Two-Tiered Customers???

Geoff Hatheway
1 day ago
5 min read

Updated: 26 minutes ago

*The snowmaking pond is ready-to-go. Are you?! Thanksgiving weekend planned ski area opening is coming & we have many ways to save!*

Greetings from Londonderry,

We had a fun three weekend run of fall foliage rides; being with friends; listening to live music; clearing glades; and, enjoying great food and bevs together here on the mountain!

While the Green Chair will not run again until our earliest planned opening on Thanksgiving weekend, the Tavern is still open for you with Thursday Locals Specials, Singo Friday and live music Saturday. And, don't forget our big Halloween DJ Dance & Costume Party next Friday, right on Halloween night!

Powder Magazine had a social post this week asking for readers' response to an increasing number of resorts offering exclusive/priority lift access lines for customers who pay substantially more (in this case Alterra's new Reserve Pass Upgrade which runs between $1.5K to $2K more, depending on the participating resort, over the regular Ikon pass).

Therefore, with the picture of our mountain above reflecting off the water, I thought I'd do a quick reflection on this new pass upgrade product which is a trend in the industry.

First off, it's business and it's not like this type of product has not been around before, with resorts offering "early lift access" for a fee, or a "fast" lift line for another fee. It's all part of trying to drive more money from higher-end customers in exchange for added benefits. In this case, the benefit is breezing through a long lift line and getting more runs in than others. But this is an industry problem of our own making. Both Vail and Alterra Corps have created an overcrowding problem at their resorts with their sale of relatively less expensive multi-resort season passes as compared to their sky-high day ticket prices. They wanted more people to buy passes early rather than in-season day tickets and their marketing and pricing strategy worked. But it created more unlimited pass holders coming to their resorts than their lift capacity could effectively handle. So now the solution is to create another class of skiers who can pay more and get more.

This sport is extremely expensive operationally and certainly a challenge to create a decent profit. It's why many ski areas have disappeared over time and why many areas have wanted to be purchased to become part of Vail or Alterra to get better human resource and buying efficiencies, sales/marketing power, and more infrastructure capital from the "mothership". There is zero doubt that being an independent ski area is a more difficult and risky proposition these days.

But...the reason we purchased Magic before it was about to go under 9-years ago, is exactly the reason why we won't have an expensive pass upgrade product that puts some skiers above/ahead of other skiers when it comes to accessing a chairlift. It's why we still don't have preferred paid parking lots or spaces like a lot of major resorts. It's why we try to keep pricing affordable with a lot money-saving product options. It's why we haven't raised pass prices the last two years while ticket prices stay way below the $200+ level that is increasingly common.

Even more than this, we bought the mountain because it is about having a singular type of experience for ALL skiers and riders. An experience we wanted to preserve (not "Reserve") which ran counter to the trends in the industry even back a decade ago.

I used an opening quote in the original investor business plan over 10-years ago that is still relevant today:

“The transformation of ski areas into ski resorts is sadly killing skiing’s soul. It’s visible everywhere. They are building mini-cities in mountains where there once was space. They are transforming and battling mountain communities filled with people who only want to preserve what makes their home special, and they are marketing and catering to those with fat wallets while driving away those who cannot afford to experience such an amazing activity and way of life…As far as I’m concerned, this transformation and its subsequent repercussions is the #1 problem with our sport today.”

– Scott Gaffney, cinematographer and big mountain guru

To me it was, and is, about the experience that we want to deliver to each individual, no matter the size of their wallet. Yes, this is an expensive sport that inherently skews to the affluent because of its cost. But, it wasn't always like that, and Magic tries to preserve that opportunity for as many to come enjoy this sport as possible. We are all after the same thing: a heart-pumping feeling of adventure, exhilaration and fun carving turns down crowd-free trails. We've tried to keep that old-school feeling and camaraderie where every one who is here is truly a part of making Magic happen. The essential soul and spirit of skiing.

Today, after years of investing in better lift capacity for our size mountain, there are essentially no lines here. And, importantly, we also instituted a policy of restricting lift ticket sales to not overwhelm our effective lift "carrying capacity" in pursuit of extra profit. The Black Quad was the final piece to that puzzle. Now, we can have our sell-out days with maximum 5-minute lift lines at peak hours with all lifts running. Most days, it's ski-on. That's the value of independence. We get to choose an experience where you don't even need an exclusive line for your highest paying customers because our ski area is not overcrowded by design! Here, all lift access is created equal with no excusive bar/dining club. First chair, equal. Best parking spot, equal. Seat at the BLT bar, equal.

It's a beautiful thing.

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Speaking of ski experience (and the cost of improvements!), we are close to completing all the new snowmaking piping and HKD tower gun installations we talked about two weeks ago. And while the Black Quad gearbox inspections maintenance was all good, with no replacement needed, the ops crew did find that the Black Quad shaft had some wear. We were able to get a new shaft delivered from Switzerland and are installing that this week. More money, but proactive maintenance resulted in a critical new infrastructure component that will serve the Quad lift for decades!

New Spur Line Piping at the Base for Abracadabra Area

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We discussed keeping the sport affordable and having more cost-saving options available for everyone's unique situation. So here's what we got for October:

Season Passes have now entered Fall Pre-Season Sales pricing with passes still well below $1,000/pass and you can still save $50 per pass on in-season rates.

The low out-of-pocket $99 Throwback Card option saves you money on every visit with $74 tickets all season long, plus one free ski day. That's a 30% savings off our online ticket prices any day you come to Magic. If you plan to visit Magic two days or more, this card saves you money!

Our annual pre-season day-specific ticket sale is also happening in our e-store which now saves $34-$44 per ticket versus our walk-up ticket window rate before the season starts.

And, if you need more flexibility in your plans, our new "Flex Day Tickets" can be used anytime this winter by anyone. They are transferable ticket vouchers so they can make a great gift this holiday season. Currently $15 off their in-season price for only $99. No $200+ ticket prices here!

Save Now on Magic Passes, Cards and Tickets Here

Also save on season-long Youth Devo, Race and Freeride Programs

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BLACK LINE TAVERN

Hope to see you this week and next before we take a little hiatus in November before winter operations begin on Friday of Thanksgiving! There will be one last blow out party on Halloween before Thanksgiving arrives and we are back on snow! Fingers crossed!