For the skier, buying a season pass comes with a host of potential risks that could leave their “non-transferrable, non-refundable” virtually useless. With absolutely no data to backup my claim, my highly accurate instinct tells me that among others, injury is probably the most common thing that prevents a pass from being used for a full season of skiing or riding.

So, here you are, buying your pass with the anticipation of 6 months of powder turns ahead of you when you see this sign:

“Season pass protection ($19 per person/pass) will guarantee that in case of unforeseen circumstances, you will receive a full refund for an unused pass. For used passes, each visit will be deducted at full ticket price plus a $50 processing fee. No refunds after February 15 of the current season. Protection will aslo cover a one time replacement of a lost pass.”

I like it. It says, “We want you to buy a season pass, but we’re not going to screw you if you dislocate your face on a rail on opening day.” The risk comes with having 200 people knocking on your door on February 14 asking for a refund because they spent Christmas break playing Mario Kart rather than skiing. The couldn’t “forsee” that they’ get a Wii from Santa, and thus feel entitled to the refund.

However, in the end, I think that for every person that tries to abuse it, there will be dozens of other that don’t. My gut also says that a lot of people would see this as a very cool add on to their season pass and would be more than willing to fork over an extra $20 for the coverage.

The concept is one I had heard of, but never found a resort that was actually doing it. Interesting stuff.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.