Upgrade At Silver Mountain Includes Increase Of Season Passes Improvements Justify Increases, Says Manager For New Owners
Silver Mountain Ski and Summer Resort has raised its season pass prices for the first time in three years, but improvements made under new ownership justify the higher rates, management said Tuesday.
Season passes for adults will go for $329, a 12 percent increase from a year ago. After Oct. 20, pass prices will rise to $529 for an adult.
“With the improvements we’re making we thought it was justifiable,” said Terry Turnbow, general manager of the resort, who stayed with the ski hill after it was bought in June by Eagle Crest Partners of Redmond, Ore.
The new owners have kept any expansion plans secret, but the mission statement is clear: make the ski resort into a four-season destination resort.
Beyond that, Eagle Crest has never been in the habit of tipping its hand, Eagle Crest’s president Jerry Andres said when he spoke to the Kellogg Chamber of Commerce earlier this year.
To draw people to Kellogg year-round, the resort will need substantially more hotel rooms and possibly a golf course. Eagle Crest developments in Redmond, Klamath Falls, Ore., and elsewhere tout top-notch golf courses. “It’s something being considered right now,” Turnbow said.
As for the resort, skiers will see a substantially upgraded base lodge. “We’ve concentrated on doing a lot of the maintenance that was deferred by our previous owners,” Turnbow said. “They’re sinking a lot of money here.”
That includes new computer systems for the resort, new carpet, fresh paint, and even new snowmobiles for getting around the mountain. Silver Mountain also contracted with a new advertising agency in Bend, Ore., used by other Eagle Crest properties.
A summerlong brush-cutting program and the recontouring of several popular intermediate ski runs will be the most noticeable differences for skiers this fall.
Silver will add a new, state-of-the-art grooming machine to its fleet, giving it four groomers to smooth the snow nightly.
Early forecasts for snow in November also have buoyed hope for a better ski season than last year.
Silver Mountain’s summer business was off about 10 percent from past summers, Turnbow said. The concert series at the ski resort was reasonably successful, but daily visits by mountain bikers and others declined, he said.
“I think the newness of riding the gondola may have worn off a little bit,” he said. “We need to think up new things to do in our summer season.”
Silver Mountain has plans for new programs for children, ski racing and snowboarding, but the details haven’t been worked out yet, Turnbow said.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Silver Mountain Ski & Summer Resort Ski Pass prices
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