An alliance between Aspen Skiing Co. and KSL Capital Partners (the owners of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows) announced last week that their acquisition of Intrawest Resort Holdings has been completed. On April 10th of this year the Denver Post first broke the news of this alliance and this acqusition. Two days later they broke another story that the same alliance is buying Mammoth Mountain in Southern California. In an obvious attempt to compete with Vail’s Epic Pass these two transactions will give this alliance, along with their current holdings, control of 10 additional resorts in both the USA and Canada. They will now also own the world’s largest heliskiing operation, Canadian Mountain Holidays.
It is probably not realistic to expect a new multiple resort pass offering all 15 properties by the beginning of next season, but my guess is we will see one soon. Vail’s Epic Pass has caused a change in the ski industry business model away from focusing on real estate sales to expanding season pass revenue as the main financial engine. The Aspen-KSL alliance will have 15 resorts and in four states and Canada to compete with Vail’s 11 resorts.
Squaw/Alpine has been behind the creation of a multi resort pass called The Mountain Collective™ that they have been offering for several years. On their website they say the pass “is an unprecedented collaboration between the world’s best independent resorts: Alta, Aspen Snowmass, Banff Sunshine, Coronet Peak/The Remarkables, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Lake Louise, Mammoth Mountain, Revelstoke, Snowbasin (NEW!), Snowbird, Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, Sugarbush (NEW!), Sun Valley, Taos, Telluride and Thredbo.” Here are the details.
The 2017-18 Mountain Collective™ Pass Details & Benefits
Adult Pass: $429 (while supplies last) // Kid Pass: $99
2 days at The Collective destinations for a total of 32 days
Plus a bonus third day at the destination of your choice
NO BLACKOUT DATES
Plus 50% off all additional days
Special lodging deals
Additional Benefits
2 days each at Valle Nevado in Chile, Hakuba Valley in Japan and Chamonix in France
Complimentary 1-year Protect Our Winters Membership
This, in and of itself, is a good deal. It will be interesting to see what they decide to offer in the future.
Read the Sierra Sun Article on the Acquisition of Intrawest Resort Holdings
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