7 votes

How Vail Resorts sparked the great Northeast ski revolt

4 comments

  1. [2]
    davek804
    Link
    This was an interesting read, thank you. But now I'm noticing the Epic Pass could be a value for someone that skis as much as I do, which is not a whole lot. Definitely cognizant of the risks...

    This was an interesting read, thank you. But now I'm noticing the Epic Pass could be a value for someone that skis as much as I do, which is not a whole lot. Definitely cognizant of the risks around consolidation this means for the industry, though.

    1 vote
    1. ignorabimus
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      It's interesting to me because I currently live in Europe and Vail have started to buy up resorts in Switzerland (specifically Andermatt and Crans-Montana). When I go skiing I now see a lot of...

      It's interesting to me because I currently live in Europe and Vail have started to buy up resorts in Switzerland (specifically Andermatt and Crans-Montana). When I go skiing I now see a lot of tourists from the Anglosphere who have the Epic Pass, although I think it's too controversial (and there is too much domestic competition with e.g. Davos/Klosters, Arosa, Laax, etc) for Vail to get rid of day passes at the Swiss resorts they own so far.

      I suspect that Swiss law will prevent Vail from doing anything too evil private equity style because there are a lot of legal restrictions on who can own property and new construction generally requires the approval of local municipalities (who run a direct democracy system in which only citizens are allowed to vote). Will be interesting to see how it plays out, especially because in rural areas the Swiss are not always the most keen on having lots of foreign tourists.

      Also I was amazed to find out how expensive ski passes are in the US (something around $250 per day) compared to Switzerland (where the median income is around twice that of the US and income taxes are generally lower) where they are comparatively cheap (probably on average between 60-80 CHF per day).

      2 votes
  2. Markpelly
    Link
    A lot of these resorts in New Hampshire are fairly close to me and I skiied them for many years. If Vail can make improvements without raising the ticket costs a ton...this could be a win for our...

    A lot of these resorts in New Hampshire are fairly close to me and I skiied them for many years. If Vail can make improvements without raising the ticket costs a ton...this could be a win for our area. A lot of those resorts were poorly run before, so anything is better than how they purchased them.