Funny, my phone's been pretty busy today, as well.
Friends and family "somewhat" involved and being hounded by other friends who are clamoring for "answers" before the details are all sorted out and finalized, including both the menu, how the options can be packaged, and the costs.
So, I think we need to wait. That simple.
I got a heads up last week as to where they were headed by adding the partner resorts. And I was not surprised to see that it's NOT every POWDR property, for example, or every Boyne property. Not shocked that some regions {PNW} are pretty much out.
I think we knew that Alterra would have a combined pass program, of some sort. It's not going to be Epic 2.0, from what I'm lead to believe. This thing could have lots of permutations. You might buy seasons pass to your "home mountain" and then buy add on options. You might by a regional pass, for lack a better term. Think CO. Maybe it's all of the properties with unlimited access. Maybe there's a less expensive option that limits, say, access to Aspen. The chances of an Aspen season pass being less than it currently is, I'm told, are pretty much zero. There is no reason for Aspen SkiCo to do so.
This has been pitched since day one to those invested as a portfolio of high end resorts. KSL, in and outside of skiing, has a track record of acquiring best in class, gold standard properties. Top quality assets. Not just piling up ski areas.
All we can do is wait for the details, IMO. I was speaking to somebody who does a lot of work with Aspen SkiCo today, and as an example, it sounds like deals involving SkiCo may look like a season pass similar to this year's with options to access the others on the roster. Maybe it's the rest of CO as a package, maybe it's pick and select a certain number of days among a number of resorts. Who knows?
Blackout days? Probably an option, I would guess.
It's kind of a blank canvas. Based on what little I hear, this is about access to high end properties, at a bit of a price cut, or with certain other services that are normally not available. But NOT driven by low price.
Think about CMH. It might be a preferred process {other than their repeat customers} to book and not get shut out. Could be housing upgrades at some lodges. Could be a deal on more vertical. It's not going to be dates that they basically already sell out, now at gutted prices. No.
A lot of Epic is driven by price; "unbeatable price." It sounds like this is about high end, top quality. One of the guys who I know inside this thing has reminded me that in most things in life you don't equate top quality and lowest price. Selling a huge number of Epic passes is critical to VR. They are playing a different ballgame than this group seems to be. I think this could be good for both of them, and for a lot of us. But if you home area is staying out of this, or was not invited to the dance, it might look not too great right now.
The devil will be in the details.....
And for well under $2000 for a family of four.
