The Crystal Conclusion...

Well I find this interesting. Stevens Pass' new website has the new prices up and it now costs more to ski at stevens on the weekend than it does at crystal! $54.38+tax=$59 while crystal is now $58 with tax.

I enjoyed skiing there on occasion despite the long and treacherous drive but I don't think it's worth that much... So for me it's Stevens Past.

They also eliminated the ski free on your birthday deal it looks like. I've always gone on my birthday as did my wife and we always took additional people with us who paid for full price tickets.

I've always felt that Stevens led the pack when it came to mercenary pricing strategies.

Long live Mt Baker.

What a bunch of whiners....be grateful that ski areas operate. It's a privlege...rates haven't increased that much if you look at annual increases over time. for example, daily rates at ski acres or the summit at snoqualmie in 1995 used to be 28, now they what about 55? on a compound annual growth rate that is 5.5% increase per year...about inline with the growth of the U.S. economy, including inflation. Now...gas prices is where it really hurts!

Summit BTW is now managed by the same corporation that owns Crystal. By next year they may be owned by the same group. Hence the jacked up prices at summit.

savegondor

>>5.5% increase per year...about inline with the growth of the U.S. economy, including inflation

Something is cost-neutral if it rises with the rate of inflation (only). This rate is higher than inflation, and therefore reflects a true cost increase after accounting for inflation. If all prices rose "about inline with the growth of the U.S. economy, including inflation", then economic growth would be meaningless, because that growth would not have resulted in any increase in purchasing power. Hopefully a core purpose of economic growth is to gain an increase in purchasing power, not just to barely keep up.