Park City Mountain Resort’s parent company, Vail Resorts, announced Monday that Epic Pass products for next year are now on sale. The price for an Epic Pass will be $841, an increase of about 7% from the previous price of $783. PCMR Communications Manager Emily McDonald said the price bump is due to inflation.
Vail’s Epic Local Pass is now priced at $626, up from $583. The Epic Local Pass provides holiday-restricted access to PCMR.
Although skiers and riders will have to pay more to get on the mountain next winter, Vail says prices are still lower than they were two years ago.
Vail Resorts’ Chief Financial Officer Michael Barkin said during last week’s quarterly earning’s call that the company saw a 47% increase in pass sales this winter after decreasing pass prices by 20% last spring, but added that the majority of that rise was from driving previous day-ticket purchasers to the pre-paid Epic Day Pass product.
Many of Vail’s resorts, including PCMR, were plagued with employment shortages and little snow to start the season. Once terrain did open, many guests blamed Vail’s increased pass sales for the ensuing crowds, but Barkin said that resort visits were only marginally up compared to previous seasons.
“The growth in pass units did not drive dramatic increases in visitation, as the company is shifting lift ticket guests into advance commitment products," he said. "In fact, the growth we saw in visitation in the period ending March 6th, 2022, compared to fiscal 2020, occurred on weekdays and non-holiday periods, which were up approximately 9% in visits compared to weekend and holiday periods, which were approximately flat in visits.”
According to a statement from the company, overall skier visits from the start of this season to March 6th are up almost 12%.
Last week, Vail also announced a company-wide $20 an hour minimum wage for the 2022-23 season – a $175 million investment. $300 million in various resort upgrades were also announced. That includes upgrading PCMR’s Eagle Lift to a six-person chair and Silverlode Lift to an eight-person chair.
PCMR’s closing day is scheduled for April 17th.
