Snoqualmie announces 15/16 season-pass discount

www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/blog/1415-pas...et-massive-discounts

Thank you, Summit/Alpy/Boyne, for taking the long view of things! (and thanks to BrianT for the news!)

Very cool of them - takes some sting out of this season.

Thanks for the heads-up, Charlie. To be honest, at full price I probably would've reassessed my renewal. Out of four passes I got skunked on three of them.

FWIW, for Snoco to be making this offer now means they're hoping we buy our passes soon. Even at 80% off, every dollar we kick in now will help them get through a tough summer to come.

Summit dug deep to offer such an astounding discount to their loyal passholders. I'll be back there for sure (and probably Stevens, too) next season.

Crystal, on the other hand:


I know... I know... they've had the longest operating season of any of the WA resorts this year. And even I've had a few fun days there this season, only one of which I had to pay for. But with the further reduction and restriction of Boyne Resorts passholder benefits, elimination of the Peak2Summit option and a long winded blog post about the hardship of only getting paid half as much as usual to ski 100+ days culminating in only a 21% discount (18% on last year's prices) when <20% of their terrain has been available >80% of the season... I can't figure out why anyone would choose to renew there.

I think Mission Ridge has had the longest operating season this year. They opened in mid Dec and have run continuous since. I've been riding there and White Pass this year and White has been very good the past month.

I think Mission Ridge has had the longest operating season this year. They opened in mid Dec and have run continuous since.  I've been riding there and White Pass this year and White has been very good the past month.

Mission Ridge has not been running continuously since December. According to their website www.missionridge.com/operating-schedule, they have been running Sat-Sun only for the past several weeks, and even before that, have been closed several days a week (as planned) in all but a few holiday weeks. That's not continuous operation by any standard, especially so in recent weeks with weekends only. Note that I don't ski there and have no vested interest in Mission Ridge or any other ski area, but just like to get the facts straight.

So I decided to quickly check how many days each of the major ski areas in the Washington Cascades have operated this year. All counts are approximate, based on info posted on each ski area's website throughout the season, and may be inaccurate!

It looks like Mission Ridge has been open about 63 days thus far (based on a quick search for "open" in their operating schedule, copied below), with only 6 or 8 more days scheduled. That is significantly less days than Crystal has run thus far, and White Pass, and less than either Baker or Stevens too, given that those areas did actually run continuously (mostly 7 days a week except a few weather closure days) until temporarily closing recently.

Crystal had run continuously since December 23 (plus the first 4 days of December) through March 13, then they had an unexpected wind closure for the entire weekend of March 14-15 and began planned Mon-Tues closures on March 16-17. So that's about 87 days through today, with 5-days a week (very limited) operation expected to continue.

White Pass had run continuously since December 20 (plus the previous 2 weekends) through March 2, when they switched to Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon operations, and then closed for all weekdays this week, reopening Saturday March 21. So that's about 84 days through last Sunday March 15.

Stevens states that "we've been open for 82 days so far" in their current snow report. They opened on December 20 and had run continuously (except a couple days of rain closures in January) through March 13, when they suspended operations.

Mt Baker also opened on December 20 and had run continuously (except perhaps a day or two) through March 8, when they suspended operations, so that's just under 80 days.

The Summit at Snoqualmie has "operated 40 days this season" based on the letter linked in the original post above. It is quoted here for posterity and future reference:
www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/blog/1415-pas...et-massive-discounts

Summit Passholder Discounts & Rollovers For 15/16

Dear 2014-15 Passholders,

Sadly, the time of year has come for us to accept that winter is not coming back in any substantial way.  Despite all our snow dances and collective hopes and wishes, winter 2014-15 has plain decided not to be kind to Pacific Northwest skiers and riders.  We appreciate all your patience the past month and half since we closed waiting to see what the second half of the season might bring.

Although there is still a chance we could get snow and have a limited re-opening, we know most of you are ready to get this winter in the rear view mirror and start thinking about next year.  Fortunately these types of seasons are far and few between here in the Pacific Northwest.  In fact, over the past 50 years this type of low-snow season has occurred about one out of ten years.  The Summit has a long history of taking care of our passholders in these types of seasons when conditions have kept us from offering a reasonable amount of skiing and riding.

As you know, new this year, we instituted a 100 day snow guarantee for all of our passholders.  This was done to help all of you have complete confidence when making the decision to purchase a Big S Pass.  To this date, we have operated 40 days this season. By the formula this provides for a 60% discount off of next year’s pass. However, we are well aware that conditions on many of the days we operated were well below our standard expectations. Because of this, with the support of Boyne Resorts, we are very pleased to offer all our 2014-15 passholders an additional 20% discount for a total of 80% off of next year’s passes.  This added discount will be available until September 15th, 2015.  We hope each and every one of you will take advantage of this offer and join us in getting excited for a “real” winter in 2015-16!

Dan Brewster
General Manager

From www.missionridge.com/operating-schedule:

Mission Ridge Operations
Saturday, November 22, 2014   Open - Chair 1
Sunday, November 23, 2014   Open - Chair 1
Friday, November 28, 2014   Open - Chair 1 ONLY
Saturday, November 29, 2014   Open - Chair 1 ONLY
Sunday, November 30, 2014   Open - Chair 1 ONLY
Monday, December 1, 2014 Closed
Tuesday, December 2, 2014 Closed
Wednesday, December 3, 2014 Closed
Thursday, December 4, 2014 Closed
Friday, December 5, 2014   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Saturday, December 6, 2014   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Sunday, December 7, 2014   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Monday, December 8, 2014 Closed
Tuesday, December 9, 2014 Closed
Wednesday, December 10, 2014 Closed
Thursday, December 11, 2014 Closed
Friday, December 12, 2014   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Saturday, December 13, 2014   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Sunday, December 14, 2014   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Monday, December 15, 2014 Closed
Tuesday, December 16, 2014 Closed
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Closed
Thursday, December 18, 2014 Closed
Friday, December 19, 2014   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Saturday, December 20, 2014   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Sunday, December 21, 2014   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Monday, December 22, 2014   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Tuesday, December 23, 2014   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Wednesday, December 24, 2014   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Thursday, December 25, 2014   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Friday, December 26, 2014   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Saturday, December 27, 2014   Open - All Lifts in Operation
Sunday, December 28, 2014   Open - All Lifts in Operation
Monday, December 29, 2014   Open - All Lifts in Operation
Tuesday, December 30, 2014   Open - All Lifts in Operation
Wednesday, December 31, 2014   Open - All Lifts in Operation
Thursday, January 1   Open - All Lifts in Operation
Friday, January 2   Open - All Lifts in Operation
Saturday, January 3   Open - All Lifts in Operation
Sunday, January 4   Open - All Lifts in Operation
Monday, January 5   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Tuesday, January 6 Closed
Wednesday, January 7 Closed
Thursday, January 8   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Friday, January 9   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Saturday, January 10   Open - Chairs 1, 2 & 3 planned for Operation
Sunday, January 11   Open - Chairs 1, 2 & 3 planned for Operation
Monday, January 12   Open - Chairs 1, 2 & 3 planned for Operation
Tuesday, January 13 Closed
Wednesday, January 14 Closed
Thursday, January 15   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Friday, January 16   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Saturday, January 17   Open- All lifts in Operation
Sunday, January 18   Open- All lifts in Operation
Monday, January 19 MLK Day   Open - All Lifts in Operation
Tuesday, January 20 Closed
Wednesday, January 21 Closed
Thursday, January 22   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Friday, January 23   Open - 3 Lifts in Operation
Saturday, January 24   Open- All lifts in Operation
Sunday, January 25   Open- 2 lifts in Operation
Monday, January 26 Closed
Tuesday, January 27 Closed
Wednesday, January 28 Closed
Thursday, January 29 Closed
Friday, January 30   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Saturday, January 31   Open- 2 lifts in Operation
Sunday, February 1   Open- 2 lifts in Operation
Monday, February 2   Open - 2 lifts in Operation
Tuesday, February 3 Closed
Wednesday, February 4 Closed
Thursday, February 5   Open - 2 Lifts in Operaton
Friday, February 6   Open - 2 Lifts in Operation
Saturday, February 7   Open- 2 lifts in Operation
Sunday, February 8   Open- 2 lifts in Operation
Monday, February 9 Closed
Tuesday, February 10 Closed
Wednesday, February 11 Closed
Thursday, February 12 Closed
Friday, February 13   Open - 2 lifts in Operation
Saturday, February 14   Open - 2 lifts in Operation
Sunday, February 15   Open - 2 lifts in Operation
Monday, February 16 Presidents Day   Open - 2 lifts in Operation
Tuesday, February 17 Closed
Wednesday, February 18 Closed
Thursday, February 19 Closed
Friday, February 20 Closed
Saturday, February 21   Open with Chairs 1 & 2
Sunday, February 22   Open with Chairs 1 & 2
Monday, February 23 Closed
Tuesday, February 24 Closed
Wednesday, February 25 Closed
Thursday, February 26 Closed
Friday, February 27 Closed
Saturday, February 28   Open - All Lifts in Operation!
Sunday, March 1   Open - All Lifts in Operation!
Monday, March 2 Closed
Tuesday, March 3 Closed
Wednesday, March 4 Closed
Thursday, March 5 Closed
Friday, March 6 Closed
Saturday, March 7   Open with ALL Chairs in Operation
Sunday, March 8   Open with ALL Chairs in Operation
Monday, March 9 Closed
Tuesday, March 10 Closed
Wednesday, March 11 Closed
Thursday, March 12 Closed
Friday, March 13 Closed
Saturday, March 14   Open with Chairs 1, 2 & 3
Sunday, March 15   Open with Chairs 1 & 2
Monday, March 16 Closed
Tuesday, March 17 Closed
Wednesday, March 18 Closed
Thursday, March 19 Closed
Friday, March 20 Closed
Saturday, March 21   Open with Chairs 1 & 2
Sunday, March 22   Open with Chairs 1 & 2
Monday, March 23 Closed
Tuesday, March 24 Closed
Wednesday, March 25 Closed
Thursday, March 26 Closed
Friday, March 27 Closed
Saturday, March 28   Open with Chairs TBD
Sunday, March 29   Open with Chairs TBD
Monday, March 30 Closed
Tuesday, March 31 Closed
Wednesday, April 1 Closed
Thursday, April 2 Closed
Friday, April 3 Closed
Saturday, April 4   Open with Chairs TBD
Sunday, April 5 Easter   Open with Chairs TBD
Monday, April 6 Closed
Tuesday, April 7 Closed
Wednesday, April 8 Closed
Thursday, April 9 Closed
Friday, April 10 Closed to Public
Saturday, April 11   Flamingo Days   Lifts TBD
Sunday, April 12   Flamingo Days   Lifts TBD

Amar I always appreciate your posts and thorough research, but you may have a bit too much time on your hands.

I really intended to go skiing both yesterday and today during the semi-decent weather, up to Camp Muir as usual and also riding the lift (not lifts!!) at Crystal, but somehow didn't end up skiing either day. Annoyed with myself about that, but also have some unexpected extra time to post stuff on TAY.

By eliminating the gondola as an optional extra, xtal's "discounted" pass is still more expensive than a pass last year, at least at the midweek level. Marketing spins it: "no need to pay extra".

seems to me an important part of the crystal (or any of them really) conversation is how much of the mountain has been skiable during the 'continuous' operations. Does having just 30% of the mountain available for 75% of the season (nothing scientific, just throwing numbers out there) or something along those lines equal 'continuously open'?

I'm just waiting for them to change the season pass policies to have "Snow Insurance"

Something like, if the snow doesn't cooperate, we'll discount next year. If not, sorry

I feel like with the past few years if this keeps up, that may end up becoming the norm to keep these resorts in business.

I can't really fault Crystal's management for how much of the mountain was available. That has been out of their control and, as far as the terrain I like to ski, will always be. I think they've done a tremendous job of getting as much open as possible given the conditions. Likewise, when they installed the gondola and priced it as an extra, I fully expected that within a few years they would up the pass price and make it all inclusive. All I'm complaining about is the timing and being given a discount that costs more than what I paid last year. Also that Tuesday is looking good and I probably will have to hike.

Certainly a more complex question regarding Crystal. I've already voted with my feet, and this is nothing against the beloved resort I skied every weekend while growing up. There are just too many better-value options.

Looking at the magnificent mountain and lift infrastructure, Boyne could certainly conclude they've got a destination resort on their hands, and price accordingly. But with no destination resort ammenities, it's only a destination because it's so difficult to get to.

Imagine a world where MNRP allowed a Gondola to run from the 410 to the Summit, and a full-sized vacation resort (with golf course) was spread out from there to Greenwater. THEN you'd have a resort well worth the lift ticket price.

Umm, "IMO".