Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Resorts offer big discounts on passes

Sun Valley summer discounts end Saturday


By TREVON MILLIARD
Express Staff Writer

Big Sky Resort is in southwestern Montana, an hour’s drive south of Bozeman toward Yellowstone National Park. Photo courtesy of Big Sky Resort

Saturday marks the last chance to buy a winter season Sun Plus Pass for the early rate of $1,599, a 20 percent discount compared to the $1,999 regular price. The price reflects a $100 increase compared to the cost of the season pass at this same time last year.

The pass includes unlimited skiing or snowboarding at Bald and Dollar mountains, plus numerous other perks.

So, how does Sun Valley Resort's deep discount stack up to those of similar Western resorts?

Almost every resort offers discounts to those willing to take the initiative of buying a pass early on, a deal started about a decade ago by Spirit Mountain in Minnesota, according to Michael Berry, president of the Colorado-based National Ski Areas Association. About 320 American alpine resorts belong to the association, accounting for more than 90 percent of the skier/snowboarder visits nationwide.

"As a result of deep discounts, we're selling more passes than ever," Berry said, adding that the association doesn't track pass prices this early on, but waits until September.

However, the deep discounts usually start in July, and some resorts offer deals as early as March.

Unlike Sun Valley, several similar Western resorts are making their early discounts even lower-priced than usual, such as Big Sky Resort, in Montana, and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, in Wyoming.

Big Sky is similar in size to Sun Valley and close to a mid-sized population center and airport in Bozeman. It is offering season passes for $999 up until Sept. 30, a 27 percent price reduction compared to the early price of $1,375 for the 2009-10 season. The regular season pass price has yet to be determined but was $1,475 last year.

Spokesman Dax Schieffer said the resort even offered passes at $799 in the spring. He said the resort has sold passes this early in past seasons but not with such a strong marketing push.

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"We wanted to inject some new energy into the product," he said.

Schieffer said the resort significantly changed its strategy this season due to the weak economy putting more people on the fence about buying a pass. Plus, he said, it's a chance to reach a wider market since no large city sits next door. He said Big Sky anticipates exceeding 2009-10 pass sales in revenue and volume but said those numbers aren't released.

Jackson Hole has also made similar choices for economy-related reasons, according to spokesman Zahan Billimoria.

The resort's offering a new Grand Pass through August, costing 25 percent less than last year's early-season price, a rate not seen since the 1980s. Adults pay $1,255. Also new are 10-day, 20-day and weekend passes.

"Restructuring our season pass pricing was the right thing to do," said resort President Jerry Blann. "... This is a serious value proposition. We have not seen prices this low in well over two decades."

Sun Valley also offers niche passes, such as the 20-day pass, weekend discount card, college six-pack and more. The notable change this year is the 75th Winter Season Pass Special for $1,499, if bought in July. Unlike the Plus Pass with its many extras, the 75th pass is limited to just skiing and snowboarding on the two mountains for $100 less than the Sun Plus Pass, a modest 6 percent discount.

Sun Valley isn't alone in raising the price of its regular season pass.

Vail Resorts is offering its Epic Pass for the third year, providing access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado and Heavenly in California. The price tag is $599, a $20 increase over last year's early purchase price.

Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com




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