The Indy Pass

[Harvey]

I assumed the reason they limit sales is that they have a very specific goal for passes sold, and they know they can sell that many in 12 (or whatever) days. Why not?

 

[MarzNC]

I do not understand why Indy closes down sales in the off season. I know the bs they advertise, but are there really problems with crowding from Indy pass holders? What did they figure out since they shut down sales and are now restarting sales Aug 28?

What's different is that Indy will have many more locations as of August 28. The contracts are, or at least have been, 1-year contracts. Getting all of them signed and sealed takes a while. They are also actively looking for new locations, not only in N. America but also on other continents.

 

[MarzNC]

At the start, the goal of Doug Fish for Indy was to provide revenue to participating resorts, along with national marketing that most didn't bother to deal with at all. Only 15% of the money taken in was kept by Indy. The "yield" is not nearly what a sold lift ticket would be, but it's still adds to the bottom line.

The original target market was people who skied less than 7 days a season, for whatever reason that skiing wasn't a high priority. The price point is set so that someone who uses it for 4-5 days can be happy enough. By the time Entabeni bought Indy, the target market had shifted to include an increasing number of people who plan trips farther than a few hours drive based on Indy. For those people, Indy has made them aware of places they never would've considered otherwise.

For myself, never would've planned a trip to Idaho to ski Tamarack and Brundage with Indy. I had a great time and consider Boise as a potential destination for a future trip.

Per usual, how people react is different by region. Using Indy in the northeast or mid-Atlantic is very different than in the PacNW or Utah. For people who can ski in more than one region, it can be a very good deal.

 

[gorgonzola]

I do not understand why Indy closes down sales in the off season. I know the bs they advertise, but are there really problems with crowding from Indy pass holders? What did they figure out since they shut down sales and are now restarting sales Aug 28?

The Eastern list (47 including xcountry areas) has about 3-5 areas that might see crowds on a weekend whether they are Indy or not. The other multi-pass options are always available in the off season and have price increases that force the pass decision. If the Indy was one of your choices and you cannot buy it (even if you want to), the Indy pass just lost another sale.

I just checked the Indy site today - if I want to buy a pass I need to get on a wait list??? To give you my money??? In August??? and maybe I get a pass on Aug 28 if I am on the list???? Hilarious.

How about set the 'limit' on pass sales and sell the passes until they 'run out' - you know , the same way Magic 'limits' lift ticket sales.Why all this nonsense about restarting sales?

marketing schtick

 

[x10003q]

I am not questioning the value of the Indy pass, just their method of starting, stopping and restarting pass sales. They know what they are selling, why all the mumbo jumbo? If they really follow limits, why not sell it out and be done with it?

 

[Brownski]

I think the idea is that as they add more hills, they increase the number of passes they’re willing to sell. So if they hadn’t added resorts, the limited number that were sold last spring would be it. We’ll probably start to hear about new ski hills in the next month or so. Maybe we’ll hear that Plattekill and the ORDA hills are onboard for this winter and all the people on the wait list will be jumping for joy. I mean, I doubt that will happen but maybe. Two days at MRG would be pretty cool.

 

[MarzNC]

Occurs to me that Indy cannot control how many passes are bought in each region. At this point, they know the usual distribution by region and how people in that region use Indy. If the number sold during each sales period were unlimited, could happen is that regions with higher population density and number of locations would be more likely to get overloaded. Consider the mid-Atlantic. There are several metropolitan areas within a half-day drive of 4-7 mountains that are all quite small. If those resorts felt that Indy was selling too many passes in their region and decided to pull out, that wouldn't be good in the long run.

Indy is up front about the Wait List process. Can't say that about the Mountain Collective in terms of how many MC passes are sold at the various price points. Also cannot predict based on past years when/if the price for the MC will increase.

 

[TheGreatAbyss]

Has MRG ever been on a multi pass before?

 

[MarzNC]

Has MRG ever been on a multi pass before?

Not exactly a multi-resort pass, but found this from 2012 . . . MRG working with Sugarbush. Of course, that was before Alterra bought Sugarbush.

October 2012

Sugarbush and Mad River Announce Partnership

SAM Magazine--Vermont, October 4, 2012--After a rocky 54-year history, Sugarbush Resort and Mad River Glen have declared a détente and are offering

www.saminfo.com

"After a rocky 54-year history, Sugarbush Resort and Mad River Glen have declared a détente and are offering joint season passes for the first time. . . ."

 

[Brownski]

I think the closest MRG came to a multi pass was the Champlain Valley Ski Card which was one day each at a dozen or so hills for like $90 or something. Maybe I’m misremembering the exact numbers but I remember it was an amazing value