New Ticket Prices Are Out Of Control

[EXskier]

$82 for Saturdays and Holidays?! I don't know about you but I am one of the lucky ones who still have a job. That being said, I make less than I did 2 years ago and haven't had a raise in 2 years. I think most people are in the same boat. All the while prices have been going up in every aspect of life, food, cars, skiing. Something has got to give. I haven't been able to fill my ski house this year and these ticket prices certainly won't help. One more year of not filling my ski house and i will have to sell. That will be 17 people who won't be back skiing the Bush on a regular basis, but I guess making Sugarbush an upscale mtn is all about refining the Clientele.

[TimKeogh]

I hate to admit this, but my family will be spending more of our ski dollars at Jay Peak this year.
I truly love the Sugarbush experience, but a $47 Vermonter rate compared to what I pay for even discounted lift tickets at SB is just too much.

As a believer in the free market system and healthy competition, I wish Win and all his crew the best!
Go after the most profitable segment of the market you can find and set prices to what the market will bear.

[WWF-VT]

$82 for Saturdays and Holidays?! I don't know about you but I am one of the lucky ones who still have a job. That being said, I make less than I did 2 years ago and haven't had a raise in 2 years. I think most people are in the same boat. All the while prices have been going up in every aspect of life, food, cars, skiing. Something has got to give. I haven't been able to fill my ski house this year and these ticket prices certainly won't help. One more year of not filling my ski house and i will have to sell. That will be 17 people who won't be back skiing the Bush on a regular basis, but I guess making Sugarbush an upscale mtn is all about refining the Clientele.

17 people in a ski house that ski Sugarbush on a regular basis and you are buying day tickets ? Helluva lot more economical to buy an early bird season pass or at least a SugarDirect card.

[kcyanks1]

$82 for Saturdays and Holidays?! I don't know about you but I am one of the lucky ones who still have a job. That being said, I make less than I did 2 years ago and haven't had a raise in 2 years. I think most people are in the same boat. All the while prices have been going up in every aspect of life, food, cars, skiing. Something has got to give. I haven't been able to fill my ski house this year and these ticket prices certainly won't help. One more year of not filling my ski house and i will have to sell. That will be 17 people who won't be back skiing the Bush on a regular basis, but I guess making Sugarbush an upscale mtn is all about refining the Clientele.

17 people in a ski house that ski Sugarbush on a regular basis and you are buying day tickets ? Helluva lot more economical to buy an early bird season pass or at least a SugarDirect card.

Or try to join a ski club and get club rates, which last year were $49, I believe. The club I join won't work for EXskier, probably, because it has a lodge and does bus trips from NY, and that's not something he'd want to pay for. But I figure other clubs exist that may work out.

[Hawk]

Not out of control but in line with similar resorts. A brief look around shows that Killington is getting $82 for a weekend day. Stowe $ 89. Sunday River $74. NH resorts are all in the 70's. I guess Smugs, Jay and MRG are cheeper.

Now this is skiing. Who said it was going to be cheep? I always look at the cost of a round of golf and think that a round of golf is about $100 and it only takes about 5 hours. Now which is more fun? Golf? I think not! :wink:

[vonski]

The sugar direct card is the way to go for non-pass holders if u want to ski the whole mountain. But it does nothing to promote Ellen further. It is only good on an all mountain ticket. Perhaps that should be looked at closer and give the discount on Ellen only ticket as well. That would put the price at last years price for an Ellen ticket or at least close. This will not impact me as I did buy my pass in April, but it will impact my friend who would ski with me as he holds off on the pass all the time. The one year he did buy one he broke his arm in January falling of his roof so he is gun shy.

It is also only for the Sat and Holiday, so it looks like they are trying to maximize on the busiest days of the year. They do need to make their money. I think advertising the price increases would have promoted pass sales as It truely is a no brainer in regards to buying one in April. Think Snow!!!

[TreeBandit]

This is why I buy a season pass that pays for itself in ~15 day. Last year I got 50 days. I also believe that you get what you pay for with respect of ticket price.

We all like the new features at SB and these cost money. Yes I could ski MRG, if I want to wait in a lift line for single chair and get 5 runs in a day. i could also go to Jay (I do like this mountain), but I like the 5 mile drive to SB from my place. When we were looking for a ski house we looked in ME, VT and NH, heck I used to work at Okemo for 9 years.....but we came back to SB because of the mtn and what the area offered.

I do agree that many of us, me included have not received an income increase in multiple years and I have had to cut cost were I can, heck last year just the gas alone to get to SB was $100 for a weekend.

There are other options as people have pointed out for saving money and buying ski tickets, as you have to look at total cost. What is the extra cost to drive to Jay as you need to tack that cost to the price of a pass.

As a note, I just bought a Family Card for MRG so that my child could ski free there when she wants.

my $0.02

[summitchallenger]

As said, get the Sugarcard or a pass. If you are skiing enough, it is worth it.

[Lostone]

Can't argue that isn't high, but it is the biggest bang for the buck, charging more for the busiest times.

Consider the Sugar Direct. $99 gives you a free ticket. That means that you get it for $17, over the Saturday price. Then you save 20-25% off the daily price and get the 11th day for free. That is an additional 10% off.


Also, consider skiing Sundays, instead of Saturdays. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people not show up for a Sunday Powder day, after they skied a just ok, Saturday.

Of course, I never suggest that people ski on a powder day. :wink: Powder makes you stupid! 8)

[Xskier]

THe people that join my house for the most part don't ski more than 8 days a year so a pass does not work for them and also the direct to lift pass won't work either, unless you ski at least 12 days (to get that last free ticket). Most join a ski club in CT, but those deadlines have come and gone. So any new memembers will be looking at dishing out $82 for a lift ticket. Most everyone except passholders only ski on Saturday. Killington and Sunday River has cheap pass options ($699 with black out dates for the WHOLE Mtn). I wonder who copied who but if you look at the Lift Ticket Prices for Sugarbush and Killington they are exactly the same for Saturday/Holiday and the rest of the week. Stowe is more, but if i wanted to be at Stowe, pay stowe prices, and act like a Stowe snob i would have bought a house there 12 years ago instead of Sugarbush. Now it seems like Sugarbush is trying to become Stowe. I personally wouldn't care if I was a skier renting a spot in a house because I have always bought passes, but being a home owner who needs the ski share income to keep the house this is having a huge impact.

[summitchallenger]

THe people that join my house for the most part don't ski more than 8 days a year so a pass does not work for them and also the direct to lift pass won't work either, unless you ski at least 12 days (to get that last free ticket). Most join a ski club in CT, but those deadlines have come and gone. So any new memembers will be looking at dishing out $82 for a lift ticket. Most everyone except passholders only ski on Saturday. Killington and Sunday River has cheap pass options ($699 with black out dates for the WHOLE Mtn). I wonder who copied who but if you look at the Lift Ticket Prices for Sugarbush and Killington they are exactly the same for Saturday/Holiday and the rest of the week. Stowe is more, but if i wanted to be at Stowe, pay stowe prices, and act like a Stowe snob i would have bought a house there 12 years ago instead of Sugarbush. Now it seems like Sugarbush is trying to become Stowe. I personally wouldn't care if I was a skier renting a spot in a house because I have always bought passes, but being a home owner who needs the ski share income to keep the house this is having a huge impact.

One last thing you can do is get discounted tickets. Sugarbush does not hide the fact that they sell them at many places. (http://www.sugarbush.com/vermont-skiing-snowboarding/discount-lift-tickets)

I certainly understand the frustration. I'm local and I make a fraction of what people outside the state make at the same job. In May I really :!: when I put down the $$$ for a Ellen Plus Pass, but I will use it. If I only skied 8 days I'd also be :roll: if not :x but apparently SB has data to suggest that they don't have a lot of people who ski the place 8 days or less.

[TimKeogh]

THe people that join my house for the most part don't ski more than 8 days a year so a pass does not work for them and also the direct to lift pass won't work either, unless you ski at least 12 days (to get that last free ticket). Most join a ski club in CT, but those deadlines have come and gone.

Xskier - Bulk Buy ticket deadline has passed. The price was $54 for an all-mountain, no-blackout ticket. But there are still options. CSC awareness days have $35 SB tickets on Jan 8/9/10 and Mar 24/25/26. There is also a exchange platform where you can purchase SB tickets from other valid CSC members.

This can still be a good deal .... if .... you use them all or sell (to valid members) the unused tickets, because SB only redeems 85%. I got burned last year by this.

So my plan is to ski CSC awareness days only and hopefully buy some tickets in the exchange in Feb/Mar. Jay Peak will be my primary mountain now.

This bums me out because if I got a 100% redeem rate, I would buy like 25 tickets @ $54 and end up spending a lot more $$$ in Castlerock pub & the restaurant and ski school...

[skierdon]

MRG is right around the corner if you don't like Sugarbush prices. You can stock up on Mad cards and people are only paying about $40 a ticket.

[WWF-VT]

This bums me out because if I got a 100% redeem rate, I would buy like 25 tickets @ $54 and end up spending a lot more $$$ in Castlerock pub & the restaurant and ski school...

I am not sure how you spread around 25 tickets but 25 x $54 = $1350. For $999 I bought an all mountain season pass that also includes a pass for my 11 year old son.

[gone.skiing]

You could also do Mt. Ellen on Sat and LP on Sunday. There are ways to save some... Prices still bite though. I have been trying to get friends that only ski a few times a year to come up for a weekend and with these prices I am not sure how many will actually do it.

[TimKeogh]

This bums me out because if I got a 100% redeem rate, I would buy like 25 tickets @ $54 and end up spending a lot more $$$ in Castlerock pub & the restaurant and ski school...

I am not sure how you spread around 25 tickets but 25 x $54 = $1350. For $999 I bought an all mountain season pass that also includes a pass for my 11 year old son.


2 Adults, 1 teenager. but thanks..

[ski_resort_observer]

As said, get the Sugarcard or a pass. If you are skiing enough, it is worth it.

Michael, I know you meant to say the SugarDirect card, Sugarcard is not availible anymore although honored for one more season, but lets not make this more confusing if we can help it. :D

[summitchallenger]

As said, get the Sugarcard or a pass. If you are skiing enough, it is worth it.

Michael, I know you meant to say the SugarDirect card, Sugarcard is not availible anymore although honored for one more season, but lets not make this more confusing if we can help it. :D

Who is Michael? I'm summitchallenger. :wink:

I forgot about the change......

[klop]

We have a friend from Colorado staying with us who purchased a pass good all year at A. Basin, Keystone and Breckenridge for $420. She lives in Ft. Collins which is about as close to these resorts as Boston is to Sugarbush. Why are Eastern resort passes so expensive? I'm sure someone has looked at the economics of this - please enlighten me.

[summitchallenger]

We have a friend from Colorado staying with us who purchased a pass good all year at A. Basin, Keystone and Breckenridge for $420. She lives in Ft. Collins which is about as close to these resorts as Boston is to Sugarbush. Why are Eastern resort passes so expensive? I'm sure someone has looked at the economics of this - please enlighten me.

In a word, snowmaking.

[klop]

Got it.

[Tin Woodsman]

We have a friend from Colorado staying with us who purchased a pass good all year at A. Basin, Keystone and Breckenridge for $420. She lives in Ft. Collins which is about as close to these resorts as Boston is to Sugarbush. Why are Eastern resort passes so expensive? I'm sure someone has looked at the economics of this - please enlighten me.

In a word, snowmaking.

It's more than that. It's also supply and demand.

In Colorado, you've got at least 5-6 huge resorts and another 3-4 modestly sized ones fighting for a share of skier traffic from the 4 million people living on the Front Range.

In the East, you've got a handful of premier resorts within a 5-6 hour drive of over 30 million people. The resorts charge what the market will bear.

[ski_resort_observer]

We have a friend from Colorado staying with us who purchased a pass good all year at A. Basin, Keystone and Breckenridge for $420. She lives in Ft. Collins which is about as close to these resorts as Boston is to Sugarbush. Why are Eastern resort passes so expensive? I'm sure someone has looked at the economics of this - please enlighten me.

Snowmaking is part of it but IMHO the main reason is close competition. It wasn't that long ago when all the Summit County resorts including Keystone and Copper had an old fashion price war just like if your an old fart like me who remembers the gas war in towns in the south. The competition is still pretty hot plus many of the destination western resorts suffered greatly last winter due to the economy....like Vail. They want to get those people back. Check the SP prices at JH, Telluride or Sun Valley and I bet they are pretty high.

In the east when ASC was on their last leg they decided to offer a super cheap multi eastern resort pass a few years ago. Obviously they hoped low prices would result in more skiers. The complete opposite effect resulted as kmart went from 1m+ to 750,000 visits that's a 25% decrease. Mt Snow suffered a 19% decrease. This is right before new ownership took over both. From the many people I have talked to they bolted from kmart basically from the you get what you pay for mentality. The new ownership at kmart basically doubled the SP prices and the kmart regulars were not happy plus other changes Powdr put in.

Competition is mostly local so there is no real direct corralation between western or eastern resorts as far as season pass prices. There really isn't one between western resorts unless they are reasonably close to eachother. Breck doesn't care much what the prices are at JH but not only do they keep a close eye on Copper and Vail they may even still send staff to count cars and vicea versa. Counting cars was a very popular practice in the east back in the 90's.

Course there are exception to all this. For example, even tho all the people driving to Aspen from Denver drive past alot of major resorts like Vail, Copper and Breck(just off I70) plus others they still seem to do okay cause Aspen is such a strong brand in the ski resort biz.

[Yard Sale]

A day pass at Ski Dubai is $300! Don't even get me started.

http://www.skidxb.com/English/pricing_eng.aspx?mid=1&sid=9

[WWF-VT]

We have a friend from Colorado staying with us who purchased a pass good all year at A. Basin, Keystone and Breckenridge for $420. She lives in Ft. Collins which is about as close to these resorts as Boston is to Sugarbush. Why are Eastern resort passes so expensive? I'm sure someone has looked at the economics of this - please enlighten me.

I believe that the operating cost structure is different for western resorts and as others have stated there is almost a price war in Colorado between Vail Resorts, Intrawest and SkiCo that all own multiple resorts in that state. While they may sell a lot of low cost passes the real revenue for them is being big '"destination" resorts where people pay top dollar for their ski vacations.

[win]

xskier,

I don't think you are looking at the Sugar Direct correctly. Pay $99 and you get a free ticket which is worth $82 on a Saturday or Holiday. Ski two days and your average cost is $82. Ski 4 and it is $74. Ski 8 and it is $70. Ski 11 and it is $63. You also get a 15% discount on midweek lodging and 10% discount on dining at Timbers and 10% discount on tuning. If you ski at least three days this is the product ot buy and it is less than last year's peak window rate without any value given to the discounts.

[Xskier]

What was last years non-holiday saturday ticket prices? I forget. I will direct any additional members (if i have any luck finding any) to the Sugarbush Direct card. But it is a bummer when you have to work the best available discount program just to get back to last years window prices, but I guess at least there is one remaining carrot to through to prospective members. I just don't know how much longer the ski industry can keep hiking prices while the rest of us are making no more money. We may all run out of other things to sacrifice. Its been 8 years since I have been physically able to ski so none of this affects me from a skiing point of view, but I have kept the house in case miraculously I can ski again some day. But I need the shares to keep it going. And as the price goes up the pool of people that spend that kind of money and want to do ski shares shrinks. If i could still ski I wouldn't care what the cost was. I used to buy a pass every year no matter how much it was..

[win]

They were $72 for an all-mountain. So this year it is $5 more. If you ski more at least three days, the Sugar Direct gets you a price point less than last year, and you only have to go to the ticket window once.

[Oakridge]

A day pass at Ski Dubai is $300! Don't even get me started.

http://www.skidxb.com/English/pricing_eng.aspx?mid=1&sid=9

But did you see what is included for your $300 - skis or snowboard, jacket, boots, pants, helmets for kids.
And, climate controlled so every day is perfect - pleasant temperature, no wind, no whiteouts, no rain. It's a sure thing all the time. No bad days. So, maybe the price isn't all that exhorbitant considering the foregoing, and considering its location with no other ski resorts anywhere near it to compete with.

[Plowboy]

A day pass at Ski Dubai is $300! Don't even get me started.

http://www.skidxb.com/English/pricing_eng.aspx?mid=1&sid=9

But did you see what is included for your $300 - skis or snowboard, jacket, boots, pants, helmets for kids.
And, climate controlled so every day is perfect - pleasant temperature, no wind, no whiteouts, no rain. It's a sure thing all the time. No bad days. So, maybe the price isn't all that exhorbitant considering the foregoing, and considering its location with no other ski resorts anywhere near it to compete with.

No Huey's Chute though. :(

[ScoobySnack]

They were $72 for an all-mountain. So this year it is $5 more. If you ski more at least three days, the Sugar Direct gets you a price point less than last year, and you only have to go to the ticket window once.

Isn't it now $10 more? A non-holiday Saturday is now $82, no? A 14% increase. Am I missing something? I hope so.

[Xskier]

That is what i was thinking.. A non Holiday Saturday is $10 more and it will take 6 days of skiing non holiday Saturdays to get back to last years price point using the Sugarbush direct card. Less if you ski a Holiday Saturday. So either way you look at it. Any new members are facing ticket prices of at least $70 when all is said and done.

[vonski]

That is what i was thinking.. A non Holiday Saturday is $10 more and it will take 6 days of skiing non holiday Saturdays to get back to last years price point using the Sugarbush direct card. Less if you ski a Holiday Saturday. So either way you look at it. Any new members are facing ticket prices of at least $70 when all is said and done.
That is only if they ski on Saturdays!

[ScoobySnack]

That is what i was thinking.. A non Holiday Saturday is $10 more and it will take 6 days of skiing non holiday Saturdays to get back to last years price point using the Sugarbush direct card. Less if you ski a Holiday Saturday. So either way you look at it. Any new members are facing ticket prices of at least $70 when all is said and done.
That is only if they ski on Saturdays!

Many of us have no other real choice but to primarily ski on Sat. Feels like a little bit of a hosing with a 14% price bump.

I did purchase a sugarcard (prior to hearing about the 14% increase), but think I might be skiing alone a bit more this year.

[007]

THe people that join my house for the most part don't ski more than 8 days a year so a pass does not work for them and also the direct to lift pass won't work either, unless you ski at least 12 days (to get that last free ticket). Most join a ski club in CT, but those deadlines have come and gone. So any new memembers will be looking at dishing out $82 for a lift ticket. Most everyone except passholders only ski on Saturday. Killington and Sunday River has cheap pass options ($699 with black out dates for the WHOLE Mtn). I wonder who copied who but if you look at the Lift Ticket Prices for Sugarbush and Killington they are exactly the same for Saturday/Holiday and the rest of the week. Stowe is more, but if i wanted to be at Stowe, pay stowe prices, and act like a Stowe snob i would have bought a house there 12 years ago instead of Sugarbush. Now it seems like Sugarbush is trying to become Stowe. I personally wouldn't care if I was a skier renting a spot in a house because I have always bought passes, but being a home owner who needs the ski share income to keep the house this is having a huge impact.

17 people x 8 days = 136 single day passes.
Have you asked management about purchasing bulk lift tickets in advance?
Maybe you could work in the discounted cost of 8 ski days into the seasonal membership at your house.... Just a thought.

[win]

I should have also mentioned earlier that we have a number of ski stores that sell our tickets offsite at a discount to the window price and that we will also be offering this year an online option for a two day ticket purchased 48 hours prior to use and non-refundable. We will have further details as we get closer to opening. There are quite a few ways, including staying in one of our lodging options, which allow you to pay less than the window rate. All of this will be available on the website shortly.

[asland]

Although there are some ways to save a few dollars as previously mentioned...

The fact of the matter is still that Sugarbush's daily lift ticket rates have spiraled out of control. In a down economy there will be a price paid by Sugarbush as people search and find cheaper alternatives. I count Sugarbush as my favorite ski area but these consistent rate hikes, bordering on crazy, have priced me right out of skiing there. It's to bad.

asland



I should have also mentioned earlier that we have a number of ski stores that sell our tickets offsite at a discount to the window price and that we will also be offering this year an online option for a two day ticket purchased 48 hours prior to use and non-refundable. We will have further details as we get closer to opening. There are quite a few ways, including staying in one of our lodging options, which allow you to pay less than the window rate. All of this will be available on the website shortly.

[summitchallenger]

Although there are some ways to save a few dollars as previously mentioned...

The fact of the matter is still that Sugarbush's daily lift ticket rates have spiraled out of control. In a down economy there will be a price paid by Sugarbush as people search and find cheaper alternatives. I count Sugarbush as my favorite ski area but these consistent rate hikes, bordering on crazy, have priced me right out of skiing there. It's to bad.

asland



I should have also mentioned earlier that we have a number of ski stores that sell our tickets offsite at a discount to the window price and that we will also be offering this year an online option for a two day ticket purchased 48 hours prior to use and non-refundable. We will have further details as we get closer to opening. There are quite a few ways, including staying in one of our lodging options, which allow you to pay less than the window rate. All of this will be available on the website shortly.

Well, with all of the improvements they have made to the mountain, and the increased cost of operating a business (snowmaking, electric, diesel, etc) what do you propose as a fair price?
And don't say free.

[asland]

Well, with all of the improvements they have made to the mountain, and the increased cost of operating a business (snowmaking, electric, diesel, etc) what do you propose as a fair price?
And don't say free.

1st - don't make any more improvements to the mountain unless they the improvement pays for itself. These constant improvements and then charging more to pay for the improvements is not a great business model in hard times. Also, for the general public the cost of electric and diesel has not gone up over the past year. Is that not true for Sugarbush? Cut back on the amount of snowmaking whenever possible if it is so crazy expensive.

2nd- I am not against the tiered payment where Saturday and Holiday skiers pay more. I think a good price would be $65 non-holiday and $70 for holiday. I only give this because you asked and my price only based off the fact that I can go to Austria and ski for 40 euros a day at a resort that dwarfs sugarbush (not a lot of snowmaking) or out west for consistently under $65. Again it's the constant massive increases (more than the yearly cost of living) more than the overall ticket price.

3rd - if you are going to have crazy ticket prices make it easier for regulars to get a season pass, ski daily...

If you could tier the season pass to include a non-holiday option you would get more people when the mountain is less crowded and less when it is more crowded and it would be more affordable.

Make it easier to get a deal on daily tickets including larger discounts at other ski stores, online coupons (Jay consistently have 2 for 1), more special days (bring a can and ski for ...) , VT discount days, buy tickets in advance to save, post tickets on liftopia... Make it easier for those who are looking for a deal to get one. Most people won't take advantage of it but those who need it will.

asland

[summitchallenger]

1st - don't make any more improvements to the mountain unless they the improvement pays for itself. These constant improvements and then charging more to pay for the improvements is not a great business model in hard times. Also, for the general public the cost of electric and diesel has not gone up over the past year. Is that not true for Sugarbush? Cut back on the amount of snowmaking whenever possible if it is so crazy expensive.

This point is moot because the improvements were made in 2006 and 2007 before the market tanked. The improvements this year were minimal at best. I would understand your point if they were opening the new skier services lodge, but they aren't because of your reasoning.


2nd- I am not against the tiered payment where Saturday and Holiday skiers pay more. I think a good price would be $65 non-holiday and $70 for holiday. I only give this because you asked and my price only based off the fact that I can go to Austria and ski for 40 euros a day at a resort that dwarfs sugarbush (not a lot of snowmaking) or out west for consistently under $65. Again it's the constant massive increases (more than the yearly cost of living) more than the overall ticket price.

This is an apples to oranges comparison. Austrian ski areas don't make snow, and some are public/private entities supported with government subsidies from what I have seen. When you factor in air fare to Austria, there is no comparison. Completely different markets.

As to the rest of the comments, which I can't quote because my post box is acting weird, I can only say again that the resort has a discount ticket link on it ad the pass options are tuned to what they think is appropriate. You walk a fine line because if you discount tickets too much, the passholders get mad and the value of the experience diminishes because there are too many people.

[asland]

This point is moot because the improvements were made in 2006 and 2007 before the market tanked. The improvements this year were minimal at best. I would understand your point if they were opening the new skier services lodge, but they aren't because of your reasoning.

If all these improvements were made during the 2006 and 2007 year why does Sugarbush need to implement a large increase in ticket sales this year?


This is an apples to oranges comparison. Austrian ski areas don't make snow, and some are public/private entities supported with government subsidies from what I have seen. When you factor in air fare to Austria, there is no comparison. Completely different markets.

Again, my point is the consistent massive increases and my hope is that Sugarbush can implement some lower priced season pass options that meet all of our needs...

but let's take a look at some other ski passes-

epic ski pass - $500
whiteface - $400 (non-holiday)
New England Pass - was something like $450???

again, they may be different markets, and some get funding differently, but all are making money with their models. Is sugarbush loosing money?


As to the rest of the comments, which I can't quote because my post box is acting weird, I can only say again that the resort has a discount ticket link on it ad the pass options are tuned to what they think is appropriate. You walk a fine line because if you discount tickets too much, the passholders get mad and the value of the experience diminishes because there are too many people.

http://www.sugarbush.com/vermont-skiing-snowboarding/discount-lift-ticketsjavascript:emoticon(':roll:') great discounts. (Just joking - I know they will be there soon.) but I hope Sugarbush can take some lessons for discounting tickets from some of it's neighbor ski areas.

[jwt]

There is a relationship between price and quality. $450 might get you on the mountain for less, but with far more people. All are closer to urban areas which all ski areas draw from. Competition between areas here are for more intense than from areas where there are fewr choices.

if you facter on the experience of snow, crowds, lifts, varied terrain - any any price, how soon is one bored from the backside of say, Mt Snow. Compare than to both North and South and the varied areas of expert terrain.

If the skier visits go down, as compared to indutry averages, then you can expect some adjustments. Beleieve it or not, most destination ski areas count on week long stays and rentals of units, food, etc far more than day trippers. Day trippers tend to ( generalization here)bag the lunch, get in the car and eat on the way home instead of a dinner at Timbers.

The operations themselves ( snow making lifts service, attendants, energy, etc) rarely pay for the investment or 'make money'. It is the r/e, food, and ancilary services that make or break a resort.

A resort is a minimal margin business in general. Look at ASC publically traded stock. If it were more profitable, there would be a lot more of those.

Some one once said if you own a sports team to make money, you're in the wrong business -look what the Red Sox did - sell tours of Green Monster' make higher end seating, and cater to wealthier customers, rent space for concerts ( no revenue sharing with the freakin labor unions of players) and did what it could to maximize cash flow. We have choices. Choices are good. Free markets work well when left to their own devices

[aejkb]

We are season ticket holders and that is clearly the best way to save on lift tickets prices, but where can I get lift ticket coupons/discounts to give to our many weekend guests?

[bill-now]

We are season ticket holders and that is clearly the best way to save on lift tickets prices, but where can I get lift ticket coupons/discounts to give to our many weekend guests?

Find someone who works for a company that is a member of http://www.workingadvantage.com I've bought lift tickets from them in the past; however they have not yet posted prices for this year.

Also http://perks.dell.com/offer/index/offerId/25668/uSource/SHC

[Xskier]

Well, with all of the improvements they have made to the mountain, and the increased cost of operating a business (snowmaking, electric, diesel, etc) what do you propose as a fair price?
And don't say free.

First, if my memory serves me right, pass prices are about the same as they were 10 years ago and I thank Win for taking care of the regular hardcore skiers. But for the skier who likes to ski and do apre ski, where are the improvements? There is no more snowmaking than there was 10 years ago. I remember skiing Jester Oct 30th and throughout the season the ski area making snow on no less trails at the same time as they do now. As bad as the castle rock pub was back then at least it wasn't in a basement and the Blue Tooth still lived and Gallaghers and MMT! The are few places in the valley were the good old days still live on. I know that the Blue Tooth needed a lot of work but I still think it was a sin to replace it with brand new 80's lodging..

[ski_resort_observer]

Well, with all of the improvements they have made to the mountain, and the increased cost of operating a business (snowmaking, electric, diesel, etc) what do you propose as a fair price?
And don't say free.

First, if my memory serves me right, pass prices are about the same as they were 10 years ago and I thank Win for taking care of the regular hardcore skiers. But for the skier who likes to ski and do apre ski, where are the improvements? There is no more snowmaking than there was 10 years ago. I remember skiing Jester Oct 30th and throughout the season the ski area making snow on no less trails at the same time as they do now. As bad as the castle rock pub was back then at least it wasn't in a basement and the Blue Tooth still lived and Gallaghers and MMT! The are few places in the valley were the good old days still live on. I know that the Blue Tooth needed a lot of work but I still think it was a sin to replace it with brand new 80's lodging..

The Castlerock Pub is not in a basement but on the first floor. In my view the old Castlerock Pub wasn't really a pub at all but a bar in the open middle of the old Gatehouse Lodge with a few stools. Plus it wasn't open into the evening hardly ever like the new one is now on weekends and holidays. Diferent strokes for diferent folks I guess. :D

Yup, Gallaghers, MMT, Blue Tooth and the Phoenix are gone but the Hyde-Away hasn't changed at all, the Den is a now a sports bar with multiple tv's, the Slide Brook Lodge, formally Peppers, is now a bar with music and the Local Home BBQ, formally MMT, has a popular bar with music. Easy Street Cafe/Purple Moon, formally Norms, has a bar with music as well.