There is a lot of sticker shock in snow sports right now. At several resorts across the country, daily lift tickets cost more than $300.
Why are prices so high, and what options do skiers have to plan ahead?
Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd spoke with Hal Singer, an economist and avid skier, about the forces behind recent price increases — including the growing popularity of the Ikon and Epic season passes and other bundle packages.
Here & Now also connected with spokespeople from Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Company to discuss how they’re responding to affordability concerns within snow sports. Their responses follow the interview.
4 Questions for Hal Singer
I know a lot of people are going to buy a season pass, and those are a lot cheaper than a day pass overall, but at this point is skiing out of reach for most people?
“It is out of reach for most people, and in particular is out of reach for those who wanted to support a local ski resort or too, you know, within a short drive.
“The ski resorts are catering to a certain class of customer now. And it’s not just the ski resorts. It’s the economy writ large. Airlines as well are catering to these wealthier clientele. I can’t think of a nicer name than jet setters who are willing to fly in and support a host of ski resorts under an all-inclusive pass.”
How dominant are Vail and Alterra right now?
“They’ve both used a similar strategy, and I think the easiest way to describe it is a two-part strategy involving first a roll-up of a whole bunch of independent resorts. And I’m talking, you know, over 20 resorts. And then part two is that after you bring all these formerly independent resorts into the fold, you can then introduce a bundle. And you can induce or coerce customers into taking the bundle by raising the daily lift prices for the individual resources that you’ve assembled in your portfolio.
“So now, people look at these standalone prices – these individual prices that are well over $300 – and they reason, you know, if I could just get out five or six days a year, I’d be better off buying this bundle. And so I do think it’s also leading to congestion problems that would not otherwise exist if people faced a per day price that they no longer face.”
These mountain towns are so expensive that people who work on the mountain have a very difficult time living anywhere nearby. How does that factor into ski resort economics?
“We’ll just pick on Telluride. Ski patrollers there had a dispute over about a $7-per- hour wage increase. This owner would sooner shutter the resort than lift the wages and the incomes of these critical workers by just a few dollars an hour. I think the ultimate settlement, it’s hard to get a handle on it, but they say it kind of was half of what the ski patrol was asking for. And something similar happened in Park City.
“I think that it creates a real bad taste, at least in my mouth, to know that these owners who are just raking it in can’t even summon the goodwill to pay a little more for an essential input to run a ski resort safely.”
What’s the future look like for older school independent resorts?
“Oh, it’s very grim. And again, I’m going to go back to the bundle. And so, if I’m considering where to go next with my son, we both have the Ikon Pass. And we’re not going to pick a place that’s outside of our coverage because if we do, if we go to an independent, it’s going to cost us $200 or $300 a day.
“So, it’s really put independent resorts at a competitive disadvantage and there’s almost no price that they can charge to induce someone who’s already bought a bundle to go support them. And so, as a result, I think that they’re going to be under tremendous pressure to sell out to one of these two behemoths who are rolling up the entire industry. ”
Questions for Vail and Alterra
On the expense of skiing and the options available to customers
From Vail:
“Beyond the full Epic Pass, we also offer Epic Day Passes, offering one to seven days of skiing and riding with three tiers of mountain access, starting as low as $47 per day for mountains like Mt Sunapee and Wildcat in New England. Like the full Epic Pass, this offer is meant to reward guests who plan ahead.”
From Alterra:
“The 25/26 Ikon Pass prices started at $259, with renewal discounts and promotional prices offered to pass holders and designed to provide additional value. Ikon Pass benefits also include discounted 25 percent off friends and family tickets – and discounts on lodging, food and retail.
“Ski resorts like Sugarbush offer even more flexibility with deals such as the $99 TBD Ticket, $49 Thursdays at Mt. Ellen, Quad Packs, and the Groundhog Special, providing plenty of ways to save with a little bit of planning ahead.”
On crowds
From Vail:
“Two things can be true: If you go skiing on a holiday weekend or on Christmas day, you may encounter a lift line, just as you would have encountered lift lines decades before the Epic Pass was even introduced. But it’s also true that, thanks in large part to the investments we’ve been able to make in lift upgrades across our resorts, lift line wait times have decreased year over year for the past four years—including weekends and holidays.
“Last season, on average, 97% of the time our lift lines were under ten minutes—and that includes on weekends and holidays.”
From Alterra:
“There are several factors that contribute to crowded conditions at a ski resort – from limited open terrain to infrastructure challenges to road/weather/snow conditions. Alterra Mountain Company invests heavily in staff and infrastructure projects designed to anticipate and resolve these challenges and continues to implement diverse solutions to ensure the safety for our guests and employees, as well as mitigate crowds during peak times – from reservations to parking incentives to midweek promotions and daily skier limits, and more.”
On resorts changing their economic structure
From Vail:
“While ski resorts used to largely operate in a “feast or famine” model where their ability to reinvest in their mountain was largely contingent upon the weather they faced in a given year and who showed up on a given weekend to ski, today’s advanced commitment model allows us to plan investments multiple years out — investments like millions of dollars in snowmaking, lift upgrades, and investments in our employees. We’ve been effective in driving advanced commitment from our guests, and today, 75% of our resort visits are from guests on a pass product.”
From Alterra:
“The ski industry is faced with various challenges – from the impact of climate change to the housing challenges and rising living costs affecting mountain communities. Just like Alterra Mountain Company destinations, smaller, independent resorts face additional strain from structural cost inflation – utilities, infrastructure, labor, insurance, and capital investment requirements have all escalated materially over the past few years. Those pressures exist for all destinations across the industry. For instance, the cost of lifts has gone up between 50 to 100% over the past five years.
“Alterra’s goal is to ensure a sustainable future for all in our industry.”
The interview and the responses to it have been edited for clarity.
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Will Walkey produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Todd Mundt. Walkey also adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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