Taos Ski Valley: Reevaluate pass prices

Dear Fellow Taos County Taxpayers and Taos Ski Valley,

In light of the recent update for Taos Ski Valley’s 2020-21 Winter Pass policy, I feel this to be a great time to reflect on the absurd pass prices that have been unveiled and to ask a few honest questions of the leadership at TSV.

Newly released pass structures show essentially three options:

1. A Midweek Pass for $450 which includes Monday-Thursday but excludes holidays;

2. A Weekday Plus Pass for $695 which includes Monday-Friday but excludes holidays;

3. An Unlimited Pass for a whopping $1,600 but includes any day of the 202021 season.

Taos Ski Valley jumps at every chance to magnify its B Corp status. According to the B Corp website, “Certified B Corporations are a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit.”

They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions “on their workers, customers, suppliers, community and the environment.”

With this bold statement in mind, let’s consider the impact of their decisions on the people of Taos County.

With the most recent available data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the per capita income in the past 12 months in 2018 dollars for Taos County was $23,642. Simply put, a local skier who works a typical Monday-Friday job would need to spend nearly 7 percent of their income to be able to ski for two days a week. A family of four whose parents work Monday-Friday would need to drop $5,800 this season. We won’t even begin to consider what a family would do with hungry children and a closed Tim’s Stray Dog.

In the past, TSV has offered generous rates for locals and young people. For example, past year’s Zia Pass was an option for skiers ages 18-35 that allowed for riding any day during the week and was available for $365. A reasonable person can understand a rate increase, given the 50 percent capacity under which TSV will be operating, but a $1,600 pass will only be practical for people who do not make a typical wage in this county.

Did this pass structure consider that it will prohibit young local riders from enjoying their natural resources in a time when they need them most? Will it prohibit local health care workers that work Monday-Friday from enjoying an escape from the chaos that they’ll be dealing with, in part due to an influx of tourism generated by the ski valley?

Is $1,600 an absurd rate to ask of a teacher who is educating our children Monday-Friday?

From the community that makes yours possible, we are kindly asking that you use your own B Corp ethos to reevaluate your pass structure this year and consider a discounted locals pass that is available on the weekends.

Sincerely,