Latest news with #IndyPass
Business Wire
a day ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Indy Pass Will Add Dozens of New Resorts and a New Beginner Pass for 25/26. Added Capacity Prompts Limited Time Sale Starting August 28th.
GRANBY, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Indy Pass announced today that with the addition of dozens of new resorts for the 25/26 season, the Indy Pass will go back on sale to the public on August 28, 2025, at noon Eastern Time, while supplies last. Those on the waitlist will receive an early opportunity to complete their purchase before the general public. The full list of new resorts will be announced with the on-sale date. It will include dozens of new resorts across the United States, Canada, Austria, France, Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Scotland, and Japan. Indy Pass doubles down on a new beginner pass starting at $149 and 250+ resorts across four continents, strengthening its claim as the best value in skiing and the largest ski alliance in history. Share Indy Pass is also introducing a revolutionary Learn-to-Turn Pass that aims to introduce new skiers and riders to the sport at select Indy Alpine resorts. The new pass will offer three total days of lift access, and includes rentals and lessons for just $189. Every current Indy Pass holder will receive two referral codes providing an additional $40 discount, lowering the price to $149. The Learn-to-Turn Pass will be available for purchase starting August 28th and will remain available throughout the season. Indy's signature No Bank, No Interest payment plan will be available, allowing the purchase to be split into four payments of less than $38 each. 'Indy Pass is the Ski Pass with Purpose,' said Erik Mogensen, Indy Pass Director. "That purpose is keeping skiing independent and accessible at all costs. We are charging forward with new resorts and programs that get people making turns at independent mountains, and there is more to come." Limited Passes, Waitlist Priority, Payment Plan. Indy Pass will exceed its 250 Resort Guarantee announced last spring. With the additional resorts and the capacity they add to the Indy network, the 25/26 Indy Pass will go on sale for a short time until capacity is met. Indy Pass limits the number of passes sold to balance resort capacity and passholders in each region. This strategy eliminates the risk of overselling and creating chronic crowding issues seen with other passes. Indy Pass reported a significant increase in passholders for the 24/25 winter, along with record sales last spring. When the 25/26 Indy Pass went on sale on March 1, the sale lasted just ten days before reaching capacity. A growing waitlist is currently in place to manage first-come, first-served access to the sale before any remaining passes are made available to the public. Indy's No Bank, No Interest payment plan will again be made available, allowing individuals and families the ability to spread out the cost of their passes over time. The Learn-to-Turn Pass, Powered by Indy New for 25/26, Indy Pass will unveil a new pass called the Learn-To-Turn Pass, offering three total days of skiing/riding, a lesson, and rental equipment for just $189 at participating Indy Alpine resorts. This innovation is a response to the industry's high cost of entry, lagging retention rates, and Indy Pass's desire to attract more people to the sport. 'Everyone in skiing is searching for the holy grail of skier development, and Indy Pass will attempt to move the needle by keeping it cheap, simple, and widely accessible,' said Doug Fish, Indy Pass Founder. 'We're in the process of recruiting Indy resorts to participate and look forward to growing this program in the coming years.' The pass will be available at Indy Alpine partner resorts that choose to participate, and those resorts can set unique blackout days and require advanced reservations to balance redemptions with existing ski school products. The Learn-to-Turn Pass is slated to go on sale to the public in September and will remain available to purchase throughout the winter to grow ski participation. Indy Pass Photo Archive of Resort Images About the Indy Pass - The Indy Pass is the fastest-growing multi-mountain pass in the world. It offers 250+ Alpine and Nordic resorts across the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and South America, each providing two days of skiing or riding, plus a third day at a discounted rate. Indy resorts are independent of any significant corporate ownership, and many are owned and operated by multi-generational families, providing a uniquely authentic and affordable skiing experience. Follow Indy Pass on Facebook and Instagram @Indyskipass, #indyrevolution
Business Wire
24-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Entabeni Adds Four Senior Level Execs to Growing Staff
GRANBY, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To accommodate Indy Pass and Entabeni Systems' remarkable growth and expansion, the companies announced today that they have hired four senior executives to their C-Team. Alex Lahood has been appointed Chief Operations Officer and brings ten years of experience in the ski industry and business operations. He was most recently part of the senior leadership team at Black Mountain, New Hampshire, where he was key to revitalizing the mountain and overhauling all aspects of the area's technology. He was previously the assistant General Manager at Whaleback Mountain, New Hampshire. Alex will oversee Entabeni operations, including resort relations and customer services. Olga Grunskaya has been named Chief Financial Officer for Entabeni Systems and will oversee financial planning and accounting for Entabeni Systems and Indy Pass. Olga's background includes four years as CFO at Washington's Mission Ridge and Blacktail Mountain in Montana, plus ten years in corporate accounting and finance, most recently with Starbucks. Nick Niebes will join the Entabeni and Indy Pass teams full-time to oversee marketing as the Chief Marketing Officer. Having been the Indy Pass brand manager at the outdoor agency of record, Fish Marketing, for the past three years. Nick previously led the marketing team at Homewood Mountain Resort in California. Andy Shepard will take on a strategic leadership role to articulate and execute Entabeni and Indy Pass's purpose, vision, and values in the newly created position of Chief Purpose Officer. A highly respected ski industry veteran known for resurrecting Saddleback Mountain Resort in Maine, Shepard was admitted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame in 2017 and the United States Biathlon Hall of Fame in 2019. Initially, he will focus on assisting CEO Erik Mogensen on transitioning Black Mountain of New Hampshire to a community-owned model. New Production Manager, Seth Ogden, brings a vast resume of film production experience for highly regarded brands such as Teton Gravity Research, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Line Skis, and Wyoming Tourism. Most recently, Seth was the cinematographer on Mountains Not for Profit, a film by TGR. Seth will support Entabeni and Indy Pass's visual storytelling, complementing Entabeni's recent investment in storied filmmakers Teton Gravity Research. Chief Product Officer Mark Schroetel will become the President at Red Mountain Resort, British Columbia, pursuing his love of resort management. Mark will continue to play an advisory role for Entabeni and Indy Pass. All C-level staff report to the Entabeni CEO and founder, Erik Mogensen. About Entabeni Systems - Entabeni Systems provides solutions for independent ski areas and resorts to improve the skier's overall experience. Entabeni delivers the technical and financial services independent ski areas need to compete with larger consolidated mountain organizations. With the sole focus on independent mountains, Entabeni designs and builds its software and hardware to serve its clients and consumers best. The company name means "the mountain" in Zulu and reflects the company's genuine passion for the mountains and skiing. Based in beautiful Grand County, Colorado, the company serves ski areas across North America, Europe, and Japan. About the Indy Pass The Indy Pass is the fastest-growing multi-mountain pass in the world. It offers 250+ Alpine and Nordic resorts across the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and South America, each providing two days of skiing or riding plus a third discount day. Indy resorts are independent of any significant corporate ownership, and many are owned and operated by multi-generational families, providing a uniquely authentic and affordable skiing experience.
Boston Globe
31-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
A N.H. ski resort bets on tech to compete with industry giants
That businessman is Erik Mogensen, who bought Black Mountain last year and turned it into a lab for his ski mountain consultancy, Entabeni Systems. The company builds systems that put lift tickets sales, lesson reservations and equipment rentals online while collecting detailed data to inform decisions such as where to make more snow and how much. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up 'A lot of general managers will go out and look at how many rows of cars are parked, and that's kind of how they tell how busy they are,' Mogensen said. 'We really want to look at that transactional data down to the deepest level.' Advertisement That includes analyzing everything from the most popular time to sell hot dogs in the lodge to how many runs a season pass holder makes per visit. 'The large operators, they can do a lot of things at scale that we can't. They can buy 20 snow cats at a time, 10 chairlifts, those types of things. We can't do that, but we're really nimble,' Mogensen said. 'We can decide to change the way we groom very quickly, or change the way we open trails, or change our (food and beverage) menu in the middle of a day.' Lift attendant Veronica Crespo Jimenez uses a handheld device to scan a skier's pass, which is embedded with an RFID chip, at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Charles Krupa/Associated Press Skiers head down a trail at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Charles Krupa/Associated Press Transforming a small-time resort Mogensen, who says his happiest moments are tied to skiing, started Entabeni Systems in 2015, driven by the desire to keep the sport accessible. In 2023, he bought the company Indy Pass, which allows buyers to ski for two days each at 230 independent ski areas, including Black Mountain. It's an alternative to the Epic and Ikon multi-resort passes offered by the Vail and Alterra conglomerates. Advertisement Erik Mogensen, founder of Entabeni Systems and the general manager of Black Mountain, is interviewed slope side at the mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Charles Krupa/Associated Press Black Mountain was an early participant in Indy Pass. When Mogensen learned it was in danger of closing, he was reminded of his hometown's long-gone ski area. He bought Black Mountain aiming to ultimately transform it into a cooperative. Many Indy Pass resorts also are clients of Entabeni Systems, including Utah's Beaver Mountain, which bills itself as the longest continuously-run family owned mountain resort in the U.S. Kristy Seeholzer, whose husband's grandfather founded Beaver Mountain, said Entabeni streamlined its ticketing and season pass system. That led to new, lower-priced passes for those willing to forgo skiing during holiday weeks or weekends, she said. 'A lot of our season pass holders were self-limiting anyway. They only want to ski weekdays because they don't want to deal with weekends,' she said. 'We could never have kept track of that manually.' Though she is pleased overall, Seeholzer said the software can be challenging and slow. 'There are some really great programs out there, like on the retail side of things or the sales side of things. And one of the things that was a little frustrating was it felt like we were reinventing the wheel,' she said. Erik Mogensen, right, founder of Entabeni Systems and the general manager of Black Mountain, talks with engineers in a temporary hardware and software technical center at the base of the mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Charles Krupa/Associated Press Not everyone is a fan Sam Shirley, 25, grew up skiing in New Hampshire and worked as a ski instructor and ski school director in Maine while attending college. But he said increasing technology has drastically changed the way he skis, pushing him to switch mostly to cross-country. 'As a customer, it's made things more complicated,' he said. 'It just becomes an extra hassle.' Shirley used to enjoy spur-of-the-moment trips around New England, but has been put off by ski areas reserving lower rates for those who buy tickets ahead. He doesn't like having to provide detailed contact information, sometimes even a photograph, just to get a lift ticket. Advertisement It's not just independent ski areas that are focused on technology and data. Many others are using lift tickets and passes embedded with radio frequency identification chips that track skiers' movements. Vail resorts pings cell phones to better understand how lift lines are forming, which informs staffing decisions, said John Plack, director of communications. Lift wait times have decreased each year for the past three years, with 97% under 10 minutes this year, he said. 'Our company is a wildly data-driven company. We know a lot about our guest set. We know their tastes. We know what they like to ski, we know when they like to ski. And we're able to use that data to really improve the guest experience,' he said. Cars are parked near a lift at the base of the Black Mountain ski area, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Charles Krupa/Associated Press Skiers enjoy their lunch on picnic tables outside the Alpine Cabin, a mid-slope refreshment stop, at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Charles Krupa/Associated Press How the big guys battle meager winters That improvement comes at a cost. A one-day lift ticket at Vail's Keystone Resort in Colorado sold for $292 last week. A season pass cost $418, a potentially good deal for diehard skiers, but also a reliable revenue stream guaranteeing Vail a certain amount of income even as ski areas face less snow and shorter winters. The revenue from such passes, especially the multi-resort Epic Pass, allowed the company to invest $100 million in snowmaking, Plack said. 'By committing to the season ahead of time, that gives us certainty and allows us to reinvest in our resorts,' he said. Mogensen insists bigger isn't always better, however. Lift tickets at Black Mountain cost $59 to $99 per day and a season's pass is about $450. Advertisement 'You don't just come skiing to turn left and right. You come skiing because of the way the hot chocolate tastes and the way the fire pit smells and what spring skiing is and what the beer tastes like and who you're around,' he said. 'Skiing doesn't have to be a luxury good. It can be a community center.' Brennick, the Black Mountain lift rider who was skiing with his grandchildren, said he has noticed a difference since the ski area was sold. 'I can see the change,' he said. 'They're making a lot of snow and it shows.' Ramer reported from Concord, N.H.
Fox Sports
30-03-2025
- Business
- Fox Sports
A New Hampshire ski resort bets on tech to compete with industry giants
Associated Press Jackson, N.H. (AP) — A skier since age 4, Thomas Brennick now enjoys regular trips to New Hampshire's Black Mountain with his two grandchildren. 'It's back to the old days,' he said from the Summit Double chairlift on a recent sunny Friday. 'It's just good, old-time skiing at its best.' Behind the scenes, the experience is now propelled by a high-tech system designed to increase efficiency at the state's oldest ski area. And while small, independent resorts can't compete on infrastructure or buying power with conglomerates like Vail, which owns nearby Attitash Mountain Resort and seven others in the Northeast alone, at least one entrepreneur is betting technology will be 'a really great equalizer.' That businessman is Erik Mogensen, who bought Black Mountain last year and turned it into a lab for his ski mountain consultancy, Entabeni Systems. The company builds systems that put lift tickets sales, lesson reservations and equipment rentals online while collecting detailed data to inform decisions such as where to make more snow and how much. 'A lot of general managers will go out and look at how many rows of cars are parked, and that's kind of how they tell how busy they are,' Mogensen said. 'We really want to look at that transactional data down to the deepest level.' That includes analyzing everything from the most popular time to sell hot dogs in the lodge to how many runs a season pass holder makes per visit. 'The large operators, they can do a lot of things at scale that we can't. They can buy 20 snow cats at a time, 10 chairlifts, those types of things. We can't do that, but we're really nimble,' Mogensen said. 'We can decide to change the way we groom very quickly, or change the way we open trails, or change our (food and beverage) menu in the middle of a day.' Transforming a small-time resort Mogensen, who says his happiest moments are tied to skiing, started Entabeni Systems in 2015, driven by the desire to keep the sport accessible. In 2023, he bought the company Indy Pass, which allows buyers to ski for two days each at 230 independent ski areas, including Black Mountain. It's an alternative to the Epic and Ikon multi-resort passes offered by the Vail and Alterra conglomerates. Black Mountain was an early participant in Indy Pass. When Mogensen learned it was in danger of closing, he was reminded of his hometown's long-gone ski area. He bought Black Mountain aiming to ultimately transform it into a cooperative. Many Indy Pass resorts also are clients of Entabeni Systems, including Utah's Beaver Mountain, which bills itself as the longest continuously-run family owned mountain resort in the U.S. Kristy Seeholzer, whose husband's grandfather founded Beaver Mountain, said Entabeni streamlined its ticketing and season pass system. That led to new, lower-priced passes for those willing to forgo skiing during holiday weeks or weekends, she said. 'A lot of our season pass holders were self-limiting anyway. They only want to ski weekdays because they don't want to deal with weekends,' she said. 'We could never have kept track of that manually." Though she is pleased overall, Seeholzer said the software can be challenging and slow. 'There are some really great programs out there, like on the retail side of things or the sales side of things. And one of the things that was a little frustrating was it felt like we were reinventing the wheel,' she said. Not everyone is a fan Sam Shirley, 25, grew up skiing in New Hampshire and worked as a ski instructor and ski school director in Maine while attending college. But he said increasing technology has drastically changed the way he skis, pushing him to switch mostly to cross-country. 'As a customer, it's made things more complicated,' he said. "It just becomes an extra hassle.' Shirley used to enjoy spur-of-the-moment trips around New England, but has been put off by ski areas reserving lower rates for those who buy tickets ahead. He doesn't like having to provide detailed contact information, sometimes even a photograph, just to get a lift ticket. It's not just independent ski areas that are focused on technology and data. Many others are using lift tickets and passes embedded with radio frequency identification chips that track skiers' movements. Vail resorts pings cell phones to better understand how lift lines are forming, which informs staffing decisions, said John Plack, director of communications. Lift wait times have decreased each year for the past three years, with 97% under 10 minutes this year, he said. 'Our company is a wildly data-driven company. We know a lot about our guest set. We know their tastes. We know what they like to ski, we know when they like to ski. And we're able to use that data to really improve the guest experience,' he said. How the big guys battle meager winters That improvement comes at a cost. A one-day lift ticket at Vail's Keystone Resort in Colorado sold for $292 last week. A season pass cost $418, a potentially good deal for diehard skiers, but also a reliable revenue stream guaranteeing Vail a certain amount of income even as ski areas face less snow and shorter winters. The revenue from such passes, especially the multi-resort Epic Pass, allowed the company to invest $100 million in snowmaking, Plack said. 'By committing to the season ahead of time, that gives us certainty and allows us to reinvest in our resorts," he said. Mogensen insists bigger isn't always better, however. Lift tickets at Black Mountain cost $59 to $99 per day and a season's pass is about $450. 'You don't just come skiing to turn left and right. You come skiing because of the way the hot chocolate tastes and the way the fire pit smells and what spring skiing is and what the beer tastes like and who you're around,' he said. 'Skiing doesn't have to be a luxury good. It can be a community center.' Brennick, the Black Mountain lift rider who was skiing with his grandchildren, said he has noticed a difference since the ski area was sold. 'I can see the change,' he said. 'They're making a lot of snow and it shows.' ___ Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.
The Hill
30-03-2025
- Business
- The Hill
A New Hampshire ski resort bets on tech to compete with industry giants
Jackson, N.H. (AP) — A skier since age 4, Thomas Brennick now enjoys regular trips to New Hampshire's Black Mountain with his two grandchildren. 'It's back to the old days,' he said from the Summit Double chairlift on a recent sunny Friday. 'It's just good, old-time skiing at its best.' Behind the scenes, the experience is now propelled by a high-tech system designed to increase efficiency at the state's oldest ski area. And while small, independent resorts can't compete on infrastructure or buying power with conglomerates like Vail, which owns nearby Attitash Mountain Resort and seven others in the Northeast alone, at least one entrepreneur is betting technology will be 'a really great equalizer.' That businessman is Erik Mogensen, who bought Black Mountain last year and turned it into a lab for his ski mountain consultancy, Entabeni Systems. The company builds systems that put lift tickets sales, lesson reservations and equipment rentals online while collecting detailed data to inform decisions such as where to make more snow and how much. 'A lot of general managers will go out and look at how many rows of cars are parked, and that's kind of how they tell how busy they are,' Mogensen said. 'We really want to look at that transactional data down to the deepest level.' That includes analyzing everything from the most popular time to sell hot dogs in the lodge to how many runs a season pass holder makes per visit. 'The large operators, they can do a lot of things at scale that we can't. They can buy 20 snow cats at a time, 10 chairlifts, those types of things. We can't do that, but we're really nimble,' Mogensen said. 'We can decide to change the way we groom very quickly, or change the way we open trails, or change our (food and beverage) menu in the middle of a day.' Transforming a small-time resort Mogensen, who says his happiest moments are tied to skiing, started Entabeni Systems in 2015, driven by the desire to keep the sport accessible. In 2023, he bought the company Indy Pass, which allows buyers to ski for two days each at 230 independent ski areas, including Black Mountain. It's an alternative to the Epic and Ikon multi-resort passes offered by the Vail and Alterra conglomerates. Black Mountain was an early participant in Indy Pass. When Mogensen learned it was in danger of closing, he was reminded of his hometown's long-gone ski area. He bought Black Mountain aiming to ultimately transform it into a cooperative. Many Indy Pass resorts also are clients of Entabeni Systems, including Utah's Beaver Mountain, which bills itself as the longest continuously-run family owned mountain resort in the U.S. Kristy Seeholzer, whose husband's grandfather founded Beaver Mountain, said Entabeni streamlined its ticketing and season pass system. That led to new, lower-priced passes for those willing to forgo skiing during holiday weeks or weekends, she said. 'A lot of our season pass holders were self-limiting anyway. They only want to ski weekdays because they don't want to deal with weekends,' she said. 'We could never have kept track of that manually.' Though she is pleased overall, Seeholzer said the software can be challenging and slow. 'There are some really great programs out there, like on the retail side of things or the sales side of things. And one of the things that was a little frustrating was it felt like we were reinventing the wheel,' she said. Not everyone is a fan Sam Shirley, 25, grew up skiing in New Hampshire and worked as a ski instructor and ski school director in Maine while attending college. But he said increasing technology has drastically changed the way he skis, pushing him to switch mostly to cross-country. 'As a customer, it's made things more complicated,' he said. 'It just becomes an extra hassle.' Shirley used to enjoy spur-of-the-moment trips around New England, but has been put off by ski areas reserving lower rates for those who buy tickets ahead. He doesn't like having to provide detailed contact information, sometimes even a photograph, just to get a lift ticket. It's not just independent ski areas that are focused on technology and data. Many others are using lift tickets and passes embedded with radio frequency identification chips that track skiers' movements. Vail resorts pings cell phones to better understand how lift lines are forming, which informs staffing decisions, said John Plack, director of communications. Lift wait times have decreased each year for the past three years, with 97% under 10 minutes this year, he said. 'Our company is a wildly data-driven company. We know a lot about our guest set. We know their tastes. We know what they like to ski, we know when they like to ski. And we're able to use that data to really improve the guest experience,' he said. How the big guys battle meager winters That improvement comes at a cost. A one-day lift ticket at Vail's Keystone Resort in Colorado sold for $292 last week. A season pass cost $418, a potentially good deal for diehard skiers, but also a reliable revenue stream guaranteeing Vail a certain amount of income even as ski areas face less snow and shorter winters. The revenue from such passes, especially the multi-resort Epic Pass, allowed the company to invest $100 million in snowmaking, Plack said. 'By committing to the season ahead of time, that gives us certainty and allows us to reinvest in our resorts,' he said. Mogensen insists bigger isn't always better, however. Lift tickets at Black Mountain cost $59 to $99 per day and a season's pass is about $450. 'You don't just come skiing to turn left and right. You come skiing because of the way the hot chocolate tastes and the way the fire pit smells and what spring skiing is and what the beer tastes like and who you're around,' he said. 'Skiing doesn't have to be a luxury good. It can be a community center.' Brennick, the Black Mountain lift rider who was skiing with his grandchildren, said he has noticed a difference since the ski area was sold. 'I can see the change,' he said. 'They're making a lot of snow and it shows.'
