A-Basin works to cut numbers, preserve “vibe”

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area’s ongoing effort to reduce the number of skiers on the mountain is bucking ski industry trends.

Summit County’s oldest ski area announced March 12 that it would reduce the number of season passes it sells by 10% to preserve its “culture and vibe.”

While some Colorado ski areas have opted to partner with Alterra Mountain Co. or Vail Resorts and open their mountains to unlimited skiing and riding for Epic or Ikon passholders, ABasin has taken steps back from the mega pass trend during the past two seasons.

Epic pass holders had unlimited access to A-Basin for years as part of a partnership with Vail Resorts on various passes since 1998.

Then in February 2019, A-Basin announced it would ditch the Epic Pass and its partnership with Vail Resorts, citing “a pinch on parking and facility space” as the reason for the breakup. The ski area joined with Alterra the following season, offering a limited number of days at A-Basin to Ikon Pass holders: seven days on Ikon Pass and five restricted days on Ikon Base. A-Basin also is on the Mountain Collective pass, which offers two days of access.

“This is not a new direction. This has been an ongoing project,” A-Basin Chief Operating Officer Alan Henceroth said Tuesday. “We do believe there’s a lot of people that want multi-ski area benefits, but we were able to join Ikon in a way that it was restricted. … The number of really big days was smaller last season than it was the year before.”

In an unusually transparent move for the ski industry, Henceroth released A-Basin’s skier numbers last March, one season after the switch from Epic to Ikon. He wrote in a blog post that there were 35% fewer skiers through February 2020 compared with the previous season. There also were 69% fewer Ikon and Mountain Collective pass holders through February 2020, compared with Epic passholders in the 2018-19 season.

Henceroth said Tuesday that he was happy with the lower number of skier visits and felt A-Basin was in “perfect stride” until Gov. Jared Polis shut down ski areas in March 2020.

In part because of capacity limits set by Summit County, the number of people at the ski area each day was less than it was last season. Henceroth said the ski area learned it could do a lot of “interesting things” by controlling the number of lift tickets for sale each day.

Next season the ski area will limit the number of lift tickets sold each day and cap the number of available season passes at 90% of what was sold this season.

As part of the change, all tickets must be purchased online and in advance. No lift tickets will be sold on-site. And the ski area anticipates selling out of weekend lift tickets on a regular basis.

“We know pretty clearly when things start to get a little too busy, so we’re really focused on just trying to get just up to that threshold without getting too busy,” Henceroth said.

Overall, Henceroth said the ski area is prioritizing reducing crowds because it creates a better experience and makes it more likely that people will want to come back.