[vulgardream]

I think there’s an underestimation of the impact that mega-passes (e.g., Ikon, Epic, and Mountain Collective) have on non-local skier traffic at resorts. A lot of Vermont resorts are crowded with “flat landers” aka Boston, New Jersey, or New Yorkers on weekends; however these tend to be resorts on multi-mountain passes like Killington, Sugarbush, Stowe, Okemo, etc. These resorts and towns aren’t hurting because they draw in outsiders and casual skiers who stay in hotels or condos and spend money at bars, restaurants and other local businesses. In my experience Jay attracts locals, Canadians from southern Quebec, and a few die hard skiers. Most of these are day trippers or stay on resort and are not spending lots of money in the limited establishments that surround Jay. Passes also make travel to a west coast or European resort more feasible financially and logistically. The cost of skiing is already accounted for you just need to find reasonable flights and accommodations for 7-10 days and you have already broken even on the pass.