Lift Tickets: An Area That Charges By The Hour?
And Other Ticket Pricing Ideas.
Station de ski du Semnoz with a view of Mont Blanc offers by-the-hour lift tickets. That’s different.
Pre-season cocktail hour among veteran skiers often leads to talk of the new season’s pass prices. In 2001 or 2002, when Park City Mountain Resort changed its senior pass from free to $300, a flurry of letters to the editor registered collective outrage. Not to mention that even at $300, it was a great deal for a season’s pass. Now, under Vail’s ownership, it doesn’t matter if you’re 19 or 89, the cost is $599 for locals and $789 for everyone else. To be fair, they throw in the rest of the Vail-owned resorts with the purchase, but not The Canyons, the area next door under Vail’s management.
A short drive away is smaller, more intimate Sundance. Vertical and skiable acreage are smaller, but on weekdays it is less inhabited. On powder days, it is vacant, providing one untracked run after another, some on steep, continuously pitched terrain. Sundance’s food is equivalent to that of a well-reviewed restaurant. And maybe because he’s an older dude, Robert Redford cuts a great deal for seniors (65+). This year, a day pass is $21, up from $15 last season and $12 a few years before that. The season pass is $125.
We’ll be publishing an updated list of where and when the mature set can ski free. Last year, those privileges started at 63 (McCauley Mountain Ski Center, Old Forge, NY) and clustered around 70.
SSAWS (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Skiing) Indoor Ski Dome outside Tokyo had three-hour day passes.
Throughout the industry, ticket-pricing models tend to follow the same ideas: Age, full day, half day, night, multi-day passes, 10 packs, etc. When it was in business, Lalaporte Ski Dome SSAWS, the indoor ski center outside of Tokyo, sold three-hour tickets. The monotony of the place made three-hours seem especially long.
We’ve just learned of an area not far from Chamonix that offers tickets based on the number of hours you choose to ski. Semnoz, is a short drive from Annecy, with a direct view of Mont Blanc. It is 5575′ above sea level, a midget compared to Mont Blanc’s 15,778′. Semnoz is a local’s place, which like Sundance, is reported to deliver endless untracked following big powder dumps.
We mention Semnoz because paying to ski by the hour is an idea that might deserve some attention here in the States.
Black Diamond Introduces New Online Film Series
Exploring The Call Of Mountains
BD TV will show you how the back country looks and the people who go there.
Credit: BDTV
Black Diamond, the climbing, skiing, mountain sports equipment and apparel manufacturer, is introducing BD TV, a new online film series. According to the company, the series is “dedicated to sharing stories from the soul of climbing and backcountry skiing.” The first season covers ski mountaineers, avalanche forecasters and hometown heroes discussing lifelong goals, alpine starts, family traditions and building a life around the unending love for sliding on snow.
To preview the series and watch some amazing mountain scenes, click here.
Warren Miller Does It Again: Chasing Shadows
66th Ski Film Is Designed To Inspire For The Upcoming Season.
The view from the top of the world is pretty impressive in Warren Miller’s new flick: Chasing Shadows
Credit: Warren Miller Entertainment
Warren Miller created the ski movie genre. We remember the days when Warren’s movies included surfer music, sight gags and a narrator (was that Warren himself?) wise-cracking about how skiers would do almost anything to get on the mountain, including forgetting to mow their lawns (think Southern California).
Now, Warren Miller Entertainment produces a knock-out ski documentary/art/thrill film around this time every year; it has become the most predictable harbinger of the upcoming winter season. “Chasing Shadows” is this year’s offering. It will be playing around the country starting in late Sept. The cast features athletes from basically corner of the sport. And the scenes of mountains around the world are stunning.
For information about where to view “Chasing Shadows”, click here. Go and get inspired. Check out the trailer below. Pretty impressive.
Athletes
Rob Kingwill – Seth Wescott – Chris Anthony – Rachael Burks – Sho Kashima – Hannah Kearney Jonny Moseley – K.C. Oakley – Dylan Walczyk – Caroline Gleich – Jeremy Jensen – Steven Nyman – Matt Philippi – Ian Provo – Neil Provo – Lexi duPont – Amie Engerbretson – McKenna Peterson – Øystein Aasheim – Marcus Caston – Kaylin Richardson – Espen Fadnes – JT Holmes – Ian McIntosh – Ingrid Backstrom – Sage Cattabriga-Alosa – Mark Abma – Rory Bushfield – Chris Benchetler – Pep Fujas – Eric Pollard
Destinations
Nepal – Colorado – Wyoming – Utah – Alaska – France – Chile – Italy – Japan – Switzerland
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