SallyCat
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Good info. My overall point is that Epic's bargain-basement pricing is causing massive overcrowding. Snowbird likely had plenty of parking because their season pass is expensive and the multi-resort pass they're on has day # limits.
I am emphatically in favor of broader access to snowsports. At the same time, running a destination resort is expensive. Vail's volume-based pricing strategy and its tight-fisted operational decisions are ruining its product. Implementing parking fees amounts to an admission that they're committed to staying this awful course.
It would have preferred to see them raise the unlimited pass prices but offer more creative lower-tier options with day # and resort limitations. (like, a northeast 10-pack, but you can't use more than two days at any one resort, that kind of thing). And get their business guys who spend half their professional lives attending leadership training to find a savvy business-y way to get some tax breaks for growing and supporting small, local feeder hills. Isn't exploiting tax breaks what corporations are supposed to be so good at? Grrr.
Anyway, my point is the parking fees are so galling because it's essentially Vail saying "we don't even care enough to pretend we care about skiing and there's nothing you can do about it." It's like a paramedic punching you in the head to distract you from your broken leg. (Well, except the paramedic is actually licensed and regulated and ultimately can't get away with it by just screaming "FREE MARKET" while he punches you.
I am emphatically in favor of broader access to snowsports. At the same time, running a destination resort is expensive. Vail's volume-based pricing strategy and its tight-fisted operational decisions are ruining its product. Implementing parking fees amounts to an admission that they're committed to staying this awful course.
It would have preferred to see them raise the unlimited pass prices but offer more creative lower-tier options with day # and resort limitations. (like, a northeast 10-pack, but you can't use more than two days at any one resort, that kind of thing). And get their business guys who spend half their professional lives attending leadership training to find a savvy business-y way to get some tax breaks for growing and supporting small, local feeder hills. Isn't exploiting tax breaks what corporations are supposed to be so good at? Grrr.
Anyway, my point is the parking fees are so galling because it's essentially Vail saying "we don't even care enough to pretend we care about skiing and there's nothing you can do about it." It's like a paramedic punching you in the head to distract you from your broken leg. (Well, except the paramedic is actually licensed and regulated and ultimately can't get away with it by just screaming "FREE MARKET" while he punches you.
