Multi-resort ski passes!
 

It's spring and the 16-17 ski season is pretty much done save for a few western resorts that have the snow to keep them going well into summer. This is the time that passes for the next season are at their cheapest. I just pulled the trigger on a MAX pass. $629 gets 5 days of skiing at 44 different resorts spread fairly evenly across the country. It's lacking in Tahoe with only diminutive Boreal, but most other ski regions are covered.

Many friends swear by the EPIC pass good for unlimited visits to the Vail inc empire of resorts, including behemoths Whistler, Park City and Stowe for $800ish.

The Mountain Collective gets you two days at 16 Mostly western resorts with additional tickets half off for $429

There are a few other smaller passes and reciprocal agreements between resorts.

Anybody have experience or suggestions to make the most of these new-ish passes?

$629 for 5 days doesn't sound like *much* less than just buying daily passes. I assume the 44 resorts include at least a few of the major Colorado ones, right?

$800 for season passes to all of the Vail properties sounds like a pretty good deal. (Although I lived in Colorado one year where in-state residents could buy it for something like $300...that was an insanely good deal!)

2-for-$429 sounds it like it's designed for groups buying a lot of extra tickets???

Oops, I should have said 5 days at EACH of 44 resorts. 220 Days total. In CO, it's Crested Butte, Copper, Eldora, Winter Park and Steamboat.

Oh, wow, that makes that one pretty sweet, assuming you can actually find a significant amount of time to go skiing!

A Steamboat trip and a Winter Park trip would become a high priority for me. And I might even go to Boreal just because I always like that area in general.

Depends on how much you ski and how much you're free to travel. If you want to ski 100 days at Vail/Beaver/etc, then the EPIC is your best bet. If you're not going to hit any location more than 5 days, and can move around, MAX is a better option.

We typically stay in Beaver Creek, so EPIC, covering at least Beaver, Vail, Brek, and A-basin, is an easy choice.

The Epic includes Park City. That's huge for me because of how much better SLC works for me than EGE, Hayden, etc.

349 was the called the mountain pass or the epic pass (??) Back when I lived there.


And a spanking good deal it was.


Took it a bit for granted until I lived close'ish to the alps...And realized everything skiing was better back there in the CO front range

Holler hill Homies.

Ive been epic for 6 years now. love hate relationship.
At this point i have a timeshare in breck and avon so I'm committed at 2 weeks a year guaranteed in colorado. I shoot for a 4-5 trips a year on the hill.

However, I sometimes would like the chance to visit other resorts and its hard to divert those trips away from vail properties.

The recent growth is great, Whistler is an amazing addition.

Locally in MN they bought a hill so i have a local spot to get some value out of. However I've only gotten 2 days in there with the pass so might only be in my head.

As far as value. Its the best. I love it.



Side note: They gave away lifetime passes a year or two ago for the first 10 people to ski every property worldwide. Im pretty sure some FT people won it, there is a thread somewhere. Super upset i didn't plan better and try for it.

I thought skiing in Switzerland was expensive...

A weekend day ticket at Heavenly in Tahoe is $135 at the window.

I was sad to see Whistler fall to Vail. I had an EDGE card there until last season.

Former EPIC pass holder chiming in.

It's an amazing value when I know I'll have a few weeks to be in DEN/SLC. I'm VERY excited about Stowe being added as I can loop to BUR for very cheap on B6 (under 5,000 miles per leg in some cases). That may pull the trigger for me this season.
Even just 8 days at Vail pays for itself with the extortionate window pricing.

Mountain Collective is too restrictive for my tastes. I love all those mountains (J Hole and the Bird are my favorite spots) but 2 days + a VERY restrictive single-day 50% discount system isn't money well spent in my opinion. Also they have no East Coast mountains aside from Sugarbush which isn't my favorite spot.

The MAX pass looks interesting but most of the local (to me in NYC, so Bellayre, Gore, Windham) mountains are free for me due to working in that industry for a few years. I'd consider it if I knew I was going to be up in Maine/NH more. If you've got a car it's an AMAZING value.

Great to see my fellow snowhounds out and about. This season was one for the record books (and is still going!)

You may want to take a look at the Super Pass Plus. https://www.skicolorado.com/
Unlimited Access to: Winter Park, Copper Mountain, Eldora Mountain Resort.
Plus: 6 days: Steamboat, 3 days: Crested Butte, 3 days: Mt. Bachelor, 3 days: Alyeska Resort.

Currently $599. Subject to change.

Was it ever!! Had awesome pow days on Mt. Hood and in NY at Windham in the same season. I split my time in the US between PDX and the NYC area in Hoboken. Don't have a car in either, but Windham and Belleayre have daily bus service from Manhattan. Gore has the weekend snow train from NYP. While MAX doesn't have any of the Mt. Hood areas, it does have Bachelor and Crystal. Each is a smidge over 3 hours from PDX. Easy enough to carpool or rent a car for a couple days. I also have my timeshare in Austria, but that's not on any of the passes.

My worry is that the passes kind of pigeonhole folks. EPIC folks will vacation with EPIC folks and MAX folks will vacation with MAX folks simply because daily lift tix could double the cost of your trip.

That Super pass sounds ideal for a DEN based person.

I keep finding my costs to ski in Europe are substantially less than my costs to ski in the US. And if I am covering a trip that includes equipment and lessons (and sometimes even lodging), the value to be had during the days when most all schools on the continent are in session can be very good relative to what I pay in the US.

Given the Epic Season Pass includes some European skiing too, it's an even better deal for those of us who do hit up US and European ski resorts in the same season. But to use the pass in Switzerland, it requires buying into the resort lodging which may or may not undermine the value proposition.