Why are your prices, your prices?
Why doesn't Mt. Bachelor sell a really cheap full adult season pass?
This is a common question that has some simple answers. Here's some info to chew on if you care to learn why.
Most resorts that offer very low priced season passes have at least one of these scenarios in place:
1. The resort owns hotels to rent and therefore has a supplemental income and is not solely reliant on lift tickets. Many use the cheaper skiing to fill the beds. If a resort owns lodging, they have an additional revenue stream and can afford to deeply discount either skiing or rooms (or sometimes both) in order to generate more funds on the lodging side.
2. The resort sells real estate. This is a common feature and one that Mt. Bachelor does not have. We do not have ski-in and ski-out services. This keeps our forest pristine and serene for our guests in the winter as well as for year-round travelers to the mountain and those admiring the view from afar. Real estate sales creates a potentially huge revenue stream that offsets the expense of running a ski resort.
3. Huge population base nearby that skis occasionally. Most resorts selling rock bottom priced Season Passes count on the "city" or even "cities" nearby to purchase so many that the volume of passes sold makes up for the low price. These passes also see far less usage that the average Mt. Bachelor season pass. We don’t have a million or more people close enough to make that feasible, nor would the increased day specific crowds help any of us. As much as Bend is growing, we are all glad that we are not that big.
That's them, here's more about us:
1. Visitation patterns. We typically sell over 10,000 season passes, mostly to folks who live nearby. Because of the close proximity of our passholder base, visitation patterns are not spread out evenly over the course of the year like they are at resorts who have many passholders living further away. Here they are focused heavily on the "good days". On these "good days" the most popular lifts are Pine Marten, Northwest and Summit if conditions permit. That means that we see an onslaught of passholders and lift ticket buyers on the same day, who all want to ski the same couple lifts. Mt. Bachelor would not function properly if we doubled the amount of passholders considering this common scenario. We've all been at the bottom of Pine on a "good day" with a huge line when Sunrise and Skyliner are relatively empty. It is due to our very unique visitation patterns and we take our job of running Mt. Bachelor sustainably seriously. Most resorts see a somewhat steady stream of season pass visitors. At Mt. Bachelor we see sharp peaks and valleys.
2. Average usage. This is tied in to the visitation patterns. The average usage of a Mt. Bachelor season pass is about 25 visits. The ski industry average holds steady at about 15 visits.
Why is the 70+ age group no longer free?
The 70+ season pass price increase from $60 to $249 and the ticket rate from free to the youth rate reflects the changing make up of our industry's customers and Mt. Bachelor's need, like other businesses, to balance prices with demand for our experience and services and the costs of operation. The 70+ segment of guests enjoying our product free beside our paying guests becomes unsustainable as the 70+ segment expands to a level that impacts our lift lines, lodge space and services.
A short time ago in ski industry terms, free passes were offered to 70+ skiers as a core objective in an attempt to keep them in the sport. There was no risk or issue with offering free passes to this audience because there were very few pass customers 70 or older. Today, those 70 years old and even much older, are continuing to enjoy skiing and its health and wellness benefits with friends and family members. At Mt. Bachelor this past season, nearly 10% of our total visits came from guests 70 and older. This was not the case 5-10 years ago.
It is always difficult to see prices increase, but the 70+ pass is the only pass price we felt was under-priced and in need of adjustment. We value our 70+ season pass holders and hope they will continue to see the value in purchasing a Mt. Bachelor season pass for this season.
*Season pass prices found on current websites.
Why not offer a "locals" only pass, daily ticket or day?
When we offer a product, it must be made available to everyone. We tried a locals only program in the past and ended up dealing with lawyers: we cannot "discriminate" since we are located on Forest Service land. We can offer different products at different prices, but we cannot exclude a certain market or any group of individuals based on driver’s license or any local indicator. It’s that simple. Therefore we have created and offer programs, passes and days that locals are more likely to take advantage of. Season Passes and Mighty Mites are two examples. Ski for Schools and our Charity Ski Weeks are another. Again these programs cannot "discriminate" and must be available for all to take advantage of them.
In addition, "locals" make up about half of our total business, not some small sliver. Pricing is set based on the demand from our primary markets inclusive of "locals".
And as we all know, defining the word "local" in Central Oregon wouldn't be fun for anyone.
