Sun Valley Company announces winter lift rates

Day passes to cost $59

By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

Last week, Sun Valley Company released its lift ticket rates for the 1999/2000 winter season, and per-day tickets show a larger-than-normal increase from the previous ski and snowboard season.

A full day, single lift ticket will cost $59, up from $54 last year. In a typical year, Sun Valley spokesman Jack Sibbach said, per-day lift ticket prices increase by about $2, rather than $4.

Adult season passes will cost $1,600, up from $1,525 last winter. Season discount cards’ initial cost will hold steady at $150, but the per-day cost for discount card holders will increase to $39. Last year, season discount card holders paid $36 for a day of skiing or snowboarding.

According to Sibbach, new lift ticket prices are determined by a formula that divides the total revenue generated from all lift ticket sales the previous season by the number of skier days recorded. However, Sibbach did not know the specific formula for pricing each kind of lift ticket.

He maintained, however, that Sun Valley’s lift passes are consistent with the rest of the ski industry’s.

"Our average lift ticket price per skier is actually average or below average in the ski industry for the type of destination ski resort we are," he said.

Sun Valley’s lift prices appear to be in the same ballpark with other top resorts.

Aspen’s per-day lift prices, historically the highest in the country, were $63 last year. Aspen’s 99/2000 rates have not yet been released.

Last winter, a season’s pass for Aspen Ski Company’s four mountains—Aspen, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass and Buttermilk—was $1,350, and a locals’ discounted season pass was $1,069.

Vail Ski Company also has not yet released next year’s lift ticket rates but last year charged $59 for a single day of skiing. A season pass to Vail Ski Company’s five mountains—Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapaho Basin—was $1,125.

Jackson Hole ski area in Wyoming will charge $54 for a day of skiing next year. Jackson Hole’s season pass prices, though not yet released for the upcoming season, were $1,725 if purchased after August, but $1,450 before the end of August.

Sibbach said Sun Valley is worth the price.

"People who come here are satisfied customers," he said.