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Have you heard of the Indy Pass?

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
Two new resorts have been added: Caberfae Peaks in Cadillac, MI, and Sunrise Peark in Greer, AZ. This brings the total number of resorts on the Indy Pass to 36.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Bought an Indy Pass today. The online process was well thought out. After the purchase, had to find a photo with no hat and no glasses to upload. Although all that's supposed to be needed to get a lift ticket is the order number and ID.

I'm getting a Sun-Fri season pass for Massanutten and plan to be there for two weekends in January for sure. So two days at weekend prices plus a couple days at Cataloochee is break even for me on Indy. I'll be close enough to Cat when I pick up or drop off my daughter in Asheville for school breaks. Curious to explore after reading SkiSE notes about Cat for over a decade.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Anyone still interested in an Indy Pass who is an REI member can get it for $10 off online. Search on "lift tickets" or "indy pass" on the REI website.

Price goes up for Indy on Dec. 1, 2019. Currently 44 locations included.
 
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marzNC

Angel Diva
Used my Indy Pass for the first time at Bryce this past weekend. Bryce was able to get open and I happened to be staying close by at Massanutten.

The next day I got a notification email showing a "Full redemption made at Bryce Resort." Can also track usage on my Indy Pass account. Seems pretty well set up for a first season.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
Just got word that the price for the Indy Pass is going up. It'll increase from $199 to $219 on December 1, and then again to $239 on January 1. The pass will continue to be sold until March 1, 2020.
 

Duckie

Certified Ski Diva
Love this, so many in the mid-west! Bought mine, hoping to ski at 10 or more of these areas this year.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The Indy Pass folks are having a good time. This season the midwest and mid-Atlantic are having a good start. The southeast too with Cataloochee just beating out Killington for first-to-open in the east. New England is ramping up before Thanksgiving week with Greek, Berkshire East, and Suicide Six already open.

Indy Pass email 11/20/19
Screen Shot 2019-11-20 at 5.01.01 PM.png
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The total is up to 46 locations with the addition of Black Mountain, NH, and Detroit Mountain in MN.

Lots of locations in the midwest at this point. I left out Terry Peak in SD from the list below.

INDY PASS - MIDWEST
Detroit Mountain, MN
Giants Ridge, MN
Powder Ridge, MN
Spirit Mountain, MN

Little Switzerland, WI
Nordic Mountain, WI
Trollhaugen, WI
Tyrol Basin, WI

Big Powderhorn, MI
Cabaerfae Peaks, MI
Cannonsburg, MI
Pine Mountain, MI
Schuss Mountain at Shanty Creek, MI
Swiss Valley, MI
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Mt. Abram in Maine was added to the Indy Pass just before the price went up to $239 on Jan. 1, 2020. So the total count is up to 47. The list for the northeast includes 10 locations for the rest of the 2019-20 season.

NORTHEAST
Greek Peak, NY
Bolton Valley, VT
Magic Mountain, VT
Suicide Six, VT
Black Mountain, NH - added 04Dec
Pats Peak, NH
Mt. Abram, ME - added late 31Dec
Berkshire East, MA
Catamount, MA
Mohawk, CT - added 01Oct
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Only a couple more weeks before sales for first season of the Indy Pass is over. They had a flash sale for a day, $139 instead of $239.

Screen Shot 2020-02-18 at 8.32.43 PM.png
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The Indy Pass wants to lessen the disappointment for people who were planning on using it during late season but didn't get a chance. Looking forward to getting Indy for 2020-21 in the fall.

From email sent to Indy Pass holders for 2019-20
Screen Shot 2020-03-17 at 11.13.27 PM.png
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
The Indy Pass just added seven new resorts:

Cannon Mountain (NH)
China Peak (CA)
Crystal Mountain (MI)
Granite Peak (WI)
Lutsen Mountain (MN)
Sasquatch Mountain (BC)
Tamarack Resort (ID)
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Took a while to absorb all the new options related to pricing for Indy 2020-21. The base price for adults is still $199. There are more elements from how the MCP works. Like the MCP, I think Indy will be slightly different every season. Unlike the MCP, I don't expect the price to rise. The creator, Doug Fish, is pretty clear that he wants to keep the entry price affordable. The new options include a kid price, an unrestricted option called Indy+ to cover blackout dates for the few locations that will have them, and a 25% discount for a black out date or a third day.

Also, if someone gets a season pass for a participating ski area/resort before Indy, then the price would be $129. Last fall a few ski areas offered Indy for $159 as an add-on to a season pass.

There is a graduated discount for the following season if an Indy pass holder uses it less than four days. Last spring, Indy sold passes for $139. When the season ended abruptly, people who didn't have a chance to use their "spring Indy" were given full refunds.

Screen Shot 2020-05-20 at 12.40.08 PM.pngScreen Shot 2020-05-20 at 12.40.20 PM.pngScreen Shot 2020-05-20 at 12.40.52 PM.png
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
For those interested in the background of the Indy Pass and how ski areas/resorts benefit, check out the late May podcast of the Storm Skiing Journal. What I found very interesting was how much money each place got for each visit last season. The formula is going to be tweaked for 2020-21, but it's clear that Indy Pass not only brings in people, it also generates bonus revenue.

May 31, The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast
Podcast #16: Indy Pass Founder and President Doug Fish
https://skiing.substack.com/p/podcast-16-indy-pass-founder-and
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Here's another short interview with Doug Fish. His focus was on the advantages of a national marketing platform from the beginning. But it's also clear that the local data from the Indy database is very useful to GMs who may not be able to track their customers in the same way that resorts with RFID can. When someone just buys a day ticket or two, they aren't going to fill out a form with personal information like where they live or an email address. Targeted messaging is very important in the age of 24/7 Internet usage by pretty much anyone who is likely to be skiing/boarding.

https://www.slopefillers.com/indy-pass-doug-fish/
" . . .
Doug: The data we generate is critical to our success and a key value proposition for our partners. Our eCommerce and cloud-based tracking system, developed by our partner Entabeni Systems, is very sophisticated. With over 4000 hours of development time invested it can’t be duplicated by any single resort. It stores and tracks every single visit along with demographic information for each passholder, and allows us to extract some very valuable marketing data.
For example, we know that more than 80% of the visits to three of our Northern Rocky Mountain resorts originated out of state. And, more than half of those visits were on non-peak weekends or holidays. With detailed information like this, we can predict passholder behavior, pinpoint our messaging in regional markets, and add incredible value for our partners.

Vail is the best marketing company in snow sports because it has embraced data marketing and probably has contact info and consumption behavior on 90% of all skiers in North America. If non-affiliated resorts wish to compete in the next decade they must embrace technology and utilize the power of data."
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
Wow. That actually might make buying this pass worthwhile for me. But can I really justify 4 passes in a pandemic year? :brr:
 

WhyKnot

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Wow. That actually might make buying this pass worthwhile for me. But can I really justify 4 passes in a pandemic year? :brr:

Gosh you are right. It's like playing the odds of what pass will work with the reservation system, and what states will I be able to ski in! Suicide 6 has a sweet deal if you by a S6 pass you get the Indy Pass for free (by Dec 1) which I was thinking of adding to my Epic Pass - because I was concerned about the Epic Res system. And it made it a half-no brainer with the Indy Pass thrown in - BUT I am concerned if there will be restrictions on if I can ski in VT (!). I may check the fine print about refunds. :smile:
 

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