What Pass are you Buying '19-'20 Season?

Marcski wrote

I'm not so sure.  Have you ever seen some mountain stages in the Tour de France? Tons of campers and vans sprawled out on the sides of mountain tops.

Brownski wrote

Yeah, it’s a big thing. They have access to all kinds of small van campers and micro sized class c RVs that you can’t buy in the US. I was in Ireland for work in 2009 and they were everywhere. Not sure that they were full timing though

Ditto^^ and I've spoken to many people who love to come to North America and rent RVs for months either during retirement or their unfairly long vacation periods.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

 unfairly long vacation periods.

It's not unfair. If people wanted government imposed vacation days like they have in Europe, they'd vote for people who campaigned on them. But they don't. Americans prefer to not have those things, just as they prefer to not have a bunch of other things that Europeans enjoy.

And, to answer the question, I follow a lot of van lifers on Instagram and yes, Europe & Australia are huge #vanlife destinations. South America is an up & coming Vanlife spot, but people worry about crime.

Harvey wrote

Basically I have a Gore pass and a Plattekill pass.  They come with other mountains: the two that I actually ski are Whiteface and Magic.

Maybe this will finally be my year to get to Greek.  It's only about 15 minutes farther from me than Plattekill.

One year in the last five, I can't remember which, you guys were getting like tree-4 LE inches every day. I remember skimore was running wild too.  I want to check out your trees and have a beer with Camp at lift 5 or somewhere.

Harvey wrote

Harvey wrote

Basically I have a Gore pass and a Plattekill pass.  They come with other mountains: the two that I actually ski are Whiteface and Magic.

Maybe this will finally be my year to get to Greek.  It's only about 15 minutes farther from me than Plattekill.

One year in the last five, I can't remember which, you guys were getting like tree-4 LE inches every day. I remember skimore was running wild too.  I want to check out your trees and have a beer with Camp at lift 5 or somewhere.

Let me know Harv.  I’d love to give you a tour of everything, on the map and off.

Been to GP twice over the years. It was a nice mountain, terrain was pretty tame as I recall. But I was a lot younger then.

I just went to France about a month ago, and stayed at La Plagne/Les Arcs the second week. We rode a lift over a camper parking lot at the base of La Plagne that accomodated maybe thirty campers (reasonable size, not the rock star monsters that Americans cash out the pensions for) and seemed to have all the necessities, like electric. Short walk to ski run. I'm guessing that's not the only resort with that feature.
Me, I'd rather do an AirB&B in one of the condos next door.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

Marcski wrote

I'm not so sure.  Have you ever seen some mountain stages in the Tour de France? Tons of campers and vans sprawled out on the sides of mountain tops.

Brownski wrote

Yeah, it’s a big thing. They have access to all kinds of small van campers and micro sized class c RVs that you can’t buy in the US. I was in Ireland for work in 2009 and they were everywhere. Not sure that they were full timing though

Ditto^^ and I've spoken to many people who love to come to North America and rent RVs for months either during retirement or their unfairly long vacation periods.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

Jamesdeluxe wrote

 unfairly long vacation periods.

It's not unfair. If people wanted government imposed vacation days like they have in Europe, they'd vote for people who campaigned on them. But they don't. Americans prefer to not have those things, just as they prefer to not have a bunch of other things that Europeans enjoy.

And, to answer the question, I follow a lot of van lifers on Instagram and yes, Europe & Australia are huge #vanlife destinations. South America is an up & coming Vanlife spot, but people worry about crime.

Maybe you should just move to Europe and stop complaining

Harvey wrote

Harvey wrote

Basically I have a Gore pass and a Plattekill pass.  They come with other mountains: the two that I actually ski are Whiteface and Magic.

Maybe this will finally be my year to get to Greek.  It's only about 15 minutes farther from me than Plattekill.

One year in the last five, I can't remember which, you guys were getting like tree-4 LE inches every day. I remember skimore was running wild too.  I want to check out your trees and have a beer with Camp at lift 5 or somewhere.

For sure Harv
Maybe even put you on a sled for a quick loop in the Valley

campgottagopee wrote

 stop complaining

What do you call whining about someone's post because you don't like what it said?

I call that "complaining"

Joneski73 wrote

Let me know Harv.  I’d love to give you a tour of everything, on the map and off.

Thank you!  I look forward to it, and seeing you at Plattekill too.

campgottagopee wrote

Maybe even put you on a sled for a quick loop in the Valley

I would give that a shot! :)

Check out the list of locations for the new Indy Pass, a growing collection of independently owned ski areas.  Started out in the west but now includes the midwest, New England, and even the southeast.  Much to my surprise, my home mountain Massanutten has joined up as well as Cataloochee (25 acres, closest ski area to Atlanta) in NC.

http://www.indyskipass.com

The price is $199 for 2019-20, available after Sept. 1, 2019.  Here’s what you get:

* Two free days at each partner resort in the US and Canada
* Minimum of one additional discounted lift ticket
* Discounted kids tickets (12 and under) when redeeming an adult ticket
* Special offers from participating resorts for lodging, rentals, lessons and more

The places in New England so far are Bolton in VT, and Berkshire East and Catamount (same ownership) in western MA.  Places out west that caught my eye include Red Lodge and Lost Trail in MT, and Brundage and Silver Mountain in ID.

The Indie Pass looks pretty attractive. Even if you just use the Bolton, catamount and Berkshire days, it’s  about $34 a day

Catamount is 20 bucks midweek, if bought online. If you're a metro ski club member, its 20 at the window.

I skied Bolton once. the trail map and snow fall totals looked great. Skiing it was another matter. It's a very small area with dull terrain, mostly novice and intermediate at best. I would never go back. I am not familiar with their newly promoted backcountry skiing.

Good points. You guys have really turned me around on this. Thanks for straightening me out.

I can still think of situations where the MCP is a reasonable choice. At $449, a lot less of a commitment than Ikon Base.  Getting to two MCP resorts for 5 days isn't a bad deal.  Another couple days at a third resort gets the daily cost down to $64.

I bought the MCP in April 2018.  Got Ikon Base in the fall because my planned trips included Taos, Big Sky, and a long stay in Alta in April.  Getting in a few days in the northeast on Ikon meant I did pretty well getting value from both.

For 2018-19 the MCP was back down to 12 destinations in US/Canada, with 5 on other continents. After all the shifts in and out, the list for US/Canada is back to 12.

Squaw/Alpine Meadows, CA
Mammoth, CA
Big Sky, MT
Jackson Hole, WY
Aspen/Snowmass, CO
Alta, UT
Snowbird, UT
Taos, NM
Sugarbush, VT

Revelstoke, BC, Canada
Banff Sunshine, BC, Canada
Lake Louise, BC, Canada

Niseko United, Japan

Valle Nevado, Chile (2019)
Thredbo, Australia (2019)
Mt. Buller, Australia (2019)
Coronet/Remarkables, New Zealand (2019)

The 2019-20 MCP is pretty much the same as of August.  The only addition is A-Basin.  Since Snowbasin and Sun Valley became partners for Epic, the count for MCP locations in N. America is still 12.  There are also locations on other continents (Japan, Australia, NZ).

My ski buddy who lives in NM got a Taos Senior pass.  He gets 50% off at other MCP locations.  That's a standard perk for premium season passes at MCP resort.  Last season seniors had to pay $100 for Reciprocity but no extra charge this season.

Squaw/Alpine Meadows, CA
Mammoth, CA
Big Sky, MT
Jackson Hole, WY
Arapahoe Basin, CO
Aspen/Snowmass, CO
Alta, UT
Snowbird, UT
Taos, NM
Sugarbush, VT

Revelstoke, BC, Canada
Banff Sunshine, BC, Canada
Lake Louise, BC, Canada

Niseko United, Japan

Valle Nevado, Chile (2020)
Thredbo, Australia (2020)
Mt. Buller, Australia (2020)
Coronet/Remarkables, New Zealand (2020)

marznc wrote

Squaw/Alpine Meadows, CA
Mammoth, CA
Big Sky, MT
Jackson Hole, WY
Arapahoe Basin, CO
Aspen/Snowmass, CO
Alta, UT
Snowbird, UT
Taos, NM
Sugarbush, VT

Revelstoke, BC, Canada
Banff Sunshine, BC, Canada
Lake Louise, BC, Canada

Niseko United, Japan

Valle Nevado, Chile (2020)
Thredbo, Australia (2020)
Mt. Buller, Australia (2020)
Coronet/Remarkables, New Zealand (2020)

Holy jumpin' jeezum.  That's an august group, right there.  For some reason I've always heard and read the word Thredbo in the voice of Spicoli.

D.B. Cooper wrote

Holy jumpin' jeezum.  That's an august group, right there.  For some reason I've always heard and read the word Thredbo in the voice of Spicoli.

LOL

I find it quite interesting that the MCP still exists.  But appeals to a very different market than Ikon.  My friends and I who fly to ski out west have all switched from the MCP to Full Ikon.