A new lawsuit takes aim at the business model of some major Colorado ski resorts.
For years, skiers and snowboarders have watched the price of a one-day lift ticket climb by hundreds of dollars, while more expensive season passes have become the industry’s central product.
Now, a group of skiers has filed a lawsuit in Colorado’s federal court, arguing that the country’s largest ski resort companies have been operating like a cartel – working together to artificially inflate prices. Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Company, which both run several Colorado resorts, are named as defendants.
The lawsuit, filed in August, claims the country’s largest ski resort operators shared confidential business information and coordinated their prices to drive up the cost of lift tickets and season passes – and in doing so, violated antitrust laws. It’s the second antitrust lawsuit that skiers have filed this year in U.S. District Court in Denver.
Reporter Jason Blevins covers the ski industry for The Colorado Sun, and spoke with Erin O’Toole about the cases.
