The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
More Buddy Passes come with a season pass next year
By Mark Reaman
Vail Resorts announced this week that the company’s pass partnership with Arapahoe Basin will end after the 2018/19 ski season. A-Basin cited increasing crowdedness as the primary reason to leave the Epic Pass partnership.
Arapahoe Basin put out a press release Monday that stated “a pinch on parking and facility space” is a reason for the breakup. “Due to these constraints, Arapahoe Basin believes its staff can take better care of its guests by separating from Vail Resorts.”
“With diverse ski runs including some of the most intense terrain in North America and a culinary operation that is regularly listed among the top ten in the country, the ski area has developed a very special community that feels like home,” Arapahoe Basin chief operating officer Alan Henceroth said in the statement. “In order to continue to build on this spirit and the experience we have created, Arapahoe Basin and Vail Resorts will not be renewing their pass partnership for the 2019/2020 season.”
“We want to thank Arapahoe Basin for their partnership for over 20 years,” said Kirsten Lynch, chief marketing officer for Vail Resorts. “We are disappointed but given the success they have had and their recent investments into the resort, we respect that this is the right time for them to move in a different direction.”
More buddy passes
In other ski resort news, Vail Resorts also announced Monday that pass holders who purchase any unlimited season pass including the 2019-20 Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Summit Value Pass, Keystone Plus Pass, Tahoe Local Pass, Tahoe Value Pass and all other buddy ticket eligible passes, will receive 10 Buddy Tickets when purchased before the April deadline. This represents a 67 percent increase above prior year’s six Buddy Tickets.
This improvement in value complements the additional access added this last year on Vail’s Epic and/or Epic Local passes—including Telluride, Crested Butte, Sun Valley, Snowbasin, Fernie, Kicking Horse and several others.
