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Alterra Mountain Company Announces Transformational Changes at Four Marquee Destinations

Tricia

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ALTERRA MOUNTAIN COMPANY ANNOUNCES $207 MILLION IN
TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES AT FOUR MARQUEE DESTINATIONS
DENVER, CO, April 12, 2021 – Alterra Mountain Company announces its plans to invest $207 million in capital improvements for the upcoming year, including transformational base area and on-mountain developments at Steamboat, Deer Valley Resort, Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows and Mammoth Mountain.

This year’s $207 million plan includes $111MM in significant resort projects, $31MM in enterprise technology systems, $65MM in resort maintenance and planning to continue to support the company’s commitment to enhance the guest experience.

“This past season has proven that our guests are loyal, passionate and looking forward to the many seasons ahead, and we plan to provide them with a premier guest experience as we focus on the long-term future of our mountain destinations,” said Rusty Gregory, CEO, Alterra Mountain Company. “Alterra Mountain Company has exceeded our initial five-year goal to invest over half a billion dollars into our destinations, in just four years. We continue to be committed to infusing meaningful capital into on-mountain enhancements, base area development, and advanced technology that will elevate the mountain experience for all who visit.”

This year’s capital investments will focus on four major destination developments and a commitment to technology infrastructure and advancement.

Deer Valley Resort, Utah:
Snow ParkThe Snow Park Lodge and base area will see a complete revision to create a premier base area experience for guests arriving at Deer Valley. The new base area will provide additional accommodations and skier services, new contemporary food and beverage and après options, and an additional ski beach and upgraded mountain transportation network.

Snow Park will feature architecture and design inspired by the mountains, allowing the natural setting to flow through the new plaza, offering an array of activities and mountain views. A new expansive ski beach will offer a place for more guests to watch skiers and take in the sunset as they enjoy a quintessential Deer Valley après scene.

A new integrated transportation and mobility hub with multiple access points from new parking facilities will dramatically improve the current guest arrival and mountain access experience.

Pending local government review and approval. Snow Park is projected to break ground in 2022.



Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, California: Base-to-Base Gondola
The state-of-the-art and highly anticipated Base-to-Base Gondola (B2B) will commence construction this summer. This base-to-base connection will take skiers and riders between the Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows bases in approximately 16 minutes, currently a seven-mile drive. The B2B will be one of the most impactful lifts in North America with 8-passenger cabins and the capacity to move 1,400 people per hour between resort base areas. The B2B will offer access to 6,000 acres of skiing and riding for all skill levels on one smooth ride, with 360-degree iconic views.

The $60MM B2B project includes two main terminals, two mid-stations and additional base area improvements targeted to enhance the guest experience.

Mammoth Mountain, California:
Main Lodge RedevelopmentThe new vision for Mammoth Mountain Main Lodge area builds upon the Mammoth legacy, rooted in the history and setting of the mountain, the town, and surrounding Eastern Sierra to curate a lively new year-round gateway for those who are passionate about mountain adventure.

The Main Lodge redevelopment multi-year plan will create the “Base Camp to the Eastern Sierra,” providing the world’s best ski beach, state-of-the-art services, Adventure Concierge Center, an array of boutique dining and retail experiences, luxury lodging and a variety of residential ownership options, complete with unparalleled club amenities and programming.

This ambitious plan is in the permitting phase and scheduled to begin construction in spring 2023.



Steamboat, Colorado: Gondola Square Redesign & Pioneer Ridge Terrain Expansion
Steamboat will embark on a three-year, $135MM base area redevelopment and on-mountain terrain expansion to reinvent a premier guest experience to match the destination's long recognized industry excellence.

Steamboat’s Gondola Square will be transformed into a multi-use, amenity-rich plaza creating an easy-to-navigate destination core, complete with additional dining and après, retail, entertainment and welcoming gathering places for guests to enjoy year-round. A reimagined guest arrival experience will eliminate cumbersome stairs and provide direct and easy access to the mountain. Guests will now be able to fully experience the fun, family atmosphere and be fully immersed in Steamboat’s western hospitality.

Phase I of the redeveloped plaza is expected to break ground following the destination’s close of the 20/21 winter season. This phase will bring immediate improvements to the guest arrival and circulation and will clear the way for guest enhancement amenities expected to be completed by the start of the 22/23 winter season.

On-mountain improvements slated for the 21/22 season, (pending additional approvals), include 650 new acres of advanced/expert skiable terrain in Pioneer Ridge. The new area will also include a world-class teaching area and the first leg of the new Big Blue gondola, providing gondola access to the newly re-developed Bashor teaching area. Steamboat’s trail map will expand by nearly 20 percent for a total of 3,620 acres, making Steamboat the second largest ski area in Colorado.



Enterprise Technology Systems
Alterra Mountain Company will invest $31MM to bolster the delivery of personalized experiences, simplify transaction processes and alleviate wait times. Priorities include Ikon Pass mobile app enhancements, expansion of mobile food ordering, upgraded destination apps and a new single sign-on that will make it easier for guests to interact with Alterra Mountain Company across all digital touchpoints.

Alterra Mountain Company’s multi-destination season pass product, the Ikon Pass, is currently on sale for the 21/22 winter season, offering skiers and riders access to 44 global mountain destinations across the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The Ikon Pass can be purchased at www.ikonpass.com.
 
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fatbob

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So mainly about enhancing the retail experience rather than the ski one?

(not that making base areas/lodges attractive and comfortable isn't nice to have - just it's rarely the priority for real skiers)
 

Philpug

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So mainly about enhancing the retail experience rather than the ski one?

(not that making base areas/lodges attractive and comfortable isn't nice to have - just it's rarely the priority for real skiers)

Wow...real skiers? Real skiers according to your lofty requirements rarely pay the bills. This is not just about the retail experience as you say. Squaw's new gondola, retail? Steamboats 650 NEW acres of Expert/Advance terrain, and new teaching area, retail? Deer Valley updating their parking access, retail?
 

4ster

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On-mountain improvements slated for the 21/22 season, (pending additional approvals), include 650 new acres of advanced/expert skiable terrain in Pioneer Ridge.
^I wonder how much of the $207M this positive change will cost. The only positive I see about the rest is that it may keep more people in the base area & off the mountain where folks actually ski & ride :huh:
 

4ster

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Wow...real skiers? Real skiers according to your lofty requirements rarely pay the bills. This is not just about the retail experience as you say. Squaw's new gondola, retail? Steamboats 650 NEW acres of Expert/Advance terrain, and new teaching area, retail? Deer Valley updating their parking access, retail?
I get that infrastructure needs to be upgraded & new technology utilized, I just wish more attention was paid to the actual on hill experience that seems to be dramatically declining in recent years. Pass sales are a BIG part of paying the bills, "real" skiers buy passes.
Just sayin' :duck::P
 

fatbob

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Wow...real skiers? Real skiers according to your lofty requirements rarely pay the bills. This is not just about the retail experience as you say. Squaw's new gondola, retail? Steamboats 650 NEW acres of Expert/Advance terrain, and new teaching area, retail? Deer Valley updating their parking access, retail?

It's been debated for years that the Squalpine Gondi is more of a marketing bauble than something which is a positive for skiers at either mountain (and certainly feared by those who prefer AM). Steamboat's new terrain doesn't seem to come with infrastructure unless the press release is silent of that so it's probably at the cheaper end of things. No argument about a new teaching area. Updating parking/transportation hub - yep sounds good - how did that work out for skiers at Northstar in terms of convenience?


No argument that people who spend all their time in resort skiing rather than partaking of other services do not pay the bills. Was just making an observation that a big headline number amounts to very little in enhanced ski experience over enhanced ski day/trip experience.

and WTF does "one of the most impactful lifts in NA" actually mean? I like to avoid impacts when I'm suspended the air ;)
 

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Wow...real skiers? Real skiers according to your lofty requirements rarely pay the bills. This is not just about the retail experience as you say. Squaw's new gondola, retail? Steamboats 650 NEW acres of Expert/Advance terrain, and new teaching area, retail? Deer Valley updating their parking access, retail?

The negativity gets really tiresome. :nono:
 

Bad Bob

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So $111,000,000 buys you a gondi (that you can't really ski from) and 650 acres of added skiing terrain?
That is a lot of money left over for pretty base lodges. Sounds like being a contractor doing the base lodge upgrades is the business to be in. How much time did anybody on here spend in the base lodge this season, bars not included?
There is pretty good handful of ski areas that could be purchased for way under $10 million each. That would widen a network in a hurry with this kind of serious cash.
 

fatbob

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The negativity gets really tiresome. :nono:
So does the anti- negativity negativity ;)

I read the headline thinking - wow sounds impressively must be something there I could be stoked on. Then I parse it and realise that no it's not really bringing much new to the table for me. But perhaps I should be happy clappy and applaud our corporate PR overlords anyway for dropping their wise words on me....

And let's be clear I'm all for "reimagined guest arrival experience will eliminate cumbersome stairs and provide direct and easy access to the mountain" if that's what they really do and reduce the number of paces from bus/parking to lift. Just experience tells me that they are usually code for "we'll throw lots of retail "opportunity" obstacles in your way" as what is the commercial point of enhancements if it makes it easier for visitors to avoid spending their money.
 
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Philpug

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So $111,000,000 buys you a gondi (that you can't really ski from) and 650 acres of added skiing terrain?
That is a lot of money left over for pretty base lodges. Sounds like being a contractor doing the base lodge upgrades is the business to be in. How much time did anybody on here spend in the base lodge this season, bars not included?
There is pretty good handful of ski areas that could be purchased for way under $10 million each. That would widen a network in a hurry with this kind of serious cash.
And I am sure some will complain that "Alterra bought my resort, now they are going to ruin it with more people and cheaper prices...wahhh...wahhhh...

With not many being in base lodges this past season, the "overlords" started noticing that they are probably more over due for upgrades than they expected.
 

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So $111,000,000 buys you a gondi (that you can't really ski from) and 650 acres of added skiing terrain?
That is a lot of money left over for pretty base lodges. Sounds like being a contractor doing the base lodge upgrades is the business to be in. How much time did anybody on here spend in the base lodge this season, bars not included?
There is pretty good handful of ski areas that could be purchased for way under $10 million each. That would widen a network in a hurry with this kind of serious cash.
Steamboat doesn't really have a base lodge. The lodges (where people go to warm up, use restrooms, get food) are all on the mountain. There's a whole bunch of other buildings at the plaza, retail, ski rentals and storage, restaurants, lodging; etc. And from what I saw in my brief time there, they were all busy; it's the type of place Steamboat is, that attracts vacationing families and groups of adults who want all the amenities.

It seemed like locals know how to navigate through that and just get up the mountain as quickly as possible and ski, and get out. If the new Gondi helps with uploading people more quickly and efficiently, that's a good thing. The other spending on the base area is to address the issues that exist because of the number of people already coming to the resort. And yes, redeveloping the base so you don't have go up-then-down a set of stairs to get from the parking or shuttle drop off zone to where the lifts are is a positive development.
 

Bad Bob

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And I am sure some will complain that "Alterra bought my resort, now they are going to ruin it with more people and cheaper prices...wahhh...wahhhh...

With not many being in base lodges this past season, the "overlords" started noticing that they are probably more over due for upgrades than they expected.
Phil, to make the major resorts fly higher you need a continued supply of consumers. Most traditionally have come from the feeder resorts. It seems kind of like a city building schools to create more and better future tax payers. All the threads talking about lost ski areas and flat growth of the sport kind of reinforce the story. Originations like Vail and Alterra have the opportunity to build their own future customer base, that might be a good idea.
 

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Phil, to make the major resorts fly higher you need a continued supply of consumers. Most traditionally have come from the feeder resorts. It seems kind of like a city building schools to create more and better future tax payers. All the threads talking about lost ski areas and flat growth of the sport kind of reinforce the story. Originations like Vail and Alterra have the opportunity to build their own future customer base, that might be a good idea.
I agree. But Alterra will get ripped for doing just that by the "locals" who moved near that feeder area 6 weeks ago or the whiners, sorry "real skiers" who do not spend dollar one at the area and are skiing on older gear that they bought on sale and pack their lunch.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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Phil, to make the major resorts fly higher you need a continued supply of consumers. Most traditionally have come from the feeder resorts. It seems kind of like a city building schools to create more and better future tax payers. All the threads talking about lost ski areas and flat growth of the sport kind of reinforce the story. Originations like Vail and Alterra have the opportunity to build their own future customer base, that might be a good idea.
I was thinking about this very topic when I was skiing with @Mendieta a few weeks ago.
He got into skiing at a reasonably priced ski hill, Mt Rose. Now he's an IKON pass holder and is skiing Squaw/Alpine.
Feeder hills work.
 

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Some resorts, such as Stevens and Crystal, were major resorts already (based upon skier visits and quality of terrain), serving locals/day trippers, long before they purchased by VR and Alterra as feeder hills.

In some cases, such as at Stevens, it hasn't worked out well (except for the new lifts, those we like), and other cases such as Crystal, it's worked out (except when it hasn't due to the increased crowds). Honestly, I'm still not sure what conclusions to draw.

But like @Mendieta I have an Ikon pass and I'm not afraid to use it.
 

fatbob

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I agree. But Alterra will get ripped for doing just that by the "locals" who moved near that feeder area 6 weeks ago or the whiners, sorry "real skiers" who do not spend dollar one at the area and are skiing on older gear that they bought on sale and pack their lunch.

Nice to know the direction this website is going in....
 

fatbob

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It hasn't been as explicit as pony up to the ski industry regularly and freely or you're just a whiner before....I get it commercially.
 

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I think the overhaul of DV's Snow Park Lodge and base area is a good move and is overdue. It has been needed for some time now but I always figured they were going to relocate the main base area to what is now being planned as the Mayflower resort.

In addition to modernizing and expanding the base area, the move seems to be a signal that DV is planning to remain separate from the planned Mayflower resort.
 

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