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Belleayre 70+ Must Now Buy Lift Tickets in 2012-2013

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skipatrol40s Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Apr 29, 2002 Posts: 1479 Location:	Posted: Jul 08, 2012 - 12:36 PM GMT Its sad times when NY State is balancing the budget by charging the Belleayre senior 70+ skiers for lift tickets. If your 70+ and have skied for free at Belleayre in previous years, you have until the end of August to buy a season pass for $189.00. After August it goes up to $210.00 . Belleayre Season Passes for 2012-2013

joshua segal Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jul 12, 2004 Posts: 5942 Location:NH	Posted: Jul 08, 2012 - 1:00 PM GMT Edited: Jul 09, 2012 - 8:27 PM GMT A couple of problems that the 70+ crowd can put on themselves: The good news: We are becoming a healthier group who are taking as many runs as anybody else. The initial assumption when these programs were introduced was that the old folks took two or three runs. Next, skiing in the pre-grooming years was vigorous exercise. Cruising a Blue square corduroy groomer these days is less effort than walking from the lodge to the lift. And the bad news: The areas figured that the old folks would bring their families with them - or at least buy food and drinks in the cafeteria. When they suspended the program at Ragged Mountain about a decade ago management said, "Not only are they not bringing paying customers with them, but they are bringing other older skiers and brown-bagging to boot." Crotched pushed out the free-pass to age-80, but there are rumblings that they might up it to 85. Cannon is one of the last to hold on to 65, giving us a free non-holiday weekday ticket with a valid NH drivers license. __________ Joshua Segal

70s gore kid Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Mar 09, 2010 Posts: 314 Location:Top of Cheat Mountain, WV	Posted: Jul 09, 2012 - 1:42 PM GMT Edited: Jul 09, 2012 - 1:44 PM GMT Nothing sinister here, folks. Now that Belle is under ORDA management, it is changing its ticketing policies to match Gore and Whiteface. I believe Gore and WF stopped handing out free tickets to 70 plus a few years ago. As Joshua stated, thanks to advances in medicine, lifespan, and ski equipment, you see a LOT of 72 and 74 year old skiiers on the slopes these days. On midweek mornings when shool is in session, seniors are the biggest group of skiiers on the trails at many mountains. You can't give them all free tickets. They are one of the fastest growing population of skiiers, since these are the people who were the orange jumpsuit - Hanson boot wearing powder hounds back in the 1970s. And they won't give up the sport until their hip joints fail.

Jimme Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jan 25, 2002 Posts: 1208 Location:6 miles West of Jiminy Peak, MA	Posted: Jul 09, 2012 - 8:23 PM GMT Quote: .....And they won't give up the sport until their hip joints fail. Got that right! Also, there's the lost revenue from years of giving away thousands of free tickets. __________ The Artful Dodger

brklynskier Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 538 Location:Brooklyn, NY	Posted: Jul 21, 2012 - 1:54 AM GMT My Father in Law is going to be very disappointed. He was quite the Belleayre fan. He's over 70 and thanks to the Taos ski school, now skiing on the new hip. Any word on what lift ticket prices will be?

kevinthomas Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Feb 18, 2006 Posts: 530 Location:Tioga County PA	Posted: Jul 21, 2012 - 7:13 PM GMT It's age discrimination giving seniors a lower price than other adults. Since the age of 6 I never understood it. If anything they are a higher injury liability on the road and the slopes. OK.... just playing devils advocate, sort of...

riverc0il Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jan 05, 2002 Posts: 3185 Location:Ashland, NH	Posted: Jul 22, 2012 - 7:38 PM GMT Edited: Jul 22, 2012 - 7:40 PM GMT This is pretty standard in all service sectors from what I have seen. Age based discounts are both being reduced and ages are being pushed to the edges. And I think that is perfectly fine. Both in a general sense and for the skiing industry in particular. As Joshua Segal noted, improvements in equipment, snow making, and grooming have made it easier for older skis to slide more often and for longer periods of time. Also, improvements in health care and lifestyles has increased lifespan and the time during which seniors can remain active. When the discounts were instituted, I bet seniors were such a small part of the skiing population that no one in management cared. Now the boomers are retiring and still want to ski. Some might argue age based discounting is important to due older folks being on fixed incomes. But that argument is completely invalid unless you also consider the unwillingly unemployed and lower household income families. It could be argued that age based discounting is good for sales by keeping the older crowd on the slopes longer. But if they want to ski and can afford it, they will pay to do it, just like the rest of us. __________ TheSnowWay.com

skipatrol40s Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Apr 29, 2002 Posts: 1479 Location:	Posted: Jul 22, 2012 - 10:30 PM GMT 70+ season tickets at Hunter this year are $129, which makes it cheaper than Belleayre. I didn't know there was so much business competition for the 70+ seniors.

riverc0il Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jan 05, 2002 Posts: 3185 Location:Ashland, NH	Posted: Jul 22, 2012 - 10:32 PM GMT Quote: I didn't know there was so much business competition for the 70+ seniors. My point is that it is growing as the largest generation of skiers goes into retirement. Not all of them will continue. Heck, they probably aren't even the largest generation any more as some drop out of the activity. But in the 60-70 range, I bet there are a LOT of skiers out there representing a lot of lost revenues as paying customers begin receiving large discounts. 70+... probably not as much which is why most areas are picking that age for the discounts. __________ TheSnowWay.com

kevinthomas Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Feb 18, 2006 Posts: 530 Location:Tioga County PA	Posted: Jul 23, 2012 - 12:19 PM GMT From an article in the Seattle Times that a Google search found, I haven't seen one of the 70+ patches in years... The trend started back east, where ski geezers banded together and formed an organization, the 70-Plus Ski Club, to promote fresh-air activity for older skiers. The group's founder, the late Lloyd Lambert, began soliciting ski-area managers to let members of his club, launched in 1977, ski for free or at greatly reduced rates. The percentage of skiers over 45 grew from 21 percent in 1998 to 31 percent last season, according to the National Ski Areas Association.

70s gore kid Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Mar 09, 2010 Posts: 314 Location:Top of Cheat Mountain, WV	Posted: Jul 23, 2012 - 2:00 PM GMT Hunter? Would YOU ski Hunter at age 75? Without air bags all around you, like the Michelin Man?

z1000307470 Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: May 07, 2004 Posts: 504 Location:Bergen County, NJ	Posted: Jul 23, 2012 - 2:22 PM GMT Quote: Its sad times when NY State is balancing the budget by charging the Belleayre senior 70+ skiers for lift tickets. If your 70+ and have skied for free at Belleayre in previous years, you have until the end of August to buy a season pass for $189.00. After August it goes up to $210.00 . Belleayre Season Passes for 2012-2013 It is still a huge bargin. They should pay the same as anybody else. More often than not 70+ skiers roll in with their own food and drink (as is their right ) and ski for free or at a huge discount. It is hard to run a business when you are giving the product away for free. Midweek passes ($286 at Belleayre) are pretty cheap. A full pass for $189 is just silly.

jimk Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Aug 27, 2004 Posts: 1066 Location:Wash DC area	Posted: Jul 23, 2012 - 3:00 PM GMT I have about a dozen years before I hit age 70, but I have two friends who are over 70 and still very active skiers. They both take advantage of senior discounts for their personal expenses, but also ski with children and grandchildren. Both spend a great deal of coin funding ski trips for large extended families. This past winter one had a bunch of family members with him in Utah and VT, the 2nd guy not only brings family on local trips, but also funded a group for a trip to Austria. Both guys are retired and often sponsor these family trips during prime holidays to accommodate school age grandchildren. I was talking details with one of them and for what he spent on his family over a Presidents Weekend at a mid-Atlantic resort I could take five one week trips out west! Perhaps my anecdotes are biased because these guys are upper middle class rainmakers {bad choice of words for a ski discussion }, but I think resorts should keep offering the senior discounts. There is probably some market analysis out there that identifies which ski areas attract these kind of rainmaker seniors vs. which ones attract the ski-on-the-cheap type seniors.

z1000307470 Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: May 07, 2004 Posts: 504 Location:Bergen County, NJ	Posted: Jul 23, 2012 - 5:07 PM GMT Quote: I have about a dozen years before I hit age 70, but I have two friends who are over 70 and still very active skiers. They both take advantage of senior discounts for their personal expenses, but also ski with children and grandchildren. Both spend a great deal of coin funding ski trips for large extended families. This past winter one had a bunch of family members with him in Utah and VT, the 2nd guy not only brings family on local trips, but also funded a group for a trip to Austria. Both guys are retired and often sponsor these family trips during prime holidays to accommodate school age grandchildren. I was talking details with one of them and for what he spent on his family over a Presidents Weekend at a mid-Atlantic resort I could take five one week trips out west! Perhaps my anecdotes are biased because these guys are upper middle class rainmakers {bad choice of words for a ski discussion }, but I think resorts should keep offering the senior discounts. There is probably some market analysis out there that identifies which ski areas attract these kind of rainmaker seniors vs. which ones attract the ski-on-the-cheap type seniors. Why do these generous rich guys need discounts?

rickbolger Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Mar 14, 2005 Posts: 2297 Location:Great Gorge, NJ	Posted: Jul 24, 2012 - 12:33 PM GMT Quote: There is probably some market analysis out there that identifies which ski areas attract these kind of rainmaker seniors vs. which ones attract the ski-on-the-cheap type seniors. if you spend enough time on SJ it is fairly easy to glean the data

70s gore kid Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Mar 09, 2010 Posts: 314 Location:Top of Cheat Mountain, WV	Posted: Jul 24, 2012 - 7:19 PM GMT Quote: I I was talking details with one of them and for what he spent on his family over a Presidents Weekend at a mid-Atlantic resort I could take five one week trips out west! Bet he took them to Snowshoe! With recent Intrawest price hikes on lifts, and very limited mountain top lodging and dining, it makes Killington and Okemo look cheap.

Bill29 Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Dec 19, 2002 Posts: 2414 Location:	Posted: Jul 24, 2012 - 7:48 PM GMT It was ski writer Lloyd Lambert, who lived in upstate New York I think, who started the 70+ ski club and prevailed upon many ski areas to grant free skiing to those 70 and older. That was about 40 years ago. I remember him as a member of the Eastern Ski Writers Assn. Now there are too damn many of us older-or rather, mature-skiers, as a few of you have pointed out. And, we tend to be frugal. I guess there is some resentment among younger skiers about the fact that we mature skiers got that break for a time. I can't imagine why.

jimk Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Aug 27, 2004 Posts: 1066 Location:Wash DC area	Posted: Jul 24, 2012 - 8:41 PM GMT Edited: Jul 24, 2012 - 8:41 PM GMT Quote: [quote]I I was talking details with one of them and for what he spent on his family over a Presidents Weekend at a mid-Atlantic resort I could take five one week trips out west! Bet he took them to Snowshoe! With recent Intrawest price hikes on lifts, and very limited mountain top lodging and dining, it makes Killington and Okemo look cheap. [/quote] =============================== bingo, ~11K

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