As he reviewed the mountain’s finances, he said, “it became clear that we had to do something important.”
Finally, that something was leveraging the mountain’s available real estate. “We decided we needed to attract people here by giving them a private experience they can’t get anywhere else,” he said.
If his plan goes through, Harris Sondak, the former mayor of Alta, Utah, and a professor at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, said more ski areas may adopt a public/private model to raise revenue. “Running a ski area is expensive and any new way to make money is often embraced,” he said.
In addition to joining the mountain private, Mr. Hastings is raising the price of a season pass to $1,399 from $1,259. A season pass for seniors 75 and older, which was free, will now cost $1,049. The number of season tickets sold, which had been limited, will no longer be limited, although the number of day tickets will be limited.
Much of the ski community, particularly the locals, was upset by the changes. “I’m very concerned,” said Aaron Vexler, 48, who has owned a condominium at Powder Mountain since 2012. “They’re severely restricting land, raising prices and also selling more passes. How do you sell more passes and keep the ski resort free of people?’ Others, feeling that Mr. Hastings was only interested in making money, nicknamed the new owner “Greed” Hastings.
