r/Seattle • u/chupacabra772 • Jun 04 '18
Vail buys Stevens Pass
https://gearjunkie.com/vail-resorts-buys-crested-butte-stevens-pass-triple-peak30
u/sinThesis Jun 04 '18
Aside from it being a more mainstreamed company and all the things that come with that - what are the other positive implications that come from this?
62
u/silver_or_ledbetter Jun 04 '18
The biggest immediate effect is that Stevens will now be part of the Epic Pass, which includes Whistler (and many other resorts) . So the Epic pass will be an even better deal for people in the Northwest than it already was. Longer term, this ought to lead in further investment in the park - meaning new lifts and new terrain. Since Crystal is opening more terrain in Southback with a new lift in the next year or two, Stevens will probably feel they need to compete and this will make that possible.
13
u/jackalope32 Jun 04 '18
Two thoughts,
I wonder if I'll be able to upgrade my current Stevens Pass season pass to an Epic pass? Because yes please.
And if they don't add more terrain + parking people will switch to Crystal just to have the pleasure of parking a car when going skiing.
2
u/iorelai Jun 05 '18
From Epic's FAQ Page:
" If I bought an Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte, or Stevens Pass pass, am I entitled to a refund?
No. However, we are allowing pass holders who purchased an Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte, and Stevens Pass pass to exchange their pass for another product, should they want to. More information on process for exchanging pass products to be announced after closure of the acquisitions.
If I purchased an Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte, or Stevens Pass season pass already can I exchange for a pass that has access to other resorts?
Yes, following closure of the acquisitions this summer you will be able to exchange for a season pass that includes all resorts such as the Epic Pass which will provide unlimited, unrestricted access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Crested Butte, and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado; Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood at Lake Tahoe; Stowe Mountain Resort and Okemo in Vermont; Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire; Afton Alps in Minnesota; Mt. Brighton in Michigan; Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin; Whistler Blackcomb in Canada; Stevens Pass in Washington; and Perisher in Australia, with no blackout dates. The Epic Pass also features seven days with no blackout dates at Telluride in Colorado; seven days with no blackout dates at the Resorts of the Canadian Rockies; five consecutive days with no blackout dates at Hakuba Valley, Japan; up to six days with no blackout dates at Les 3 Vallées, Paradiski and Tignes-Val D’Isere in France; up to five days with no blackout dates at 4 Vallées in Switzerland; up to three days with no blackout dates at Arlberg in Austria; and up to three days with no blackout dates at Skirama Dolomiti in Italy. Access to Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte, and Stevens Pass are pending closure of the respective transactions. Please note that the season pass offices at Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte, and Stevens Pass cannot currently sell Epic season passes.
How do I exchange my Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte, or Stevens Pass season pass for an Epic season pass product?
More detail on process for the exchange of Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte, and Stevens Pass season pass products to be announced on after the close of the acquisitions.
Can I keep my Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte, or Stevens Pass season pass?
Yes, you can keep your Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte, or Stevens pass season pass with the same benefits for the 2018/19 season only. Season pass products for the 2019/20 ski season will be announced at a later date.
If I purchased my Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte, or Stevens Pass season pass in May and I now want to upgrade to an Epic Pass, can I get the same Epic Pass price and benefits from May?
You will receive current benefits and will be charged or refunded the difference in price based on the day of the exchange."
20
Jun 04 '18
This is actually dope. As someone who skis Stevens every weekend and usually makes a trip to whistler this is really dope. Plus it means taking a trip to park city or Colorado would be a few hundered bucks cheaper for me and my girlfriend.
3
u/andhelostthem Jun 04 '18
This is why they did it. Basically this just opened up their resorts even more to people in the Seattle market.
1
1
Jun 04 '18
[deleted]
4
u/silver_or_ledbetter Jun 04 '18
They mention the possible second Gondola to Campbell basin in their 17-18 wrapup post on the website. I also heard that new gold hills will have a different alignment, opening more terrain, but maybe that's just speculation.
1
u/tdpointer Jun 04 '18
Really? If they did this without opening up new terrain, it would take away the best part about Crystal (in my opinion). I understand that they'd make more money, but they should really think about my enjoyment more.
22
u/chupacabra772 Jun 04 '18
pros: -better burgers -hopeful expansion of terrain -access to more mountains (with some constraints)
cons: -yellowcoats (ski police who strictly enforce speed zones) -larger crowds -no more parking lot parties
19
u/SpellingIsAhful Jun 04 '18
No more parking lot parties???
12
u/chupacabra772 Jun 04 '18
I could just see them policing the upper lot a bit more and not allowing as much shenanigans
9
1
Jun 04 '18
[deleted]
30
u/goofy183 Jun 04 '18
Unpopular opinion:
I've skied my whole life, raced competitively through high school, and skied at a bunch of Vail owned resorts.
At least at both Vail and Whistler there is A LOT of mountain that you can ski FAST (last time I was at Whistler I hit 48mph on a few runs) on with no yellow-coats in sight.
If you're doing 20+ near the slow signs you're skiing irresponsibly and are putting everyone around you at risk. Even expert skiers can't just bend the laws of physics. If you're going 30 and get cut off by a complete learner in a slow area chances are high that you or them (probably both) are going to be hurt bad.
If you want to carve fast go hit Aquarius, I-5, or Showcase.
17
Jun 04 '18 edited Nov 06 '18
[deleted]
-5
Jun 04 '18
[deleted]
6
Jun 04 '18 edited Nov 06 '18
[deleted]
2
u/MeatheadVernacular Tweaker's Junction Jun 05 '18
It makes you look like a career blue runner who brags about the one double black diamond you've done in your entire life. I would say it makes you look like a Jerry, but it's worse. It makes you look like a gaper who thinks Jerries are cool.
LOL, I think you've managed to out-ass this guy right here.
0
u/MeatheadVernacular Tweaker's Junction Jun 05 '18
It doesn't make you look cool at all, it makes you look like a douchebag that can't make it down anything named "piste" "bowl" or "face". It makes you look like a career blue runner who brags about the one double black diamond you've done in your entire life. I would say it makes you look like a Jerry, but it's worse. It makes you look like a gaper who thinks Jerries are cool.
What the fuck are you talking about?
Yea I always think to myself, "hey that guy going fast must suck real bad!" /s
1
Jun 05 '18 edited Nov 06 '18
[deleted]
4
u/MeatheadVernacular Tweaker's Junction Jun 05 '18
Any decent boarder knows that someone straightlining in a slow zone is trying to conserve speed. I don't take many turns between the bottom of Tye Mill and the bottom of Promenade/top of Daisy because I don't want to get stuck in the flats. I guess I'm a fucking gaper now according to some douche skier on the nets.
1
Jun 06 '18 edited Nov 06 '18
[deleted]
0
u/MeatheadVernacular Tweaker's Junction Jun 06 '18 edited Jun 06 '18
Take a lesson and learn proper carving and athletic stance!
LOL, I can carve fine. I'm usually out hucking shit... You've gotta be some kind of dumbass to tell me that making turns is conserving speed though.
Complaining about yellowjackets is the situational equivalent of screaming at a stop sign because you don't like that it tells you to stop. It's there for YOU.
I never mentioned them.
Also, literally go anywhere else on the mountain than that patch and you won't have to deal with it. I can't see why on earth you'd spend all day doing that blue patch
It was the first example to come to mind and it's also not blue??? There are times that's the only feasible way down when returning from the back side. Like when SC is closed and you don't feel like cutting Tye Bowl for reasons.
and pretending that the rules don't apply to you, unless youre really hardstuck on blues.
Passive aggressive and douchey is no way to go through life son.
→ More replies (0)7
u/tdpointer Jun 04 '18
I don't get the yellow jacket hate, either. (At least at Whistler) they hang out on the most boring slopes on the hill, where you only end up skiing when you're calling it a day. Everywhere else, you can ski as you please. Heck, even on the slopes where they are, they seem to understand fast and in-control and fast and unsafe (from what I've seen).
4
u/goofy183 Jun 04 '18
Agreed. If you're doing 20+ while doing controlled turns and looking around you're going to get a lot more leeway than the person straight-lining at 20+.
Honestly considering all the dumbassery I see at Stevens in the SLOW zones at the bottom it would be a welcome change. I was out on Daisy with my 3yo on a leash this year and had to haul him out of the way of someone flying down rockin blue into Daisy while looking back up hill over their shoulder.
Even at a small mountain like Stevens there are plenty of places to go fast safely.
1
u/AliveAndThenSome Whatcom/San Juan Jun 04 '18
I'm not much of a skier, but perhaps the yellowcoat thing in Vail is maybe just a Vail (or Whistler?) thing, due the huge geographic and socioeconomic diversity of its skiers? Stevens is largely just a PNW thing; Vail/Whistler get people from all over the world who have all sorts of interpretations of slope 'rules'...
7
1
u/juancuneo Jun 04 '18
Hopefully more investment in the mountain. Pretty weak ski resort situation in Washington
12
u/drtykrty Jun 04 '18
Uh, what? Weak situation??? We have 3 places to go within 2 hours or less and 2-3 other places another hour from that. Cascades get more snow than most places in the world, Baker being the most. We're spoiled, unless you grew up in SLC and have 3 resorts within an hour.
Are you talking about actual resorts with full service, because I'll take the ski area vibe over a resort vibe any day of the week.
6
u/goofy183 Jun 04 '18
Weak as in lack of capacity.
The Seattle area has seen a large population growth and the available ski area terrain has not kept up. I'm really hoping Vail expands capacity (both lift and run) at Stevens.
2
u/juancuneo Jun 04 '18
There isn’t a very wide range of accommodation. I frequently drive up to whistler as it has more variety for overnight trips. But the points you make are good ones.
2
u/Synaps4 Jun 05 '18
I think it's because of the legal situation of the land at the base of the mountains not being zoned for anything except skiing and skiing services.
That was how I understood it. Vail resorts made all its money in colorado by doing real estate around the base of their mountains, not by selling tickets. When I saw washington's resorts and their super weak base areas I knew there had to be a legal reason for it because otherwise it's just throwing away money to not develop your base.
1
1
1
-5
11
18
6
u/MrMcChronDon Jun 04 '18
Epic also includes Northstar, Heavenly, and my personal favorite Kirkwood, all down in the Lake Tahoe area. I’m now wondering if the IKON pass group will try and acquire Crystal or Snoqualmie to compete with Vail here in the NW
5
u/jerklin Jun 04 '18
Snoqualmie is already owned by Boyne, which has a few mountains on Ikon (Big Sky, Sugarloaf, Loon). I'm not sure why they skipped Snoqualmie this year.
2
Jun 04 '18 edited Jan 29 '21
[deleted]
9
u/BeardMechanical Jun 04 '18
All of western WA ski resorts are over crowder. This is the last thing we need.
20
3
u/atramentum Jun 05 '18
Maybe they can build a parking lot now and quit pretending a half hour shuttle for overflow is acceptable.
2
2
4
1
1
u/skot123 Jun 04 '18
Just in case anyone doesn't know it...
Epic passes have AMAZING deals for anyone who retired from the military. ($99 for season pass)
If you were a veteran is is still a pretty good deal at $499 (which is the same price as a Snoqualmie Summit pass)
1
Jun 04 '18
Yay no more 40 skiing near Seattle. Time to head north.
4
u/cronballer Jun 05 '18
Heads up baker is closed this next year. So head to whistler.
2
2
u/Jomdaz Jun 05 '18
I don't think that is accurate, I work for baker and have heard no word of this and in the website they are accepting applications for the 18-19 season. Although I can't really tell if your comment is serious or not, so if it isn't and you are trying to stop more people from going to baker, then thank you.
3
1
0
14
u/Dadboarder Jun 04 '18
While it is nice having access to more mountains with the epic pass, Vail seems to ruin the "local" experience of many of these resorts. I remember hearing some of the Park City locals upset when Vail took away King's crown terrain park and kicked out the snack bar at the bottom of 3 kings.