Posts from — March 2008

Vail Resorts has decided to do a special gift for skiers this coming year with the rollout of a new Epic Pass. For $579. The new Epic pass offers unlimited skiing at all the Vail Resorts including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin. There are no Blackout dates, period. This is an amazing promotion considering that it undercuts even the merchant passes available for employees working in these resort towns.

Compare this to the current year pricing…

This year, the same unrestricted pass would have cost $1,849
For employees in the Vail Valley, who have always gotten the best deal, an unlimited pass WITH RESTRICTIONS would have cost $869

Why the sudden change of strategy in pricing? Who knows, maybe all the real estate development needs a boost, maybe skier numbers need a boost, maybe they are hedging the threat of decreasing skier numbers due the the big R forecasts. Is a Recession on the way, are we already in one, are we on our way out of one, or is it all a big scare? Let the economists wrangle with that one, I’m just happy to have a great deal thrown my way.

Of course not everyone is happy about this. The Vail Valley in particular is wrestling with some predictions on what the increased traffic will do the the roads throughout the valley. Citing “Epic Problems” on the way many worry this will be a disaster for travelers and those working in the Valley.

Guess that’s why you are supposed to buy some real estate and head up there on Friday night to stay under your own roof.

What do you think? What ski pass, if any, will you buy next year?

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Just a quick warning to all Denverites out there who are sneaking away for Spring Break… go to the airport REALLY early. If I didn’t travel enough to be Ascent level with Frontier I would have missed my flight today out of DIA.

The regular line was wrapped through a full and expanded maze, around the side by the bathrooms, and down the hallway on the concession side (pictured above) looking down on security. I asked the lady who was checking me in (wait time in Ascent line, 10 seconds.. Wahoo) how bad it was and she let me know folks were waiting more than an hour and a half (I heard about two hours later) and they were definitely missing flights. Not only that, she said next weekend would be worse. All the other airlines looked almost as bad, I think Frontier was getting pounded because they have all those fabulous Mexican flights.

So beware and plan ahead, I’d hate to see your vacation come to a halt before you ever make it to the beach (or where ever your final destination is).

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It’s that special time of year when kegs of Guinness are flowing fast and hangovers are growing even faster. Yes folks, the Saint Patrick’s Day holiday is upon us.

But make sure to plan accordingly because unlike all the St. Patrick’s Day holidays of the past this one WILL NOT be held on the traditional March 17th. Due to a little scheduling problem the Church is moving it. Changed by the Roman Catholic Church to avoid conflict with Holy Monday that falls on 3/17 the 2008 Saint Patrick’s Day holiday will be celebrated on March 15th just a few days away. This is the first time the date has been moved since 1940 and the next time it will need to change will be all the way in 2160.

What will you be doing to celebrate? I remember the days of waiting in line for my old watering hole, Byrnes Pub, to open in the wee hours of the morning. There was some serious Irish pride going on at Byrne’s and folks waited all year for their favorite holiday to be celebrated right. What surprised me is that Byrne’s and many other establishments are still planning to celebrate Saint Patrick’s day on the 17th (the traditional day) which led me to wonder if there might be a revolt of sorts against the changing of the date. Are some out there making a statement that Saint Patrick’s day is simply to important to be swapped out because of a conflict with another event. Or did some folks just not get the memo? Here’s one story talking about how different cities are having different reactions.

For those of us how are consuming the beer it is far better to have a nice Sunday to recover than to be looking at a workday to follow. You know when that happens somebody will have the “great idea” to schedule a 7 am meeting. I imagine that businesses are probably pleased about the date change as well as it means they can avoid a possible crew of zombies on one of their supposedly productive days. I am not sure if it is better for the bars or not. They might certainly have a great night of beer sales for a Saturday, but that probably happens anyway. With a weeknight Saint Patrick’s Day they might just boost it up to being their best week ever.

Of course the smart Irish man or woman might want to celebrate twice just to make sure. You don’t want to tick Saint Patrick off by missing his day now do you (bar managers trying to boost beer sales, this might give you a record breaking week).

What’s your thought on the date change?

Whichever date it is my plans will be milder as I am quite a bit tamer than I was back then. Now I prepare by surfing Itunes to assemble an Irish mix of my favorite bands for the occasion. These would include such groups as Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, The Skels, Blood or Whiskey, The Tossers, and of course The Pogues. I haven’t quite decided what I’ll do with the mix since I’m not hosting a party… but you never know when it might come in handy.

I’ll likely have a beer or two, laugh with some friends, and exit before things great really rowdy as I plan to hit a beach the very next day and that is when the real fun starts. But you have fun this Holiday and share your favorite way to celebrate Saint Patrick’s day here in Denver.

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