Vail has been credited with a strategy that’s helped drive down the cost of season passes and increased visitor numbers. Until Oct. 8, its Epic Pass was available for $879 for the season -- offering unlimited access to 15 resorts in North America and Australia -- for roughly the price of a week at many independent resorts.
"Our season passes offer one of the best deals in all of travel," Vail’s Ladgya said. Nearly 700,000 people in 100 countries now hold a pass and continue growing in double digits every year, she said.
It’s a good deal for those with the means to travel multiple times in a season chasing the best conditions around the planet, “but it doesn’t reduce all the other expenses one incurs -- lessons, food, lodging, rentals,” says Katkov, who estimates visitors at Red would spend about a quarter of what they would at a larger rival.
Red’s two-day lift pass sells for C$184, compared with about C$270 for Whistler at peak season.
“Vail is speaking to a certain demographic, I’m speaking to a different one,” Katkov says. “The Whistlers, Vails, Jackson Holes, they’re catering to the 1 percent. There’s nothing wrong with that, but a young family can’t go to those resorts.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.