Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — With only a couple of tracks of snow remaining on the top of Mount Werner serving as a reminder of last year's epic ski season, it is already time to budget for next season's pass.

The Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. on Wednesday announced season pass and Super Value Pass pricing for the 2006-07 season.

Ski Corp. also announced it is extending the season by a week. The last day of skiing will be April 14. During the last week, the resort will operate with limited lift, facility and program services.

Season passes purchased bef--ore Aug. 15 will cost $935, an increase of $10 from last year. With 143 days in next year's season, that means a daily cost of about $6.54. The season pass price jumps to $1,275 when purchased between Aug. 15 and Nov. 17. After Nov. 17, passes will cost $1,499.

Super Value Passes can be purchased for 10, 15 or 20 ski days. A 20-day pass purchased before Aug. 15 will cost $699.

The mountain opens Nov. 23.

"Coming off an incredible 400-plus-inch snow season and anticipating more than $7 million in capital investments including the highly anticipated Sunshine Express high-speed quad chairlift, as well as the $18 million Steamboat/Hayden Airport project, Steamboat's guests will enjoy a significantly enhanced vacation experience this winter," Andy Wirth, Ski Corp. vice president of sales and marketing, said in a press release.

Ski Corp. again will offer the Kids Ski Free pass. Children younger than 12 will receive free ski passes when their parents purchase season passes.

The merchant pass program also will be offered. The program allows employees of businesses that are members of the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association to pay for their season passes in installments.

Season and super value passes go on sale Friday. They can be purchased at www.steamboat.com/seasonpass. New this year will be the ability to upload a photo for the pass. Adult passes will be mailed, saving a trip to the ticket office. Passes also can be purchased by fax, phone, mail or in the ticket office. The Steamboat Ticket Office can be reached at 871-5252.