Back to the Future!

 

On the plus side I was fitter back then.

 

Excellent resorts on IKON and MC.

 

It’s great value with the kids at $1 when bought early. It also suits a trip favoured by my crew. That is a few (2 or 3) days at a particular hill before moving off to another destination (and doing a touristy thing in between the two).
It’s also got - in my opinion of course - the best combination of iconic mountains. Snowbird, Alta, Jackson, Big Sky, Aspen, Mammoth, Squaw. I’ll admit it was a big loss losing Whistler though.

 

Between the MCP and the Epic pass, it was no contest for me to pick the MCP again. Not a fan of skiing in Colorado partially because of the higher altitude but also because of travel in/out of Denver. Not that keen on returning to Tahoe. My favorites are Alta/Snowbird, Taos, with Aspen/Snowmass, Big Sky, Snowbasin all in my personal top ten for return trips. Have yet to feel any interest to ski at Park City when I fly to SLC.

Between the MCP as it stands in 2018-19 and Ikon Base, it was a little harder to decide. But I'm heading to Taos for a week and will be at Alta for at least two weeks during late season with friends, so decided to stick with the MCP. My other trip to a big mountain will be to Big Sky. Might get in a day or two at JH on the way from SLC to Big Sky because I fly Southwest and have a ski buddy willing to pick me up in SLC at the start of a ski trip.

I won't bother to worry about what multi-resort pass to get for 2019-2020 until next March. Impossible to predict what will happen with the MCP.

 

Taos NM added to become an Ikon partner

https://www.aspentimes.com/news/taos-ski-valley-added-to-list-of-ikon-pass-resorts/

 

With all the additions to Ikon this week, the only destinations that are only on the MCP and not on Ikon are Sun Valley and Snowbasin. Those are owned by the same family company. Won't be too much of a surprise if they end up on Ikon as well.

Niseko was the latest addition to Ikon. The others added this week were Solitude, Brighton, Cypress in Canada, The Summit at Snoqualamie, plus Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands in Michigan. Fair to say that Boyne Resorts is major partner of Alterra for the Ikon pass since all their locations are on Ikon for 2018-19.

 

Is the current promotion of the Mountain Collective for $449 in Australian dollars a new deal ? (that's $320USD) Australian and New Zealand residents only



I am not sure of the expiry date of the benefits. It is April 30 2019 so ski benefits for Australia or New Zealand in 2019 - I wonder if you can use the ticket benefits in the 2018/2019 summer at Thredbo ?


Sale expires Saturday Sept 29, 2018

 

Saw that a few wks ago. Only 2018 season on thredbo so pretty useless.
In usd its too expensive but in aud would get me thinking carefully...

 

"The Mountain Collective are offering an incredible 25% off their pass...ending this Saturday [29Sep2018] Get one and enjoy the best of the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, South America, New Zealand and Thredbo with 34 total days for only $449 AUD . . ."

The current U.S. price is US$449. How much of a discount is 25% off when taking the exchange rate into account?

Last year the price went up US$20 on 01Oct. Aug-Sep price has been US$20 lower than 2017. Pretty clear the Ikon pass has shifted people away from the MCP.

I ended up getting Ikon Base in addition to the MCP that I bought back in March for US$409 with the bonus day. Have long enough trips planned to Taos, Big Sky, and Alta/Snowbird that it will be easy to take advantage of both. With bonus days at Ikon locations in the U.S. northeast because I have other reasons to be around Boston during Dec and March.

Only Sun Valley and Snowbasin (same ownership) are left from the MCP that haven't also been added to Ikon.

 

I thought this might have been of more interest since if the price is $49 AUS it is effectively $325USD for the Mountain Collective but perhaps the expiry date excludes Thredbo next 2019 winter

 

Last day (today) to get:
https://tmcaustralia.ltibooking.com/purchase-path/product-details/9767

 

For mountain collective, what sort of ticket do you get at each resort with the pass? Is it basically a regular day ticket I can hand to someone else? Reason I ask is I have a weekday pass for Big Sky so I would like to give the 2 single tickets & any 50% off tickets bought to my brother (for some $). If I can do that it will be worth it combined with my use at Niseko.

 

The MCP is equivalent to a season pass. It is non-refundable (unless you get insurance) and non-transferable. Get the same RFID card as any other season pass holder. Read the FAQ.

 

Probably going to get one next year (2020 trip) if the resorts stay similar.

Thinking of hitting the Utah resorts, possibly Jackson then head to Canada and ski LL, Sunshine and Revs.
Thats 12 days of resort skiing for $650, pretty good IMO.

 

$650? Is that with the conversion to AUS$? Price was US$409 in March (with bonus day) and has gone up to US$469 for the fall.

I've had the MCP for several years and have gotten good value because I can get to 2-3 locations each season. But not counting on it existing at all for 2019-20. All of the locations except Sun Valley and Snowbasin (same ownership) are "partners" with Ikon (5 or 7 days). The price for the 2018-19 MCP was lower by August than the season before. Ikon is available thru Dec. Sales are running at a good clip, expecting 250,000 for this first season according to a recent article in a Colorado paper. That's in comparison to the 750,000 Epic passes sold for 2017-18, which is likely to be surpassed for 2018-19.

 

Well thats the current advertised price on its website.

Hoping it sticks around next seasons for what Mrs Chowder and I are wanting to do 2020, the Ikon pass isn't worth the extra $4-500.

 

Ditto. Mrs Boof and I are planning a 2020 mega trip as well.

 

I'm counting on (hoping) MC will be in place for 19/20. I believe it fills a space in the market for those that won't shell out for an Ikon or Epic pass. If they drop Mountain Collective I'll likely change plans and will ski the hills in British Columbia on a road trip.
If not I'll be going to SLC/Aspen/SLC in a round loop taking in Canyonlands NP and Dinosaur National monument.

 

Yep, AUS$650 is about US$469, so that's in Aussie dollars. There was a limited time deal in August for the 2018-19 MCP for AUS$449 so I wondered.

I agree that the MCP serves a slightly different market than those who can use Ikon Base or Epic Local for a 1-week trip to a destination resort plus use it for local skiing. But if the resorts on both this season feel that they can more general revenue from those who use Ikon instead of MCP this season, then the MCP could go away. A Marketing Director at Aspen invented the the MCP. The original list had destination resorts that were deliberately far apart. Only using the 2 included days and moving on isn't necessarily what the resorts really want. The family who own Aspen are also major investors in Alterra. Doing negotiations and administration for both seems like extra work.

 

We've sent feedback emails to the people at Mountain Collective to tell them how much we love the pass and hope it continues. Maybe you should shoot them one too as it may be the tipping point for it to be continued?

 

Nice idea.
Might suss also.... ask the question about 2019/20 season

 

I did ask that and they answered in a typical corporate fashion - ie "decisions on the future of the product will be made at an appropriate time in the future".

 

What's harder to know is who would actually be making the decisions. Quite different from Vail Resorts making decisions about the Epic passes or Alterra executives deciding what Ikon passes will be for 2019-20.

I'm actually a bit surprised how long the MCP has lasted. The evolution from the 4 initial resorts for 2012-13 (Aspen, Squaw/Alpine, Alta, Jackson Hole) has been interesting to watch. The MCP has been slightly different every season in terms of timing, pricing, as well as the more obvious additions of new locations. The bonus day for early buyers, $1 kid prices, and the switch to having ski resorts in the same region included were significant differences from the original set up.

 

Yes. I've had MC for four years but sadly won't be heading to North America this year. We're off to Europe instead. We definitely have plans to be in the US or Canada in Feb 2020.
We have loved the $1 kid option but my daughter is now too old to take advantage of it. From memory our 'best' year was 2016/17 where for $800usd our family of four skied -
2 days at Thredbo
2 days at Coronet/Remarks in NZ
2 days at Snowbird
2 Days at Alta
3 days (bonus day) at Aspen
2 days at Sun Valley
2 days at Mammoth
So that's 13 days of skiing (x 4) for $800usd. That's about $15 a day each.
Yes we've spent money on a rental car and gas but we love the road trip model as we can check out other sights between destinations.

 

According to this NZ ski website, the Mountain Collective will exist for 2019-20. Anyone heard any news for the 2019 Australian market?

https://www.nzski.com/footer/mountain-collective/

 

Details of 2019 / 2020 Mountain Collective released today

https://mountaincollective.com

This story was just published:
https://www.aspentimes.com/news/loc...-trying-to-elbow-its-way-into-ski-pass-crowd/


also today was this story

https://www.aspentimes.com/news/asp...isits-at-aspen-snowmass-local-pass-use-up-40/


I already posted this article above in the Ikon pass thread but posted here as well because several people have listed their interest in the MC pass.

 

2019/2020 Mountain Collective is now on sale.
Big bonus for Aussies is the $449 is in AUD!! Massive saving.

 

If buying for your family it’s worth knowing that the Australian discount / cap applies only to adult tickets. The kids ones stay at the standard deal rate of USD$99 and will get converted to AUD at the prevailing rate (still a good deal of course)

 

Good point. As you say it's still a bargain. My 12 year old lad will get 13 days at some of the world's best ski hills for $140 Aud. That's less than 11 bucks a day.

*False economy of course as the flights and accomodation and car hire will likely cost me about 15 grand all up. Yolo!

 

The MCP for 2019-20 is "off sale" until some time in August. Usually becomes available again in mid-August. Only difference for N. America is that Sun Valley and Snowbasin went over to Epic, so no longer on the MCP. All the resorts on the MCP are also on Ikon.

In 2018, there was a special deal for Aussie and Kiwi buyers in September. Be interesting if that's repeated for 2019.

 

We got a special deal in our Fall/autumn.

So would be surprised if something is repeated in the NTH one.

 

Great information I am very thankful to you.

 

Now adding a couple of ‘free’ days at Niseko. My Mountain Collective Pass for this year is a bargain in itself but for my wife, kids and myself the three trips (Thredbo, Hokkaido and USA road trip) will cost me about 30 grand.

 

Yep there’s plenty of cost in a ski holiday (or three) on top of lift tickets.

 

Keep in mind that what you quoted was a post from 2017. The MCP has changed in noticeable ways every season since it came out. That means both price and the list of locations.

Where are you thinking of going in 2019-20?

 

A Basin now on Mountain Collective.
Yah!!

 

MCP available again. Price at US$489, a little higher than a year ago. The kid MCP is much higher, US$199.

 

Have purchased a MCP and will maximise it's value as follows through 19/20.

Hoping to get 2 days at Buller at some point

Off to NZ next week for a tour of Canterbury region into North Island and have had it confirmed in writing from nzski will honour 2 days at Hutt.

Feb 1 leave for Canada... Powder Highway tour of 22 days.

Start in Banff will use it at Sunshine and Lake Louise 2 days at each

Revelstoke 2 days plus the bonus day

So based on that extremely good value....11 days at sub $500 AUD.

 

Nice work.
I’m going to get 3 at Thredbo, 2 at the following -
Buller
Niseko
Aspen
A Basin
Alta
Snowbird
Jackson
Big Sky

My wife will get the same but we paid $100 for my 12 year old son.