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21/22 Ikon Pass goes on sale 3/11/21

socalgal

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Say it aint so, Schweitzer joins IKON !?! it was only a matter of time before it joined one of the 2 empires. Its Too big for INDY. Last time i visited was when Stella opened and thought it was underrated at that time.


Idaho’s Schweitzer has signed on to become the 45th Ikon Pass mountain in North America. Ikon Pass holders will enjoy up to 7 days of access at Schweitzer and Ikon Base Pass holders will get 5 holiday-restricted days. Schweitzer’s top tier local passholders will receive an Ikon Base Pass valid at destinations worldwide. “This is a huge win for skiers and snowboarders and for our community,” the resort said in a statement. “We wanted to be able to offer our customers the benefit of a multi-resort pass and joining Ikon Pass allows us to do just that. The Ikon Pass includes premier mountains around the globe, and we are excited to be the newest Ikon Pass mountain destination.”

The partnership with Alterra replaces Schweitzer’s membership in the Powder Alliance reciprocal program, which brought the North Idaho mountain about 5,000 skiers per year over the last seven seasons. Schweitzer says it was the single most-redeemed destination in that alliance.


Here is schweitzers FAQs on the move.

Schweitzer/Ikon FAQs
Wow, that's a big add for IKON
 

Gary Stolt

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The renewal discount is nice to get and I believe that the deferred passholder will get it. We all had to deal with the covid situation - from a skiers point of view, that means that we did not get to have as much fun skiing as we had hoped for. For the ski resorts and for Alterra, it means that they are trying to survive or thrive with less revenue. I may not understand or agree with Alterra's methods of dealing with Covid but I will be happy that I can ski next year at many different resorts for much less than I could a couple years ago.
 

GregK

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I live in Toronto and chose Blue mtn as my option. Received Credits of $445 usd for my passes and $103 for the kids. I was still able to use my pass for 23 days, so no complaints from me.

Wow!! $8 vs $445 making me feel even worse! :doh:
Only had 4 days this year at Blue which were insane busy after the lockdown and 10 at Tremblant which weren’t that exciting as off trail coverage was thin. Had 15 days at Moonstone on their cheap 5 by 5 pass which had the best conditions locally as usual.

Got 25 days at Utah resorts as well as 10 at Blue on my 2019/2020 Ikon so this is just a bad year this season. Better in 2021/22
:crossfingers:
 

Tricia

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ADKmel

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The renewal discount is nice to get and I believe that the deferred passholder will get it. We all had to deal with the covid situation - from a skiers point of view, that means that we did not get to have as much fun skiing as we had hoped for. For the ski resorts and for Alterra, it means that they are trying to survive or thrive with less revenue. I may not understand or agree with Alterra's methods of dealing with Covid but I will be happy that I can ski next year at many different resorts for much less than I could a couple years ago.


Yes IKON renewals with banked $$ get the 100$ discount. Last year was 799$ this year 899$ PRICES GO UP EARLY MAY
I'll be renewing mine today.. usually I get 30+ days at IKON resorts I hope to get more so my cost/day is even lower.
 

dbostedo

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Say it aint so, Schweitzer joins IKON !?! it was only a matter of time before it joined one of the 2 empires. Its Too big for INDY. Last time i visited was when Stella opened and thought it was underrated at that time.


Idaho’s Schweitzer has signed on to become the 45th Ikon Pass mountain in North America. Ikon Pass holders will enjoy up to 7 days of access at Schweitzer and Ikon Base Pass holders will get 5 holiday-restricted days. Schweitzer’s top tier local passholders will receive an Ikon Base Pass valid at destinations worldwide. “This is a huge win for skiers and snowboarders and for our community,” the resort said in a statement. “We wanted to be able to offer our customers the benefit of a multi-resort pass and joining Ikon Pass allows us to do just that. The Ikon Pass includes premier mountains around the globe, and we are excited to be the newest Ikon Pass mountain destination.”

The partnership with Alterra replaces Schweitzer’s membership in the Powder Alliance reciprocal program, which brought the North Idaho mountain about 5,000 skiers per year over the last seven seasons. Schweitzer says it was the single most-redeemed destination in that alliance.


Here is schweitzers FAQs on the move.

Schweitzer/Ikon FAQs
Interesting to read the FAQ as they try to preemptively deal with backlash of "this is just going to make it crowded". They pretty much agree that they hope it will, but it will also upgrade lifts, add parking, improve facilities etc. All of the usual buzzwords.
 

David Chaus

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Schweitzer is not exactly crowded. Even the busiest holiday weekends the lift lines are minimal compared to comparably sized resorts on the Ikon pass. Once at the top, there are 2900 acres of terrain to spread people out and doesn’t have horrible bottlenecks (with the exception of the Village Cat Track). I’m guessing they can handle the increased destination traffic, and won’t necessarily see a big increase from local day skiers, whereas a place like Crystal gets swamped with Seattle area residents on weekends (which was happening even before Ikon).

This does make for a compelling trip, being able to ski Schweitzer and Red Mt on the Ikon pass.
 

givethepigeye

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Interesting to read the FAQ as they try to preemptively deal with backlash of "this is just going to make it crowded". They pretty much agree that they hope it will, but it will also upgrade lifts, add parking, improve facilities etc. All of the usual buzzwords.

I'm still trying to find that resort that joined IKON where the local folks think it was a great idea/addition. Not aware of any, mostly see the "Anti-IKON" stickers, memes, parody Insta accounts, etc. Totally get why mgmt wants it, not sure it trickles down to a better "experience" for the skiers. Cheaper, sure, ill buy that. But better?
 

TheArchitect

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I'm still trying to find that resort that joined IKON where the local folks think it was a great idea/addition. Not aware of any, mostly see the "Anti-IKON" stickers, memes, parody Insta accounts, etc. Totally get why mgmt wants it, not sure it trickles down to a better "experience" for the skiers. Cheaper, sure, ill buy that. But better?

I think the trickle down is that the resort will continue operating in the long term and the locals won't have to become tourists at another resort 3 hours away. That may not be a possibility in the next 5-10 years but after that who knows?

These mountains have to find a way to secure revenue and Ikon/Epic do that. If I was an owner/operator of a ski resort I'd be losing sleep over the impact of Climate Change on the industry. If Alterra or Vail comes along and offers long-term financial security of course they're going to sign up.
 
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dbostedo

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I'm still trying to find that resort that joined IKON where the local folks think it was a great idea/addition.
I'd say it's the equivalent of finding the resort where ANY change is viewed positively. To over-generalize a bit, locals are locals because they like things the way they are. So any significant change is a gripe. But after change, you'll get the "new locals", or tourists, who love the changes. Then THEY get to gripe when the next big change comes along. Rinse and repeat.

I've read about how Vail (the resort) has been "ruined" a couple of different times over the years. In reality, it's still wildly successful, and a lot of people love it. They're just not entirely the same people that loved it before.
 

givethepigeye

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@TheArchitect - totally, its a no brainer for mgmt.

@dbostedo - could be right. I know folks were sideways on the Snowmass High Alpine chair replacement - assume folks werent happy when JH tram went to 100 from 50 capacity. IME, since IKON, even doing a tram lap has gotten to be a huge time suck, when before you could almost walk on some days. Anyway, I still like Vail.
 

John O

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I'm still trying to find that resort that joined IKON where the local folks think it was a great idea/addition. Not aware of any, mostly see the "Anti-IKON" stickers, memes, parody Insta accounts, etc. Totally get why mgmt wants it, not sure it trickles down to a better "experience" for the skiers. Cheaper, sure, ill buy that. But better?

In general I agree with you. However one positive that I'll throw out there is that Alterra seems much more interested in keeping Crystal Mt. open longer if the snowpack allows. The old ownership gave it a try and found it wasn't financially viable and quietly stopped talking about extending the season or answering any questions about it on social media.

The first year Alterra owned Crystal they reopened Memorial Day weekend, I think as an experiment. Last year they reopened for a weekend in June after covid restrictions allowed them to. This year they're staying open weekends until 5/9 and then they need to close for maintenance (replace the gondola cable is what I heard) and said they'll reopen for skiing on Memorial Day if snowpack allows. That's when they'll re-open the gondola anyway for summer sightseeing operations.

My assumption is that Alterra is more willing to keep the mountain open even if they aren't making much/any money because it's advertising for the Ikon pass.
 

David Chaus

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I'm still trying to find that resort that joined IKON where the local folks think it was a great idea/addition. Not aware of any, mostly see the "Anti-IKON" stickers, memes, parody Insta accounts, etc. Totally get why mgmt wants it, not sure it trickles down to a better "experience" for the skiers. Cheaper, sure, ill buy that. But better?

Not just cheaper, but also cheaper to visit other resorts and contribute to the deterioration of the experience at multiple resorts, not just your local area.
 

TheArchitect

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Not just cheaper, but also cheaper to visit other resorts and contribute to the deterioration of the experience at multiple resorts, not just your local area.

How do you feel about the many Ikon pass holders here on SkiTalk? Are we deteriorating the experience at multiple resorts or are we somehow exempt from the locals contempt?
 

Tricia

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How do you feel about the many Ikon pass holders here on SkiTalk? Are we deteriorating the experience at multiple resorts or are we somehow exempt from the locals contempt?
I think @David Chaus was being sarcastic ;)
But you know.... we SkiTalkers are an unruly bunch.
 

David Chaus

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I think Alterra has been managing Crystal at least as well as prior ownership, and definitely better than VR at Stevens.
 

TheArchitect

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I think @David Chaus was being sarcastic ;)
But you know.... we SkiTalkers are an unruly bunch.

Sorry @David Chaus ! I get a bit unruly when locals start complaining about 'their' mountain being ruined by Ikon. I didn't mean it if I came across as critical of you; it wasn't my intent. And I missed the sarcasm :doh:
 

Tricia

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Sorry @David Chaus ! I get a bit unruly when locals start complaining about 'their' mountain being ruined by Ikon. I didn't mean it if I came across as critical of you; it wasn't my intent. And I missed the sarcasm :doh:
He did not use the proper emoticon. That is on him and I'll tell him so! :snowball:
 

Tricia

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I think Alterra has been managing Crystal at least as well as prior ownership, and definitely better than VR at Stevens.
Just to clarify. Chrystal is owned by Alterra, not a partner of...
Am I correct? I am wrong every once in a while...shhh don't tell anyone.
 

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