Never have skiers seeking multiple destinations had such a wealth of well-priced options when it comes to season ski passes. Vail Resort's Epic Pass set the bar, but it now has several worthy challengers in the Mountain Collective and the MAX Pass, among others. All of these passes offer frequent skiers great values — and the best time to buy them is now, in the spring and summer, while prices are still low.
Each pass possesses pros and cons, depending on how you plan out your winter. Sometimes the choice is obvious — a skier living in Vail will likely want the full-fledged version of the Epic Pass ($809), which affords unabated access to all of Vail Resort’s Mountains, including Vail and Beaver Creek. A skier living in Denver might be content with the Epic Local Pass ($609), which carries certain restrictions and blackout dates. A Chicago skier might prefer the Mountain Collective pass, which grants two free days, plus 50% off thereafter, at an elite group of destination resorts such as Aspen, Jackson Hole and Alta-Snowbird.
ZRankings, which tracks ski resort and snow data, has put together a comprehensive guide on the different ski passes available for 2016-2017:
Epic Pass
Up $40 from last year, the Epic Pass starts out at $809 and, for early buyers, includes six buddy passes. The full Epic Pass gets you unlimited access to all of Vail Resorts’ properties including Beaver Creek, Vail, Breckenridge, Park City, Heavenly, Northstar-at-Tahoe, Kirkwood, A-Basin, Afton Alps, Mt. Brighton and Wilmot.
The 2014 acquisition of Park City and its annexation of Canyons added a wealth of high-quality acreage to the Epic Pass, giving Vail Resorts a premier Utah destination. While Vail couldn't speak to the PCMR addition’s direct effect on sales, Russ Pecoraro, Vail Resort’s director of mountain communications, told us "it adds to the overall value of the pass and gives us that ski hat-trick. You can ski in Colorado, in Utah, and in California."
Also new this year is the acquisition of southeast Wisconsin's Wilmot Mountain. In March, Vail Resorts announced that it would commit $13 million to upgrades at Wilmot. This will include new lifts, base area transformation, a new terrain park and more. The acquisition brings Vail's urban resort total to three, with Wilmot joining Afton Alps of Minnesota and Mt. Brighton of Michigan.
With daily lift ticket prices over $120 at most of these resorts and topping out at $165 during peak times at Vail and Beaver Creek, the Epic Pass is a no-brainer if you're going to spend any time at these premier mountains. A season pass to just one of these mountains is still $789, so the full Epic is the right play even for locals living near one of these mountains. There are other permutations of the Epic Pass including the Epic Local Pass for $609, offering unlimited access to Breckenridge, Keystone, Wilmot, Afton Alps, Mt. Brighton and Arapahoe Basin, with some blackouts and restrictions at other Vail Resorts.
The Epic Pass stats
The average ZRankings Pure Awesomeness Factor (Western resorts only) of Epic resorts is 81.3.
Total skiable acres (North America only) is 31,650.
Average True Annual Snowfall at these resorts (Western resorts only) is 320 inches.
Price: $809 early spring 2016, with increases into the summer and fall.
Total days: Unlimited.
Mountain Collective Pass
The Mountain Collective Pass emerged as the first legitimate competition to the Epic Pass by creating a coalition of major North American resorts, plus several international resorts in Japan, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Rather than a season pass that grants unlimited access to the now-17 North American mountains that are a part of the Collective, the MCP groups certain resorts into destinations, such as Snowbird and Alta, and allots two free days at each destination per season. The kicker: Additional days at each destination are 50% off. The pass includes up to 20 free days of North American skiing at premier locations. Zrankings’ No. 1 through No. 4-ranked resorts — Jackson Hole, Snowbird, Whistler and Alta — are part of the Mountain Collective.
A big plus associated with the MC is that it can be used as a local pass for avid skiers. If your local mountain is any of the Aspen mountains, for instance, an early unlimited pass would be $1,749, while daily lift tickets are $149. The MCP pass costs $379 with daily lift tickets costing half their normal price after the two allotted days. At three days, you've just about broken even with the equivalent access in daily lift tickets and at four days you've already saved almost $70. And that's without even leaving Aspen and taking advantage of the access to the other 13 resorts.
So unless you plan on skiing at least 21 days at any combination of the Aspen mountains, don't buy Aspen's unlimited season pass. Buy the Mountain Collective Pass. The same goes for other Mountain Collective properties such as Jackson Hole and Alta, although the number of days differs according to the daily lift pass rate and the full season pass rate.
The Mountain Collective Stats
The average PAF (Western resorts only) is 82.9.
Total skiable acres (North America only) is 41,757.
Average True Annual Snowfall at these resorts (Western resorts only) is 312 inches.
Price: $379
Total days (North America only): 20
Multi Alpine Experience Pass (MAX Pass)
New to the market in 2015 and presented by Intrawest, Boyne and Powdr resorts, the MAX Pass takes a similar approach to the Mountain Collective. With this pass you'll get five days at 25 resorts for an early price of $599. There are no blackout days for these 125 days of skiing and the five days at each resort do not need to be used consecutively. You'll get access to elite resorts like Alyeska, Big Sky, Steamboat and Winter Park with this pass. It’s also strong in the East, with Killington, Sugarloaf and Tremblant, among others.
One of the biggest pluses to this pass is the ability to purchase it as an add-on to season passes at MAX resorts for only $299. So if you're local to Winter Park or Copper, purchase these mountains' season pass and grab the add on. Not only is it cheaper than the MAX pass in full, but you'll get access (with some restrictions) to 24 other resorts. However, unlike with the Mountain Collective, each additional day lift ticket with MAX Pass is full price, so you’ll have to rotate resorts to make the most of it.
The MAX Pass Stats
The average ZRankings PAF (Western resorts only) is 76.9.
Total skiable acres (North America only) is 31,372.
Average True Annual Snowfall at these resorts (Western resorts only) is 378 inches.
Price: $599 early until May 1.
Total days (North America only): 125
Other options
We'd be remiss to not mention the Rocky Mountain Super Pass and the Powder Alliance. These smaller scale options can still save you some dough.
With the Powder Alliance, a purchase of a season pass to any of the 14 member resorts, you get three free days at any of the other resorts in the alliance. While the Alliance doesn’t include any of ZRankings' top 10 resorts, it still includes stalwarts such as Whitewater, Stevens' Pass, Crested Butte and Snowbasin — all ranked highly at ZRankings in various categories.
The Rocky Mountain Super Pass, which costs $599, gives you unlimited skiing at Copper, Winter Park and Eldora and limited access to Steamboat, Alyeska and Crested Butte.
Leah Roche is an associate producer at ZRankings.com.
