Bogus Basin season-pass sales increase, produce record revenue for ski area

Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area generated a record amount of revenue from its annual Presidents Day season-pass sale, General Manager Brad Wilson said Friday.

The revenue from the weeklong sale is a 10 percent increase over the sale for the 2016-17 season, he said.

Bogus Basin kept its adult price at $299 this year for returning pass holders but increased the price to $329 for people who didn’t buy a pass last season.

Total sales were 17,675, also a significant increase, Wilson said. Bogus Basin has about 20,000 total season-pass holders for this season and Wilson expects to top that number by several thousand in 2017-18.

“I would expect we’ll probably be in the 25,000 range by next year,” Wilson said. “College passes go on sale in October and we sell a couple thousand of those. And then the children’s passes (which are the same price in the fall).”

Nearly 3,000 season passes were sold in the $329 category, Wilson said — passes for people who didn’t buy them for this season. They are able to ski the rest of this season and all of next season for that price.

The $299/$329 pricing structure was designed to reward annual pass holders and discourage people from buying every other year.

“What we would like to see is people buying a pass every year,” Wilson said. “We can’t really afford to offer a year and a half pass for $299. It is such a fantastic deal at $299 that we would like to see people do it annually, and if they don’t, there will just be a small premium to pay.”

Bogus Basin has had its second straight year of terrific snow levels and business. The rest of the season will be full of celebratory events, including a 100-inch-base party, a cardboard box race, an Easter egg hunt and a pond-skimming competition. The season ends April 16, which is Easter Sunday.

Whether the ski area stays open seven days a week all the way to closing will depend on business, Wilson said.

“We’re going to have the snow, that’s a given,” he said.

The 100-inch party (date TBA) will be based on the estimated snow depth at the summit. The snow marker is near the Simplot Lodge and it’s in the mid-80s.

“Every two decades we have one of these,” Wilson said. “It’s not often.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2017 at 4:13 PM.