Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The early-bird price of next year's adult season pass at Steamboat will increase by $50 to $845, Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. announced Thursday.

The $845 price will be good until Aug. 15, when it jumps to $1,050; after Dec. 1 it will be capped at $1,175. The pass includes a free pass for a child younger than 12 and represents a 6.3 percent increase over last year's price.

The passes will be on sale Saturday at the main ticket office or online at www.steamboat-ski.com.

Last year, the price of an adult season pass was $795, the first time since 1993 that Steamboat had priced a season pass below $800. The lower price was a response to the bargain "buddy passes" sold by many Front Range resorts.

This coming season, Vail Associates is offering season passes to Keystone, Breckenridge and A-Basin for $249, and 10 days of skiing at Vail and Beaver Creek and unlimited skiing at Keystone, Breckenridge and A-Basin for $299. Copper Mountain is offering a $249 unlimited skiing pass and a $199 Monday to Friday pass for the upcoming season.

Although Steamboat skier visits were up by 2 percent last year, the industry is still flat and Mike Lane, director of public relations at ski corp., said his company is trying to give people choices.

"We're trying to make (the ski pass structure) so that there's a lot of options for all skier habits and price ranges," he said.

The Value Pass program, which started last year to offer skiers a combination of regular season ski days and value season ski days, was also developed in reaction to the buddy pass programs to offer skiers and riders more options, Lane said. It was successful but will be modified a bit at the passholders' request this year, he said.

"We got a lot of feedback from people using them and they requested that we adjust the days," Lane said.

The 20/20 Value Pass has been replaced by the 20/10 Value Pass, which offers 20 regular season skiing days and 10 value season days for $630. The 20/20 Value Pass was $660 last season. Ski corp. also is offering a 10/5 Value Pass for $375. A 10/10 Value Pass starts at $445 and a 5/5 Value Pass starts at $270. It means skiing with a Value Pass will cost from $21 to $27 minimum per day, depending on the pass.

Mount Werner is scheduled to open on Nov. 22 for Scholarship Day, where season passes are not honored, but all proceeds from reduced ticket prices benefit the Winter Sports Club. The early value season is Nov. 23 to Dec. 19, the regular season is Dec. 20 to April 3 and spring value season is April 4 to 15.

Ski corp. is offering the merchant pass program for Steamboat Chamber Resort Association members on season passes and the 20/10 passes. Merchants will be required to make a $300 deposit per pass at the time of purchase, which is less than the $400 deposit last year, Lane said. The balance of the season ticket price is paid during the ski season.

This season, the teen pass, 6- to 12-year-old child pass and 5-and-under child pass are the same price as last year, according to Lane, at $310, $190 and $30, respectively.

Daily lift ticket prices will be announced in early August, Lane said. A regular season daily ticket was $54 last year. The free Steamboat Card offers skiers and riders a $41 regular season daily ticket for 2000-2001.

There will be no new terrain open on the mountain this coming season, Lane said. In the works is a day lodge in the space once occupied by the Inferno in Gondola Square. It will have coin-operated lockers, restrooms, a lost and found and an espresso shop, Lane said.

To reach Jennifer Bartlett call 871-4204 or e-mail jbartlett@amigo.net