For 20's Pass!!!!!

[Hawk]

Holy crap!! This is going to put the party back into the Place! They anounced a $299 pass for anyone 19 to 29. They better extend the hours at the Castlerock!!!!

Good luck Shawn.

[madhavok]

Apparently, at least to Sugarbush, once you hit 30 its not difficult to pay the mortgage, taxes, kids and the sport we love! Its obviously so much easier that we should pay over 4 times as much for a season pass just to subsidize the twenty somethings. Sign me up!

[HowieT2]

Apparently, at least to Sugarbush, once you hit 30 its not difficult to pay the mortgage, taxes, kids and the sport we love! Its obviously so much easier that we should pay over 4 times as much for a season pass just to subsidize the twenty somethings. Sign me up!

I hear ya brother!

[Tin Woodsman]

Can't please everyone I guess. Show me another major mountain with deep discounts for 30-somethings. Good luck with that.


From my view, it's a really smart move. Got to build that next generation while they're young and impressionable.

Also, I love the name of the pass. Very sneaky marketing to that age group.

[Nick]

Damnit. I just turned 30 last November

[VTFallLine]

Thankyou Sugarbush! For keeping me Better Here, on the East Coast, for another year! Now I can afford what I love, and water for my Cup'ONoodles!

[win]

The ski industry has a long-term challenge. People in their twenties are not skiing as frequently as the Baby Boomer generation did. This Boomer poplulation bubble of 76 million people is unfortunately maturing and skiing less as they age. At Sugarbush we have very few passholders in their twenties, so we view this as an investment in our future to continue to be sustainable and thus make Sugarbush a better place for all as we continue to investment in improvement each year. It is an experiment, so we will see what happens but sales on the first day are encouraging.

[HowieT2]

This is a great idea.
Other than word of mouth, is there any additional marketing going into this?

[win]

We are mostly using social media for this demographic and hoping word of mouth will work as well.

[madhavok]

I get the concept but it doesn't work for me and herein lies the problem.

Sugarbush is practically giving away season passes to twenty some things who are going to ski their asses off this winter. The reason they will ski a lot is because they have the time and but not the bills. The $299 season pass is super sweet and will get maximized use. I understand the fact Sugarbush believes this group is their future and the idea that if you throw them a bone now, they’ll return the favor later, but we’ll see.

Now take the rest of the customers, 30+ such as myself. Just for starts let me tell you I’m dying to buy a season pass at good price. However you could give me a season pass for free and I couldn’t ski half as much as when I was in my twenties. I have real expenses like a mortgage, property taxes and mouths to feed, not just a piddly car payment and rent. I suppose you can say it is difficult to afford the sport I love. However, sadly there is no deal for me and I won’t be buying a season pass for $1259 or $1569. I get alienated by the deal for twenty somethings and I’ll ski Sugarbush even less, which is really too bad because I’m responsible for a couple of future skiers and before you know it they’ll be ready for the slopes.

Good luck with the experiment.

[HowieT2]

not for 'nothing, but some brochures/flyers for the ski shops might help. also, would love to see some SB presence at NYC ski movie events this year. I know you all go to the big Boston thing and NYC doesnt have anything like that, but sending someone down for a weekend with some shwag cant be that big of an investment.

[Hawk]

I dont' get it Madhavok. Everytime there is a benefit that doesn't work for you you get all bent out of shape. Skiing is an expensive sport for a family. Most families that ski do it at cheaper hills or do what they have to do to make it work or cut down on the skiing. This is the nature of the beast. But the mountain does not owe it to eveybody to make it cheap. It is what it is and bitching about it is not going to change the reality. They have to make money somewhere to keep it a business. I pay my bill and thank them everyday they are open. For what I get, it is reasonalble and in line with other big resorts.

Sugarbush is gambling that this will grow future business. This is needed and I think a good idea.

[summitchallenger]

I'm 31 and was a passholder at SB for a long time. I was a passholder in College, grad school, and did the 'College + 1' pass my last year. I've also bought adult passes after. I think that this is a good idea. Sure one way to look at it is that "full price folks are subsidizing it," but then again, we are all subsidizing (1) the free matching kid passes for any pass deal, and (2) any discounted day promos. The truth is that we passholders, who ski many days and end up only paying a fraction of the full window rate in the end, are being subsidized by the folks who show up on a holiday weekend and pay the full window price.

It is great that SB is so responsive and is willing to try it. I know that there are many other places that, (1) don't care about trying new things or being as responsive, and (2) prefer to remain distant from their customer base and do whatever they want. One only think about our neighbor to the south. I'd rather have SB trying to be proactive and listening to folks than ignoring us. How many ski area owners come onto an internet chat room to comment on it?

[Tin Woodsman]

I dont' get it Madhavok. Everytime there is a benefit that doesn't work for you you get all bent out of shape. Skiing is an expensive sport for a family. Most families that ski do it at cheaper hills or do what they have to do to make it work or cut down on the skiing. This is the nature of the beast. But the mountain does not owe it to eveybody to make it cheap. It is what it is and bitching about it is not going to change the reality. They have to make money somewhere to keep it a business. I pay my bill and thank them everyday they are open. For what I get, it is reasonalble and in line with other big resorts.

Sugarbush is gambling that this will grow future business. This is needed and I think a good idea.

QFT.

If you can't afford a pass, as I can't, there are plentyof other means to satusfy your skiing jones at an affordable price. You can buy discount tickets through a ski club. You could always get a Mt. Ellen pass for short money. If that's not good enough for you, I wish you the best of luck in finding a more reasonable pricing structure at one of SB's main competitors. You simply won't find it, so your choice is to either ski at a cheaper family hill, find a way to work the system to make SB affordable for you, or to not ski at all.

Coming in here and complaining that there aren't enough discounts specifically applicable to your life situation is unlikely to result in any sort of positive outcome, and sort of makes you sound a wee bit entitled.

[madhavok]

Hawk,

I apologize for not liking something that does nothing to improve my experience. As I already stated I understand the concept and the fact Sugarbush is a business. As such if the marketing geniuses say this will bring in future dollars go for it.

On the other hand I hope Sugarbush monitors both pros and cons of their new policy. Yes skiing is an expensive sport but don’t tell me it’s more expensive to for twenties than young families in thirties. But like you mentioned we have to make it work whether that’s cutting back, cheaper hills, touring or whatever and if my tots aren’t the future for Sugarbush so be it.

I have much on my plate, so I’m not going into this anymore than that. However I’d like to leave one suggestion:

Perhaps more is less. Simplify the season passes; get rid of the shenanigans of College, Graduate, Twenties, Ellen and Ellen Plus, Adult 5, etc. There should be a season pass and if you price it at the right value there is a huge customer base that’s been waiting to buy one. And not for nothing but I firmly maintain these people will spend more money without really spending additional hours riding the lift.

On Saturday I buy a ticket for $80 and I’m skiing 9:30 – 4:00, packing my own lunch, my own beer, my own dinner and not skiing Sunday. On iffy days I don’t even go to the mountain. However get a season pass in my hand and all of a sudden I only ski a half day, and I didn’t have to break open the wallet when I got here, so I buy lunch & a beer, maybe I take the family to dinner. And Sunday and that iffy day maybe I ski for a couple hours but I go to the mountain and that’s more opportunity to spend money. The experience grows as do my guests and word of mouth. All while the business got my money up front.

If you want to hit people up hard, we’ll ski hard, go home and sleep in. Maybe a study on skier behavior and spending is in order.
At any rate; this twenty something deal only makes me feel less valued and that’s not going to boost my spending at Sugarbush.


Tin,

I've already heared a few grumbles around the valley about eliminating certain discounts which i'm not going to discuss, so who know who knows what ski club discounts will be at this point but probably more $$. And its not about me getting a deal because of my situation, in fact there should be no deals just one season pass priced at the right value.