Podcast: Mountain Sports Club owner John Siewierski talks about skiing cheaply

Pats Peak is one of the mountains that offers savings to Mountain Sports Club members. (Pats Peak)

Remember when mountains would give out buy one/get one vouchers as a way to entice people to check out the place? Chances are they were blacked out over holiday periods, but if you went with a friend or family member and each had a BOGO voucher, then you were both skiing two days for the price of one.

The idea was to create a little financial incentive to give the user a reason to check out the mountain instead of going to your home mountain or staying home.

Mega passes certainly did a number on them, but they have been nearly impossible to find after the COVID pandemic, as skiing had a surge in popularity in the 2021-22 season as people flocked outside.

For those who wish finding deals was easy, the Colorado-based Mountain Sports Club might be what you have been looking for. The club’s founder and owner, John Siewierski, joined hosts Mike Specian and Keith Pearson on the Basecamp Podcast recently to discuss how MSC harkens back to the days of the old ski cards and how it can be a tool to help enjoy the mountains for less.

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Highlights

Who does it work best for?

“As aggressive as skiers are with their multi-resort passes, reciprocal deals on season passes, we see every year in December and January, those that (who) are not in the know, have dropped out and coming back to skiing — a very occasional (skier) — didn’t buy these early season deals and they’re getting sticker shock at the window when you see lift ticket prices approaching $300. It stops a family.

“So, we really see a lot of ski areas that are not part of the big conglomerates still using our promotional program. Because again, even though skier visits now — about 50 percent of them come from their own pass and loyalty programs — but we still have a large number that are still buying tickets last minute, depending upon snow, what friend’s condo they’re staying at. Many times they’ll look at the big mountain pass and they go, ‘I’ve got a family or three or four, we’re not spending a thousand dollars for the day,’ so they’ll go to the local area. maybe McIntyre or Pats Peak to mention two of them in the area where there’s discount, and it’s affordable for a new family or a young couple just trying to buy a house.”

In this age of high walkup rates, how can new skiers be created?

“We’re speaking to our areas, and a program I really like and we’re working on doing more, is bring a friend and put them in a learn-to-ski package and give the person that brings them a special offer. It’s critical because we want them in ski school. We know retention is better once they get a lesson, rather than their friend dragging them to the top of the hill. We’ve all heard the stories about them.

“Them floundering one or two times down and them going, ‘What the heck is the fun of this?’ Working with people to identify that hole in the market, as I call it, is critical.”

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