Evaluating the Effect of Multi-Resort Passes on Ski Resort Lift Ticket Prices

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/tt44pp67d

Abstract

This senior thesis investigates the effect of ski resort inclusion in a mega-mountain ski resort pass on lift ticket prices for United States ski resorts during the 2023-2024 ski season. The effect of pass inclusion is estimated by conducting a cross-sectional analysis across United States ski resorts, using hedonic controls to account for varying ski resort characteristics. This analysis is extended to evaluate the effect of competition between resorts by incorporating controls for resort counts within a given radius. Furthermore, a time-series analysis was conducted to determine the effect of pass-switching over time with resort fixed effects. The results suggest that there is a positive correlation between being included in a mega-mountain pass and lift ticket prices, finding a price increase of $23.53 for the Epic Pass and $18.14 for the Ikon Pass when including hedonic controls. Additionally, this thesis found that having more resorts of similar affiliation within a radius of 40 miles increases daily lift ticket prices by $2.87 per resort.

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