New England Ski Journal debuts ‘Basecamp’ podcast

New England Ski Journal will offer the Basecamp podcast weekly during ski season. (Sugarloaf Mountain photo)

New England now has a go-to ski podcast.

Eric Wilbur, the editor of New England Ski Journal, and Mike Specian, a ski industry veteran, have launched the Basecamp podcast from New England Ski Journal.

Wilbur and Specian will deliver authoritative and entertaining coverage of the New England ski scene. Their first episode — about the season-pass options across New England ski areas — dropped today.

“I can’t think of a better kickoff show than to talk about season passes,” said Eric Seamans, the founder and chief executive officer of Seamans Media, the parent company of New England Ski Journal. “Our listeners want to know where the best deals are. And these two people here, Eric Wilbur and Mike Specian, know that better than anyone in the industry.“

New England Ski Journal intends to drop weekly podcasts during the ski season that will explore all aspects of skiing in the region. “It’ll be informative and educational,” Seamans said. “We hope you take us along for the ride.”

Listen:

You can also listen to the Basecamp podcast wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Spotify and Amazon.

Highlights from the first Basecamp podcast:

On the growth of season passes

Wilbur: “About 10 years ago, you could buy a pass at Stowe Mountain Resort. It was $2,138 for one season pass. (Today) you can get some (combination) of the Epic and the Ikon (passes) for that price — and ski at 80 resorts as opposed to just one. … There are a lot of complaints, and some of them are valid. But when you look at the consumer and what they get for that same amount of money that they were paying for one mountain 10 years ago, you can’t beat it. There’s no complaints in my mind when if you’re giving me that much inventory for what I’m giving you in exchange, it’s just tremendous.”

On diminished use of day passes

Wilbur: “For me it’s second nature. Oh yeah, you buy the Epic pass. But not everyone dedicates their life to poring over ski news and going over dollar amounts all the time. So I understand that people aren’t aware sometimes (about the value of season passes). The other way is kind of the past. Walking up to a ticket window and buying a ticket doesn’t exist anymore at (ski areas owned by big conglomerates). You can still find that at the independent mountains. But places like Stowe, Attitash, Wildcat, Sugarloaf, Sunday River … buying a day pass is sort of like black and white TV. You can do it, but why would you?”

On the value of the Indy Pass and exploring different mountains:

Wilbur: “Jay Peak, Cannon, Saddleback, Bolton (Valley) — those are four of my favorite mountains in New England. And if you’re telling me for $300 I can get two tickets to each of those … You really can’t go wrong. It’s just tremendous value. … And they’re all independents, which means that you’re going to get an authentic experience there. … There are so many (ski areas) I have visited because I had a pass. And that was the reason I went there. I’d never been to Berkshire East until two years ago when I took my kids there over February vacation and loved it. I think it’s probably the most unique mountain in Massachusetts. Certainly the most challenging in Massachusetts. Black Mountain in New Hampshire … to be able to use it there is great. We go to Attitash one day and Black the next, it’s perfect.”