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There is a big difference between a hangover and a halo, and it has nothing to do with alcohol.

A “hangover,” says Greg Ralph, sales and marketing director at Monarch, Colo., is a ski season that ends with a whimper: a rainstorm, big warmup or some other event that leaves skiers with a bad taste, ready to swear off the sport forever. A “halo” is a great season that just won’t quit: lots of snow, blue skies and happy skiers, who can’t wait to get back on the slopes the following season.

After back-to-back good snow years, skier days and mostly strong finishes, the U.S. ski industry is basking under a big, fat halo. The implications are stretching all the way into next season, Ralph says. “When you come out of a season with a halo, you tend to start off the next season well,” he notes. “When you have a hangover, it’s always hard to get going.”

A spot check of early season pass sales around the country seems to confirm Ralph’s theory. Despite some modest price increases, pass sales are tracking at least even—and sometimes far above that—at many resorts.

Bogus Basin, Idaho, for example, set a record for passes sold during its February 2011 sale ($5.1 million). At Saddleback, Maine, early pass sales were up 33 percent through July compared to last year. At Sugarbush, Vt., they rose 15 to 20 percent, and 11 percent at Waterville Valley, N.H.

And that bodes well. “Pass sales are an excellent indicator for the coming ski season,” says JoAnne Taylor, marketing director at Saddleback, “especially since so many of them are new pass holders.”


Western Eyes Are Smiling
The halo shines on. In the West, Mt. Shasta Ski Park, Calif., held its first-ever spring pass sale, and sold 1,000. “That’s 1,000 more early passes than we’ve ever sold before,” deadpans Jim Mullins, marketing director.

For the sale, Shasta cut its regular pass rate from $499 to $299, and allowed purchasers to ski the final two months of the current season as well as all of next season. “It was open to everyone,” Mullins says. “But our focus was on converting new skiers.”

At Bogus Basin, communications manager Gretchen Anderson attributes the resort’s record February pass sales to the economy: “We find the poor economy keeps people closer to home and thus, we benefit.” The resort’s new high-speed detachable quad, which replaces a ’60s-era double chair, has also generated a lot of local interest, she says.

In Colorado, the season pass wars don’t really ramp up until fall when price deadlines hit. But early pass sales were up, and that’s a good sign. “By and large, early season pass sales seem to be trending up compared to last year, which is encouraging,” says Jennifer Rudolph, communications director at Colorado Ski Country USA.

Rudolph attributes the increase to more resorts putting passes on sale earlier than ever before. “But the fall is when we really see the bulk of pass purchases and new products,” she adds.

And it’s not just new pass products that are amping sales. Vail Resorts’ new mobile app, “Epic Mix,” launched last season, allows visitors with season passes or other plastic tickets to track their vertical and share locations with friends and family. Visitors can also share the information on Facebook and Twitter and earn digital pins based on milestones, such as lifts and vertical skied.

“More than 100,000 people activated their accounts,” says spokeswoman Jennifer Brown. “More than 40,000 downloaded the app to their mobile phones. That’s a roughly 15 percent adoption rate by eligible guests.”

Monarch sold a record 6,000-plus passes last season, raised prices $20, and added three partner resorts to its reciprocal-resort pass, bringing the total to 21.

“Our big deadline is not until November 4,” Ralph notes. “Right now, we’re running about even with last year.”


Family Passes Are Big in the East
Eastern pass sales have been padded by families. For example, Saddleback’s 33 percent surge in early sales is largely due to families and youth. “We have seen incredible growth with our Peak Pass program for honor students,” Taylor says. Under the program, honor roll students can purchase a season pass for $99 to $149, depending on the student’s state or country of residence.

Waterville Valley’s 11 percent surge in early pass sales (before May 31) was also driven by families. “We’re seeing more family participation in passes,” says Bobby Foster, marketing director.

The resort’s new Sununu family owners scrapped former owner Booth Creek’s multiple-resort “Three-dom” pass and added a few perks to the area’s single-resort pass instead. “We included some lift tickets to other resorts, including the cross country center, and summer chairlift rides,” Foster says. “It’s proven to be the right mix.”

Early sales (by May 1) were also up significantly at Hunter, N.Y., despite a season-ending rain “hangover.” “Unfortunately for us, we did have some rain in March,” says Gerry Tschinkel, VP of sales and marketing. “Our net business was up, but we didn’t have such a great ending.”

A $100 saving on passes purchased by May 1 drove early sales at Hunter. Plus, for every $800 people spend at the resort before Sept. 5, Hunter also offers a free lift ticket. “People really react to that,” Tschinkel says. “When you add in a season pass, locker, kids’ ski camps, you might rack up three or four lift tickets. We’ve done it for a few years. It really seems to affect people’s early buying decisions.”

At Okemo, Vt., early pass sales were up three percent in units YTD, and seven percent in revenue. “The revenue increase is due more to types of passes sold and upgrades than price increases,” notes Bonnie MacPherson, communications manager.

At Liberty Mountain, Pa., March and April season pass pre-sales were down slightly. Marketing director Anne Weimer blames the hangover effect from a spring warmup. “Pre-sales were decent, but down from pre-sales in March and April, 2010, when we were coming off one of our snowiest seasons ever,” she says. “Our ’10-’11 season ended at its normal time (mid-March) without really any late-season snow.”

Still, it’s early, she notes. Since cutting its season pass prices from $570 to $399 in 2008 (they have crept up to $439 for 2011-12), Liberty has enjoyed steady, year-over-year growth in season pass numbers. Weimer expects that growth to continue this season.

Early pass sales at Wild Mountain, Minn., which starts selling them Jan. 1, are also running even with years past. For an extra $75, people can ski the remainder of the current season, plus all of the next one. The area’s other big early-purchase pass promotion is its $820 “fill a quad,” good for any group of four. “Our pass business the last few years has been very strong,” says Amy Frischmon, marketing director.

Ditto at Killington/Pico, Vt., where pass sales are running ahead of last year’s strong pace. “Overall, last year was a strong season for us, and it’s continued into the summer months,” says Rob Megnin, marketing and sales director. “We’re very pleased. I think we’ll see this continued strength going into the fall, and for all our core products, including value cards. It’s been a good carryover from last season.”

Thank the lord for halos.