IKON Pass Pricing Revealed

[CarverJill]

If anyone is wondering about the change to add Mammoth to the base pass just read the comments on the IKON facebook page announcing the addition. It's both comical and disturbing. Lots of complaints, I guess Mammoth was bombarded with feedback when the cali4irnia pass was discontinued. I think they made a mistake making the change, because now everyone will think they can complain and changes will be made.

TBH that change has made me actually consider the pass. If only they did the $1 kid add on like the MCP.

Did anyone else hear about the $99 EPIC military pass that was announced today? I think its only for active duty, but retired military will get a 40% discount on an EPIC pass which is less than the base IKON. That's another option for my family. I'm not gaming out anything yet since there seems to be so much up in the air still.

 

[CrystalRose]

@CrystalRose POTENTIAL? No snow in SO CAL and everyone can come up on the same $599 pass? Now Cheaper than the old Cali4nia pass?
Inevitable $hit$how weekend.
Late Sunday afternoons and Mondays are wonderful.

Oops! Struck a nerve!LOL!

No, I get it. Honestly, to me the regular Ikon pass seemed to be similar to the Cali4ornia pass. I paid $800 for mine (I think it was cheaper earlier?) and this new pass was only $100 more with way more Mountains available. I mean you can't please everyone. The people who really wanted the Mammoth option probably would've paid for it which begs the question why change it? Was the backlash that bad?

 

[WaterGirl]

Oops! Struck a nerve!LOL!

No, I get it. Honestly, to me the regular Ikon pass seemed to be similar to the Cali4ornia pass. I paid $800 for mine (I think it was cheaper earlier?) and this new pass was only $100 more with way more Mountains available. I mean you can't please everyone. The people who really wanted the Mammoth option probably would've paid for it which begs the question why change it? Was the backlash that bad?

Sorry @CrystalRose didn't mean to come off that way ok maybe just a little....LOL

But yes, struck a nerve. You are correct. Those who wanted it would have paid. I spoke to customer service when the pass was first offered, they had a lot of backlash, apparently I was one of the few who was happy with the original pricing and exclusivity. They will make less money probably b/c those who were complaining about the price, don't spend any $ at the mountain anyways, and those who do, don't want to be dealing with all the yahoos.

I guess they caved in, and that was a mistake.

 

[skibum4ever]

Not sure that it was a mistake.

I know at least 5 people who don't ski often enough to justify $899, and who did not plan to purchase a pass. Now that they can ski for $599, they are buying into it. They probably ski 8-10 days per season, so they are not going to be a major factor in weekend liftlines.

They rent condos and eat out and shop when they come up, so they do contribute to the local economy.

And yes, the backlash was pretty bad. Mammoth skiers have traditionally been very vocal about their home mountain.

We would have paid, of course, because we have a condo and are retired and typically ski at least 50 days or more per season. But I would have missed various friends who generally ski with us.

 

[marzNC]

So as of March 2, 2019 the Ikon pass looks like the following for the Alterra resorts. With the change for Mammoth and June, they have the same status as Squaw/Alpine in terms of what happens with the Ikon Base pass for $599. That makes more sense from the viewpoint of someone who doesn't ski on the west coast. Only allowing 5 days at Mammoth made it seem as if that mountain was more crowded than Squaw/Alpine during mid-season, which doesn't seem true. Presumably one reason to create the Ikon pass is to pull people from the east to the Alterra resorts in CA during mid-season and late season. As well as folks from Australia and New Zealand in Jan-Feb during their summer holidays.

Whether or not the first year of the Ikon Base would've been better with only 5 days at Squaw/Alpine as well as Mammoth is a different question.

Can't remember, is there going to be a separate Mammoth only or Squaw/Alpine only season pass? What was the price for the Mammoth premium pass this season? The one with the reciprocal 50% discounts for the other MCP locations.

Alterra Resorts and the Ikon Pass for 2018-19 - as of 3/2/2018

Mammoth Mountain, CA - Ikon unlimited/unlimited with blackouts, MCP
Big Bear, CA - Ikon unlimited/unlimited
June, CA - Ikon unlimited/unlimited with blackouts
Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows, CA - Ikon unlimited/unlimited with blackouts, MCP

Deer Valley, UT - Ikon 7/5

Winter Park, CO - Ikon unlimited/unlimited
Copper Mountain, CO - Ikon unlimited/unlimited
Steamboat, CO - Ikon unlimited/5
Eldora, CO - Ikon unlimited/unlimited

Stratton, VT - Ikon unlimited/5
Snowshoe, WV - Ikon unlimited/unlimited

Tremblant, QC - Ikon unlimited/unlimited
Blue, ONT - Ikon unlimited/unlimited

 

[Jilly]

Can't remember, is there going to be a separate Mammoth only or Squaw/Alpine only season pass?

The email I got from Tremblant stated that there would still be Tremblant only passes. That information would be available March 6th too.

Question for Epic and MC pass holders - is there a limit to the number of passes they sell?

 

[marzNC]

Question for Epic and MC pass holders - is there a limit to the number of passes they sell?

In a recent interview, Vail CEO Katz said that selling a million Epic passes is a target. For 2017-18 the total being mentioned is 750,000. The previous season's total was 600,000. He also said that he expected millions of multi-resort passes of all kinds to be bought eventually. Implication was in the next five years, not 10-20.

As for the MCP, no overall numbers have ever leaked out. The implication of the Status Bar is that there is an upper limit for each price stage. But the changes seem more related to how close it is to a closing date for a particular price. I've tracked the closing dates for a few years. There is an obvious pattern. Hard to believe they reach an exact number on the same date every year.

 

[CrystalRose]

Sorry @CrystalRose didn't mean to come off that way ok maybe just a little....LOL

No I was just teasing you, which doesn't come across well over text... especially when you don't know the person!

Whether or not the first year of the Ikon Base would've been better with only 5 days at Squaw/Alpine as well as Mammoth is a different question.

Can't remember, is there going to be a separate Mammoth only or Squaw/Alpine only season pass? What was the price for the Mammoth premium pass this season? The one with the reciprocal 50% discounts for the other MCP locations.

Squaw/Alpine was always unlimited with blackouts under the base pass. I remember because I figured with limited Mammoth days it would be a good excuse to see the mountain.

As for the Mammoth pass, the only option they had was the Cali4ornia pass which varied in priced from ~$700-1000 depending on when you purchased it. I don't know about Squaw...

 

[marzNC]

Squaw/Alpine was always unlimited with blackouts under the base pass. I remember because I figured with limited Mammoth days it would be a good excuse to see the mountain.

Exactly. The fact that Squaw/Alpine was unlimited with blackouts but Mammoth was limited initially seemed to be designed to encourage people to go to Squaw/Alpine, as if Mammoth already had more than enough customers. I was looking at the list as someone who lives on the east coast and has to fly to Reno or CA to ski at either place.

Having a difference between Squaw/Alpine and Mammoth for the Ikon Base pass made it easier to come away with the perception that they were not at the same level as destination resorts. A lot of folks on the east coast haven't heard of Mammoth or Alpine Meadows. More likely to have heard of Squaw because of the 1960 Winter Olympics or Warren Miller films.

 

[Live4Powder]

It's a no brainer for me. I work for Vail Resorts so I can ski all their mountains and my daughter has the Epic Local Pass so we've been skiing Breck, Keystone and A Basin all winter.

For next season we'll also will be getting the Ikon Base Pass. My daughter lives in Boulder and frequently skis Eldora and I'd like to join her next season. I've skied Copper and love it and we'd like to check out some other resorts in Colorado like Aspen, Steamboat and Winter Park, which are all within driving distance. I wish there was a "Colorado Only" option for less money because neither of us have the option to take off multiple days from work or the money to travel out of state so it seems a waste to pay for places that we'll never get to in a season. We come from the east so we'll never go back in that direction as Colorado has spoiled us!

I'd love to shave off a hundred or so dollars for a "local" or "midweek" option as we never ski weekends or holidays either, so the "blackout" dates won't affect us either.

 

[Jilly]

Many of the hills here in Canada are used to only having their own passes. So this is something really new. Got the word from Tremblant today. They are offering a Tremblant only pass that is good for certain days. Currently it's called the Sublime pass. They changed the name to Tonik. So no Hooky (weekday's only) this year. And the owner's club gets to stay with their fast access pass.

So the Ikon base pass is what I'll be buying. Almost a 1/3 less than what I paid this year for my pass.

 

[SkiBam]

Yes, @Jilly, you benefit. For seniors, NOTHING!! I can't believe that and am totally annoyed.

 

[marzNC]

The Alterra resorts are handling late season skiing independently for those who buy an Ikon pass in March. For instance, at Mammoth an Ikon pass will be good after April 8. At Snowshoe, an Ikon pass will be good for the rest of the season. Meaning until April 1 if Snowshoe stays open that late.

 

[skibum4ever]

Are any other areas allowing skiing later this season? We may be in Colorado around April 1st and would love to diversify.

 

[mustski]

Yeah now we are undecided again. We like doing a Christmas trip, either to Tahoe or Mammoth. We'd save $600 by getting the Base pass, but then will be blacked out for the holiday week. Unless we went to Copper or Winter Park instead. Hmm... Would it actually be saving money at the point?

You can do your Christmas trip the week after New Years. That's what we always do because it's much less crowded. The B/O ends on 1/31.

@CrystalRose POTENTIAL? No snow in SO CAL and everyone can come up on the same $599 pass? Now Cheaper than the old Cali4nia pass?
Inevitable $hit$how weekend.
Late Sunday afternoons and Mondays are wonderful.

There will be plenty of people like us who only did so many trips to Mammoth because of the Cali4nia pass. I like Mammoth a lot, but I am thrilled to have other options and probably won't hit Mammoth at all next season. Those of us who have to rent places to ski outside of BBMR, are just as likely to hit Squaw as Mammoth and I, personally, am finding much less expensive accommodations in Colorado.

 

[marzNC]

Apparently there has been another option for 4 of the Peak resorts that was available for 2017-18 at the Boston Ski Expo. Perhaps also available online in the fall when the Expo is happening. The Peak "Ski 4 Passport" covers Wildcat, Attitash, Mt. Snow, and Crotched. The idea is that for $149 could go to each of those four places one day. If someone made to to all four, then got another day at one of them. Potentially 5 days for about $150 or $30/day.

 

[LKillick]

Are any other areas allowing skiing later this season? We may be in Colorado around April 1st and would love to diversify.

The Ikon is valid at Winter Park after April 9th, so yes, but maybe too late for your trip, unfortunately.

 

[Jilly]

So Alterra put a booth up in the Grand Manitou at Tremblant today. I imagine that it will be here for the week at least. You could go and ask questions. So the big questions around the apres-ski bar and on the lifts is no senior discount. Military, College, kids, but no senior. Well there is an unadvertised one for the 80+ crowd.

They had a spread sheet that shows what you what you paid for this years pass and what you will pay for next year. Their reasoning is that the Ikon Base Pass is only $40 more and you get to ski the other areas. Well most seniors I know that ski Tremblant, are only skiing Tremblant. They are not travelling. So I guess they get the Tonik and pay to ski the holidays with their families.

 

[marzNC]

So Alterra put a booth up in the Grand Manitou at Tremblant today. I imagine that it will be here for the week at least. You could go and ask questions. So the big questions around the apres-ski bar and on the lifts is no senior discount. Military, College, kids, but no senior. Well there is an unadvertised one for the 80+ crowd.

They had a spread sheet that shows what you what you paid for this years pass and what you will pay for next year. Their reasoning is that the Ikon Base Pass is only $40 more and you get to ski the other areas. Well most seniors I know that ski Tremblant, are only skiing Tremblant. They are not travelling. So I guess they get the Tonik and pay to ski the holidays with their families.

A senior 70+ can get the Tonik for $379 (is that in Canadian or US dollars?) before April 9, then would get a 15% discount to ski on the days not included. Interesting list of days, far more than just Christmas and a couple holiday weekends as is standard at U.S. resorts. For 2017-18, the Senior Pass was about $560?

 

[DeweySki]

Someone at work made a Ski Pass Comparison spreadsheet, which I thought was a helpful visual:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r-kuasBYYjpilaPZXqibW4Yv_6C2fYDkyKzoTM6MZh0/edit?usp=sharing
(This a Google Sheets link)

I haven't checked the accuracy except Epic Local since in the pass I know the best, but please let me know if there are errors.