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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us * Ski area workers prepare for opening - article below November 19, 2005 Ready for a lift Mt. Ashland prices dwarf larger areas By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Aaron Dietrich breaks in his new snowboard Thursday on Mount Ashland. All photos by Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings The Mt. Ashland Ski & Snowboard Resort has one of the highest adult ticket prices in the region, despite being one of the smallest ski areas. The resort ranks fourth out of 12 Oregon and northern California ski areas on its adult ticket price, but with only 220 acres, ranks tenth on size. Skiers and snowboarders have fewer acres to enjoy per dollar in ticket price than at most ski areas. Every dollar spent on the Mt. Ashland adult ticket buys access to about 5.6 acres, versus 75.2 acres at mammoth Mt. Bachelor in Central Oregon or 11.5 acres at the 425-acre Mt. Shasta Board & Ski Park in Northern California. Of course, no skier could ski all of Mt. Bachelor’s runs in a day. Mt. Shasta, like Mt. Bachelor, is located farther than Mt. Ashland from the Rogue Valley, meaning local skiers pay more to get there and spend more time in the car than on the slopes. Individual adult ticket prices at Mt. Ashland have been climbing steadily over the years, rising from $29 during the 2001-02 season to $39 this winter, according to figures provided by Mt. Ashland Marketing Director Rick Saul. However, Saul said the ski area remains affordable because of the annual spring sale when adult season passes cost just $199. The pass is on sale for $299 in the fall, and then rises to the full price of $399. “Because we offer such a steeply discounted season pass to make it more accessible, we had to price the daily lift ticket a little higher,” he said. Saul said while Mt. Ashland has kept a lid on season pass prices, rising individual ticket prices are needed to offset increasing costs for fuel, personnel and insurance, as well the creation of terrain parks to serve the growing ranks of snowboarders. The ski area is not raising ticket prices to stockpile money for a planned expansion, he said. Anyone who buys the $199 season pass and goes skiing or snowboarding more than five times in a season will be paying a lower rate than the $39 individual visit price. A person would need to go skiing or snowboarding 11 times to make buying a season pass worthwhile under the national season pass average price, according to the National Ski Areas Association. Mt. Shasta closely matches many of Mt. Ashland’s offerings. The California ski area also sells its season pass for $199 in the summer, $299 in the early fall and $399 after Sept. 30, according to the Mt. Shasta Web site. With 350 acres serviced by chairlifts, Anthony Lakes in northeast Oregon is similar in size to Mt. Ashland. It sells its adult season pass for $250, $325 and $425. Mt. Bachelor’s season passes are significantly higher, at $699, $860 and $910, according to those ski areas’ Web sites. Katie Smith puts on her snowboard Thursday as she prepares to test her skills on the slope. Scott Kaden, president of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association, said the practice of discounting season passes before winter has helped keep skiing and snowboarding accessible to people at different income levels. “There are people in the industry who would argue skiing has never been more affordable. There are so many low cost options rather than the single day ticket you get at the counter,” he said. “The discounted season pass craze has really been around only a decade, but it’s really checked the price. As a result, it’s opened up access to the person who’s never thought of themselves as a skier or snowboarder.” Kaden said the Pacific Northwest remains one of the most affordable regions in the country in which to ski or snowboard. While Mt. Bachelor’s individual adult ticket price is $49, there are many regions where tickets cost more than $80, he said. Skiers and snowboarders who didn’t buy a discounted Mt. Ashland season pass in the spring, or who don’t go often enough to make buying a pass worthwhile, can still find less expensive options, according to Saul, General Manager Jeff Hanson and the Mt. Ashland Web site. People who buy 10 gallons of gas at Shell stations can ask for a voucher that will allow two people to ski or snowboard for the price of one on Mondays, except for the week after Christmas, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day. Beginning in January, tickets cost $20 on Tuesdays as part of the traditional “Tightwad Tuesdays” offering. Groups of 15 or more can purchase tickets at a discounted rate. Students who participate in the After School Youth Program can buy a ticket for $17, which includes a lesson. The ski area served 1,500 students last winter. Mt. Ashland is again offering its “1-2-3 Learn to Ski” program, which includes three days of skiing plus equipment, for $123. Upon completing the program, graduates receive a card that allows them to ski the mountain’s lower lifts for the rest of the year for free. The Sonnet Chairlift, serving the beginners’ hill, costs $7 this year. For additional information on pricing and promotions, visit www.mtashland.com or call 482-2897. For the preseason snow report and for the snow report after opening, call 482-2754. Staff writer Vickie Aldous can be reached at 479-8199 or [email protected]. Ski area workers prepare to open – now, if only it would snow ... By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings It may not feel like ski season yet, but you wouldn’t know it by the way the staff at Mt. Ashland Ski and Snowboard Resort have been preparing the last few days. The lift operators are working the kinks out of the chair lifts. Nearby, the ski patrol is doing some last-minute training. Inside the rental shop, the crew is still unpacking and torque testing the new equipment to be shared with the patrons this season. In the lodge, they are putting the finishing touches on some minor improvements that have been made to the apres-ski situation. And on the slopes, some anxious ski bums are already testing their equipment on the sparsely covered mountain. Mt. Ashland will be ready to open on Wednesday. Unfor-tunately for skiers and snowboarders, it doesn’t seem the weather will cooperate and offer the north face of the Siskiyou Mountain Range any snow to cover the slopes. Weather reports predict sunny weather through the holiday with no precipitation until at least the Monday after Thanksgiving. “Snow willing” is the name of this game, said Rick Saul, marketing director for Mt. Ashland. “The series of storms that came out of the Pacific gave us a nice head start to the season. Another system like that and we’ll be ready to swing chairs.” Saul said the average opening date for the ski area is Dec. 10. He said that two of the last six seasons, the ski resort has opened in November. “It’s like waiting for the first day of summer vacation,” said Douglas Malone Knudsen, a lift operator. While they waited, Saul busied himself by looking forward to all that the upcoming season would have to offer. The first big event of the season, outside of opening day, will be on Jan. 6, when the resort will host the Southern Oregon snowboard giant slalom race. The alpine version of this race will be held the next Friday. In early February, Mt Ashland will host slope style competitions. Saul explained that “slope style” is when skiers and snowboarders head into the terrain parks and strut their stuff on the jumps and rails. “They’re being as flashy and doing the coolest moves they can for a panel of judges. There are two terrain parks at Mt Ashland. They are like skateboard parks, but for skiers and snowboarders, complete with quarter pipes, jumps and table tops. Lessons start in January on the mountain and Saul said they offer a range of instructions for all skill levels and desires. This year they are debuting the “123 Learn to Ski” program where, for $123, participants receive three nonconsecutive days of lessons, plus equipment rental and lift pass. After that, a novice skier can enroll in the “next step” package for $49. Saul said this program is for skiers or snowboarders “not quite ready to go out on their own yet.” For young snow riders, between the ages of 9 and 17, there is the X Riders Freestyle program. This, said Saul, is for “kids who want to learn the terrain parks. It’s a step-by-step approach to learning freestyle moves.” Mt. Ashland tends to be about half snowboarders and half skiers, according to Saul. “There used to be tension between the two user groups but that is mellowing,” he said. At the end of the season, Mt. Ashland will name Kim Clarke to be its new operations director when Jeff Hanson, the current director, will move over to head up the expansion efforts. Clarke will be learning his new job under Hanson during this season. As of Oct. 24, the lawsuit against Mt Ashland is under way. That is the date that plaintiff Eric Navikas submitted his opening brief in his suit contending that the Forest Service was biased in its decision to allow the resort to expand. Saul said, if the suit ends favorably for Mt. Ashland they will announce their expansion plans, including a price tag for the development in the spring. “If we’re ready, we’ll come out with plans, phasing and prices in March,” Saul said. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Ceramic Piggy Banks Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Mailing Lists Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hammocks Water Filter Custom Made Computers Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams