 Poster: A snowHead
|
Question for you all you Swiss residents out there.... Which resorts/area are offering combined season passes now (i.e. more than one area on one pass)? Unfortunately our local hill does its own (rather expensive) one, I know there's a Graubuenden pass, but it's a bit far for us on a regular basis (don't want to take mother's dog-sitting service for granted!). As there seems to be a bit of a trend towards multiple areas on one pass, I thought it might be interesting to see if we could compile a list
eng
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
I'm not sure it's much of a list, in fact I reckon there's less than there was. Gstaad/Villars/Adelboden do a good deal. Engelberg has something, there's the Alpes Vaudoise as well. There's a Valais card which covers a lot of the Valais and some other places that use ski-data systems but it's pretty crap, barely discounted from day rates and, as far as I can tell, unable to deal with half day tickets. All the other end of Switzerland for you though.
But, I have seen some people using some vouchers this year and been unable to work out what's going on there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Even pre-kids though it never looked like a season pass would be a good deal. The pay off would come if you also took your skiing holiday on one of the resorts as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
So, going off at a tangent - at how many day's skiing does your season pass break even over individual days? At our local resort I worked out it's about 14 days  For a hill with just 40 km of piste, not a place to spend a full week, and when you work during the week, that's a lot. And it's not even linked to any other areas
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
eng_ch, I remember when we went to Banff, it seemed to be a more economical proposition then a European one. THis season we thought about a season pass for Serre Chevalier, but we were so busy moving in I didn;t ski at all for the first week, then only 4 or 5 days after that. They also intorduced a family pass for under 18's and their parents. At 6 days for 535 euros, it saved us quite a bit as oppsed to 4 adult passes, so the season pass wasn't worth it. However, if we'd bought it early enough, we would have has free Summer lift passes too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
eng_ch, Hoch Ybrig? They had record season ticket sales this season.
Locals ski areas like Hoch Ybrig do tend to have a longer season than holiday resorts. Hoch Ybrig will stay open until the end of April despite it's lowly 1900m peak. That could be a 5 month season.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
nessy, yes indeed, Hoch-Ybrig. We tend to go there a afair amount because we can do afternoons, but still CHF 670 per person for 40km is pretty poor value compared with ise's Alpes Fribourg pass. Or even compared with the Topcard (Flims/Laax, Davos and Lenzerheide) or the full Graubuenden one (all resorts in Graubuenden)
http://www.laax.com/en/prices/Abonnements.html
I suppose the flip side is Hoch-Ybrig's day passes are more than CHF 10 cheaper than places like Flims
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| nessy wrote: |
eng_ch, Hoch Ybrig? They had record season ticket sales this season.
Locals ski areas like Hoch Ybrig do tend to have a longer season than holiday resorts. Hoch Ybrig will stay open until the end of April despite it's lowly 1900m peak. That could be a 5 month season. |
The smaller stations here have had a record season as well I think. Some are now closed midweek but still going on at weekends. I read somewhere that Bugenents in the Jura had the most snow accumulation in CH for example.
The break even point for most season passes seems around 15 days from the ones I know.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
| eng_ch wrote: |
| So, going off at a tangent - at how many day's skiing does your season pass break even over individual days? At our local resort I worked out it's about 14 days :shock: For a hill with just 40 km of piste, not a place to spend a full week, and when you work during the week, that's a lot. And it's not even linked to any other areas |
| ise wrote: |
| No wonder all the German speakers are miserable :D An Alpes Fribourg pass is 460chf per season, so it pays after 12 days but covers 160km. My Gstaad pass pays out at 15 days or so, but you get Alpes Vaudoise and Adelboden/Lenk for 10 chf a day as well. |
| ise wrote: |
| The break even point for most season passes seems around 15 days from the ones I know. |
Crikey - our season passes covering both Big White and Silver Star in Canada break even in 10 days (or 8 if you get a family pass) as long as we buy them in September. And then there are discounts on accomodation, lessons, rentals if you want them, other items purchased in resort on top. Oh, and discounts on passes at other western Canada areas if we want days elsewhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
| Okanagan wrote: |
| Crikey - our season passes covering both Big White and Silver Star in Canada break even in 10 days (or 8 if you get a family pass) as long as we buy them in September. And then there are discounts on accomodation, lessons, rentals if you want them, other items purchased in resort on top. Oh, and discounts on passes at other western Canada areas if we want days elsewhere. |
You can really go off some people 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Okanagan wrote: |
| eng_ch wrote: |
| So, going off at a tangent - at how many day's skiing does your season pass break even over individual days? At our local resort I worked out it's about 14 days For a hill with just 40 km of piste, not a place to spend a full week, and when you work during the week, that's a lot. And it's not even linked to any other areas |
| ise wrote: |
No wonder all the German speakers are miserable  An Alpes Fribourg pass is 460chf per season, so it pays after 12 days but covers 160km. My Gstaad pass pays out at 15 days or so, but you get Alpes Vaudoise and Adelboden/Lenk for 10 chf a day as well. |
| ise wrote: |
| The break even point for most season passes seems around 15 days from the ones I know. |
Crikey - our season passes covering both Big White and Silver Star in Canada break even in 10 days (or 8 if you get a family pass) as long as we buy them in September. And then there are discounts on accomodation, lessons, rentals if you want them, other items purchased in resort on top. Oh, and discounts on passes at other western Canada areas if we want days elsewhere. |
But how much do they cost and how much do they actually cover?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
| ise wrote: |
| But how much do they cost and how much do they actually cover? |
Family pass for this season to cover the two resorts was C$588 for adults, and $248 for kids 6-16 (0-5's free). That worked out at £276 adults/£116 kids at last September's exchange rate. For which you get 230 runs over 170km - although being North America it's you can't really measure all the in-bounds bits between the runs in that way. Plus 25% off at 40 other resorts (just about anywhere in Western Canada/Pacific NW US, except Whistler), 15% off lessons/childcare, 10% off accomodation, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
That's what I guessed, so the only reason the break even point is so "good" is that day tickets are expensive
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Okanagan, sounds similar to the Winter Park passes, which used to be sub $400US, and you got discounts in resort (10-25%).
For that kind of money, and that quality of snow, it would be daft not to!
(break even was about 10 days)
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 24-03-06 13:53; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
From looking at pass prices generally 15-20 days breakeven seems typical. Commercially at that rate they're not really losing too much to a relatively serious weekender, whose bonus is they might be encouraged to spend his week's holidays in the resort as well.
European resorts tend not to compete on pass pricing whereas in N America where access to large urban markets is the key to filling up the chairs and selling beer & burgers all weekend, pricing can be a lot keener. I had a Kirkwood midweek pass this year for my holiday which broke even at 3.16 days. Other than cashflow benefits from the pass sales they were definitely running a loss on midweek skiing ops but then maybe clawing it back through midweek accomodation rental to city dwellers encouraged to take a break when snow was good etc. In fact of the Tahoe area resorts Squaw Valley was the only one that didn't seem to offer a good deal on a pass that I heard of due to snob value. Colorado is similar from what I recall with Vail/Beaver Creek being the Squaw equivalent
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
| ise wrote: |
| That's what I guessed, so the only reason the break even point is so "good" is that day tickets are expensive |
The question was how many day's skiing does your season pass break even over individual days - not how much it is!
The real reason the break-even point is low is that to get this rate you have to pay by mid-September - helps the resort's cash-flow. If you wait until November then you are looking a more typical 17-day breakeven point.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
| fatbob wrote: |
| European resorts tend not to compete on pass pricing whereas in N America where access to large urban markets is the key to filling up the chairs and selling beer & burgers all weekend, pricing can be a lot keener. |
It probably has more to do with the fact that the lift companies here are totally seperate entities to the resorts, whereas the North American model is that the eateries, ski school, rental, accomodations, etc may well all be in the ownership as the lifts, so the opportunity to make profit elsewhere even if you don't on the lift tickets themselves is greater.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
| fatbob wrote: |
European resorts tend not to compete on pass pricing whereas in N America where access to large urban markets is the key to filling up the chairs and selling beer & burgers all weekend, pricing can be a lot keener. |
don't be silly, of course they do  There's adverts and vouchers in our newspapers all the time, the coop petrol station are doing 20% off vouchers for Adelboden now as are Pringles. There's bill boards up all over the place trying to attract people to ski stations within an hour or so of the town.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
ise,
| Quote: |
There's adverts and vouchers in our newspapers all the time, the coop petrol station are doing 20% off vouchers for Adelboden now as are Pringles. There's bill boards up all over the place trying to attract people to ski stations within an hour or so of the town.
|
Next winter, please send all the Valais ones that you see, to me 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
| fatbob wrote: |
20% off a season pass with a couple of tubes of Pringles does sound like a hell of a deal though  |
Makes you wonder why they need to do it. (OK, it makes ME wonder why)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ise wrote: |
I mean both, I can't quite see why you'd imagine it was anything else. |
Ok I stand corrected - I've always found season pass pricing to be quite opaque in Europe i.e. that there were deals but they tended to be locals only and not publicised e.g. on resort websites. I've seen coupons on grocery items before but always assumed they were only for day tickets -often buy one get one free type deals.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
I'm sure the Pringles one is for day tickets only
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
| eng_ch wrote: |
| I'm sure the Pringles one is for day tickets only |
It is, I was just commenting on the daft observation that only those hyper-sophisticated Americans actually had price competition. In fact I see the observation becomes yet more opaque, apparently in America the resorts close to cities compete for custom whereas in Europe they only offer deals for locals which is enitirely different apparently.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I wasn't saying price competition was highly sophisticated but I think there is a difference given the aggressive discounting I've seen in the US- if you can point me at a reasonably sized resort in Switzerland that will sell me a season pass for under CHF300 such that it would be well worthwhile for me for a week's holiday plus a couple of weekend vists I'd appreciate it.
As a non local I think there is a difference between somewhere where a season pass breaks even in under a week's use and somewhere requiring over 14 days. The former wouldn't seem to be very sensible business given the traditional ski holiday pattern in Europe but is not unusual in the US. Some US season pass prices are true giveaways & I can track them down easily on resort websites, my understanding is that in France at least season pass deals (meaning significant discounts) are restricted to very local areas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
fatbob, I agree - and there is a massive difference between only offering deals to locals, and offering deals to anyone, so I don;t understand why ise is so confused by this.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
