Alterra's Online Ticketing Platform Acquired by Software Company

An e-commerce platform used by numerous ski resorts has changed hands.

The company, Aspenware, was acquired by Andromeda Software Inc. from Alterra Mountain Company, the resort group known for the Ikon Pass and running destinations like Palisades Tahoe, California, and Arapahoe Basin, Colorado.

Andromeda “invests in software companies that provide mission-critical solutions for the industries they serve,” per a news release. The company’s strategy, according to its website, is acquiring businesses “with the intention to keep them forever.”

With several big-name clients, Aspenware is a behind-the-scenes fixture in skiing, helping ski resorts sell lift tickets and passes. According to the release, the new heads plan to keep the current products and customer relationships in place.

The aim of the transaction, said outgoing Aspenware CEO Will Treves in the release, “was to find an owner that would back Aspenware as a focused, standalone business.”

“Andromeda has a wealth of expertise running software companies for the long term, and that experience will serve Aspenware and its clients well,” he added.

Founded in 2001, Aspenware started as a custom software consultancy, eventually growing into the mountain resort ecommerce platform it is today. It serves more than 12 million users and processes more than 3 million transactions each year for resorts across the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 

Ali Ahmed, Aspenware’s new general manager, said in the release that “resorts rely on [Aspenware] every day of the season.”

“That’s exactly the kind of business we look for: specialized software, a deeply experienced team and loyal customers,” Ahmed said. “Our priority is to keep Aspenware close to its resort partners and help them continue to grow their online business.”

In 2022, Alterra and Aspen Skiing Company acquired Aspenware in a joint venture. The recent acquisition announcement only names Alterra. 

“We were not owners of Aspenware when this transaction happened and were not a party to the transaction,” a spokesperson for Aspen Skiing Company said via email.

Earlier this year, Aspenware was mentioned in an antitrust lawsuit filed against a swath of the ski industry, including Alterra, other resort companies, and industry organizations. The complaint alleged that the groups shared confidential pricing information and artificially inflated prices.

The complaint claimed that the shared industry use of Aspenware by Alterra and two other ski area companies—Boyne and Powdr—has helped make that “information exchange … even more efficient and effective.” 

A joint motion to dismiss filed by the defendants’ lawyers pushed back against the idea, claiming that “competitors licensing software from the same vendor is not inherently suspect.”

“Using a configurable tool to respond to one’s own demand under an independent strategy is not an agreement to charge the same price,” one passage from the motion reads.

The recent release about the acquisition doesn’t mention the lawsuit, and a spokesperson for Alterra told POWDER via email that “the sale of Aspenware was a standalone decision and not related to any lawsuit against the company.”

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