Three Colorado resorts break 300 dollars for lift tickets

[Benny Profane]

Lift tickets at 3 Colorado ski resorts break $300-level for last weekend in 2024

With the holiday weekend between Christmas and New Years Eve upcoming, three resorts in Colorado have single-day lift tickets breaking the $300 level.

denvergazette.com

 

[Deez]

Are there really that many people that can pay that ?

 

[Andy_ROC]

Are there really that many people that can pay that ?

I've seen figures of about 25%. But I'd guess that's probably more of an average and not specific to holiday weekend rates.

 

[Harvey]

I thought the point was that you by a pass instead?

What does the 25% refer to?

 

[MarzNC]

I thought the point was that you by a pass instead?

What does the 25% refer to?

What I read somewhere is that Vail Resorts has achieved 75% when it comes to usage of some sort of Epic pass. That includes Epic Day Passes (1-7 days), which can be a reasonable alternative for someone determined to do a ski vacation that includes 4-5 ski days at a destination resort. There are options for Epic Day Passes beyond the number of days. Can include holidays or not, and there are three tiers for which resorts are included.

 

[MarzNC]

A story . . .

In April 2023 my daughter was set for an April trip to SLC. My primary ski buddy and North Country School schoolmate, Bill, joined us. We were supposed to ski Snowbasin and Alta while staying in SLC before moving to Alta Lodge. But that was the silly spring when wet slides were closing the LCC road. My daughter was meeting up with a friend who was supposed to be at Alta Lodge that weekend but he and his father opted to switch to Canyons instead. So we skied Park City that Saturday. Bill had an Epic Pass and we used his two Buddy Passes for 50% off.

In the parking lot, we were parked next to a father and teenage son. They were from Dubai. The teen had researched where to go for a ski vacation and had picked Park City and Whistler. They didn't know about Epic passes. Don't know when the decision was made to make the trip, so might have been too late. It was clear money wasn't an issue, but the father sounded like he was going to remember to check out Epic in the future.

 

[Brownski]

Maybe I’m just a contrarian but nothing makes me want to buy a pass product less than a giant ski conglomerate jacking up its window price in order to coerce me into buying.

 

[Benny Profane]

That one day pass is close to a week at some Euro mega resorts. And the food is better.

 

[trackbiker]

I really think those high day passes are going to hurt the industry in the long run. New comers to skiing don't buy season passes and the high prices will drive them away. Add rentals and lessons to that ticket price and people are going to take up another sport or head to a warm place in the winter.

 

[MarzNC]

What are the highest day rates at resorts in NY or New England that are not Ikon or Indy? Meaning during the end of year holiday weeks.

As the growth in the Indy Pass has shown, the pendulum is swinging back towards ski areas/resorts that are within driving distance of people who live from Chicago and farther east. There is ski industry growth happening in the midwest and southeast, based on improvements in snowmaking in the last couple decades. For the southeast, the population shift that started in the 1980s is another factor.

Agree that headlines about $200+ day tickets are not good for the industry in general. But do people who aren't skiers/boarders read those articles?