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Tricia

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THE IKON PASS EXPANDS INTO THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT WITH TAOS SKI VALLEY AS ITS LATEST PARTNER


DENVER, CO, August 28, 2018 - The Ikon Pass announces that Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico will join the Ikon Pass community for winter 2018/2019, offering expanded access across the Rockies from British Columbia to New Mexico.


Taos is the southern gateway to the Rocky Mountains, nestled in an intimate valley where Spanish Colonial and Native American history meet a European village. The mountain boasts over 100 trails, including expert hike-to terrain on Kachina Peak. Taos Ski Valley is in the midst of a $300 million overhaul with new infrastructure and updated amenities, including the recently opened ski-in/ski-out hotel, The Blake, and a new high-speed quad chairlift for winter 2018/2019.


“Taos Ski Valley is thrilled to join the Ikon Pass and its impressive lineup of outstanding destinations,” said David Norden, CEO of Taos Ski Valley. “Taos has long been recognized as one of the iconic mountains of North America, is undergoing a major revitalization, and is the world’s first certified ski resort B-Corporation. As such, our mountain culture and environmental ethos align perfectly with the Ikon Pass community. Taos is honored to have been selected as an Ikon Pass partner.”


“Taos is an endearing and classic brand among skiers and riders and we are proud that the destination has joined the Ikon Pass community,” said Erik Forsell, Chief Marketing Officer of Alterra Mountain Company. “Taos offers an eclectic cultural experience that combines big-mountain adventure and the spirit of the southwest.”


Access

Taos will offer 7 days on the Ikon Pass, and 5 days on the Ikon Base Pass with 10 blackout dates (Dec. 26-31, 2018; Jan. 19-20, 2019; Feb. 16-17, 2019).


From a week-long vacation to unlimited days, the Ikon Pass was built with the guest in mind, to provide the best experience possible. With 30 destinations, in 10 states, four Canadian provinces, on two continents, the Ikon Pass is the gateway to a like-minded community, enduring memories, and the most iconic destinations on the planet.


The Ikon Pass launched in January 2018 and is a collaboration of industry leaders – Alterra Mountain Company, Aspen Skiing Company, Boyne Resorts, POWDR, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Alta Ski Area, Snowbird, SkiBig3, Revelstoke Mountain Resort, Sugarbush Resort, Taos Ski Valley, and Thredbo. Each demonstrates integrity, character and independence that is reflected in their mountains and guests.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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Dryheat

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My thoughts immediately went to the long term future of the mountain collective which I was hoping to get again some day.

Does make ikon a bit more attractive to the Southwest (AZ), but hard to top Coleman's offering
 

Art

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THE IKON PASS EXPANDS INTO THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT WITH TAOS SKI VALLEY AS ITS LATEST PARTNER


Who will IKON add next? Sun Valley and Snowbasin are the remaining two on Mountain Collective that are not on the IKON.
 

dbostedo

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Mamie & I are tickled pink and as happy as pigs in s**h.

So, am I going to see you guys there?

I was SO happy to see this. See you there!!

Hmm... sounds like it's almost time to start another "Taos ski-weeks mini-gathering" thread (and include @Pumba) and see if we can get something together... maybe it'll actually happen this year!

@KingGrump - are you spending any significant time at Taos this season?
 

mdf

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Hmm... sounds like it's almost time to start another "Taos ski-weeks mini-gathering" thread (and include @Pumba) and see if we can get something together... maybe it'll actually happen this year!

I might be interested. As I said in the other thread, too many choices! But I do love Taos.
 

Sandy_NYC

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Hmm... sounds like it's almost time to start another "Taos ski-weeks mini-gathering" thread (and include @Pumba) and see if we can get something together... maybe it'll actually happen this year!

@KingGrump - are you spending any significant time at Taos this season?

I think so! Would be excellent if we can all be there the same week this upcoming season. @Pumba @KingGrump @mdf time to get the planning started.
 

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We have not started to plan our road trip itinerary for the coming season yet. The only week that is solid is the Big Sky gathering week.
The way things look right now, we will most likely detour to Taos for a week.

Lots of planning to do.
I'll get Mamie on it ASAP. :D
 

dbostedo

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I think so! Would be excellent if we can all be there the same week this upcoming season. @Pumba @KingGrump @mdf time to get the planning started.

We have not started to plan our road trip itinerary for the coming season yet. The only week that is solid is the Big Sky gathering week.
The way things look right now, we will most likely detour to Taos for a week.

Lots of planning to do.
I'll get Mamie on it ASAP. :D

Excellent... I'll start a thread tonight (unless someone else wants to do it sooner) and see who's Taos dates might overlap or whether there's a good week for a mini-gathering. I know I'm planning to do another ski-week, but I have not commited to which week. I do need to pick a week sometime soon, to get the time off from work scheduled though.
 
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KingGrump

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Sounds like a plan.
Once everyone figure out which week, Mamie & I will plan our drive by.
 

clong83

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My thoughts immediately went to the long term future of the mountain collective which I was hoping to get again some day.

Does make ikon a bit more attractive to the Southwest (AZ), but hard to top Coleman's offering
If you live in Arizona, I think it is a great deal. But I strongly disagree for New Mexico. He owns Snowbowl, which is the biggest game in town in AZ, and then Purg, one of the closest Southern Colorado resorts to AZ. But it's not a lot to offer if you are in NM. I'd much rather have the iKon pass. So many of those iKon Colorado resorts are 5-6 hours away, which is the same distance (or closer) as Snowbowl.

I live in Los Alamos, and I have a recently acquired Coleman resort 15 minutes from my house (Pajarito). I love Pajarito. It's small, but has some great terrain. The snow isn't reliable, but when it is good, it is a great place to ski. And nobody goes there, because there are so many bigger more reliable options around, like Taos and Santa Fe, so when we do get dumped on, it can last for days.

Coleman's pass sale structure frustrates me as a local at one of his resorts, and it has me debating every year whether I should even buy a pass to the resort in my backyard. A Pajarito only pass had something like 20 blackout dates last season, and was over $300 if you didn't catch the spring sale. For a resort that is often only open 50 days or so a year! The clear goal is to upsell me and get me to buy one of the PowerPass deals for a couple hundred more dollars, which have no blackout dates and include his other resorts. But realistically all I get for that are days at Sipapu, Snowbowl, and Monarch (Days at Purg require the PowerPass Local Plus, which is yet another $100 more). Sipapu is fine. But if Pajarito is open, I will only want to be driving to ski for something bigger/better, and Sipapu is not that. Taos and Santa Fe are the same distance and fill that niche. Snowbowl is also great, and I love stopping by there on my way to visiting my in-laws in PHX if I get a chance. But if I am going to drive 6-7 hours to ski, I'd much rather go to, well, almost anywhere in Colorado can be gotten to in that timeframe, save Steamboat and Winter Park. That means I'm paying like $150 extra for the luxury of not having 20 blackout dates at my own hill, 3 days at Monarch, and maybe a day at Snowbowl every other year or so if the travel logistics work out and I'm going by there anyhow.

That might be okay if Pajarito were more reliable. But Pajarito is a risky investment, as it doesn't open every year (unless you count the quarter-mile long bunny hill run, which is all they had open all season last year). I want to support my local hill, but asking me to pay the same price for basic access to my small local hill as I would at Santa Fe or Taos (easily two-three times as big, much more reliable) is just crazy. I'd rather just buy the Taos pass and drive an hour and a half to ski. I would absolutely buy the cheapo pajarito-only pass as well if he trimmed the blackout dates down to ten or less. It's that upsell that really sticks in my craw, because I don't really want and will not realistically use days at Sipapu or Snowbowl.
 

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My thoughts immediately went to the long term future of the mountain collective which I was hoping to get again some day.
Does make ikon a bit more attractive to the Southwest (AZ), but hard to top Coleman's offering
Yeah, might get a few extra folks from Arizona, Texas, and Oklahoma to jump for the Ikon. And maybe some people in New Mexico who have a different pass... but if you're going to be skiing Taos regularly, doesn't look like a great deal.

...Coleman's pass sale structure frustrates me as a local at one of his resorts, and it has me debating every year whether I should even buy a pass to the resort in my backyard. A Pajarito only pass had something like 20 blackout dates last season, and was over $300 if you didn't catch the spring sale...

In 2001, the oldest year the Wayback Machine has archived, full price Pajarito passes were $330 "but still great value with the reduced prices this year" (implying that they were even more expensive before 2001). Adjusted for inflation, that's $468 for Pajarito-only. Makes the $359 current Local Power Pass pricing look like a steal. Particularly given those three Monarch days... window rate for 3 Monarch adult days is $267. Coleman (and the ski club before him) need to charge for access in order to keep the mountain running. And their spring sale prices in particular, but even the current sale prices, seem to me about as low as they can go. Some people are going to prefer Santa Fe or Taos, and that's fine. But season pass prices throughout the southern Rockies are historically very low, with historically-unprecedented access to additional mountains.
 

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@dbostedo, D-Boss, start that Taos Meet-Up thread now!!!

I was a little concerned that my stoke level was pretty low heading into this season, but the addition of Taos has brought it closer to normal levels. Even more exciting is that Peter might come out for a ski week!!! I swear I did not coerce him at all. I was so surprised when he volunteered the idea of joining me. I think he wants to improve and get to a decent level, as we are thinking of doing an Alps trip with friends this season.

We can continue the discussion on the new thread, but timing-wise, I think late Jan/early Feb would be ideal for those with full-time jobs who also intend to go to the Gathering which is late Feb/early March. This gives you a few weeks to show your face at work before leaving for another trip.....
 

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