Season Pass

[highpeaksdrifter]

Why you have one or why you don't.

I've had one since the age of 6, 40 years at Hunter the rest WF/Gore. I really can't imagine not one. It just makes life much more simple.

 

[riverc0il]

previously, i never bought a pass because i enjoyed trying out new mountains and never skied at one mountain enough times to hit the break even point. also, due to discount hunting, i have yet to have a season in which day ticket prices have much exceeded the cost of a season pass.

now, having skied at pretty much every major mountain in new england except smuggs, stratton, and mount snow... i have a pretty good feel for what is out there. i don't feel the need to hit up as many new areas as i know they aren't as good as my favs just looking at the map and stats. also, living closer to the mountains, i know i can log many more days and be more willing to drive for suspect conditions or during iffy weather. essentially, the cost/benefit ratio has tipped in favor of a season pass. i still plan to get out to about a half dozen favorites and as much BC as possible, but i know that i can easily log 25-30 days alone on a season pass without even counting other areas.

it all comes down to cost/benefit in my book. will you get in enough days to break even and will you do so easily. if it is close, i would not opt for a pass. it would have to be significantly more, especially considering the pass locks you into one area, which is fine if you only want to ski one place, but i find that gets boring even if it is a great area.

 

[andyzee]

previously, i never bought a pass because i enjoyed trying out new mountains and never skied at one mountain enough times to hit the break even point. also, due to discount hunting, i have yet to have a season in which day ticket prices have much exceeded the cost of a season pass.

now, having skied at pretty much every major mountain in new england except smuggs, stratton, and mount snow... i have a pretty good feel for what is out there. i don't feel the need to hit up as many new areas as i know they aren't as good as my favs just looking at the map and stats. also, living closer to the mountains, i know i can log many more days and be more willing to drive for suspect conditions or during iffy weather. essentially, the cost/benefit ratio has tipped in favor of a season pass. i still plan to get out to about a half dozen favorites and as much BC as possible, but i know that i can easily log 25-30 days alone on a season pass without even counting other areas.

it all comes down to cost/benefit in my book. will you get in enough days to break even and will you do so easily. if it is close, i would not opt for a pass. it would have to be significantly more, especially considering the pass locks you into one area, which is fine if you only want to ski one place, but i find that gets boring even if it is a great area.

So, do you have a season pass, or no? :roll:

 

[riverc0il]

you are right, i guess i didn't make it clear, my bad.

 

[andyzee]

 

[ALLSKIING]

I just bought the bronze pass from ASC for the first time in my life. It was just to good of a deal and I should still be able to ski a bunch of other places.

 

[Greg]

Got my first season pass ever at the local haunt. Mostly because I plan to do a lot of night skiing as well as days with my daughter there.

 

[Sky]

I have had Wachusett's Century Pass (now they call it the Bronze/Silver/Gold passes) since 99/00. Started out @ $149 Now it's $189 (until 13 Oct anyway).

When it first came out...NO ONE believed it was a good deal...it "had" to be a scam. Every question we posted on the RSN forum to identify a "flaw"...Wa came back and clarified and it was always better than we thought. NO SCAM!

7 nights per week (4PM till 10PM) PLUS weekdays (non-holiday/vaca). It's still a great deal and like Greg's point...lots of access (time on snow) locally.

Wa Mgt spoke @ a local college (Wrcester) a few years back. They sell millions of dollars worth of passes. I forget the figure....but it's up thre.

 

[JD]

Moved to Stowe and got Silvers for the last 6 years to learn how to ski. Found myself wanting to get away from the lift scene as much as possible. Blew my ACL partially 2 years ago. Made the change to tele, didn't buy a pass last year and had the best season of my life by far, in the worst season of my life (snow wise) by far. It's where I want to be. I want to ski untracked powder (or at least natural snow conditions) top to bottom, or not at all. The lifts just don't provide enough of that to justify the cost. Plus I HATE AIG and take pride in tracking the hell outta anything on spruce or mansfield before the lifts open.
((.
.))

 

[dmc]

I've had a season pass since I first could afford one...

I used to work odd jobs at Hunter to get one but I'd rather be a paying customer then an employee... I work my as off all week... I have no intentions of working on a weekend...

 

[dirtbagking]

How many passes do you still have?

In '79 when I moved to Sugarbush, my friend Little Pete had three passes on a chain hanging in his living room. "Wow," I thought. Three passes!
Now I have close to 30. I have them all. You can watch my chins grow in time lapse photography. I can't believe I have the most, so, does anyone out there still have that many... in succession ( did I spell that right? )?
BTW, I have 11 from Sugarbush, 3 from MRG,15 from Big Sky and 1 at Heavenly and 1 from Moonlight Basin.
Many people have had ski passes since EVER but not many kept all of them.

 

[maplevalleymaster]

I have gotten an ASC pass for years, however now I am switching to a Okemo/Sunapee/Mountain Creek/Stratton pass. It just pays for me to get one. I ski almost every weekend, so a seasons pass really helps.

 

[AdironRider]

Im rocking the Gore/Whiteface pass as well as the Cannon/Sunapee/Gunstock pass. For about 500 bucks I can ride whenever I want whether Im in NY at college or home on break. Should equal about 50 days this year. Considering youd be hard pressed, even with the best discounts available, to match 10 bucks a day, its well worth it in my mind.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I think there is something to be said about River's MO in that he takes advantage of special deals, promotions and ski's a very wide variety of hills and pays the same as you might if you had a season pass.

I have always had either an employee pass or coach's pass so I have only paid for skiing a couple of times. The downside is that I don't get to ski a wide variety of resorts each season. A couple of years ago I went to SR with their $1 day in March, I am going to try to do that more this year.

I have never skied in mass but after being on this forum for a couple of years there are a few I would like to try.

 

[riverc0il]

I think there is something to be said about River's MO in that he takes advantage of special deals, promotions and ski's a very wide variety of hills and pays the same as you might if you had a season pass.

well, at least my MO up until last season 05-06 i paid $428 for 17 days lift serviced and got to ski at 10 different areas, which was an amazing amount of variety and that isn't even counting where i earned turns. 04-05 was $531 for 28 days lift serviced skiing at 9 different areas. both years cheaper than most season passes for most of the big boys.

if it were not for a number of factors, i might still be following this MO. actually, it was a really hard decision on getting a season pass this season. i will see how it works out. in all honestly, i am still considering if the pass will get in the way of my backcountry skiing pursuits which is the reason i don't have the pass yet. i really hate being locked down and don't want to feel like i "have to" go to my pass mountain until the break even point and then feel like i "have to" keep going there to drive the value of the pass and not pay more money. that is why i picked a mountain that gets the most powder east of the mississippi and has the most dependable tree skiing and good OB options last season showed me how important dependability is, as my other favorites (burke and cannon) never got any of their best terrain open even once. also understandable why so many people like rocking the ASC pass, those mountains will dependably go 4-5 months with tons of man made snow.

there are positives and negatives for every season pass decision. it certainly works out best if you know exactly what you are looking for in a mountain and don't mind being tied to it, at least until the break even point. for myself, i am looking at pulling the trigger on a jay peak pass and a mad card. after taxes, that is $700 worth of skiing not counting day trips which will probably include cannon, saddleback, mansfield, smuggs, and the bush for one or two days each. that adds up quickly even on discounted tickets and mid-week specials, which just shows me how hard it is to break away from skiing at a mountain once you have a pass somewhere. just gotta decide if i would be sacrificing too much earned turns time by getting locked into a pass.

 

[skibum9995]

For me it's a no brainer to get season passes. I get a pass to Burke and Cannon/Sunapee/Gunstock. Those two passes cover me whether I'm at home or school. I ski 50-60 times per year so for $400 I a lot more skiing than I pay for. Last year it worked out to be about $7 a day, can't beat that.

 

[riverc0il]

def no brainer for students to get passes when possible. the college deals are really fantastic.

 

[Geoff]

I had Stratton passes from 5th grade through high school graduation. Stowe passes when I went to UVM. KMart passes since.

 

[Ski Diva]

I have an Okemo/Stratton/Sunapee midweek pass, and ski 40 days per year. I think it costs me around $295. (with tax), so it really pays off big. My goal each year is to get my costs to below $10. per day.

My husband says that he actually doesn't even like to ski; it's just that he's so cheap he can't afford not to!

 

[AHM]

Everyon'es different..........................

For us, the pass just makes it easy. I don't have to go to the ticket window, just boot up and go. No "finding" deals, etc. I however, do not look at it from a cost standpoint: will I break even. I don't bother looking at the cost of the sport at all. If I ever ever considered what it actually "costs" it would blow my mind but I really could care less. Why: when you are rippin' down the hill and the smiles big, or it's just face shot after face shot, and then you and the "crew" are sitting around with wind burned, red cheeks, everyone's got a beer/wine, a smile and everyone is reminising (sp) about the day, that's what makes the sport. There is no price tag on that.

Then there is the anticipation of the coming season, the vacation planning (which place, what condo, who's going), the watching of storms, are they gonna hit, should I get new boards, yada, yada, yada. All of that is so great, I could never look at it from a "how much does it cost". Someone's ending moniker here is carpe skiem and that is totally right. Just get out there and ski, smile, laugh. It can't have a price tag!!