Dear ski passes!

Early this week, the February Consumer's Price Index (CPI), announced a rather moderate 1.52% increase while at the about same time both Alterra and Vail Resorts were publishing their new ski pass prices for next season.

Their increase wasn't quite aligned to the CPI, in fact they were three times that number for Vail's Epic Pass and between 5.56% and 8.35% for Alterra's Ikon Pass. Of course, with the huge success both multi-area passes enjoyed this snowy winter season, both companies think the sky is the limit in terms of their pricing, with seemingly total “elasticity” in skiers' willingness to pay top dollars.

This approach seems to confirm that a sucker is born everyday and as Trump says all the time, “we'll see!” In the meantime, if you're not ready to spend so much, there's always the newly minted “Indy Pass” at $199 that groups some 11 western “orphan” ski areas in the U.S. and Canada. I won't list the names, you probably have never heard of them...