The honeymoon didn’t last long.

Last week, Mid-Atlantic skiers and snowboarders awakened to a new reality: now that Missouri-based Peak Resorts, Inc. owns Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail Resorts, changes are afoot. And these changes mean there could be much less change in the pockets of local winter sports enthusiasts starting next winter. That has led to outrage on the part of many Mid-Atlantic skiers.

Peak Resorts has eliminated popular pass options that have been offered by the former Snow Time properties for many years, such as the Advantage Card, Night Pass, and Senior Pass. In their place, Peak Resorts has substituted the Peak Pass. Available in a range of options, the Peak Pass is notable for being priced much higher than many formerly available passes.

Peak Resorts describes the new passes as a great value, as they include the ability to ski at a few Peak Resorts properties in New England — something that couldn’t be done with the Snow Time passes. Peak Resorts properties such as Mount Snow, Hunter Mountain, Wildcat Mountain, and Jack Frost Big Boulder are all included with the Peak Pass, expanding the variety of ski areas accessible to passholders.

“While the Peak Pass can be more expensive than the old season pass products that Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail offered, this increase reflects the additional access and benefits that the various options of the Peak Pass have to offer,” explained Jamie Storrs, Senior Director of Communications for Peak Resorts.

“Passholders will have more benefits in the summer at Liberty, Whitetail, and Roundtop as well as options for midweek only and blackout options to lower costs,” he said.

For skiers who have the flexibility to make numerous trips well outside the D.C. region and don’t mind being limited to Peak Resorts properties, which tend to be small- to medium-sized resorts, the economics of the new passes could work out in their favor. However, many skiers have no interest in this extra benefit, and only wish to ski at their local hills. They’re not at all happy with the sharp increase in price, especially once they look past a $99 down payment option being marketed heavily by Peak Resorts and begin to understand the full scope of the price increase.

This chart shows the price increase of an individual unrestricted season pass. Under Snow Time ownership, the price of a pass varied between $469 and $579 depending on when it was purchased. Under Peak Resorts, an equivalent pass will range in price from $629 to $1,149, but will be usable at a few additional properties to the north.

The new pricing structure is going to hit families and Seniors particularly hard.

For example, consider a family with two adults and three children, ages 3, 5, and 9. Under Snow Time, the family could purchase a Family Season Pass. The first adult on this pass cost $469, with subsequent members costing $369 each. Ages six and under were free. For this family, the price for a season of unlimited skiing at the Snow Time properties was $1,207.

Under Peak Resorts, the family would now need to purchase two Explorer Adult passes at $629 each. The 9 year old would need to purchase an Explorer Youth Pass (ages 7-17) for $399, and the 3 and 5 year olds would need to purchase Scout passes (ages 6 and under) at $60 each. The total? $1,777 — an increase of nearly $600, or over 47%.

And that assumes the family purchases these passes prior to April 30. If they instead waited until mid-November, the price for the same Peak Passes would jump to $3,037, rising all the way to $3,337 if the family waited until the beginning of the ski season to make the purchase. Under Snow Time, the family would have paid $1,537 if they waited until the start of the season — a full $1,800 less.

Fireworks light up the sky above Whitetail Resort on December 31, 2017. Photo by M. Scott Smith.

As families begin to crunch the numbers and look at the new pass options, it’s easy to see why many are shocked and outraged. Many feel that they are being priced out of the local ski hills they have supported for years. They’ve never seen such a dramatic year-over-year price increase. And they’re speaking up — to media outlets such as DCSki, to local politicians in Pennsylvania, to social media, and even in an on-line petition that garnered over 1,400 signatures in a matter of days.

“The increase in Peak’s proposed costs just simply do not add up for someone who only accesses Roundtop,” said Kate Wolfe, a 38-year old mother of 3 boys ages 10, 5, and 3. “They can’t add to the vertical can they?”

Kate has skied at Roundtop for 35 years — ever since she was 3 years old.

“When I tell you the love I have for that mountain, I can’t even put into words how much it is one of my very favorite places with many, many memories of skiing with my dad there while growing up.”

Her memories extend to skiing through middle and high school with her friends, and in recent years she has introduced her children to skiing at Roundtop. Now, she alternates taking one of her boys to Roundtop for 2-3 hours of evening skiing, utilizing the Night Club Card pass. She has also purchased the Advantage Card in the past.

“I am extremely upset by Peak’s decision to get rid of all the prior passes that have been around for so long at Roundtop,” she said.

“Their proposed benefit of being able to access other mountains means absolutely nothing to me or my family. We do not have the time or resources to travel to access these mountains, not to mention skiing with little kids is literally a labor of love.”

She finds Peak Resort’s marketing point of “take your family to enjoy our other resorts” to be particularly tone deaf, given the challenges of hauling small children on a long road trip. Just getting children to a resort that’s 20 minutes away can be an ordeal.

“The beauty of Roundtop is that we can super easily access it, for a reasonable price, get out there with our kids and leave on a good note,” Kate said.

Peak Resorts is betting that enough skiers will value the extra resort benefits to quell any long-term anger.

“While it is true that not all of our customers will take advantage of the ability to travel to other mountains in the Peak Pass family, we have already seen many passholders from Liberty, Whitetail, and Roundtop taking advantage of their ability to travel and ski all over the East,” said Jamie.

Last Fall, Peak Resorts offered an add-on option to Snow Time season passholders, giving them a chance to upgrade their passes to include other Peak Resorts properties.

“Over 30% took advantage of the upgrade to the Peak Pass and 75% of those guests have visited other resorts,” explained Jamie.

That means that about 1 in 5 passholders took advantage of the northern properties. Which could mean as much as 80% of Mid-Atlantic skiers will now be forced to purchase a benefit they will not utilize.

“Offering me more places to go to that I won’t ever go to is a paper benefit to me,” said Kris Courter, who lives in Orchard Beach, Maryland and just introduced his 16-year old son to snowboarding this past season.

“Same with the longer season,” he added. “That’s great New England has a longer season, but I’m not driving all the way up there for early or late season slush.”

“The enhancement/appeal of having other resorts on the pass is really just a marketing ploy,” argued Brent Davidson, a local skier.

Fran Chao-Gay has three daughters, aged 15, 13, and 9, and travels from Oak Hill, Virginia to Whitetail about 20 times each season. Fran has been visiting Whitetail every year for the last 11 years.

“We love that it is an activity that allows us to spend a lot of time together,” Fran said.

For the past 5 years, every member in Fran’s family has purchased a season pass. And like so many others, Fran is furious at the changes Peak Resorts has just announced. She sees no value in the additional benefits being offered for the elevated pass prices.

“It shows either a real lack of understanding of their loyal client base or simply the gamble that, in this market, people will complain but end up paying for it,” Fran said. “Either way, you end up with a dissatisfied customer.”

Fran’s family tries to splurge and make one trip out west each winter, but it isn’t to a Peak Resorts property.

“We won’t be traveling to the other resorts offered in Ohio, New York, New Hampshire, or Vermont, so it seems silly to force me to pay for a privilege I cannot take advantage of,” she said.

“I do not find any value in these new passes because we are not likely to travel outside of this immediate area,” said Michele Lacerda, who moved to Pennsylvania last year with her husband and three children. This past year, she skied with her family at Liberty and Roundtop on weeknights.

“It seems like we are getting less for way more money,” she added.

“The patrons of these three resorts do day trips and stay at their home mountain,” argued Hector Perkins, who has purchased a season pass for the past six years to snowboard at Liberty Mountain. “They don’t have the luxury of jumping to different resorts for a variety of reasons. Peak Resorts is asking a blue collared region to pay big mountain prices for a 900-foot vertical drop. No one sees the value in that.”

“I see no value in including the other resorts on my pass,” agreed Jim Beckley, who hails from Bethesda, Maryland and has had a season pass at Whitetail for the past 7 years.

“I look at it this way: I won’t be going to their other crappy mountains, so why would I pay more for the same mountain that I’ve been skiing for 10 years?” he said.

To be fair, not all skiers are unhappy with the new pass options. Skiers who are in a position to skip work and make many extended road trips — and can afford the accompanying lodging and travel costs — will benefit from the ability to visit some resorts beyond Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail.

Kyle Schoen, a snowboarder from Fort Littleton, Pennsylvania, has been snowboarding at the Snow Time properties for 15 years, making 20-30 trips each winter.

“I have always gotten the Advantage Card or Night Season Pass,” he said.

He sees value in the new Peak Passes and has already purchased one.

“With the new resorts being added up North, I absolutely think the higher cost is worth it,” he explained. “Along with some of the summer benefits and the lodging discounts, I really believe it’s a great overall value that will pay for itself very very quickly,” he said.

Although he’s excited by the new pass options, he does believe there should be more options for skiers who only wish to ski the southern Pennsylvania resorts.

“I truly believe that they should make a more localized pass for the families who just want to stay local but I also understand completely why that isn’t feasible for their business,” Kyle said.

18-29 year olds will also benefit from the ability to purchase the cheaper $399 Drifter Pass through April 30. That shaves over $200 off the price that 30+ year olds will now be paying, but is still more expensive than options Snow Time offered in the past, such as the $289 night season pass.

The Drifter Pass is “by far and away our most popular pass product,” noted Jamie.

“We created it due to the fact that people in this age demographic are normally starting out life on their own, and most often have a very limited income stream, which might cause them to abandon the sport of skiing and riding as their budget dictates. Since this is such a critical point in people’s lives as to whether or not they want to continue with the sport, we wanted to create a pass product that makes it an easier decision to say yes, and therefore set them up for a lifetime of skiing and riding,” he explained.

While skiers in that targeted age group will be the least affected by the price hike, other age groups aren’t as lucky.

Previously, children age 5 and under received a free season pass when at least one family member purchased a pass. Now, any skier age 6 and under will have to purchase a Scout pass at $60.

No free ride for Seniors: Previously, Seniors could purchase a midweek season pass for less than $200. Now, their best option is the Traveler midweek pass, which will range in price from $329 to $849 depending on when it is purchased.

Seniors are not being offered any discounted season passes, breaking with a long tradition at the Snow Time resorts. Last year, skiers age 65 and older could purchase a midweek pass for $199. They will now have to spend $329 to purchase the midweek Traveler pass — the cheapest pass option — which includes 5 blackout days, and comes with a hefty 65% increase in price.

“Many of our seniors at other mountains in the Peak Pass family take advantage of their more flexible schedules to ski midweek on a Traveler Pass, which at $329 offers great access both day and night to more mountains than ever before,” said Jamie. “Beyond that, we do not offer senior discounts on season passes.”

Night skiing has always been popular at Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail. Photo by M. Scott Smith.

Other than the Senior pass, the cheapest season pass option previously at Snow Time resorts was the Night Season Pass, which could be purchased as low as $289. It provided skiing at Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail any day the resorts were open from 4-10 p.m. That was perfect for many skiers who could only ski in the evening after work, or who preferred to ski on weekends during less crowded evenings. Evening skiers have always been a draw for the Snow Time resorts in this metropolitan region, which is why all three resorts are lit for night skiing.

Peak Resorts will not be offering a night season pass for these resorts, so skiers who want to ski any night of the week throughout the season will be forced to purchase the $629 Explorer pass — a whopping 118% price increase.

And many skiers are concerned that Peak Resorts will move to limit the hours the local ski areas are open, further reducing value. Just this week, Whitetail made the surprising decision to cut night hours midweek, even though the resort has 100% of its terrain open.

Military service members are not being offered discounted season pass pricing, either, although that was also the case under Snow Time. Instead, Snow Time offered a small discount off of daily lift tickets for service members, a practice that Peak Resorts plans to continue next winter.

Peak Resorts is also doing away with the Night Club Card (NCC) program, which allowed many families to ski economically at the resorts on evenings.

Tatiana Zoubareva has been a Whitetail Night Club Card adviser and has been bringing people to Whitetail for about 14 years. She has about 70 members in her club and interacts frequently with other club advisers, ski instructors, and ski patrollers.

“We are all united in our shock and outrage regarding what the new owners are doing to our beloved DC metro ski resorts,” she said.

“The Night Club Card will be replaced with the Night Tracker program, which will be open to kids ages 8-18 and will offer very similar benefits as the existing Night Club Card for a similar price point,” said Jamie Storrs.

But that is doing little to appease former Night Club Card members, which were open to skiers of all ages and allowed parents to ski with their children.

“In other words, the resort is forcing parents to purchase outrageously expensive passes for the resorts we will never ski, or to have kids ski with other unattended minors on the mountain that is now selling alcohol,” countered Tatiana. Whitetail Resort was recently granted an alcohol license after a decades-long struggle to obtain one.

The message from local skiers is clear: they don’t mind an expanded option to purchase a pass that opens up additional properties in the Peak Resorts family for those who see value in it, but they want to keep the option of purchasing a local-only pass, as they’ve been able to do for decades. Peak Resorts does offer a less expensive Ohio-only season pass for its three Ohio ski areas.

“Ohio is an exception in that we offer a pass that is valid only at a few resorts in that state,” said Jamie. “In the East, we have offered the Peak Pass to all of our resorts for the past three years and have found it to be a great benefit for our guests and a great product that we are proud to offer.”

“We have no plans to offer a single mountain or PA-only pass,” he said.

Customers of Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail haven’t held back in expressing their frustration over this disconnect, posting hundreds of comments on Facebook. For most, the canned responses they are receiving from the resorts are doing little to quell their concerns or rage.

“While some guests have been very vocal on social media, pass sale numbers are telling us that the Peak Pass product is indeed a good offering for Liberty, Whitetail, and Roundtop,” said Jamie.

Michele Lacerda expressed concern to Peak Resorts on their Facebook page, asking why the company was charging similar pricing to much larger resorts out west.

In a since-deleted reply, the company responded:

“We don’t really know what to say here. Those are the prices of this year’s passes. If you find them to be beyond what you are willing to pay, then skiing at these mountains might not be for you unfortunately.”

Based on almost unprecedented feedback DCSki has received from readers, there might be a large contingent of Mid-Atlantic families who decide skiing at Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail is no longer for them, and if that doesn’t worry Peak Resorts and its shareholders, it probably should.

Many DCSki readers have questioned whether Peak Resorts understands the dynamics of these local hills. Compared to ski areas in New England and out west, Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail lack vertical, have small trail counts, and suffer from notoriously fickle Mid-Atlantic winter weather conditions. Wintertime temperatures in southern Pennsylvania spend much of their time above freezing (sometimes hitting the upper 60s in January and February), and precipitation frequently falls in the form of rain. Season lengths sometimes rarely make it to 12 weeks.

Despite these stats, these areas are perfect for a quick day ski trip or as an introduction to the sport. With reasonable pricing, they’ve been a nice wintertime recreational activity for Mid-Atlantic skiers.

“Roundtop in itself is not an impressive mountain by any means,” said Kate Wolfe. “A small vertical, slow lifts, okay snow… But us who call this home are perfectly fine with all of this and are just thankful we have a local mountain we could afford to access with our families without breaking the bank.”

As Kate suggests, no one would mistake these local hills for a destination resort like Vail. You could fit 45 separate Whitetail Resorts into the skiable acreage of Colorado’s Vail Resort. So it seems odd to many skiers that Peak Resorts is now charging as much for a season pass to access the southern Pennsylvania resorts as a pass might cost at megaresorts such as Vail.

That will likely cause many customers of the Snow Time resorts to shift their ski budget out west next winter, bypassing Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail Resorts. If a lot of customers end up doing that, it could be a cause of concern for shareholders of Peak Resorts.

“Since my husband and I are prior Air Force, we’ve looked into an Epic Pass, which offers a deep military discount of $129 per family member,” said Michele Lacerda.

“If we have to travel, we might as well go to actual nice resorts for a much cheaper price,” she said.

Although Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail enjoy close proximity to the Washington, DC region, there is plenty of local competition a short drive away. And that competition will be welcoming former Snow Time customers with open arms.

Kris Courter bought his first season pass last year at the Snow Time properties, and introduced his 16-year old son to snowboarding.

“I was quite impressed with the values Snow Time offered — especially compared to pricing at Seven Springs.”

Now, he feels differently.

“I’m already looking at a Highlands Pass from Seven Springs or a Blue Knob pass,” he said.

“I don’t see the value in Peak’s passes for my needs.”

Schuyler Huyck agrees.

“My family of five (three kids) will not purchase season passes for the first time in 8 years,” he said.

Nicole Davis plans on shifting much of her family’s business away from Liberty Mountain Resort and towards Wisp, Massanutten, Bryce, and Camelback. A resident of Smithsburg, Maryland, she has been skiing for almost 30 years, mostly with an Advantage Card at Liberty Mountain.

Sara Willbrich and her family purchased their first season pass to the Snow Time properties this past year, but the price increase means they’re not planning on doing so again.

“My entire family lives in Northern California and I grew up skiing Tahoe,” she said. “We also have in-laws in Park City. So, yeah, we’ll probably try to spend more time visiting family during the ski season next year!”

Todd Blekaitis, who has skied at Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail for 24 years, plans to take his business elsewhere.

“I will do significantly more trips to Wisp, Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and Blue Knob,” he said.

The Peak Passes come with higher price tags than Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail skiers are accustomed to, and that high price tag will only go higher after April 30.

The Explorer Adult pass is priced at $629 until April 30. It will rise to $849 between May 1 and October 31. It jumps up to $1,049 between November 1 and December, peaking at $1,149 if purchased after December 18.

$1,149 is a price level that has never been seen in the Mid-Atlantic region, and dwarfs season pass prices offered at larger resorts that have substantially more terrain and longer seasons. For example, the $699 Epic Local Pass provides unlimited, unrestricted skiing at Breckenridge, Keystone, Crested Butte, Okemo, Mount Sunapee, and more, along with limited restrictions at Park City, Stowe, and Heavenly, and 10 holiday-restricted days at Vail, Whistler Blackcomb, and Beaver Creek.

Locally, numerous Mid-Atlantic resorts are offering more compelling price points.

West Virginia’s Snowshoe Mountain Resort has a “Ridiculous Sale” on between March 5-14, providing an unlimited, unrestricted season pass for the 2019-2020 winter season for just $259. The regular price for the pass is $559.

Maryland’s Wisp Resort is selling an unlimited, unrestricted season pass for the 2019-2020 winter season for $279 between March 8-31.

Competitors to Peak Resorts have been carefully watching the fallout from the new pricing strategy, and may roll out additional incentives in the coming months in an effort to lure away their customers.

As a privately held company, Snow Time was in a position to hold a steady course, weathering occasional poor winters and regularly re-investing profits back into the resorts. It didn’t need to satisfy investors and the stock market on a quarterly basis. As a publicly held company, Peak Resorts (NASDAQ: SKIS) is under pressure to satisfy shareholders, and that will likely drive efforts to squeeze more profits out of Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail. And those profits may be directed outside the region — for example, to replace a triple lift at Attitash that has been malfunctioning for much of this season. Those efforts could alienate long-time customer bases.

Peak Resorts is not only alienating many long-time customers, but may be causing some consternation among its employees at the southern Pennsylvania ski areas, as could be expected with any change in ownership.

Publicly, long-time employees at the former Snow Time resorts are dutifully echoing talking points about the benefits of the new Peak Passes. Privately, some employees are concerned about the negative impact these changes will have to the resorts, but they feel powerless to express their concerns. Snow Time spent years building up trust with its local customer base, and some employees fear that trust may erode now that key decisions are being made outside the region.

“We have great teams in place at Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail, and rely on their knowledge and experience to help us continue to deliver an exceptional guest experience at all three resorts,” Jamie said.

“We are a very open company that encourages employees at all levels to reach out to management with any ideas, suggestions, comments, at any time,” he added.

Season passes typically offer a way to save money for skiers who plan to visit local resorts multiple times in a season, but with a new pricing model that decreases that value, Mid-Atlantic skiers are left wondering whether they’ll also have sticker shock when they walk up to the ticket windows next winter to purchase a lift ticket at Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail.

Although Peak Resorts has not yet announced lift ticket prices, they have announced that they will be switching to a dynamic ticket pricing model that has become popular at larger ski resorts across the nation. So starting next winter, buying a lift ticket to Liberty, Roundtop, or Whitetail might be more like buying an airplane seat.

“The earlier people purchase, the more they save,” explained Jamie.

“Individual ticket products will most likely mirror what currently exists at these resorts, including 4-hour, 8-hour, extended day and night tickets, and multi-day ticket products for those who wish to ski several days in a row. Pricing will also most likely be similar at all three resorts to what it has been this season,” he said.

Previously, Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail offered an inexpensive Advantage Card, which could be purchased for $84 for individuals or $159 for entire families prior to October 31. This card entitled skiers to receive 40% off any lift ticket throughout the season, with every sixth visit free. It took a huge dent out of ticket window prices, while giving guests the flexibility to ski whenever it was convenient for them.

Now that the Advantage Card is gone, the best chance skiers will have to snag similar ticket window discounts is to purchase tickets in advance for days that are expected to be less busy. This practice has been in place at other Peak Resorts property, and with enough advance planning and the flexibility to visit on non-crowded days (such as midweek early or late in the season), it’s possible to save a significant amount of money off of typical ticket prices.

But while prices might be less on some days, they’ll be more expensive on other days. And a lot of local skiers aren’t sold on the idea.

“How is this realistic in Pennsylvania?” asked Kate Wolfe. “Weather can change so drastically, people intending to take their kids up have the dilemma of kids popping up sick, extra homework on a certain night, etc. What happens if we pre-purchase and then can’t get up that night?”

“We don’t know the weather weeks in advance so it makes it quite difficult to buy tickets that far in advance,” agreed Nicole Davis. “And with young children, that does influence the decision whether to go or not.”

“I do not like this model for several reasons,” said Michele Lacerda.

“First, the weather here is too sporadic in winter. We get ice, some snow, and this year there was a ton of rain. Secondly, I don’t want to have to plan a local ski trip. Sometimes we just like to pack up and go. So many things with kids depend on their behavior, their wellness, if they have homework, or if after a long day/week we even feel like going.”

But many accept that the trend towards dynamic pricing in the ski industry is inevitable.

“It makes sense to follow what the rest of the industry is doing,” concedes Jim Beckley.

Ultimately, Peak Resorts is hoping that the frustration of local skiers blows over.

“Change can be hard no matter what that change is,” said Jamie. “We’ve seen similar responses when we’ve implemented new pass products at mountains such as Hunter and Jack Frost Big Boulder, but while there is some initial pushback it is always followed by an increase in passholders as compared to previous years.”

“We take all feedback, both negative and positive, to heart and use it to help shape our decision making as a company,” he added. “We have learned several things from this year’s roll out, as we do each year, and will incorporate some of these ideas into improving the guest experience at all of our resorts.”

Peak Resorts is likely to continue hearing strong feedback from Mid-Atlantic skiers. And that feedback may grow stronger when season pass prices shoot even higher after April 30.

“I’m furious about these changes,” said Fran Chao-Gay. “Everyone understands that steady inflation is a fact of life, and I don’t expect to pay the same price year after year for a season pass. However, to artificially inflate the price to such a ludicrous level without offering any more services or benefits is mind boggling.”

“Beyond the anger though, I also feel a lot of sadness,” Fran added.

“Whitetail has been my second home in the winter every year for the last decade. My children practically grew up here, and have friends on the race team. It has always felt like a small, local, ‘home’ mountain. By pricing out families, they will lose loyalty dollars and have to rely on millennials who come in for one or two quick day trips. They will lose many steady, long term families like mine. I fear the dynamic of the entire mountain will evolve away from the family friendly ski resort it is today.”

Irv Naylor, founder of Snow Time, spent much of his life molding these ski areas into properties that local skiers could call their second home. Time will tell whether the changes Peak Resorts is making will create long-term value for these properties, or whether it will drive away many of the guests that made them successful in the first place.

See also: Assessing the Value of the Peak Pass