The Storm Live #5: Mountain Collective in NYC

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What

There’s a good reason that the Ikon Pass, despite considerable roster overlap and a more generous bucket of days, failed to kill Mountain Collective. It’s not because Mountain Collective has established itself as a sort of bargain Ikon Junior, or because it’s scored a few exclusive partners in Canada and the Western U.S. Rather, the Mountain Collective continues to exist because the member mountains like their little country club, and they’re not about to let Alterra force a mass exodus. Not that Alterra has tried, necessarily (I frankly have no idea), but the company did pull its remaining mountains (Mammoth, Palisades, Sugarbush), out of the coalition in 2022. Mountain Collective survived that, just as it weathered the losses of Stowe and Whistler and Telluride (all to the Epic Pass) before it. As of 2024, six years after the introduction of the Ikon Pass that was supposed to kill it, the Mountain Collective, improbably, floats its largest roster ever.

And dang, that roster. Monsters, all. Best case, you can go ski them. But the next best thing, for The Storm at least, is when these mountain leaders assemble for their annual meeting in New York City, which includes a night out with the media. Despite a bit of ambient noise, I set up in a corner of the bar and recorded a series of conversations with the leaders of some of the biggest, baddest mountains on the continent.

Who

* Stephen Kircher, President & CEO, Boyne Resorts

* Dave Fields, President & General Manager, Snowbird, Utah

* Brandon Ott, Marketing Director, Alta, Utah

* Steve Paccagnan, President & CEO, Panorama, British Columbia

* Geoff Buchheister, CEO, Aspen Skiing Company, Colorado

* Pete Sonntag, VP & General Manager, Sun Valley, Idaho

* Davy Ratchford, General Manager, Snowbasin, Utah

* Aaron MacDonald, Chief Marketing Officer, Sun Peaks, British Columbia

* Geordie Gillett, GM, Grand Targhee, Wyoming

* Bridget Legnavsky, President & CEO, Sugar Bowl, California

* Marc-André Meunier, Executive Marketing Director, Bromont, Quebec

* Pete Woods, President, Ski Big 3, Alberta

* Kendra Scurfield, VP of Brand & Communications, Sunshine, Alberta

* Norio Kambayashi, director and GM, Niseko Hanazono, Japan

* James Coleman, Managing Partner, Mountain Capital Partners

* Mary Kate Buckley, CEO, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Recorded on

October 29, 2024

About Mountain Collective

Mountain Collective gives you two days each at some badass mountains. There is a ton of overlap with the Ikon Pass, which I note below, but Mountain Collective is cheaper has no blackout dates.

What we talked about

BOYNE RESORTS

The Portfolio

Big Sky

Sunday River

Sugarloaf

Topics

Yes a second eight-pack comes to Big Sky and it’s a monster; why Sunday River joined the Mountain Collective; Sugarloaf’s massive West Mountain expansion; and could more Boyne Resorts join Mountain Collective?

More Boyne Resorts

SNOWBIRD

Stats: 3,240 vertical feet | 2,500 skiable acres | 500 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

The new Wilbere lift; why fixed-grip; why 600 inches of snow is better than 900 inches; and how Snowbird and Alta access differ on the Ikon versus the Mountain Collective passes.

Wilbere’s new alignment

More Snowbird

ALTA

Stats: 2,538 vertical feet | 2,614 skiable acres | 540 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

Not 903 inches but still a hell of a lot; why Alta’s aiming for 612 inches this season; and plotting Mountain Collective trips in LCC.

PANORAMA

Stats: 4,265 vertical feet | 2,975 skiable acres | 204 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

Panorama opens earlier than most skiers think, but not for the reasons they think; opening wall-to-wall last winter; Tantum Bowl Cats; and the impact of Mountain Collective and Ikon on Panorama.

More Panorama

ASPEN SKIING COMPANY

Stats

Aspen Mountain

Aspen Highlands

Buttermilk

Snowmass

Topics

Last year’s Heroes expansion; ongoing improvements to the new terrain for 2024-25; why Aspen finally removed The Couch; who Aspen donated that lift to, and why; why the new Coney lift at Snowmass loads farther down the mountain; “we intend to replace a lift a year probably for the next 10 years”; where the next lift could be; and using your two Mountain Collective days to ski four Aspen resorts.

On Maverick Mountain, Montana

Despite megapass high-tides swarming mountains throughout the West, there are still dozens of ski areas like Maverick Mountain, tucked into the backwoods, 2,020 vertical feet of nothing but you and a pair of sticks. Aspen’s old Gent’s Ridge quad will soon replace the top-to-bottom 1969 Riblet double chair that serves Maverick now:

On the Snowmass masterplan

Aspen’s plan is, according to Buchheister, install a lift per year for the next decade. Here are some of the improvements the company has in mind at Snowmass:

On the Mountain Collective Pass starting at Aspen

Christian Knapp, who is now with Pacific Group Resorts, played a big part in developing the Mountain Collective via Aspen-Snowmass in 2012. He recounted that story on The Storm last year:

More Aspen

SUN VALLEY

Stats

* Bald Mountain: 3,400 vertical feet | 2,054 skiable acres | 200 inches average annual snowfall

* Dollar Mountain: 628 vertical feet

Topics

Last season’s massive Challenger/Flying Squirrel lift updates; a Seattle Ridge lift update; World Cup Finals inbound; and Mountain Collective logistics between Bald and Dollar mountains.

More Sun Valley

SNOWBASIN

Stats: 3,015 vertical feet | 3,000 skiable acres | 300 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

The Olympics return to Utah and Snowbasin; how Snowbasin’s 2034 Olympic slate could differ from 2002; ski the downhill; how the DeMoisy six-pack changed the mountain; a lift upgrade for Becker; Porcupine on deck; and explaining the holdup on RFID.

More Snowbasin

SUN PEAKS

Stats: 2,894 vertical feet | 4,270 skiable acres | 237 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

The second-largest ski area in Canada; the new West Bowl quad; snow quality at the summit; and Ikon and Mountain Collective impact on the resort.

The old versus new West Bowl lifts

More Sun Peaks

GRAND TARGHEE

Stats: 2,270 vertical feet | 2,602 skiable acres | 500 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

Maintaining that Targhee vibe in spite of change; the meaning of Mountain Collective; and combining your MC trip with other badass powder dumps.

More Grand Targhee

SUGAR BOWL

Stats: 1,500 vertical feet | 1,650 skiable acres | 500 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

Big-time parks incoming; how those parks will differ from the ones at Boreal and Northstar; and reaction to Homewood closing.

More Sugar Bowl

BROMONT

Stats: 1,175 vertical feet | 450 skiable acres | 210 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

Why this low-rise eastern bump was good enough for the Mountain Collective; grooming three times per day; the richness of Eastern Townships skiing; and where to stay for a Bromont trip.

SKI BIG 3

Stats

* Banff Sunshine: 3,514 vertical feet | 3,358 skiable acres | 360 inches average annual snowfall

* Lake Louise: 3,250 vertical feet | 4,200 skiable acres | 179 inches average annual snowfall

Sunshine

Lake Louise

Topics

The new Super Angel Express sixer at Sunshine; the all-new Pipestone Express infill six-pack at Lake Louise; how Mountain Collective access is different from Ikon access at Lake Louise and Sunshine; why Norquay isn’t part of Mountain Collective; and the long season at all three ski areas.

SUNSHINE

Stats & map: see above

Topics

Sunshine’s novel access route; why the mountain replaced Angel; the calculus behind installing a six-person chair; and growing up at Sunshine.

NISEKO UNITED

Stats: 3,438 vertical feet | 2,889 skiable acres | 590 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

How the various Niseko ski areas combine for one experience; so.much.snow; the best way to reach Niseko; car or no car?; getting your lift ticket; and where to stay.

VALLE NEVADO

Stats: 2,658 vertical feet | 2,400 skiable acres | 240 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

An excellent winter in Chile; heli-skiing; buying the giant La Parva ski area, right next door; “our plan is to make it one of the biggest ski resorts in the world”; and why Mountain Capital Partners maintains its Ikon Pass and Mountain Collective partnerships even though the company has its own pass.

More Valle/La Parva

JACKSON HOLE

Stats: 4,139 vertical feet | 2,500 skiable acres | 459 inches average annual snowfall

Topics

The Sublette lift upgrade; why the new lift has fewer chairs; comparisons to the recent Thunder lift upgrade; venturing beyond the tram; and managing the skier experience in the Ikon/Mountain Collective era.

More Jackson Hole

What I got wrong

* I said that Wilbere would be Snowbird’s sixth quad. Wilbere will be Snowbird’s seventh quad, and first fixed-grip quad.

* I said Snowbird got “900-some inches” during the 2022-23 ski season. The final tally was 838 inches, according to Snowbird’s website.

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The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 79/100 in 2024, and number 579 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019.

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