 Poster: A snowHead
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I've just received the annual launch email which seems earlier than usual. It's been expanded again and is an absolute bargain at the early bird price of CHF399:
Magic Pass gives you free and unlimited access to the cable cars in 52 ski resorts in winter and 23 destinations in summer!
Discover 1400 km of slopes, 2 glaciers, 19 snowparks, 100 high altitude terraces and 2 revolving restaurants, over 1000 km of mountain bike tours, hiking trails, excursion spots for families, thermal spas, breathtaking panoramas and much more.
Discover our new options now and benefit from an unchanged introductory price.
New destinations
Magic Pass is expanding! 13 new destinations are joining us this year, including 10 resorts in the Bernese Oberland and Rosswald in Upper Valais. Métabief, a ski resort in the Jura Mountains in neighbouring France, is now also part of Magic Pass. That means the area covered by the pass now spans 5 cantons and 2 countries!
The cherry on the cake is that Glacier 3000 is now a full member of the Magic Pass family.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 26-03-22 16:33; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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And the best bit is for CHF 99 more, you can ski this spring from 21/3 to 30/4!
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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?
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| Quote: |
Discover 1400 km of slopes, 2 glaciers, 19 snowparks, 100 high altitude terraces and 2 revolving restaurants, over 1000 km of mountain bike tours, hiking trails, excursion spots for families, thermal spas, breathtaking panoramas and much more.
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I'm tempted!
Do you have any experience of using the lifts in summer for MTB?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@skibedoo, yes…we use them all over for DH and XC. And have just renewed….four passes. It encourages visits to great new places….
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks @valais2, sounds like just what I'm after. Would you mind giving me a bit more info on good places to ride etc. using the pass? (Feel free to PM me - wouldn't want to be get accused of going off-topic  ). Thanks in advance.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@skibedoo,
Leysin has excellent new DH trails.
Vercorin great high speed fireroads.
St Luc great small bike park and excellent trails.
Saas Fe great XC
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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.
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Metabief has good trails (including for kids) so that’s a valuable addition. It is a super value pass!
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Anyone know how the resorts get recompensed? There can’t be much to go round after Magic Pass have taken their cut?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Bought mine already - and for 99CHF I get the last week of this season at Saas-Fee. Bargain! 
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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.
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@BobinCH, I’ve asked…they have low overheads - just a couple of people in the office in CM - and I am not yet clear about the underlying model of recompense. CM pulled out due to the impact of the MP being higher visitors and lower income. It can’t just be a per diem figure…and there must be share of surplus…but although I’ve asked locally it’s still a bit of a mystery. I’ll do some digging in April.
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| Anyone know how the resorts get recompensed? There can’t be much to go round after Magic Pass have taken their cut? |
That is a really good question!
The economics of such a cheap season pass covering so many smaller resorts are fascinating..
These small resorts in Valais wont be making much money.
Part of the attraction skiing somewhere like Evolene or Les Marecottes is low crowds and rustic lift system (that stops the snow getting tracked out).
A few thoughts...
1) At CHF399 then it makes sense for someone skiing just 2 or 3 weeks a year to buy a season pass
This is arguably a good thing. Cheap season pass might bring more tourists.
2) However : because the price is low the resorts will lose out financially on the locals skiing 40-50+ days a year.
Because the pass is so cheap why would anyone buy a full price season ticket for somewhere like Grimentz or G3000?
Autumn season pass money is bread and butter for any ski resort. Especially in a low tide season.
3) If locals switch to buying magic passes then the smaller resorts might have no option but to sign up for the scheme ?
i,e their only choice is a smaller slice of a theoretically bigger pie.
Though it could also allow the smaller resorts to collectively compete with places like Verbier / Zermatt etc
Is the Magic Pass a race to the bottom?
A textbook case of killing the golden goose ?
Epic / Ikon passes in USA are examples of how such "deals", whilst attractive for skiers, can be damaging.
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You know it makes sense.
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When I first heard about the Magic Pass my instinct was that it would be financially damaging for many of the resorts - whether they chose to join the pass or remained outside it. However I think I read subsequently that it had been good for many of the resorts which joined the pass.
The only way it could work for the resorts is if the number of visitors increases so dramatically that it outweighs the decrease in profit per visitor.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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They must all be losing lift pass revenue. All my local non-Verbier mates have the Magic Pass and would previously have bought a season pass in 1 resort.
Only financial benefit ai can imagine is higher skier numbers which would equal more business in restaurants and possibly hotels (although I reckon it’s mainly local day trippers)
I paid 80chf for a single day Saas Fee pass and about 70chf for Villars. 5 single days like that and the Magic Pass pays for itself. But if I then ski 20 days across resorts I assume each place only gets circa 15chf per day which is nothing.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| denfinella wrote: |
The only way it could work for the resorts is if the number of visitors increases so dramatically that it outweighs the decrease in profit per visitor. |
This.... Anytime I skied the smaller resorts in Valais (Vicheres, Les Marecottes, G3000) they were always outrageously quiet. That was part of the attraction. Though it was obvious the economics were marginal.
The magic pass basically turns all the micro-resorts into one massive area with cheap lift pass. Maybe that is more viable? However it is a big gamble.
| BobinCH wrote: |
I paid 80chf for a single day Saas Fee pass and about 70chf for Villars. 5 single days like that and the Magic Pass pays for itself. But if I then ski 20 days across resorts I assume each place only gets circa 15chf per day which is nothing. |
Exactly! The really small resorts perhaps benefit at expense of larger places like Grimentz / G3000 (who previously will have had their own season pass holders).
Perhaps it works because the number of people skiing 5-10 days per winter significantly out number those skiing 50+ days?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Before Saas Fee joined the magicpass, apparently they calculated that the average visit was 3-4 days, so their season pass was CHF 222 for the early birds and later 255, in an attempt to get people to stay longer.
I suppose this was great for the shops, hotels etc, but not so for the lift company if it was not owned by the community.
https://www.investorsinproperty.com/news/2018-12-06/the-rise-and-rise-of-saas-fee
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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?
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Some things to remember:
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Indeed it’s not just about income from the pass. Small villages often run the restaurants as well as the lifts. So go to somewhere small with the Magic Pass, fill up big time at lunch, and have a couple of coffees and cake/tarte before you leave the hill. That will keep all the small places running nicely. Oh…have a pizza and a beer in the village at the end of the day too…
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DH and enduro is much improved by an uplift. The Magic Pass gets us to all sorts of different places during the Summer too. That’s a big plus for them. Arrive early, up down up down up down. Lunch. Up down up down. Coffee…Up down up down….dinner in the village. Bliss.
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Previously: right..buy a weekly pass since that’s cheapest. Then we stay in Crans M the whole time. Now, with the Magic Pass … at dinner…what’s the meteo and where shall we go tomorrow? Oh I know, we haven’t been to Les Marecottes for A G E S …..
And that’s great fun and good for the resorts.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Eventually could not resist the CHF 99 extension for April 2022.
MP confirmed by phone that we could have the passes issued by a resort. Sunday in Zinal and today on the pistes of Grimentz was a great start.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Wow 
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FAQ
