Stowe tickets hit $124

joshua_segal

I hate to say it, but maybe Stowe is doing the industry a favor.  As prices have continue to go up, so has discounting. Perhaps for those who aren’t price conscious $124 is nothing - and for those for whom it is, discounts are readily available.

In recent years, the problem has been compounded because millennials have no money - so the industry has been providing insane discounts on season passes for the 18 to 29 year-old crowd in hopes that they will become “hooked on skiing”. That’s doing nothing to increase revenues.

As far as the industry is concerned, it’s less about the price of the ticket and more about dollars per skier day.

bousquet19

This thread has turned out to be a discussion of discounting and window rates in general, as well as about Stowe ringing this season’s walk-up bell at 1.24 Benjamins.  Good points made.

Discounts, like luck, favor the prepared.  

I agree with rickbolger that probably many more people than we’d suspect pay the full walk-up window price.  The industry folks have their #s, I assume.  One of my hassles as I look ahead to this coming season is that I don’t have any particular overnight trips planned yet (except a now-traditional weekend at Snowshoe with my local group), so the need for discounts for NEastern areas has been harder to anticipate.  Sometimes circumstances don’t allow much planning ahead of time.

I hovered over the Vermont 3-pass online ready to pull the trigger but figured that if I used the 3-pass only twice I’d be better off buying a ticket via Liftopia (clicking SkiBum’s link to Liftopia tix, of course).  That realization has been saving me money lately.  We’ll see how it works out for 2016-17.

Woody

NELSBEER

I think there may be simple economic issues at work here On really busy days, holidays or great skiing weekends when all the homeowners, boarding guests and season pass holders are already vying for lift, food & beverage space do they really want to pack in a few hundred more people and make the crowd worse? SJ people know better than to flock to major hubs, others need indicators, like price, to guide them.

Stowe may not need to enhance the on hill experience extensively because it limits the number & type of clients it has to service at peak periods via price. The people that do come may ski less, socialize more and (probably because they have few or no kids or are rich) have more money to spend. During non-peak periods prices can be adjusted to fully utilize housing and hill resources.  A nice way of limiting ticket sales without actually telling anyone, “No, you can’t ski here today.” 

obienick

What on-hill improvements need to be made at Stowe to make the $124 worth it? They already have state of the art snowmaking, great grooming, and all major lifts (except the gondola) are high speed quads that are 12 years old or newer. Even the bunny lift is brand new.  Perhaps add pipe to Upper/Middle/Lower Sterling, but that’s about it.  Upper/Middle Smugglers is narrow IIRC, so it probably would never see snowmaking.

steamboat1

</blockquote>

Yes but a few resorts seem to be getting away from different pricing for weekdays vs, weekends/holidays. Stowe & Killington for example.

rickbolger

others need indicators, like price, to guide them.

….. A nice way of limiting ticket sales without actually telling anyone, “No, you can’t ski here today.” 

</blockquote>

Interesting take, never thought of that possibility.   Kind of saying, “let the great unwashed go to Bolton” or something.  

Skizix

I see where areas give discounts if you buy a couple days or more ahead. Jiminy Peak sends out e-coupon days with good discounts. I see walk-up prices as sort of a guaranteed weather rate. I’ve as figured as what we pay per hour. If you can ski six hours out of the day at $75. it’s $12.50 per hour and at $124. it come to $20.67 an hour. It can get expensive no doubt… (I prefer the $12.50 rate…)

How about a bumper sticker:

SKI

        WHILE YOU CAN AFFORD IT

phil

Thru my ski club last year i could get any day lift Stowe tickets for $75 advance purchase thru the club.On Stowe’s ski club appreciation days which included weekends walk up lift tickets with the club card was $45 per day.So deals exist.Once you have the rfid card there are also online reloading at a discount.. 

bobbutts

So my season’s pass to Ragged for $249 is like 2.01 days at Stowe.  You can get 9 season passes to Ragged for the price of one Stowe pass.

joshua_segal

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“Skizix”>I see where areas give discounts if you buy a couple days or more ahead. Jiminy Peak sends out e-coupon days with good discounts. I see walk-up prices as sort of a guaranteed weather rate. I’ve as figured as what we pay per hour. If you can ski six hours out of the day at $75. it’s $12.50 per hour and at $124. it come to $20.67 an hour. It can get expensive no doubt… (I prefer the $12.50 rate…)

How about a bumper sticker:

SKI

        WHILE YOU CAN AFFORD IT

</blockquote>

The truth is, skiing has always been an expensive sport.  If you don’t have the wanderlust bug and buy a season pass, the per day cost gets mighty cheap, mighty fast.  (and the coupon/special-deal people can keep it cheap too.) Compare the quantity of entertainment per hour with greens fees for golf at a major resort, the cost of a live show at a theater in a major city, the cost of a live concert, the cost of going to a professional athletic event: even at $124, the per hour cost is still less than the above list.

ciscokid

When you talk golf I can chime in . Been playing 44 years , been skiing 52 plus or minus with big gaps. Better golfer than skier but to ski I would pay $125 for most anywhere out west with 100% open per day.

I refuse to pay more than $50 for a round w cart on any 5 star digest course but will pony up $2-300 for a 2 day pkg unlimited golf. I have played Rob Trent Jones and son Rees tracts and got my 1St hole in 1 in 44 yrs. I would prob pay $3-400 to play Pebble Beach.

I love skiing more than golf cause there’s nothing like that POW feeling. Yes if I got the right group ( fam and friends) at Stowe I would pony up a buck and a qtr. I would attempt one of the front 4 w avg conditions. Yes I would spend a C note to do the Bush or MRG. It would be worth it to me and I don’t make much but would not go into debt for it.

Something is worth only what one is willing to spend on the item. If people will walk up and drop $125 then so be it.

Skizix

I guess I should have used a smiley.  :)] I’m not complaining just that yes there are deals, and the longer you ski each day the cheaper it is. At the end of the day… (Crap, did I just pen that? Ugh!) correction- At the end of the season… my average is around $25. - $30. per day total including ALL expenses. That’s cheap! This is because I volunteer at my home area and ski most days for free, plus the discounts I can get at other areas. I do all my recreational skiing during the week although that has lost its price edge over the years. Skiing has gotten more expensive over the years but the man-made snow covers more terrain at deeper depths. Lifts are fast and well maintained. Lodges are larger and offer a wider selection of food. I always feel that I’ve gotten my money’s worth. In 2016 at about $20. an hour for 6 hours skiing a place like Stowe (Have not yet skied there.) is reasonable. 

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