I am a bit reluctant to post in this thread as my view seems to be a bit different then other posters.
Owning a season pass should not be a one way street! Even though there is not a written contract that amounts to much between a passholder and the resort owner there are certain expectations that we as consumers have come to rely on.
#1 is that we expect the ski area to make every effort possible to open as soon as there is enough snow on the ground & remain open till the snow is gone.
If snowmaking is part of their program then they need to make as much as possible, as early as possible & as often as possible.
They need to make every effort to keep all the lifts running and all terrain open every day, all season long.
They need to groom consistently, not haphazardly & supply a consistent, quality product every day.
This is just the shortlist but much has been lost in the era of the mega-pass & the demise of the daily lift ticket. There is not much to keep SAM accountable. In the days of the daily lift ticket, management needed to make a concerted effort to offer a quality experience every day, as many days as possible. With today’s model there is no motivation or real accountability, what’s to keep the area from opening a few runs a few days here and there and calling it good? That may work in the short term for them but then they would have no longevity or future, so instead they do the bare minimum to keep us coming back. It's a good deal for them because it puts most of the revenue in the bank before the season even begins & provides some security for them if it is a lackluster snow season but it is always a gamble for us.
In my opinion Alterra/Ikon dropped the ball on this one. For instance, didn't Epic/Vail offer tiered levels of credit for the 20/21 season for 19/20 passholders? Even my local area (whose management practices I sometimes question) gave us 25% off the next seasons pass. Sierra-at-Tahoe was not able to open last season due to the Caldor fire, no fault of their own but they still offered full refunds to those who had purchased passes. IIRC, Ikon did offer compensation for those who had not used their pass at all but nothing beyond that.
Yes buying a season pass is like gambling in a casino, a big risk for us but not much for them. I have gambled off & on with Ikon since it’s inception. For me it was totally about late spring skiing, specifically Palisades & maybe a few days at Mammoth. My gamble was never about IF they would be open but more HOW LONG would they be open. When they closed due to Covid I was one of those who had only 1 day on their pass. The only reason I had that day was because they had lost my pass in the mail. I was in Utah & Brighton had opened their beginner lift early so I went to pick up my pass & yes get a few runs. I doubt if I had even bothered if it wasn’t the fact that I wanted my pass in hand. If not for those few runs on a short & narrow WROD, I would have gotten what I believe was an 80% credit.
For the past two years I have sent countless emails and made a number of phone calls begging them to at least throw me a bone. It was not so much for the monetary value but more for some recognition that I had gotten the short end of the stick. Believe me, the amount of time I have spent adds up to way more than the cost of the pass. The result of all my efforts was that I don’t believe I ever made it past a third-party source specifically designed to not allow you to climb any further up the ladder. Toward the end I was even begging for Rusty Gregory‘s phone number or email address which I was told they did not reveal to anyone. What the hell! Isn’t he the president of the company?
In hindsight I now somewhat understand why I was hitting a dead end. During a class action lawsuit it is probably in the defendants best interest to not respond to inquiries like mine. In the end I think it would have been in their best interest to have followed suit with the other big player Vail/Epic and offered some sort of tiered compensation or treated each case individually. Instead they brought a frivolous lawsuit upon themselves where no one wins except the lawers. In my case they lost about 14 or $1500 Because I was disenchanted enough to not buy a 20/21 pass or a 22/23 pass. my other gamble is that they sell next years pass in the spring and allow us to use it for the late part of the current season as they have in the past. There are not nor have there ever been any guarantees on this.
I will gladly take the $150 and put it toward next seasons pass but I would’ve been much happier if someone had just sympathized with my situation in the beginning & offered me a free cup of hot chocolate
!
Remember this closure was during a time when the season was winding down, foreign visas were ending, seasonal layoffs beginning & daily profits lowering (remember they already have our pass money). Vail resorts were the first to shut down & otherscaved followed suit BEFORE there was a government mandate. So those of you who feel sorry for the poor corporate mega-resort having to close early don't come crying when we begin to have shortened operating hours, seasons & less terrain open!
My $.02, thanks for reading
Owning a season pass should not be a one way street! Even though there is not a written contract that amounts to much between a passholder and the resort owner there are certain expectations that we as consumers have come to rely on.
#1 is that we expect the ski area to make every effort possible to open as soon as there is enough snow on the ground & remain open till the snow is gone.
If snowmaking is part of their program then they need to make as much as possible, as early as possible & as often as possible.
They need to make every effort to keep all the lifts running and all terrain open every day, all season long.
They need to groom consistently, not haphazardly & supply a consistent, quality product every day.
This is just the shortlist but much has been lost in the era of the mega-pass & the demise of the daily lift ticket. There is not much to keep SAM accountable. In the days of the daily lift ticket, management needed to make a concerted effort to offer a quality experience every day, as many days as possible. With today’s model there is no motivation or real accountability, what’s to keep the area from opening a few runs a few days here and there and calling it good? That may work in the short term for them but then they would have no longevity or future, so instead they do the bare minimum to keep us coming back. It's a good deal for them because it puts most of the revenue in the bank before the season even begins & provides some security for them if it is a lackluster snow season but it is always a gamble for us.
In my opinion Alterra/Ikon dropped the ball on this one. For instance, didn't Epic/Vail offer tiered levels of credit for the 20/21 season for 19/20 passholders? Even my local area (whose management practices I sometimes question) gave us 25% off the next seasons pass. Sierra-at-Tahoe was not able to open last season due to the Caldor fire, no fault of their own but they still offered full refunds to those who had purchased passes. IIRC, Ikon did offer compensation for those who had not used their pass at all but nothing beyond that.
Yes buying a season pass is like gambling in a casino, a big risk for us but not much for them. I have gambled off & on with Ikon since it’s inception. For me it was totally about late spring skiing, specifically Palisades & maybe a few days at Mammoth. My gamble was never about IF they would be open but more HOW LONG would they be open. When they closed due to Covid I was one of those who had only 1 day on their pass. The only reason I had that day was because they had lost my pass in the mail. I was in Utah & Brighton had opened their beginner lift early so I went to pick up my pass & yes get a few runs. I doubt if I had even bothered if it wasn’t the fact that I wanted my pass in hand. If not for those few runs on a short & narrow WROD, I would have gotten what I believe was an 80% credit.
For the past two years I have sent countless emails and made a number of phone calls begging them to at least throw me a bone. It was not so much for the monetary value but more for some recognition that I had gotten the short end of the stick. Believe me, the amount of time I have spent adds up to way more than the cost of the pass. The result of all my efforts was that I don’t believe I ever made it past a third-party source specifically designed to not allow you to climb any further up the ladder. Toward the end I was even begging for Rusty Gregory‘s phone number or email address which I was told they did not reveal to anyone. What the hell! Isn’t he the president of the company?
In hindsight I now somewhat understand why I was hitting a dead end. During a class action lawsuit it is probably in the defendants best interest to not respond to inquiries like mine. In the end I think it would have been in their best interest to have followed suit with the other big player Vail/Epic and offered some sort of tiered compensation or treated each case individually. Instead they brought a frivolous lawsuit upon themselves where no one wins except the lawers. In my case they lost about 14 or $1500 Because I was disenchanted enough to not buy a 20/21 pass or a 22/23 pass. my other gamble is that they sell next years pass in the spring and allow us to use it for the late part of the current season as they have in the past. There are not nor have there ever been any guarantees on this.
I will gladly take the $150 and put it toward next seasons pass but I would’ve been much happier if someone had just sympathized with my situation in the beginning & offered me a free cup of hot chocolate
!Remember this closure was during a time when the season was winding down, foreign visas were ending, seasonal layoffs beginning & daily profits lowering (remember they already have our pass money). Vail resorts were the first to shut down & others
My $.02, thanks for reading
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, they charged me $700 for my "maybe" one day (not even half a day & I doubt Brighton was charging full price for it. In fact I remember riding with a young lady who couldn't believe I was wasting one of my Ikon days).
