Record snowfall draws highest-ever visits to Rocky Mountain ski areas and an all-time high of 67.4 million skier visits to U.S. ski resorts
ski passes
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Q&A: Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory steps back and reflects on next generation of ski resort bosses
The U.S. ski industry was forged by soldiers. We all know the story about 10th Mountain vets returning from war with visions of ski runs and chairlifts that would spark dozens of American resorts. Innovators who worked every job at the ski area took the reins from those soldiers, creating even more lifts, better grooming […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Vail Resorts offers end-of-season bonus as ski areas struggle through labor crisis
Jeremy Rubingh, a documentary filmmaker who focuses on climate and public lands issues, spent about 10 minutes on his phone after Christmas writing an angry screed against Vail Resorts and the company’s struggle to open terrain at the Stevens Pass ski area in Washington state. “When I posted it online, I thought ‘I don’t know, […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors, Outsider
Snow may not be piling up at Colorado ski resorts this season, but anxiety sure is
It wasn’t that long ago that ski resort operators lost sleep over snowfall. Then they had to fret over once-in-a-lifetime protocols to limit the spread of contagion at their ski areas. Now, the worries are stacked even deeper, with affordable housing, dwindling numbers of workers and ever-lengthening lift lines joining the perennial fretting over snow […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Outdoors
A new strategy in the season ski pass war: medical insurance policies
The season-pass war that has reshaped the resort industry in recent years is getting a new tactic: injury insurance. Telluride ski area has partnered with Spot, a startup insurance provider to offer $25,000 insurance policies for skiers injured on the mountain. The no-deductible Spot insurance coverage will be included in the price of every lift […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Economy, News, Outdoors
Colorado resorts expect next ski season to be pretty normal, but some coronavirus changes may stick around
A year ago this week, lift-served skiing was broken. Ski areas around the planet ground to a sudden halt in a desperate effort to slow the spread of contagion. Operators were distributing food from spring-break-stocked coolers and figuring out what to do with jobless workers in employee housing, all while slashing budgets and planning for […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Health, News, Outdoors
Vail Resorts will credit up to 80% of unused Epic passes value to 2020-21 pass
People who bought Epic Passes this ski season but did not use them can apply 80% of the purchase price to a pass for the 2020-21 season, Vail Resorts said Monday. In addition to reversing its no-refunds policy, which riled skiers who bought passes expecting to use them in the spring — after the company […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Arapahoe Basin’s effort to avoid overcrowding by leaving the Epic Pass may be working too well
Alan Henceroth wanted about 100,000 fewer skier visits at his Arapahoe Basin ski area when he left the Epic Pass last year, citing overflowing parking lots and crowds that threatened to degrade the 1,400-acre resort’s ski experience. He got it. And more. After 10 years with the Epic Pass, spearheaded by Vail Resorts, and a […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, News, Outdoors
Ski Cooper’s expanded expert terrain, financial vibrancy reveal model for nonprofit ski area management
TENNESSEE PASS — In the shadow of clashing giants that are transforming the ski resort industry, the publicly owned, non-profit Ski Cooper ski area is thriving. Skier visits have set records for many years in a row, even in seasons when state and national visits decline. Same for total revenue and net income. Income per […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Indoor skiing is one entrepreneur’s bet on how to diversify and grow skiing and snowboarding
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Angel Williams is heading to Breckenridge this winter for her first ski vacation ever and she wants to be ready. “I’m practicing,” the New York City resident says as she boards the chairlift at Big Snow, North America’s first indoor ski area, located at a massive new mall a few minutes […]