NYS to Offer Ski3 Pass for 2013-2014

It may have taken a year, but skiers will reap the benefits of the transfer of Belleayre to  Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) control as a combined season pass will be available for 2013-2014. The Ski3 Pass will allow passholders to ski Belleayre in the Catskills and Gore and Whiteface in the Adirondacks on a single pass.

Citing cost savings and economies of scale, New York State transferred Belleayre from the Department of Conservation to ORDA in the offseason. The three ORDA mountains (Whiteface, Gore and Belleayre) combine to offer 7,300' of vertical and 230 trails. 

The strategic alliance could be an attractive combination for New York metro area skiers. Belleayre is less than 2.5 hrs from New York City and is the closest big mountain skiing to New York, in Ski, Esq.'s opinion. Whiteface and Gore are attractive weekend destinations for New York metro area skiers as both Adirondack resorts are a shorter drive than most central Vermont resorts. For the first time, New York skiers will have the ability to enjoy a day and destination resorts on a single pass.

The popularity - and success - of combined passes continues to grow. The reason is simple. As CNL Properties' Steve Rice noted in an interview with Ski, Esq. last month, "These passes increase the value proposition that a skier or snowboarder has in looking at what set of resorts that he or she wants to visit and will be loyal to."

At a time when joint passes are all the rage, the Ski3 Pass must also be seen as shot across the bow of many Vermont resorts. For years, Catskill and Adirondack ski area operators have bemoaned the fact that droves of New York and New Jersey skiers drove past New York's closer resorts to ski in Vermont. In an interview with Ski, Esq. earlier in the year Belleayre Resort developer Dean Gitter summed up that sentiment when he grumbled that, "Thousands of people learned to ski at Belleayre then ran off to Vermont."  

Will this new pass help turn the tide and push skier visits up across New York at Vermont's expense? Only time will tell, but this is one New York metro area skier who will be sure to buy a Ski3 Pass.

For more info and pricing head to: http://nyski3.com/

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