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Spider Mountain


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  • 2 weeks later...
3 hours ago, olddbrider said:

Any updates on the opening date for those of us who aren't on the email list?

IDK about email. Nada on twitter, IG, or website yet.

 

2 hours ago, Bamwa said:

Cant wait to marathon the chairlift!

I wonder how many runs would be possible in a day

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  • 2 weeks later...
49 minutes ago, cxagent said:

I was a Taos NM this week.

The lengths necessary to find dry trail are a getting to be a tad much.

Would love to be in Taos right now making brakes smoke on South Boundary, getting lost on North Boundary, or just traipsing about on trails by the river, if it weren't the middle of Winter. Though I've heard rumors that there are other things to do there in the white stuff.

Edited by Ridenfool
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Guys, I need some clarification on Spider Mountain pricing in order to set expectations with management.  Everybody talks about the lift tix being $50 but from what I can tell from the site, you need a land pass to get in as well.  Another $50.

From the site:

$50 - Our bike park lift ticket includes one full day of unlimited uplift access.
$50 - Even if you aren't riding the lift you need to stop by the ticket office and purchase a land access day pass.

That sounds like $100 to me.  What got me to thinking was the pricing and verbiage around the season pass:

$199 - Our bike park season pass is good for unlimited uplift access until 4/30/19.

That doesn't sound like any sort of season, at least not around here.  Assuming that was posted in, say, January - Jan 1 thru Apr 30?  4 months?  That's an odd length of time and an odd time of year to boot.  *I* interpreted it as a year pass that gets you park access (land access) AND lift access until Apr 30, then after that you can get in for free (until, say, Jan 1 2020) but you have to buy a lift ticket if you want to ride the lift.  I could be wrong.  It got me to thinking, though, like I said.  It seems to highlight a distinction between getting into the park and getting lift access.  Either that or they really are talking about a third of a year, which seems weird to me.

So am I looking at this wrong?  Does the $50/lift, $50/access thing mean they want to get $50 out of you to step into the park, and if you want to ride the lift then that's OK, or do they really want $100/day for the full experience?

-cls

Edited by MrTheCatLady
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Guys, I need some clarification on Spider Mountain pricing in order to set expectations with management.  Everybody talks about the lift tix being $50 but from what I can tell from the site, you need a land pass to get in as well.  Another $50.
From the site:
$50 - Our bike park lift ticket includes one full day of unlimited uplift access.
$50 - Even if you aren't riding the lift you need to stop by the ticket office and purchase a land access day pass.
That sounds like $100 to me.  What got me to thinking was the pricing and verbiage around the season pass:
$199 - Our bike park season pass is good for unlimited uplift access until 4/30/19.
That doesn't sound like any sort of season, at least not around here.  Assuming that was posted in, say, January - Jan 1 thru Apr 30?  4 months?  That's an odd length of time and an odd time of year to boot.  *I* interpreted it as a year pass that gets you park access (land access) AND lift access until Apr 30, then after that you can get in for free (until, say, Jan 1 2020) but you have to buy a lift ticket if you want to ride the lift.  I could be wrong.  It got me to thinking, though, like I said.  It seems to highlight a distinction between getting into the park and getting lift access.  Either that or they really are talking about a third of a year, which seems weird to me.
So am I looking at this wrong?  Does the $50/lift, $50/access thing mean they want to get $50 out of you to step into the park, and if you want to ride the lift then that's OK, or do they really want $100/day for the full experience?
-cls
The short answer is... literally NO ONE KNOWS...... literally.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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I wonder what their policy will be on rain/wet trails.  RPR drains like a champ, but from what I saw of the race they had out there last year, Spider may not be as immune to rain.  Forecast is showing a high chance of rain early Thursday, and then 40% chances on Saturday and Sunday.  Obviously, lightning will close the lift, but I'll be interested to see how they handle rain.

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10 minutes ago, olddbrider said:

I wonder what their policy will be on rain/wet trails.  RPR drains like a champ, but from what I saw of the race they had out there last year, Spider may not be as immune to rain.  Forecast is showing a high chance of rain early Thursday, and then 40% chances on Saturday and Sunday.  Obviously, lightning will close the lift, but I'll be interested to see how they handle rain.

The blue trail actually rode quite well in the rain.

Rotor Smoker is a different story, complete muddy mess. Black Sabbath was in between, not particularly muddy, but the trail was deteriorating.

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The pricing scheme would be more attractive to me if it were per lift rather than per day. Provide users with a lift ticket that can be reloaded at say $5/ride to the top.

Provide a phone app and/or online for loading the Lift Ticket as needed. Scan it for each ride up, deducting from the account. This way if for whatever reason a day out there is cut short (mechanical, injury, time constraint, etc.) the money spent can then be applied on the next visit.

I could see myself driving out that way, spending some time at RPR, then heading over to Spider for two or three lift rides to wrap up the day. Or, riding Spider without feeling compelled to maximize my value by riding after getting tuckered out at the cost of safety.

Food for thought.

Edited by Ridenfool
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That is a really good point. As someone who just watched a fellow rider walk his bike out of the GB a couple of weeks back, I'd hate to drop $50 and eat it bad on the first run down. I know ski resorts don't do a per-ride ticket, but I could see the value of getting in a couple runs after a day at RPR.

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Spider replied to my question on their opening FB post.

 

The $199 Season pass is good/valid for riding through 04/30/19.  

I asked what happens after that?  How much for the next season?  How long is the next season?  No reply yet.

Interesting that the season pass that was supposed to be from 12/18-04/19 for $199 isis still $199 for 02/08/19-04/30/19.  

But I am not their target audience.  A day lift ticket makes more sense for me and the amount I will ride out there. 

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Their success will be dependent upon getting people out there to ride, then, returning to do it again.

Pricing any new service in the Stratosphere is not generally considered to be a good marketing strategy if increasing the number of returning users is the goal. If all they want are a certain specialized subset of the MTB community to participate, and a high price point for a smaller target customer base can sustain their operations, go for it.

Just because they are the only lift access bike park in Texas doesn't mean the place is the only place to ride in Texas. I hope that they realize their competition for the MTB dollar is priced between free and $10/day, and, further hope they don't shoot themselves in the foot with exorbitant pricing in the hopes of recovering their investment over too short of a term. 

Honestly, I don't think I could get motivated enough to spend $50 for a day and feel good enough about it to plan a trip.

Were I paying $5/lift I could easily see myself spending $50 or more and coming away happy, but, it would the the $5/lift that would get me out there with little concern of value being met.

Their website pricing of $50 for "Pedal Only Access" that does not include use of the lift is patently absurd.

Their Season Pass doesn't seem to be very well thought out at all. This is Texas, the "season" is year round. Make it an X-number of months Pass, but don't put an expiration date in the description that provides less and less value as each day closer to that date passes.

 

Edited by Ridenfool
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1 hour ago, biga9999 said:

Spider replied to my question on their opening FB post.

 

The $199 Season pass is good/valid for riding through 04/30/19.  

I asked what happens after that?  How much for the next season?  How long is the next season?  No reply yet.

Interesting that the season pass that was supposed to be from 12/18-04/19 for $199 isis still $199 for 02/08/19-04/30/19.  

But I am not their target audience.  A day lift ticket makes more sense for me and the amount I will ride out there. 

This is stupidity. They were supposed to open a few weeks ago and the season pass was $199 through April 19. Shave 3-4 weeks off of that and it gets reduced to the bargain price of $199, for a savings of $0. Either shift the season or drop the price, you missed your deadline, that is not the way to endear yourself to customers.

Said a marketing professional.

Who is currently working on a marketing plan for mountain biking.

Fools.

They will learn, but probably not soon enough.

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35 minutes ago, Ridenfool said:

 

Their website pricing of $50 for "Pedal Only Access" that does not include use of the lift is patently absurd.

 

If thats accurate, this place will be posting groupon deals in 6 months. For $50, im cool with going a few times year but their current pass pricing is not worth it.  I lived in NM for 18 mos and probably made 6-8 visits total at the bike parks, and I lived minutes from one of them.  

Heres some comparisons:

https://www.skiapache.com/summer/mountain-biking/

http://sandiapeak.com/index.php?page=summer-rates-tickets

https://www.angelfireresort.com/activities/summer-activities/bike-park/lift-tickets-season-passes/

 

 

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1 minute ago, AustinBike said:

This is stupidity. They were supposed to open a few weeks ago and the season pass was $199 through April 19. Shave 3-4 weeks off of that and it gets reduced to the bargain price of $199, for a savings of $0. Either shift the season or drop the price, you missed your deadline, that is not the way to endear yourself to customers.

Said a marketing professional.

Who is currently working on a marketing plan for mountain biking.

Fools.

They will learn, but probably not soon enough.

On the bright side, if it tanks the facility may then be available at a discount in bankruptcy. Which, from casual observation, seems to be a more popular business plan of late. Borrow, build, fail, then the next one can make a success of it.

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4 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

This is stupidity. They were supposed to open a few weeks ago and the season pass was $199 through April 19. Shave 3-4 weeks off of that and it gets reduced to the bargain price of $199, for a savings of $0. Either shift the season or drop the price, you missed your deadline, that is not the way to endear yourself to customers.

Said a marketing professional.

Who is currently working on a marketing plan for mountain biking.

Fools.

They will learn, but probably not soon enough.

I figured they would adjust/prorate it... Nope. 

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