Replying to Are season passes good for the ski industry?

Just a random thought, might be way off base here, but do season passes have a positive effect on the ski industry? It kinda seems like they make it so that resorts make less money off of the die hard locals and more money off of day pass skiers, which makes them target those skiers more and not give a shit about locals.

What if they just charged like 50 cents per lift ride? They would still make money off of beginners because of rentals and lodge food, and it would give them an incentive to attract skiers who like to ski a lot.

Just a random thought and I obviously don't want to pay more money to ski, but it would be great if the whole business model revolved around repeat customers like park skiers, it might make them care about us a little more.