Vail Resorts recently announced, which are now on sale for $909 and $676, respectively. That’s an 8% increase compared to the season prior for unlimited access to some or all of Vail’s skiing destinations. But for folks who plan to ski five days or more at Colorado’s biggest resorts, that’s about as cheap as it gets.
So far, Colorado hasn’t hit that mark, but it may not be far away. Walk up to the ticket window at Vail Ski Resort the week of March 13 and you’ll be paying $275 for a day pass. Steamboat Springs Ski Resort is also charging $275 per day on select dates in March. “It’d be like me trying to take up skydiving,” Blumenfeld said, comparing the costs for someone trying the sport for the first time. “You have to take a lesson, you have to get in an airplane, you have to go tandem. And to do it continually, it’s expensive. Skiing requires that,” too.
“You can have lower prices during time periods when business levels are lower. And if you want to ski during a time when it’s very popular and during peak periods, the price is going to be higher,” she added. “And now we have the tools to make those changes pretty rapidly.”Dynamic pricing has become commonplace for hotels, airlines and concert venues. However, the practice is also being adopted in less expected places. Cinema behemoth AMC Entertainment recently announced plans to charge.
“We typically set our lift ticket prices at the start of the season, and re-evaluate, if needed, as the season goes on,” Vail spokesperson Sara Olson said by email. A snowboarder heads in after making some runs during opening day at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area on Oct. 23, 2022. “We had a period where we did have too many people visiting on our busy times. Parking was a mess, the highway was a mess, lots of frustrated guests, lots of frustrated employees,” he said. Raising prices aims to disincentivize skiers on peak days.