Ikon Pass

[buttahflake]

Oh man, heavyweight ski off, battle of the beaters. Bunny vs Burnout.

I would pay to watch this.

[snowaddict91]

Oh man, heavyweight ski off, battle of the beaters. Bunny vs Burnout.

I would pay to watch this.

No matter how high Dibs gets, he won't fall unloading the chair. I'll put my money on that.

[Toadman]

Oh man, heavyweight ski off, battle of the beaters. Bunny vs Burnout.

I would pay to watch this.

I'll wait for the low res vid getting posted on here for free. Which is still too expensive.

[jhyatt]

Spotted in Taos. Never see that upper sticker in Colorado or Massachusetts anymore.

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[lowsparkco]

Early stage of establishing yourself as a local: bitch about tourists.

Intermediate stage: come to grips with the tourists and create strategy to get yours.

Advanced stage: realize they enable you to work hard 10 weeks a year and play hard 42.

[axebiker]

I'm not an IKON'r. That said, we tried to find lodging in the Big Sky area a couple weeks ago for a trip at the end of Feb/early March. NOTHING AVAILABLE. That's a first for me, and I've been coming out since 2002.

So there's something to the thought that things are getting crowded.

[Harry]

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[lowsparkco]

I'm not an IKON'r. That said, we tried to find lodging in the Big Sky area a couple weeks ago for a trip at the end of Feb/early March. NOTHING AVAILABLE. That's a first for me, and I've been coming out since 2002.

So there's something to the thought that things are getting crowded.

Big Sky real estate seems to be in high demand. I'm sure some resorts are drawing bigger numbers of Ikon passholders, but I also think that the popularity of certain areas is being impacted by early season conditions and desire to see new locales coupled with better more affordable transportation options.

With the three options to secure bundled lift access ticketing it was inevitable that lodging would become pressured. Lodging is the limiting capacity at most winter destinations I've visited. With all the variability in winter climate I don't know how much expansion in lodging is happening. Always seemed the real estate heavy ski companies were more prone to boom and bust i.e. Intrawest so perhaps some have learned to be more wary of huge capital projects.

It seems Ikon is encouraging some skiers to travel and ski more. Which is ultimately the intent behind Epic and Mountain Collective as well. Some resorts are clearly losing on lift ticket revenue but I assume they make up for it in parking, food and bev, lessons, and lodging. I also assume they'll drop out when that no longer is the case.

[TurxSki]

^^^ hard to make sense of what you are actually saying...
Did you see the part where he said he's been doing this same thing for over a decade, and only now there is no lodging available.
"Coincidence" is all you got?

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[lowsparkco]

^^^ hard to make sense of what you are actually saying...
Did you see the part where he said he's been doing this same thing for over a decade, and only now there is no lodging available.
"Coincidence" is all you got?

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I'm not saying it's a coincidence, but I'm saying a perceived spike in lodging prices on one particular week in one season isn't necessarily a direct result of the pass.

Big Sky is pretty far inland and north. They're having a great season, passes are cheap, sure. But a couple big school districts changing their spring break or perhaps a few good magazine features can create a run on lodging. These resorts are pretty small and they're surrounded by huge markets that can get there pretty easily. March is the busiest month at every ski area in North America as far as I know. Because BS hit some imaginary tipping point isn't direct evidence to me that the popularity is all Ikon pass based. No lodging available and the lodging I want for the price I want it at are two different things as well.

[phatty]

I'm not saying it's a coincidence, but I'm saying a perceived spike in lodging prices on one particular week in one season isn't necessarily a direct result of the pass.

Big Sky is pretty far inland and north. They're having a great season, passes are cheap, sure. But a couple big school districts changing their spring break or perhaps a few good magazine features can create a run on lodging. These resorts are pretty small and they're surrounded by huge markets that can get there pretty easily. March is the busiest month at every ski area in North America as far as I know. Because BS hit some imaginary tipping point isn't direct evidence to me that the popularity is all Ikon pass based. No lodging available and the lodging I want for the price I want it at are two different things as well.

Plus all Boyne pass holders get 3 free days at BS. Add that on top of Ikon and you're going to see a lot of extra visits.

[lowsparkco]

Good point. And sometimes those 2 and 3 night guests push up the price on the week long reservations. It's an interesting game. Lots going on. I worked in and around tourism for 15 years and was continually surprised by how dynamic it can be.

[Benny Profane]

I had a problem finding any bed three seasons ago at Big Sky, but that was a year when Utah and Colorado had suck snow.
Did you try Bucks T-4? Best breakfast in the west.

[Vt-Freeheel]

Early stage of establishing yourself as a local: bitch about tourists.

Intermediate stage: come to grips with the tourists and create strategy to get yours.

Advanced stage: realize they enable you to work hard 10 weeks a year and play hard 42.

This is correct, unfortunately a few never make it through step 2 and spend the rest of their miserable lives as an early stage bitch.

[Name Redacted]

This is correct, unfortunately a few never make it through step 2 and spend the rest of their miserable lives as an early stage bitch.

I think that I'm in the stage where I'm starting to like some of the tourists more than the locals. At least they are here having a good time. Some locals act like they are being forced to live here and suffer through this horrible place.

[yeahman]

I'm not an IKON'r. That said, we tried to find lodging in the Big Sky area a couple weeks ago for a trip at the end of Feb/early March. NOTHING AVAILABLE. That's a first for me, and I've been coming out since 2002.

So there's something to the thought that things are getting crowded.

Seriously man? Big Sky is not having a great season and has seemed less crowded to me. I have switched lodging around between different days with ease more than once. Boyne lodging was completely booked? Did you try the Wilson?

[Bunion 2020]

I think that I'm in the stage where I'm starting to like some of the tourists more than the locals. At least they are here having a good time. Some locals act like they are being forced to live here and suffer through this horrible place.

QFT.

[glademaster]

I'm sure this point has been made ad infinitum in this thread, but I'll say it again, because TGR is the mental equivalent of taking a big shit first thing in the morning. Multi resort passes work because skiers by and large are selfish, short-sighted, entitled fucksticks: they are good for the individual skier, but are bad for the sport as a whole.

[Kinnikinnick]

Pffffft!

You keep saying that’s it’s bad for the sport, but can’t really point to anything.


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[Benny Profane]

I'm sure this point has been made ad infinitum in this thread, but I'll say it again, because TGR is the mental equivalent of taking a big shit first thing in the morning. Multi resort passes work because skiers by and large are selfish, short-sighted, entitled fucksticks: they are good for the individual skier, but are bad for the sport as a whole.

Please explain how they are bad for the sport. I really don't get that.

[lowsparkco]

Logical conclusion. Without skiers the sport of skiing would be better?

[Bunion 2020]

^^^ Someone had to point that out.

Skiing would be great if it wasn't for all those fucking skiers.

[Name Redacted]

^^^ Someone had to point that out.

Skiing would be great if it wasn't for all those fucking skiers.

Yeah, I miss the days when I had to pay $1100 for a season pass to ski 2 mountains (that were still crowded back then). It really sucks that now I pay half the price to ski 10X the amount of ski areas. Bleh!

[lowsparkco]

I'm sure it has been said repeatedly, I wrote it a few pages back.... if you're really interested in more of a deep dive into what drives ski area management and marketing read Downhill Slide.

Without huge capital investment by municipal or regional government i.e. Switzerland, the ability to recoup the infrastructure costs has traditionally only even partially succeeded by private entities by speculating on real estate. That's dependant on a strong and expanding market economy. Private equity is weary of ski areas for a reason, they largely have to bust two or three times before someone can scoop them up for pennies on the dollar to turn a profit.

It's amazing big privately owned ski areas even exist. Add climate change into the equation and many may not in 20 or 30 years.

[El Chupacabra]

^^^ Someone had to point that out.

Skiing would be great if it wasn't for all those fucking skiers.

Nobody goes skiing anymore, it's too crowded.

-Yogi Bear, or somebody.