Choosing a Ski Pass for Next Season

There's still plenty of the current ski season left. Parts of the world are just starting to get their best snow now. Have you started thinking about the right ski pass for next year yet? 2026-2027 Season Passes are starting to go on sale. The earlier you buy, the better the deal typically proves true.

Making sense of all the options out there can be overwhelming. Skiers start looking at ticket and pass options and go into a mental hockey stop. I've seen massive spreadsheets (which are pretty cool to a data geek like me) to help weigh the options. It's a LOT of information to process.

Bottom line, your best choice is based on your unique situation and what ski pass will suit your needs. We've got 4 steps to figure that out.

• Ask yourself 7 questions about your ski needs.
• Look at the pass options for the places you might want to ski next year.
• Talk to friends and family you may want to ski with next year (if that was a factor when you answered your 7 questions about your ski needs).
• Weigh your options.

Questions to Help Decide What is the Right Ski Pass for YOU.

What's right for one person is not what's right for the next. In many ways choosing where to ski next year is an individual decision. However, if you are hoping to spend your season or trips with family and friends, then you'll want to share thoughts coordinate a plan while prices are at their lowest.

1) How many days do you plan to ski?

How many days days do you ski a year? If you use an app to track your stats like Slopes, it's easy to look that up. If not, look back over your calendar. You might be surprised how often or seldom you got out there.

If conditions or constraints change, what's the max number of days you might ski next year? Perhaps you didn't have a lot of snow this year, or the weather kept you indoors, or family, job or health kept you from getting out as much as you'd like. Sometimes we have a non-typical season because of outside factors. If that was the case for you this year and things might change next year, give yourself a guess. How many days would you expect to ski next year?

2) When are you available to ski?

If you can ski midweek during the day, you may find great options to ski off-peak days and times. But if your ski season is tied around when your kids or grandkids are out of school and free to travel, then you'll be looking for passes that include peak times. If you're in a region that offers night skiing, would you consider evening or twilight passes for a savings? Not everyone wants to ski during flat light, under artificial lights or on chilly evenings. Take note of when will you realistically ski.

3) How much do you want to travel?

Do you want to ski mostly at 1 place that's conveniently located for you?

Do you like to mix up where you ski and are willing to travel a bit to try new places? If so, are you looking for places within a 2-hour drive? Within a 1-day drive?

Flying to a ski destination, or taking a couple of trips may appeal to you. If so, what are a couple places you'd consider next year?

Decide what fits your ski goals whether it's one of the above, or a mix.

4) How much do your family and friends weigh into your ski plans?

If you have a core group of people you ski with all season, that matters. If you want to take a ski vacation with your family next year and they are all on a specific pass, that matters.

Before asking others their plans, decide how important is skiing with specific people to your season and how often. Is it season long or trip-specific? Or are you willing to mix it up and ski on your own or looking to meet new people?

5) What kind of terrain do you want to ski?

Do you prefer to glide on groomers, ski the bumps, go off piste, don't care? Make sure the destination(s) you are thinking of, offer the type of terrain you want. Most areas have a good mix, but some don't.

6) Do you need any specific amenities where you ski?

Do you need convenient parking, ski-on ski-off housing, an adaptive program, daycare, night skiing, night life? The list could go on. If something is important to you, list it.

7) What's your desired budget for ski tickets/passes for the year?

Only you can answer that. It makes a difference.

You might end up choosing a less expensive option or location for your local mountain, or a different local mountain if you want most of your budget to go into destination travel.

Look at the Pass Options

Jot down a list of ski areas you're interested in for next year that fit your interests above. It could be one area, or a half dozen. Then, start looking at passes to compare. As you visit websites to review the information, sign up to be notified when passes go on sale, or when prices go up. Some of these options have very limited passes and selling windows.

1) Check your local ski areas for their pass options and how they fit your list. If you planned to ski midweek, don't forget to also check what days they are open.

2) Look at the multi-mountain passes - the big ones and the regional ones for where you aim to ski.

The big ski passes that cover many areas. See if you desired ski areas are on these. Some ski areas are on more than 1 pass.

Epic Pass - Over 40 Epic owned resorts, mostly North America and over 90 resorts worldwide when you include partners. Offers season passes and multi-day tickets. If a multi-day ticket is your choice, you don't need to jump in the first buying window if this year's offering is anything like prior years.

Ikon Pass - Over 60 destinations to ski. Includes global options, but is heavily North America. Unlimited skiing at 18 mountains up to 7 days at the rest.

Indy Pass - Over 300 resorts worldwide. 2 days at each ski area. 25% off a 3rd day at most. Cross country areas included as well. Limited number of passes made available each year. If this may be your pick, sign up for the waiting list to be notified any time sales open.

Mountain Collective - 27 Resorts. 2 Days at each mountain. Mostly North America with 1-2 resorts on each of 4 other continents.

If your skiing is focused Europe Specifically - There are other options to explore. Tirol Snow Card or Super Ski Card for Austria, Dolomiti Superski for Italy, Magic Pass for Switzerland are some of the larger networks.

Regional Passes (There are quite a few out there. If your region is not on this list, do a quick online search to see if there are any in your area). Some of the wide-ranging passes above also offer regional season passes.

New England Pass - Sunday River, Sugarloaf & Loon

NYSKI3 - Belleayre, Gore Whiteface

Salt Lake Super Pass - Utah Salt Lake Area

Ski California Gold Pass - 36 Resorts in California & Nevada

Snow Triple Play - Northeast US & Canada

Super Senior Pass - Gotta mention this one. It's free if you are 75 or older to ski Parito, Sipapu, Purgatory, Snowbowl, Brian Head, Nordic Valley, Valle Nevado, Sandia Peak, Lee Canyon, Willamette Pass & Spider Mountain in the Western US.

Yeti Pass - Utah State

Next Step: Talk to Family and Friends You Aim to Ski With

Tell them what ski areas and passes you're thinking about and that you'd like to ski with them. Ask what their ski plans are.

This is where it gets tricky. If you have the same list, great! If you don't, the options become a bit harder to figure out.

For example, let's say you're buying an Epic Pass and all your friends are on the Indy Pass. They may not want to also shell out the cost of a day ticket at an Epic Resort to ski with you. It can be hundreds of dollars. But, depending on which Epic Pass you buy, it might come with discounted buddy tickets. So your friends can get a discounted day ticket to ski with you. You could join them at an Indy mountain, buying a day ticket and many of the Indy mountains are considerably lower priced than some of the Epic resorts. Will you be skiing enough days with your friends that you'd be better off agreeing on 1 pass, or doing your own thing and coordinating tickets?

When you're on different passes and trying to ski together, pass levels, buddy or guest passes and blackout dates all weigh in. It's complex math sometimes to sort it out.

Bottom line, you need to do what' best for you. But, if you do agree on a local season pass or a ski vacation destination with your ski buddies for next year, it can really help focus your options.

Weigh All Your Options

Go back to your budget and your list. You might find you put more of your budget into trips and less into local skiing or vice versa. You might find one pass that covers it all. Divide your pass cost by the number of days you expect to ski.

Remember skiing is fun. Deciding on a Ski Pass before they sell out or rates go up for spring discount deadlines shouldn't take the fun out of the sport you love.

Make your best decision. You can get considerable savings by making a purchase in spring for most options. If you're really not sure, it might also be worth waiting until you are more certain, or buying individual tickets for some of your ski goals at a little higher price. It saves you from rushing into a purchase you might not use as much. This all goes back to the questions of how many days are you really going to ski next year and what's your budget?

Make a decision. Or choose to wait and keep an eye on the options that interest you.

Then go out and enjoy the rest of the current season!