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Show A-8 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, September 7-10, 2019 The Park Record Aspen Skiing Co. leader chides anti-Ikon ‘snobbery’ He says pass is unfairly blamed for large crowds IS H T S U JOIN E H T R O F Y A D N MO F F O K C I K N O S SEA H T I W Y ** PART S G N I FREE W SCOTT CONDON The Aspen Times * Aspen Skiing Co. officials used an annual gathering of the local business community to revel in last ski season and urge a friendly crowd of a few hundred people to embrace Ikon Pass holders in coming seasons. “We are going to bask a little bit in the glow of last year. I don’t know about you but I’m still savoring it,” Skico President and CEO Mike Kaplan said at the Afternoon Blend, a popular mixer hosted by the Aspen Chamber Resort Association. He said 2018-19 was the longest ski season ever in Aspen at 168 days. Two skiers logged 167 days on the slopes, he said. One unnamed skier, not on the Aspen Highlands Ski Patrol, logged a record 115 laps in Highland Bowl. Skier visits at Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass and Buttermilk also set a record. Visits were up about 20% from the prior season, but — as Kaplan pointed out — 2017-18 was “stinky” because of lack of snow. Skico and the community worked hard to bounce back from a bad snow year by offering discounts and by making the slopes available to purchasers of the Ikon Pass, which is offered by Skico’s sister resort operator, Alterra Mountain Co. The Ikon Pass provided purchasers with five or seven days collectively on Aspen-Snowmass slopes, depending on the version. It also offered access to numerous other resorts. Kaplan said opening access to the Ikon Pass “was not a reaction to bad snow.” He la- ASPEN TIMES FILE PHOTO Aspen Skiing Co. president and CEO Mike Kaplan recently spoke at a business gathering in Aspen and decried what he called the “blatant snobbery” of people blaming the Ikon Pass for large crowds. beled it a “resiliency strategy” designed to attract the next generation of skiers and snowboarders. He displayed a slide that showed 27% of Ikon Pass users were between ages 25 and 34 compared with 19% of Skico’s overall customers. In addition, 13% of Ikoners were younger than 18 compared with 3% of customers overall. About 70% of Ikon Pass users were new to Aspen and many were from the Front Range of Colorado, according to Skico’s stats. The pass “was a success” and helped Skico achieve its objective of drawing a more diverse customer base, according to Kaplan. Nevertheless, Ikon customers weren’t welcomed by everyone and were vilified by a vocal minority, Kaplan said. A slide showed the “Stop Ikonizing Aspen” sticker that appeared last season. “I call this blatant snobbery,” Kaplan said. “This is not who we are.” He contended Ikoners were unfairly blamed for weekend crowding last season. To prove his point, he dove into the numbers on the fabulous powder Sunday of March 3, when the Deep Temerity chairlift was swamped once the Bowl and other expert terrain opened. People complained about 40-minute lift lines. Kaplan said there were 3,420 skiers and snowboarders at Highlands that day. Skico knows the mix of local passholders, Ikon Pass holders and skiers who purchased lift tickets, including those who showed up for a specific competition that day. A 40-minute lift line equates to about 800 skiers at the Deep Temerity lift. Extrapolating the mix of customers that day, more than half were local passholders, Kaplan said, and 129 were Ikon Pass holders. The balance was buyers of lift tickets. The lift line would have been 36 minutes without Ikon Pass holders, Kaplan said. Ikoners added four minutes to the wait on a day that anger spilled over against them. “We’re all the problem,” he said. Kaplan urged the audience to “embrace” Ikon holders “so we become their place of choice forever more.” He made the same plea last month in a presentation to the Aspen City Council. Jack Carr 9/17, 6:30pm, Free Former Navy SEAL and Park City resident, Jack Carr speaks about his newly released thriller, "True Believer." In his novel, a Navy SEAL has nothing left to live for and everything to kill for after he discovers that the American government is behind the deaths of his team in this ripped-from-the-headlines political thriller. 166” Annual Wasatch Back Local Author Night 9/19, 6:30pm, Free Meet and celebrate local authors who either live or have written content about the Wasatch Back. The selected authors are: Bonnie Bedford Park, Bill Humbert, Carly Bennett Stenmark, Liz Yokubison, and Beverly Hurwitz. N TV CREE S $3 DRAFT BEERS 5 for $5 BUFFALO WINGS MONDAYS John Branch 9/20, 4pm, Free John Branch is a full-time reporter for the New York Times. "The Last Cowboys," is an intimate portrait of a Southern Utah rodeo family as they fight for their land and livelihood and experience numerous rodeo injuries, missions, and the National Rodeo Finals. Sponsored by Rebecca Marriott Champion. 1255 Park Ave www.ParkCityLibrary.org This year's 22nd Annual Utah Humanities Book Festival is Utah's oldest and only statewide book festival. It has become Utah's signature literary event. The Park City Library is pleased to host several events! For information visit: utahhumanities.org. 12 oz. 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