Price of Season Ski Pass Drops in Jackson Hole, Elsewhere in the West

Economics

Efforts meant to entice more occasional skiers to pay more for full-season's better value.

By Allen Best, 12-06-10



	Skier Mason Cassidy at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Photo by resort photographer Chris Figenshau.

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort slashed the price of a season pass by 25 percent, bringing it to $1,255. That’s the lowest price since the 1980s for a full-privilege ski pass.

At the same time, the resort increased the cost of skiing for children.

Jerry Blann, the chief executive at the resort, said the reduced price was an effort to get adults who have been buying the 10- and 20-day packages to go forward with season passes.

“I think we will see some of our 10- and 20-day people move up,” Blann told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. “We’re counting on that. We might even see some people with second homes here buy season passes.”

He also noted that Jackson Hole has improved its infrastructure, with a new tramway, and other changes and has plenty of capacity.

In slashing season prices, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has joined many other resorts in the West. The season-pass price cutting began in Idaho but was quickly picked up by major ski areas in Colorado.

But whereas those discounted passes were aimed at regional markets, especially the ski-happy Denver area, Vail Resorts upped the ante two years ago with a noholds-barred Epic Pass. The pass this year costs $600 and is good at the corporation’s four ski areas in Colorado (Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Breckenridge) and one ski area in California, Heavenly, along with
Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin.

The News & Guide reports that Jackson Hole’s new price puts it on par with several other high-end resorts in the West: Sun Valley and Aspen both offer passes that, if purchased early, cost $1,500, while Deer Valley comes in at $1,630.

For locals in Jackson, there’s always Grand Targhee at $600 and the in-town Snow King at $225. Options abound.

Allen Best publishes Mountain Town News, a subscription newsletter covering the resort valleys of the West.

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By Allen Best, 12-06-10 | add comment | email story | print story

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Economics