The crowdfunding for the WinterCARD of the Saastal Bergbahnen AG (“That’ll blow you over!”) is considered one of the most spectacular marketing campaigns of recent years. And has now been honoured with the Marketing Trophy 2018 in the field of SMEs.
No wonder: with an innovative marketing campaign, the cable cars sold more than 90,000 season tickets from October to December 2016, generating revenues in excess of CHF 20 million. The action was developed by matter + gretener and was based on the crowd funding principle: because more than 90,000 skiers and snowboarders wanted a season pass for 222 francs, the “Hammer Deal” became reality. And the European record in crowd funding was set up.
Crested Butte, Okemo and Mount Sunapee join the Epic Pass beginning with the 2018-19 winter season in a long-term alliance.
Epic, Epic Local and Epic Australia pass holders will receive seven days of skiing and snowboarding at each of the three resorts with no blackout dates for a total of 21 days.
Epic 7-Day pass holders can use any or all of their seven days and Epic 4-Day pass holders can use any or all of their four days of skiing and snowboarding with no blackout dates at the three resorts.
Epic, Epic Local, Epic Australia, Epic 7-Day and Epic 4-Day pass holders will receive 50 percent off lift tickets after their respective days have been redeemed.
Crested Butte Peak Pass Plus and Peak Pass holders; Okemo Ultimate, Classic and Gold Pass holders; and Mount Sunapee Full Ride and Skiing Is For Life Pass holders will receive 50 percent off lift tickets at all Vail Resorts owned mountain resorts.
Vail Resorts, Inc. announced today that Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado, Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont and Mount Sunapee Resort in New Hampshire will join the industry-leading Epic Pass in a long-term alliance beginning in the 2018-19 winter season, bringing the total to 64 mountain resorts in 11 states and provinces and eight countries for skiers and snowboarders. Epic, Epic Local and Epic Australia will receive seven days of skiing and snowboarding with no blackout dates at each of the three resorts for a total of 21 days. Epic 7-Day pass holders can use any or all seven of their total days and Epic 4-Day pass holders can use any or all four of their total days of skiing and snowboarding with no blackout dates at the three resorts.
The Mountain Collective is still alive and kicking after the announcement of the IKON Pass and the disappearance of the MAX pass – as many of the resorts that were in the latter, where absorbed by Alterra Mtn Co with its IKON pass.
Each 2018-19 pass-holder will receive 2 days at the Collective destinations for a total of 32 days, plus a third day at the destination of their choice.
The EPIC pass offers access to 61 ski areas in 8 countries. The IKON Pass, its contender, goes now head to head with the EPIC Pass.
What is new this year with the EPIC Pass:
• New for 2018-19, Epic Pass holders receive limited access to Telluride in Colorado, Hakuba Valley in Japan and Resorts of the Canadian Rockies across Canada, bringing the worldwide resort access total to 61.
• In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Epic Pass, Vail Resorts is honouring its heritage with the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division with a $99 Military Epic Pass and a $1 donation for every 2018-19 season pass sold to Wounded Warrior Project.
• Vail Resorts season passes offer a number of unique advantages over other industry passes, from direct to lift access to discounted tickets for family and friends
United States. Canada. Australia. Japan. France. Switzerland. Italy. Austria. No other season pass gives skiers and snowboarders access to so many celebrated resorts around the world than the Epic Pass, including unlimited, unrestricted access to 15 mountain resorts and limited access to 46 more. Priced at $899 for the 2018-19 winter season, the Epic Pass remains unmatched in the mountain resort industry for the variety and value it offers skiers and snowboarders.
New for next winter, the Epic Pass will feature access to Telluride in Colorado; Hakuba Valley’s nine ski resorts in Japan; and Resorts of the Canadian Rockies across Canada, including Fernie Alpine Resort, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and Kimberley Alpine Resort in British Columbia, Nakiska in Alberta, and Mont Sainte Anne and Stoneham in Quebec, all in a long-term alliance.
The Magic Pass, this multi-area ski resort pass launched in the Swiss French regions last year – with 25 ski resorts of all sizes, attracted by the end of February 2018, 2.177 million skier-days which brought a 30% increase in visitor numbers compared to the previous season on the same date. In terms of turnover, an increase of 10% was achieved by the end of February compared to the season total from 2016/17.
These results were very encouraging, from very small resorts such as Rathvel, which got 220%, increase in visits, to larger resorts, such as Crans-Montana, that their numbers rose more than 30%.
This spirit of cooperation amongst ski areas has guaranteed an appreciable level of stability for the smaller, less well-known ski areas.
Now looking to the 2018-19 ski season, the Magic Mountains Cooperation is launching the MAGIC Pass with more ski areas- The new areas waiting to be discovered by pass holders are: the Espace Dent Blanche (Evolène – La Forclas – Arolla), the Vallée de Joux (L’Abbaye, – L’Orient – Le Brassus), and the Riviera (Les Pléiades- Rochers-de-Naye). In total, Magic Pass 2018/19 includes more than 30 ski areas of all shapes and sizes.
Swissinfo.ch published a very good table with all the ski resorts’ lift ticket rates – which is good to see when planning a ski holiday – even though the price of the lift ticket is not all, and it accounts to only a 6% of the ski holiday, but, every little helps!
This is not an exhaustive list, but you have something to compare. I am assuming that the prices within the Dolomiti Superski area, are showing all the same rates, as they must be selling the Dolomiti Superski lift.
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In what is another chapter of this saga of the two giants trying to get the biggest slice of the cake, Vail Resorts adds Telluride as one of the resorts you can ski if you purchase the Epic Pass.
As per Vail Resorts website, they have entered a “long-term alliance” with Telluride Ski Resort in Colorado, adding it to the Epic Pass starting in 2018-19. The Epic Pass now offers access and benefits to a total of 46 mountain resorts worldwide.
The New Standard in Passes. One Pass. 23 Destinations.
https://youtu.be/MRvst677v_8
Alterra Mountain Company, the newly formed company by KSL Associates and Henry Crown Company – has finally released the name of its new 2018-19 pass product – the Ikon Pass, which will compete head to head with Vail’s EPIC pass.
North America’s top mountain destinations have joined together to offer skiers and riders the Ikon Pass uniting 12 destinations from Alterra Mountain Company and 11 premier destination partners.
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