network definitely changes that calculation, and I'll probably be a season pass holder again, just maybe not this year depending on my kid's maturity come the fall. Maybe well try again in the early fall at Big Snow and see how he does.