美国国家公共电台 NPR Crowds Linger On The Slopes With Cheaper Ski Pass — But Locals Aren't Happy

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Skiing's long been an expensive sport. It's not uncommon¹ for a lift ticket to set you back upwards² of $200 a day. While the price of day passes has been rising, the industry has been embracing new multi-resort season passes that are cheaper than ever. They've proven to be popular but also controversial, as Ben Bergman reports.

BEN BERGMAN, BYLINE³: On a recent 50-degree bluebird day at Big Bear Mountain outside Los Angeles, skiers in short sleeves flew down the mountain. Then it was time to party at the base with loud music, beer and bragging⁵ about how many days they've skied. Here's Daniella Gogatz.

DANIELLA GOGATZ: At least over 10.

BERGMAN: Impressive until you talk to Ken⁶ Ryan. For him, this is...

KEN RYAN: Day 31.

BERGMAN: Ryan is able to afford to ski for a month because he bought something called the Ikon Pass, which was just introduced this season. It's priced starting at around $600 and includes access to dozens of resorts, including some of the most famous mountains in the world.

RYAN: It's costing me about, so far, 20 bucks⁷ a day or less at this point.

BERGMAN: Ikon and its main competitor, Epic⁸, have made it possible to ski for an entire season for what you could spend on a three-day lift ticket as long as you commit early. What's wrong with that? Well, plenty according to some locals who complain the passes are destroying the character of their beloved mountains. Matt Maydick lives in Carbondale, Colo., right outside Aspen.

MATT MAYDICK: We're seeing longer lift lines, more people on the hill. But whenever you're waiting in one of those lines, you'll always hear some local quip about, you know, the Ikon passholders.

BERGMAN: Not only because they make it too crowded but also that they're in over their heads on the mountain. In short, they don't deserve to be skiing Aspen's pristine⁹ powder. And there's been even more hostility¹⁰ in Jackson Hole. When Joe Cascia of New Jersey¹¹ visited recently, he encountered a local who griped about Ikon passholders not spending enough at local restaurants, for being cheap.

JOE CASCIA: I'm not too sure why he would have saw that as a negative because I think everybody should be trying to save money.

BERGMAN: Cascia's girlfriend usually proudly displays her Ikon Pass on her helmet. At Jackson Hole...

CASCIA: I even told her, as a guy, you might want to put that in your pocket here because it just didn't feel 100 percent welcome.

BERGMAN: Resorts, on the other hand, are embracing the passes. Taylor Middleton, the head of Big Sky Resort in Montana, penned an open editorial to local residents ordering them to be nicer.

TAYLOR MIDDLETON: There's a little heat in the community.

BERGMAN: In fact, Ikon passholders only account for a small increase in the number of visitors. The biggest reason for the crowds - well, according to Middleton, it's this year's great snow.

MIDDLETON: I think the Ikon Pass is somewhat unfairly blamed by some.

BERGMAN: Like it or not, the pass is here to stay says its chief marketer, Erik Forsell of Alterra.

ERIK FORSELL: We definitely launched with the idea of disrupting in a positive way the ski industry. And we did.

BERGMAN: Forsell says resorts like locking in guaranteed revenue in case of a bad snow year. Next season's pass just went on sale, and one skier⁴ from Salt Lake City commented on the Facebook announcement you have ruined skiing. Please stop. For NPR News, I'm Ben Bergman.

(SOUNDBITE OF MEDESKI MARTIN AND WOOD'S "SUGAR CRAFT")