Vail Resorts on Tuesday dropped a new product that the resort conglomerate hopes will end the persistent argument that skiing is too expensive. The “Epic for Everyone” offers pre-purchased lift tickets for as low as $89 a day, extending to infrequent skiers the same discounts delivered to Epic Pass buyers who paid as much as […]
Epic Pass
Posted inBusiness, Culture, News, Outdoors
What really led A-Basin to quit the Epic Pass cash cow? “Parking is our pinch point.”
The deluge of weekend Epic Pass skiers has forced Arapahoe Basin to abandon its decade-long partnership with Vail Resorts. “We are pretty darn full on weekends and we don’t need any more people on weekends. If anything, we could probably whittle those numbers down a little bit,” Arapahoe Basin’s longtime leader Alan Henceroth said Monday, […]
Posted inBusiness, Growth, News, Outdoors
Crested Butte may be the gem in Vail Resorts’ portfolio, but its lifts must be fixed before it can shine
MOUNT CRESTED BUTTE — The wind is blowing snow across the mountaintop. Temps are well below zero. Visibility is bad. “This is an adventure,” said Chris Jarnot, sidestepping in his K2 skis up a narrow ridge, heading toward Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s precipitous, powdery Teocalli Bowl. The executive vice president of Vail Resorts’ mountain division […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Slower growth in Epic Pass revenue, wider than expected first-quarter losses trigger steep drop in Vail Resorts stock
The rise of a competitor to Vail Resorts’ industry-transforming Epic Pass this year has slowed the growth in season-pass revenue for the continent’s largest resort operator, which on Friday announced a big boost in capital spending as yet another volley of a blossoming pass war. The market apparently did not like the decline in pass […]
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Alterra expects to sell 250,000 Ikon Passes, Vail Resorts says Epic Pass sales are up
VAIL — When executives from Vail Resorts and the nascent Alterra Mountain Company get together to discuss skiing, there are never fireworks. Or even a hint that the fiercely competitive rivals are locked in a raging season-pass battle. This is not surprising. Ski industry execs from competing companies do not gather in public meetings and […]
Posted inBusiness, Outdoors
At the height of the ski pass war, Wolf Creek — with its $70 lift ticket — remains defiantly independent
WOLF CREEK — As the first flakes frost the highest peaks, the Colorado-sparked season pass war is ablaze. It’s a new world for skiers, with resorts across the U.S. aligning into two distinct camps. In one corner, the nascent Alterra Mountain Company this week fired off a list of new partners for the Ikon Pass, which offers unlimited […]