Vail Resorts slashes pass prices by 20 percent

Reset lowers pass products to prices last seen in the 2015/16 season

by Nate Peterson, Vail Daily

Vail Resorts is turning the clock back on its Epic Pass prices to reward loyal customers following a trying year. On Monday morning, the resort operator announced that it is lowering the price of passes by 20 percent across the board.

The reset takes Epic Pass products back to prices last seen during the 2015/16 season when Vail Resorts offered access to only 11 North American resorts.

In a news release, Vail Resorts said it is making the move to continue to deliver on its commitment of Epic for Everyone and to honor the loyalty of its pass holders.

“The ski industry, our company and skiers and riders everywhere just navigated the most challenging season we have ever encountered. Because of the growth and loyalty of our pass holders, we were able to ensure this season was a success, with full operations across our 34 North American resorts, even amid a pandemic,” said CEO Rob Katz. “Today, as we double down on our pass strategy by dramatically reducing our pass prices, we are excited to make it easier for everyone to move into a pass, and we remain fully committed to ensuring continuous improvements in the guest experience.”

The move comes a little more than a year after COVID-19 cut the 2019-2020 season short. Vail Resorts made the unprecedented decision to temporarily shut down all of its North American resorts on March 14, 2020 — a decision that became permanent in the days that followed.

The company was then forced to reinvent the on-mountain experience at all of its resorts in just eight months to pull off a ski season in a pandemic, which included launching a much-scrutinized reservation system to limit crowds. Katz, in a letter to pass holders on Friday, said the company will be getting rid of the reservation system starting next season.

“The new prices announced today not only provide value to existing skiers and riders, but we also believe they will contribute to the growth and vitality of our sport as we bring new people and higher engagement into the industry, which we think is imperative,” Katz said. “We also believe these lower prices will benefit our financial results based on new learnings from the past few years. First, since we launched the Epic Day Pass two years ago, we have seen a material number of guests purchase a pass who were not previously known to us as customers, especially guests who typically skied less days in a season. Second, people who switched from purchasing lift tickets to passes then actually skied more frequently, purchased more ski school and rentals, and were more likely to visit our resorts the following year. Finally, based on the pass credits from last year, we have much better insight on how to profitably drive renewal rates in the program, particularly for newer pass holders, where we see dramatic increases in loyalty if we can keep them in the program for their first few years.”

The company was then forced to reinvent the on-mountain experience at all of its resorts in just eight months to pull off a ski season in a pandemic, which included launching a much-scrutinized reservation system to limit crowds. Katz, in a letter to pass holders on Friday, said the company will be getting rid of the reservation system starting next season.

“The new prices announced today not only provide value to existing skiers and riders, but we also believe they will contribute to the growth and vitality of our sport as we bring new people and higher engagement into the industry, which we think is imperative,” Katz said. “We also believe these lower prices will benefit our financial results based on new learnings from the past few years. First, since we launched the Epic Day Pass two years ago, we have seen a material number of guests purchase a pass who were not previously known to us as customers, especially guests who typically skied less days in a season. Second, people who switched from purchasing lift tickets to passes then actually skied more frequently, purchased more ski school and rentals, and were more likely to visit our resorts the following year. Finally, based on the pass credits from last year, we have much better insight on how to profitably drive renewal rates in the program, particularly for newer pass holders, where we see dramatic increases in loyalty if we can keep them in the program for their first few years.”