Skiing 24-25 Season who/where/when?
Discussion
The_Doc said:
The video is about pushing people into a model of:
paying early in the pre season,
committing to the resorts owned by the mega group,
manipulating the prices in the resorts so that the 20% off seems like a good deal
And generally skewing the whole thing in the mega resorts favour.
Its is totally against the spontaneous skier who wants to do weekends here and there,
The skier who wants to visit non conglomerate resorts
A European skier who only does one week a year.
The video didn't really go on much about queues. But did comment that having bought the season pass, you are driven to the conglomerate's slopes, fuelling queues.
Its mega capitalism, with strategic decisions not made with the end user in mind, but made with profit in mind.
The comparotor was open competition between resorts in the 90s which drove prices down and the commentary was from an anti-trust lawyer, who obviously noted anti-trust and price collusion.
The end user is losing in this portrayal.
Sad.
This, exactly.paying early in the pre season,
committing to the resorts owned by the mega group,
manipulating the prices in the resorts so that the 20% off seems like a good deal
And generally skewing the whole thing in the mega resorts favour.
Its is totally against the spontaneous skier who wants to do weekends here and there,
The skier who wants to visit non conglomerate resorts
A European skier who only does one week a year.
The video didn't really go on much about queues. But did comment that having bought the season pass, you are driven to the conglomerate's slopes, fuelling queues.
Its mega capitalism, with strategic decisions not made with the end user in mind, but made with profit in mind.
The comparotor was open competition between resorts in the 90s which drove prices down and the commentary was from an anti-trust lawyer, who obviously noted anti-trust and price collusion.
The end user is losing in this portrayal.
Sad.
DJC76 said:
Speaking to some of the instructors at Whistler they think a lot of it is aimed at reducing the occasional day visitors from Vancouver who crowd the slopes at weekends/holidays etc and create those awful queues ruining it for the customers who spend more, they can still get their monies worth with a season pass if they ski about 2 weeks in the season. That and greed…
Eh? The problem with Whistler in recent years has been the cheap season passes. The breakeven is five and a bit days. 25/26 pass price is USD1051, day ticket this season is USD221. Even casual skiers in the Sea to Sky corridor now have passes, it means whenever there's a dump the resort fills with day trippers and the highway is mayhem. Casual day trippers won't in general spend CAD318 a day to tool around the pistes. They'll stay at Grouse or Seymour.
Source: my local friends after spending 25 years in Whistler, averaging four weeks a year in recent seasons.
Edited by Whoozit on Monday 10th March 17:06
Whoozit said:
DJC76 said:
Speaking to some of the instructors at Whistler they think a lot of it is aimed at reducing the occasional day visitors from Vancouver who crowd the slopes at weekends/holidays etc and create those awful queues ruining it for the customers who spend more, they can still get their monies worth with a season pass if they ski about 2 weeks in the season. That and greed…
Eh? The problem with Whistler in recent years has been the cheap season passes. The breakeven is five and a bit days. 25/26 pass price is USD1051, day ticket this season is USD221. Even casual skiers in the Sea to Sky corridor now have passes, it means whenever there's a dump the resort fills with day trippers and the highway is mayhem. Casual day trippers won't in general spend CAD318 a day to tool around the pistes. They'll stay at Grouse or Seymour.
Source: my local friends after spending 25 years in Whistler, averaging four weeks a year in recent seasons.
Edited by Whoozit on Monday 10th March 17:06
That’s not the way I would view the break even given that $221 per day on the day is clearly aimed to deter and only a madman would pay it, it would be fairer to compare it to the advance day rate, the break even then is about 2 weeks ish.
There were Americans ecen in Morzine last season for God's sake!
Admittedly my in-laws. Damn colonials.
They are coming again. They can't believe how cheap it is (and these are EPIC pass holders). Not just lift passes - accommodation. The chalet we rent os a fraction of the cost of the lodge they rent near Park City, for a nicer setting, as good facilities and nicer interior design.
They fly into Geneva from DC. Diplomatic route so loads of flights, easily available, relatively inexpensive. We pick them up on the drive down.
Admittedly my in-laws. Damn colonials.
They are coming again. They can't believe how cheap it is (and these are EPIC pass holders). Not just lift passes - accommodation. The chalet we rent os a fraction of the cost of the lodge they rent near Park City, for a nicer setting, as good facilities and nicer interior design.
They fly into Geneva from DC. Diplomatic route so loads of flights, easily available, relatively inexpensive. We pick them up on the drive down.
Amateurish said:
A Portes du Soleil season pass is €685 (£580) if you buy in April. Plus you get 10% off if you bought one the previous year.
That includes 5 days in the 4 Vallées.
Yes, it's very good value if you can get there regularly, 2 weeks is enough to break even.That includes 5 days in the 4 Vallées.
What concerns me if Operators in the Alps decide to follow suit (or operating costs trying to manage dwindling snow cover and building new lifts to extend or enhance ski areas) pushes lift pass prices up, on the basis that "US Market can handle it". (Well obviously it can't if it's driving people to fly across the Atlantic to go skiing).
However I hope that the way resort ski operation are owned and managed will prevent this.
prand said:
Amateurish said:
A Portes du Soleil season pass is €685 (£580) if you buy in April. Plus you get 10% off if you bought one the previous year.
That includes 5 days in the 4 Vallées.
Yes, it's very good value if you can get there regularly, 2 weeks is enough to break even.That includes 5 days in the 4 Vallées.
What concerns me if Operators in the Alps decide to follow suit (or operating costs trying to manage dwindling snow cover and building new lifts to extend or enhance ski areas) pushes lift pass prices up, on the basis that "US Market can handle it". (Well obviously it can't if it's driving people to fly across the Atlantic to go skiing).
However I hope that the way resort ski operation are owned and managed will prevent this.
timlongs said:
prand said:
Amateurish said:
A Portes du Soleil season pass is €685 (£580) if you buy in April. Plus you get 10% off if you bought one the previous year.
That includes 5 days in the 4 Vallées.
Yes, it's very good value if you can get there regularly, 2 weeks is enough to break even.That includes 5 days in the 4 Vallées.
What concerns me if Operators in the Alps decide to follow suit (or operating costs trying to manage dwindling snow cover and building new lifts to extend or enhance ski areas) pushes lift pass prices up, on the basis that "US Market can handle it". (Well obviously it can't if it's driving people to fly across the Atlantic to go skiing).
However I hope that the way resort ski operation are owned and managed will prevent this.
DJC76 said:
That’s not the way I would view the break even given that $221 per day on the day is clearly aimed to deter and only a madman would pay it, it would be fairer to compare it to the advance day rate, the break even then is about 2 weeks ish.
Even at two weeks, that means that keen-ish skiers in Pemberton, Squamish, and a large part of greater Vancouver will opt for a season pass. - *
- *
If one wants to, it’s easily possible to stand still in a queue for the Peak Chair or the Glacier Express for well over an hour awaiting for it to open on a fresh powder day. I’ve always been of the view that unless you’re in the first 30 in the queue, you might as well wait until later in the day.
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