Aspen ski pass prices going up
Aspen Times Correspondent
Vail CO, Colorado
ASPEN, Colorado ” The Aspen Skiing Co. didn’t feel pressured Thursday to follow a major competitor’s lead in slashing a key ski pass price for the 2008-09 season.
The Skico increased the prices of its most popular passes by $25 to $70. The full-season, two-day and one-day passes increased about 5 percent over last season.
Vail Resorts unveiled its Epic Pass last spring for $579, offering unrestricted access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Heavenly at Tahoe, Calif.
The Skico’s comparable season pass is $1,299, more than double the price of Vail. The full-season, or premier, pass is good at Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk.
Skico spokesman Jeff Hanle said comparing the full-season passes at Aspen and Vail is like comparing apples to oranges because of differences in the markets.
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“It’s a different experience. That’s what it boils down to,” he said. “They’re going for a quantitative experience. We’re going for a qualitative experience.”
Ski industry observers have noted major differences in the markets. Vail Resorts is trying to draw more customers from Denver and other parts of the Front Range, as well as “destination” skiers and riders from outside the state with the Epic Pass. (It had to be purchased in May to receive the largest discount.)
The Skico’s passes are geared toward local residents, winter residents and frequent visitors.
The geographic and marketing differences mean there are a lot more skiers and riders on the slopes of Vail Resorts’ ski areas ” and longer chairlift lines. Hanle said that is a factor the Skico feels it has in its favor. Lifts lines are one example of “the noticeable difference in the experience,” he said.
Discount deadline is Sept. 12
As usual, the best deals from Skico can be scored by purchasing a pass before the “super early” deadline, which is Sept. 12 this year. And, as always, the best prices are available to buyers affiliated with a business that belongs to a chamber of commerce in the valley.
The 2008-09 season passes go on sale Monday, Aug. 4. All prices are listed in a direct mail piece recently sent to last season’s passholders. In addition, pass information is posted at http://www.aspensnowmass.com/seasonpass.
The premier or full season pass will cost $1,299 for chamber members, an increase of $60 or 5 percent from last season’s price of $1,239. Those are the super-early prices.
The premier pass will increase $70 from $1,699 to $1,769 for buyers who aren’t chamber members.
The two-day per week pass increased from $879 to $919 or 4.5 percent for chamber members. The price climbed from $1,070 to $1,129 for non-chamber buyers.
The one-day per week pass increased nearly 4 percent from $659 to $684 for chamber members and from $799 to $829 for non-chamber buyers.
Those three passes make up the lion’s share of Skico sales, officials have said in the past.
Given the increases in prices of food and fuel recently, the Skico feels its pass price increases are very reasonable and that its customers receive good value, Hanle said.
A seven-day classic pass is $274 for next winter and a four-day classic pass is $169 for adults.
The passes are good at all four Skico ski areas. The scheduled season is from Nov. 27, 2008 through April 12, 2009, at Aspen Mountain and Snowmass. It is from Dec. 13 through April 5 at Buttermilk and Aspen Highlands.
$35 million in improvements
The Skico’s announcement on pass prices said it invested $35 million in capital improvements for the coming season. That includes the Sam’s Knob restaurant at Snowmass, Sneaky’s Tavern at Base Village, the Sheer Bliss chairlift, a 22-foot Olympic-sized halfpipe at Buttermilk, and new gladed terrain called Canopy Cruiser between Hyde park and Mushroom in Deep Temerity at Aspen Highlands.
Mum’s the word on one-day lift ticket
ASPEN ” The Aspen Skiing Co. is keeping its single-day lift ticket price for the 2008-09 season a secret, for now.
The Skico returned to a strategy of withholding the walk-up window price until the season gets under way and all four of its ski areas are open, spokesman Jeff Hanle confirmed. The walk-up price, at its peak, was $87 last winter. That was an increase of $5.
“It will certainly be more than it was last season,” Hanle sad. That suggests the Skico will top the $90 barrier.
The Skico, Deer Valley, Utah, or Vail usually take honors for the most expensive single-day ticket in the land. The $92 ticket at Vail and Beaver Creek was the highest last season. Vail also typically doesn’t announce its single-day lift ticket prices until the season starts.
Hanle said the Skico didn’t want to divulge its price in advance to its competitors. And other resorts’ prices don’t influence the Skico’s pricing, he insisted.
The company has had a rather schizophrenic policy on single-day lift ticket prices over the past 20 years. Former Skico President Bob Maynard refused to divulge the single-day ticket price in advance because he said the media unfairly concentrated on it. The attention was out of perspective for the relatively low sales of that walk-up ticket, he said.
In recent years, the Skico announced its single-day price in advance of ski season.
The Skico is trying to get customers who buy lift tickets to concentrate on its advance purchase, multi-day discounts. Those prices were announced Thursday.
The pricing strategy is to offer the greatest discounts when the most days are purchased. Therefore, a seven-day ticket offers the best deal. An additional discount is available by purchasing multi-day tickets at least seven days in advance.
Lift tickets will go on sale on a date yet to be determined in September. They can be purchased by calling 877-282-7736 or at http://www.aspensnowmass.com.
” Scott Condon
