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A coast-to-coast, beginning-to-end outstanding snow and ski season is already carrying over to next winter. With the 2007-08 season still in high gear, resorts moved quickly to lock in skiers for next year while the memory of fresh powder was still under their boots.

Vail Resorts’ new Epic Pass shows just how far this trend has gone. Aimed at generating return destination visitors, the $579 pass rang up 1,600 sales in the first day after its announcement. The Epic Pass aims to lure destination visitors into multiple visits; judging by the first day’s response, the bait is working. “We think this product could have some legs,” says CEO Rob Katz. “It only makes sense for us if it becomes a significant product.”

On April 2, Vail updated its Colorado and Summit Passes. Prices are $439 and $399, respectively. Several sweeteners formerly exclusive to the Colorado Pass are now extended to Summit and Epic as well, including $49 payment now, balance in September, and four unrestricted $50 tickets to any of VR’s five resorts.

Epic sales could be well into the tens of thousands. And that’s in addition to VR’s other passes, which rang up more than 120,000 mostly-local sales last year.

But, however big the VR number, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Everyone’s getting into the act.

“We started selling next year’s passes [which were also good the remainder of this season] on March 8,” says Melissa Rock, marketing director at Shawnee Peak, Me. “We had several new families come in to purchase them.”

At $1,750, a Shawnee family pass is a big-ticket item. But the chance to use it the rest of this season helps boost sales and bring new hardcores to the sport, Rock says.

Shawnee started selling next year’s passes a week earlier than normal in an effort to capitalize on this season’s momentum. “It’s a great way to drive some end of the year business and lock in people early for next year,” Rock says.

Other resorts reported similar strategies. At Timberline, Ore., good snow and a new $99 price point helped boost spring pass sales (good March 3 through May 26) 1,000 percent over last year. Brian Reed, marketing director at Timberline, expects at least some of those numbers to translate into full season pass holders next winter. “We’re indoctrinating new people into the season pass zone,” Reed says.


Springboard to Next Season
Scott Kaden, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association, explains the season pass zone this way: “What these spring passes do is give people who have never held a season pass the opportunity to have one. Once they get that experience under their belt they are more likely to be a pass holder in the future, because they realize how nice it is to be able to go directly to the lift, to choose when to ski, how long to ski, and how much flexibility a pass gives them. A spring pass is a very inexpensive way to get that experience to people.”

That idea has caught on with several areas. “A good season like we had this year results in some higher-than-average numbers of folks who come once or twice a year,” says Kevin Starr, general manager at Wild Mt., Minn. “We try to target those people with our spring pass.”

Other ski resorts, especially with long seasons, use spring passes to carve out a standalone spring season. “This season really feels like we’ve created a second season within the main winter season,” says Reed at Timberline, which also markets summer and winter seasons.

Dave Tragethon, marketing director at Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore., says the area’s $119 spring pass (valid March through April and weekends after that) brings new energy and enthusiasm to the resort, not to mention more people. “We do about 20 to 25 percent of our total season pass number in the spring,” Tragethon says. “It really demonstrates that there is a demand for the spring product.”

Like many ski areas in the country, demand for skiing at Mt. Hood used to wane long before the snow did. “Now we get a big influx of people who purchased a pass in April,” Tragethon says. “It injects a whole lot of new energy and interest into the sport. It helps us plan and present a better product for them because we know they’re coming. We feel confident saying we’re going to be open at least until April 27.” As long as at least 4,000 people come each weekend, Mt. Hood remains open for the next. Since starting the May Challenge two years ago, Meadows has operated into June.

Squaw Valley, Calif. (where this winter’s discounted adult pass was $1,400, and $1,779 full price) introduced a spring pass two years ago as a way to let skiers try before they buy. Skiers can apply the $179 spring pass toward the purchase of next winter’s pass. “It’s a great way for people who haven’t skied here or are thinking about becoming a pass holder but not ready to make the commitment to test the waters,” says Squaw Valley spokeswoman Savannah Cowley.

Once people get a taste of the flexibility and lifestyle a Squaw Valley season pass offers, Cowley says, they can’t resist: “It’s a way of life. We give pass holders a lot of extra value—clinics, private tours, first dibs on special activities, events. The spring pass opens a lot of new people’s eyes to the lifestyle we can offer here that they otherwise wouldn’t have. The fact that they can apply the spring pass toward the purchase of next winter’s pass helps us reach a lot of new people.”


Spring Separately
Other resorts have gone in a different direction with their spring pass offerings:

• Jack Frost and Big Boulder, Pa., sell a $25 spring pass (good March 17 through season’s end—a week to a month, depending on the resort).

• Grand Targhee, Wyo., lets season pass holders from any U.S. or Canadian resort ski free the last two weeks of the season (as long as they stay overnight at the resort).

• Crested Butte, Colo., lets pass holders from other areas ski half price the last three weeks of the season.

• For $39, Silver Mountain., Id., “summerizes” next winter’s pass ($345, on sale Mar. 15) to include the current spring skiing season plus summer mountain biking, gondola and chairlift rides. Pass holders also get five free days at White Pass and Mission Ridge, Wash., which offer the same perk with their passes. “We sell about 65 percent of next year’s season passes in the spring,” says marketing director Cathi Jerome.


Spring Together
Combo and reciprocal passes that are good at other resorts are another factor behind rising pass sales. Many resort “families,” such as Peak Resorts, offer multi-resort passes good at all the brother and sister resorts within the family.

Other unrelated, but neighborly, resorts have teamed to offer multi resort passes or skiing privileges. One of the biggest reciprocal agreements involves seven Colorado resorts (Monarch, Loveland, Crested Butte, Durango, Sunlight, Powderhorn, and Silverton) and two New Mexico resorts (Pajarito and Angel Fire). Pass holders at any of these can ski free three days at other participating resorts.

Other resorts offer different perks. At Jack Frost and Big Boulder, pass holders can bring a friend to ski free four days. Purgatory, Colo., where next season’s pass went on sale March 22 for $539, lets pass holders bring a friend to ski free two days before Dec. 21, and discounts friends’ tickets after that.

Season passes: more than ever, the best deal in town.