- Mountain Capital Partners may enter the Midwest with a deal to operate Spirit Mountain, Minnesota. Under the proposal, MCP would lease the mountain for a minimum of 20 years beginning in October.
- Vail raises Epic Pass prices approximately 3.5 percent, offers a discount to young adults 30 and under.
- Alterra raises Ikon prices roughly 5 percent, adds Tamarack, Idaho and Devil’s Head, Wisconsin to its bonus mountain tier while removing SilverStar, BC.
- Granite Peak, Wisconsin; Lutsen Mountains, Minnesota and Snowriver, Michigan switch from Indy Pass to Ikon Pass.
- Snowmass returns and Arapahoe Basin will go unlimited on the Ikon Base Pass.
- The Wall Street Journal visits Telluride owner Chuck Horning, who says he’s “never selling.”
- The BBC profiles lift operations at Whistler Blackcomb.
- The LA Times visits independent Mt. Baldy, surrounded by Alterra in Southern California.
- SAM digs into how a small Wisconsin ski area went from closed to buying two brand new Skytrac lifts.
- Snowbird will replace Chickadee this spring.
- Pomerelle, Idaho’s General Manager buys the mountain with his wife.
- Shanty Creek, Michigan also sells to new owners.
- The cost of used gondola installation at Eaglecrest balloons from under $9 million to as much as $37 million. A report finds the gondola would make the ski area profitble on an operating basis and canceling the project would cost taxpayers $10.9 million.
- In Iowa, a government-owned ski area fundraises for a brand new chairlift.
- Revelstoke’s Stoke chair to be out of service at least three days for gearbox repair.
- Stagecoach Mountain Ranch inches toward approval near Steamboat.
- The top operator house on Chair 1 at Titus Mountain, New York burns down, rendering the lift inoperable.
Lift Blog 
If Mr. Chuck Horning has decided he is never going to sell Telluride, then let’s hope he becomes a better communicator and leader so that he doesn’t end up running everything into the ground completely. It’s a great mountain but to maintain a great mountain you’ve gotta know how to play ball with the locals. Does he?
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Alterra has struggled this winter, much more than Vail on a relative basis, and they believe the Midwest is the best opportunity to geographically diversify and protect themself from poor seasons out west. I would argue they should also bolster the East Coast, particularly the mid-Atlantic region, but they are still a little hesitant to expand the Ikon brand to smaller mountains.
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With SilverStar gone from the bonus tier of Ikon Pass, this leaves us for BC resorts on Multi Resort Products
Ikon and Mountain Collective: Sun Peaks, Panorama, Revelstoke
Ikon Only: Red Mountain, Cypress
Epic: Whistler Blackcomb
Epic Partner: 7 Days each at the 3 RCR Resorts in BC (Kicking Horse, Fernie, Kimberley)
Indy: Big White, Apex, Baldy, Manning Park, Sasquatch, Phoenix, Mt Washington, Murray Ridge, Hudsons Bay, Shames
Other: Silver Star and Mt Washington
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Since Silverstar sold to PRG ( Jay, Wisp, Mt.Washington, etc) it’s probably going to be announced that it will switch to Indy for next season… while Erik then whines about other resorts switching passes. I mean it’s even more comical since at this point PRG is slowly becoming the 5th or 6th the largest resort conglomerate behind Vail, Alterra, Boyne, MCP, and Powdr…. Clearly all their resorts are “indy”
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Ugh. I just don’t understand why Eaglecrest doesn’t just build a brand-new Skytrac (hell, Doppelmayr!) pulse gondola for that price.
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skytrac would be interesting and kinda cool
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Snowriver is in Michigan, not Wisconsin.
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I have to chuckle a bit about Erick (Indy Pass) being all upset with Alterra for swiping a few of his resorts. As an Indy Pass holder, it’s always been a bit frustrating that they sell you a pass generally with a promise that ‘we expect most resorts will return’. It seems to me they should have these resorts (and the blackout dates) – locked in when the pass goes on sale.
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I really don’t like his attitude about resorts switching. Especially when the Indy Pass basically dictated that resorts couldn’t be partners with Ski Cooper. Great support for an independent resort …
Add in their aggressive marketing of buy it now even tho you literally don’t know what you are buying (no confirmed roster for next season and known blackout dates).
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One of the things my wife likes about the Cooper pass is all the partner resorts. It’s not unlimited- three days at each- but with that many it’s almost a multi-mountain pass without all the strings attached. If we were to take full advantage of all those days we’d never work….
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I have bought the pass before even though I live outside of Colorado. Since Indy Pass targeted Ski Cooper it has become a lot less valuable but still pretty solid. The year I bought it I used at Monarch, Loveland, and some local midwest resorts. I think Ski Cooper requires you to pick up the partner pass in person now tho.
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@Ben- not yet. My daughter also has a Cooper pass; we went to Monarch earlier this season, and she just pulled the pass out at the ticket window and they gave her the ticket.
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I got the chance to ride Chickadee last spring. I rode it once because it seemed like a cool old lift. I had no idea when it was going to be replaced, but I figured it would be soon. I hope they keep Mid-Gad for a while longer.
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Snowbird’s fleet of interesting old chairs is slowly shrinking to nothing. I find it very interesting that they built all Doppelmayrs and one Thiokol.
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It seems to have worked out quite well for them. They were all doubles, too, save for the tram. They obviously took very good care of Chickadee as it ran during many summers. Grant it, it’s just a 30HP motor and a 830ft length lift, but not bad when everything is said and done.
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Snowbird had a very close relationship with Jan Leonard likely starting with Chickadee so it’s not surprising that other than the original doppelmayr doubles most of the lifts were supplied firms associated with hi; Thiokol, Garaventa CTEC, Doppelmayr CTEC so pretty much projects from Chickadee to Purivean exp. involved Jan.
I know that the bidding has been very competitive for their projects as of late so not surprised Skytrac is getting the replacement.
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Ikon’s lack of a competitive product below the Base Pass is frustrating for consumers, but it can also hurt their financial performance (as it did this year). The latter occurs because Alterra still pays partner resorts per skier visit, and the lower price point of a Base Pass can result in low yields. Not to mention that they are also ignoring a sizeable part of the overall ski season pass market.
Frankly, they should eliminate all of the local passes and add two new tiers:
Select Pass (~$699): Unlimited at A-Basin, BBMR, June, Snow Valley, Snowshoe, Solitude, Sugarbush, Winter Park. Unlimited with holiday blackouts at Blue Mountain, Schweitzer, Stratton, and Tremblant.
Midweek Pass (~$499): Unlimited midweek (with blackouts) at A-Basin, BBMR, Blue Mountain, Crystal, June, Snow Valley, Snowshoe, Solitude, Stratton, Sugarbush, Tremblant, and Winter Park.
While they may lose a little revenue from some skiers who downgrade from a Base Pass, that will be offset by all pass revenue going directly to Alterra resorts.
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