4 days ago
Half Priced Skiing And Riding At Some Of America's Best Ski Resorts
As the nation's largest owner and operator of ski resorts, publicly traded Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN) has had some missteps and gotten some bad press in recent years, with some blaming them for the increasing corporatization of skiing. But there's no doubt that the company operates some of the biggest, best and most desirable ski destinations in the world, and over the years, they have done a lot of things right. Perhaps most notably, it was Vail Resorts that introduced the now common concept of the multi-resort pass instead of a traditional season pass good at only one mountain, a paradigm shift that has made the otherwise increasingly expensive sport cheaper, often much cheaper, for frequent participants (though hotels, food and many other costs of skiing have risen even as multi-day lift prices have dropped). Today Vail Resorts announced a new way to enjoy half priced skiing and riding. Think of it as a new twist on 'friends with benefits.'
Ski Passes
I've written a lot over the years on these passes, comparing Vail's Epic Pass with rivals including the Ikon Pass, Indy Pass and smaller regional competitors. At the end of the day the math is pretty simple, and the Epic Pass—number one in the category in terms of sales—is the best choice for most skiers or snowboarders, especially anyone who lives near a 'home base' ski resort. While Ikon can be good for devoted road trippers who like to visit multiple destinations each winter, it does not work for those who live at one of its popular resorts, such as Jackson Hole, WY or Aspen, CO, because it is limited to 5-7 days each at a lot of different places but does not include unlimited access, or a season pass, to any one spot. The Epic Pass on the other hand is unlimited at all Vail Resorts, whether you live there or not, so it functions as both a hometown season pass and a license to travel, especially for skiers and riders in the Northeast or Midwest who do drive market skiing when home and then want to take one or two big flying trips—without having to pay for lift tickets in either case.
If you live near Vail or Beaver Creek or Breckenridge or Keystone or Crested Butte, it's a regular season pass at your home mountain that you can also use on the road, but if you live in say Denver, it gives you the choice for skiing any of these area mountains whenever you want (plus up to 7 days free at Telluride). And that's just Colorado.
The Epic Pass also covers the biggest resorts in the U.S. (Park City Mountain Resort, UT), North America (Whistler Blackcomb, BC) and Australia (Perisher), along with dozens of major destination resorts in Europe (Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria) and Japan. That's a lot of skiing and riding.
Last fall I did this Forbes feature on the '10 Best Ski And Snowboard Resorts to Use Your Epic Pass,' and the year before a side-by-side comparative breakdown of 'Which Ski Pass is Best For You, Epic or Ikon?' For a small niche of skiers the correct answer is both, but for me, I just have an Epic Pass, which I think is overall the best deal going.
But as of today, the Epic Pass just got better.
Back in late May, less than three months ago, the company announced the return of former CEO Rob Katz to his previous position. As CEO from 2006-2021, Katz was responsible for many big changes at the company, including the creation of the Epic Pass and the acquisition of many new ski resorts here and abroad. But after he stepped down, the company's stock price has mainly trended downwards, while vocal opponents have gotten louder, both inside and outside the company. His return has been seen by many as the best hope to get things back on track again.
That may start with today's announcement, the first major policy shift since Katz' return as CEO. One of his early business strategies was to move the industry away from its then dependence on selling real estate and instead focus on growing the sport by bringing in new skiers and riders, including the use of value priced starter packages of lessons, equipment rental and lift tickets for first timers, something Vail Resorts has continued to excel at to this day. Today's announcement hearkens back to that aesthetic.
To make it easier and cheaper to bring along friends and get new people to try winter sports, Epic Pass holders now get 'Epic Friend Tickets,' which allow companions who do not have their own pass the buy lift tickets for half price at any time at any of the company's 37 resorts in North America. That's 50% off whatever the ticket price would be at that time, which varies both from resort to resort and day to day. But in any case, in an industry that has largely moved away from single day tickets and made them incredibly expensive, it's a big savings for those who still need to buy them, often newcomers.
'Skiers and snowboarders know this sport is magic; a passion you can't help but pass on,' said Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz in the Epic Friends press release. 'If you ski or ride, chances are someone brought you into the sport, and we want to make it easier for you to pay it forward. Epic Friend Tickets are the next step on our nearly two-decade-long journey to find ways to make skiing more accessible to more people. We will always give the best deal to our Pass Holders who commit to skiing with us ahead of the season. That said, we know not everyone can plan ahead, so if you don't have an Epic Pass, the next best thing is knowing someone who does.'
Here's the nitty gritty: Holders of the full Epic Pass, as well as Epic Local Pass, Epic Military Pass, Northeast Value Pass, and most of the company's other season-long passes, will receive 6-10 Epic Friend Tickets, depending on when they purchased their Pass. Eligible Pass Holders who purchased before April 14, 2025 will receive 10 Epic Friend Tickets and those who purchase after will receive six. These get companions 50% off one-day lift tickets at all North American resorts for the 2025/26 winter season (Epic Friend Tickets replace and are better than the previous benefit for companions, Buddy Tickets).
While the date window on getting the max of 10 Epic Friend tickets has come and gone, the pricing on the Epic Pass, which goes up as ski season approaches, is still at its season guaranteed lowest price and will be until September 1, so if you are thinking of getting one, you should decide, because there's no reason to wait and pay more. Right now, the season opening price of $1,075 ($548 for children) for the full-blown unrestricted Epic Pass with no blackout dates is a bargain, substantially cheaper—like a fourth, a third or half—of what some ski resorts get just for a season pass good in only one place. At Deer Valley, UT, an unlimited adult pass this winter is $3,900 (it does include some extra benefits). The cheapest pass at Jackson Hole, WY with no blackout dates or restrictions is currently $2,950. Even in Vermont where I live, a season pass for an adult at Killington right now is $1,489, while the Epic Pass at two-thirds the price gives unlimited access to multiple nearby major resorts including Stowe, Okemo and Mount Sunapee—plus it works at some of the marquee resorts all around the world when I travel.
The Epic Pass is good for unlimited, unrestricted access at 42 Vail Resorts owned mountains in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia, plus a week or more at dozens of additional partner resorts across Europe, Japan, Canada and the U.S. These include the largest resort in the U.S and Canada and the most visited/popular resorts in the U.S. and Canada. The scaled down Epic Local Pass covers 29 resorts on an unlimited basis, plus additional restricted skiing, and is currently at the intro price of $799 ($416 for children). If you are active military, a veteran who served in the military and the dependents of either, you can get the best deal in all of skiing, the Epic Military Pass, with unlimited access to all 42 Vail resorts properties for just $190.
To be fair, the new Epic Friend benefit is a better deal for your friends than you if you are the pass holder, but this can include family members who ski just a couple of times and you might have to foot the bill for anyway. And here's the kicker for your friends: whatever they save on the most expensive day at half price, which could be over $150, 100% of that that amount can be applied as a discount towards their own Epic Pass for the following season, effectively doubling the savings if they try it and decide skiing or snowboarding is a thing they enjoy. That's a really good deal.
It's important to note that you can still often get single day lift tickets for your friends cheaper than the 50% discount by buying Epic 1-7 Day Passes, which have the biggest discounts of all, up to 65% off, but these are a commitment that have to be purchased in advance and ahead of the season. Also, you have to pay one of three triers based on where you think you might ski, and there's a premium upcharge for peak days, while with the Epic Friends, you always get 50% off the prevailing price wherever you go. It definitely offers more flexibility.
'By making it easier for our Pass Holders to share the ski experience with friends – through savings across not one, but two winter seasons – we hope to help spark traditions that will inspire groups of friends to return to the mountains for years to come,' said Katz.
Pray for snow!
