Season-pass price increase of Epic proportions!

I love Park City Mountain and until now have appreciated the work its new owners have put on the mountain ever since they assumed ownership.

What I don't like as much however, is how the company keeps on raising its prices, season after season, with seemingly little regard for the locals that constitute the true fabric of the community, and by the same token, local businesses and their employees that are part and parcel of the “experience” Vail Resorts is so good at selling.

I'm not saying ski resorts shouldn't raise their rates, but they should do it more responsibly, in taking into account, for instance, some basic yardsticks like the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Well, the Epic Pass that was $769 in 2015/16 jumped to $809 last season (+5.20%) and is now pegged at $859 for next season (+6.18%).

The Park City Local Pass (with black-out dates, among other restrictions) also went from $579 in 2015/16 to $609 last season (+5.18%) and will be worth $639 next season (+4.93%).

Kids were not “forgotten” either with the Child Pass moving up from $289 in 2015/16 to $319 last season (+10.38%) and creeping up to $339 next season (+6.27%).

In the meantime, the CPI increased respectively by 0.01% and 2.22% for the two years in question (April numbers, when Vail Resorts releases its new pricing). 

All this to say that, if this crazy trend continue, many parkites won't be able to afford skiing in their own town and Vail Resorts will be on its way to slowly, but surely suffocating the goose that laid the golden eggs.