If you haven’t mapped out your plan for the remainder of the 2023-2024 ski season, you only have a few more weeks to purchase an Epic season pass to avoid overpaying for your days on the mountain. Whether you’re a beginner skier or a seasoned pro, the best way to pay for your lift tickets is usually with a ski pass instead of individual mountain lift tickets.
This is true even if you’re only planning a single trip — or perhaps skiing for as little as one day. For example, a one-day adult lift ticket at Beaver Creek can price at $299 for one single day. The most you’d pay today for one day on the slopes at Beaver Creek or any other Vail-owned mountain if you buy a one-day Epic Pass today is $132. It’s an astounding price difference.
For those looking to save money and ski at resorts on the Epic Pass, the last day to purchase your pass is today, Dec. 3. If you purchase an Epic Pass now, you can ultimately lock in your winter skiing for as low as $44 per day for adults and $29 per day for kids ages 5-12. Kids under age 5 can ski for free when accompanied by an adult with an Epic Pass.
Your specific per-day price depends on the pass you purchase and how often you’re at the mountains.
If you enjoy Vail Resorts and its partner mountains — some of the biggest names in the industry — you’ll probably want to purchase an Epic Pass today before it’s too late tomorrow.
Epic Pass pricing
The Epic Local Pass — which is available to locals and travel-in skiers alike — is currently on sale for $795 for unlimited, unrestricted access to 29 resorts, including Breckenridge, Keystone, Park City, Heavenly and Stowe, plus 10 days at Vail, Beaver Creek and Whistler Blackcomb, among others.
The full Epic Pass is priced at $1,025, which unlocks unlimited skiing at Vail, Beaver Creek, Whistler Blackcomb, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Stowe, Keystone, Park City and many other Vail-owned and partner resorts.
While one pass carries a “local” name, that doesn’t mean it’s limited to purchase by those who live near the mountain; anyone can benefit from tons of skiing throughout the season. “Local” mainly means it has some peak-date restrictions during the busiest holiday times of the year.
There are also many mountain-specific or regional pass options, such as the Northeast Value pass.
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For $603, you can ski all of the Northeast mountains (21 in total) throughout the season; this includes popular mountains such as Okemo, Mount Snow, Hunter Mountain, Mount Sunapee, Stowe and more. While there are a few holiday blackout dates for select mountains and only 10 access days for Stowe, this can provide great access to the region.
Additionally, there are significant discounts for students, military personnel (active, retired and dependents), seniors and those with permanent disabilities.
However, if you’re only looking to take one or two trips to the mountain, you can instead opt for the Epic Day Pass; this will give you a set number of ski days at a select number of resorts.
An Epic Pass will save you money — even on a short trip
You may not have considered getting an Epic Pass if you only ski or snowboard a day or two each season. However, with so many different pass options, you might find one that works perfectly for your ski habits.
The Epic Day Pass has three tier levels based on the mountains included. You can purchase access to 22 resorts (including the smaller Vail resorts), 32 resorts or all 38 mountains.
For a single-day ticket, the adult pass price starts at $56 ($29 for children) for a limited number of ski resorts (those in the Midwest, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania). The cost then jumps to a starting price of $90 per day for most ski resorts ($44 for kids) or $113 per day ($60 for kids) for the full range of Vail-owned and even partner resorts.
The more days you purchase, though, the less expensive it is per day. Of course, if you’re looking to ski during peak holiday dates (there are only 11 of them), the price goes up slightly; it’s capped at $132 per day.
This can help you save, considering single-day walk-up passes can start close to $300 per day at resorts such as Vail and Beaver Creek. So, even if you want to ski just one day at Vail Resort during the peak Christmas week, you can purchase an Epic Day Pass in advance and save money.
Epic Passes provide exclusive discounts
On top of all that, travelers with the Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Epic Day Pass and more can enjoy discounts through the Epic Mountain Rewards program. This simple but rewarding program provides the following discounts at Vail Resorts’ 37 North American resorts:
- 20% off food and nonalcoholic beverages (on up to $150 per day)
- 20% off group ski and ride lessons
- 20% off lodging owned and operated by Vail Resorts
- 20% off the Epic Mountain Express private or shared shuttles from Denver International Airport (DEN) and Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE)
- 20% off gear rentals
- 20% off select on-mountain activities
- One free wax and one 50%-off tune per season at select U.S. locations
Additionally, all 2023-2024 Epic Pass products automatically come with included Epic Coverage; this provides refunds for personal events such as job loss, injury, illness and certain resort closures (including those due to COVID-19).
Ski and ride at world-class resorts
While the Epic Pass is the juggernaut, the less expensive Epic Local Pass is the best value for travelers who don’t plan to ski over holidays or during peak periods.
This season, the holiday dates that affect the Local Pass are Nov. 24-25, 2023; Dec. 26-31, 2023; Jan. 13, 2024; and Feb. 17-18, 2024. Keep in mind that some of the regional passes include additional restricted dates. For example, the Northeast Value Pass is also restricted from Jan. 13-14, 2024 — Saturday and Sunday of Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.
Epic Pass
If you’re craving access to all of Vail’s resorts, with additional access to partner resorts, and don’t want to deal with previously mentioned holiday restrictions, the full Epic Pass will fit your needs.
Passes for the 2023-2024 season currently cost $1,025 for adults (ages 13 and up) and $505 for children (ages 5 to 12). There are no full Epic Pass discounts for teens.
This Epic Pass gets you access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Crested Butte, Park City, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood, Stevens Pass, Whistler Blackcomb, Stowe, Okemo, Mount Snow, Mount Sunapee, Attitash Mountain Resort, Wildcat Mountain, Crotched Mountain, Hunter Mountain, Liberty Mountain Resort, Roundtop Mountain Resort, Whitetail Resort, Jack Frost, Big Boulder, Seven Springs, Laurel Mountain, Hidden Valley (Pennsylvania), Afton Alps, Mount Brighton, Wilmot, Alpine Valley, Boston Mills, Brandywine, Mad River Mountain, Hidden Valley (Missouri), Snow Creek, Paoli Peaks, Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis, Perisher, Falls Creek and Hotham.
At partner resorts, the full Epic Pass gets you access to seven days at Telluride, seven days at Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, unlimited access to 26 European resorts and five days in Japan.
Epic Local Pass
For the 2023-2024 season, the Epic Local Pass provides unlimited access to Breckenridge, Keystone, Crested Butte, Stevens Pass, Mount Snow, Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Attitash Mountain Resort, Wildcat Mountain, Crotched Mountain, Hunter Mountain, Afton Alps, Mount Brighton, Wilmot, Alpine Valley, Boston Mills, Brandywine, Mad River Mountain, Hidden Valley (Missouri), Snow Creek, Paoli Peaks, Liberty Mountain Resort, Roundtop Mountain Resort, Whitetail Resort, Jack Frost, Big Boulder, Seven Springs, Laurel Mountain and Hidden Valley (Pennsylvania).
You’ll also get access (with holiday restrictions) to Park City, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood and Stowe.
The Epic Local Pass includes 10 total combined days (with previously mentioned holiday restrictions) at Vail, Beaver Creek and Whistler Blackcomb. Additionally, if skiing in Japan is in your plans, you’ll receive five total days at Hakuba Valley and Rusutsu Resort.
In short, if you can work around a few restrictions, the current Epic Local Pass pricing is a heck of a deal at $795 for adults, $385 for children ages 5-12 and $597 for teens 13-18. To compare, a seven-day, restricted Epic Day Pass is currently $661 for adults, so you can ski unlimited times throughout the winter without paying too much more money.
Hot tip: If you’re looking to purchase the Northeast Value Pass or Ohio Pass and have a child who’s 5 or 6 years old, you can purchase a Tot Pass. This pass is significantly cheaper: It’s less than $50 (pricing depends on when you purchase the pass), but you’ll need to call Vail or a local resort to purchase it. As we’ve learned from the past few years, if the representative isn’t aware of this particular pass, you should ask to speak to someone else.
What’s changed with Epic Pass for this year
If you had an Epic Pass last year, you’ll be happy to know that options are almost identical despite the price increase.
The main change is that Epic launched a new app to replace the EpicMix app. With the new app, your phone will serve as your lift ticket at most resorts.
With Bluetooth technology, scanning your pass will be easier than ever. It also allows skiers and snowboarders to skip the ticket window or avoid waiting for their pass in the mail. Of course, plastic cards are available for those who do not have a phone or don’t want to use their phone to store their pass information. The app will also include many new features, such as interactive trail maps with GPS location tracking, snow cams and more.
The company also added a new resort — Disentis — to the Epic Pass portfolio.
Bottom line
For years, the most cost-effective way to ski at major mountains has been with a pass. But now, with single-day lift tickets knocking on the door of $300 per day, it’s pretty essential to plan ahead and get an Epic Pass of some sort to avoid paying those incredibly high rates.
On top of those more accessible prices to get you on the lift, if you plan ahead, you can also potentially use your hotel points to stay near (or even on) the mountain to keep your out-of-pocket ski prices as low as possible.
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