Epic Passes on sale now for next year’s ski season — ski for as low as $47 per day

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers. Although ski season is still in full force — especially for those out west or in northern Vermont — now might be the best time to lock in next year’s ski plans. Whether you’re a beginner skier or a seasoned pro, …

Mar 5, 2025 - 18:41

Epic Passes on sale now for next year’s ski season — ski for as low as $47 per day

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

Although ski season is still in full force — especially for those out west or in northern Vermont — now might be the best time to lock in next year’s ski plans. 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. By purchasing an Epic Pass now, you can avoid overpaying for your days on the mountain by getting what are likely the lowest prices of the year.

An Epic Pass can save you money on skiing even if you are only planning a single trip — or perhaps skiing for as little as one day.

For example, a one-day adult lift ticket at Colorado’s Beaver Creek Resort can cost $295 for one single day (for the 2025-2026 ski season). The most you’d pay for one day on the slopes at Beaver Creek or any other Vail-owned mountain if you buy a one-day Epic Pass now for next year is $139. It’s an astounding price difference.

Epic Pass basics

For those looking to save money and ski at resorts on the Epic Pass, purchasing now for next season is the way to get the least expensive pricing for the passes. Current prices will typically increase at the end of May, and there are then small jumps again in summer and fall.

Plus, Buddy Tickets — a set number of discounted lift tickets for a friend skiing with you for the day — are only available to those who purchase during the introductory offer. So, if you purchase an Epic Pass now, you can ultimately lock in your winter skiing for as low as $47 per day for adults and $24 per day for kids ages 5 to 12. Kids younger than 4 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 — an Epic Pass is a great option. In fact, my family has purchased the Epic Pass for the past five years, and there’s a good chance we will be skiing again with Epic next year.

Epic Pass pricing

The Epic Local Pass — which is available to locals and travel-in skiers alike — is currently on sale for $783 for unlimited, unrestricted access to 29 resorts — including Colorado’s Breckenridge Resort, Keystone Resort and Crested Butte Mountain Resort — plus unlimited nonholiday access to Park City Mountain Resort in Utah; Heavenly Ski Resort, Northstar California Resort and Kirkwood Ski Resort in California; and Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont. The pass also covers 10 days at Colorado’s Vail Ski Resort and Beaver Creek Resort, as well as British Columbia’s Whistler Blackcomb.

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.

The full Epic Pass, priced at $1,051, unlocks unlimited skiing at Vail, Beaver Creek, Whistler Blackcomb, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Stowe, Keystone, Park City and many other Vail-owned and partner resorts. Plus, you’ll also receive seven days at Colorado’s Telluride Ski Resort and select resorts throughout the Canadian Rockies.

There are also many mountain-specific or regional pass options, such as the Northeast Value Pass.

For $642, you can ski all of the Northeast mountains (21 in total) throughout the season. This includes popular resorts such as Okemo Mountain Resort and Mount Snow in Vermont, Hunter Mountain Resort in New York and Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire. While there are a few holiday blackout dates for select mountains and only 10 access days for Stowe, this pass 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, which gives you a set number of ski days at a select number of resorts.

A large crowd of skiers at Mammoth Mountain ski resort wait in line at a chairlift. GEORGE ROSE/GETTY IMAGES

An Epic Pass will save you money — even on a short trip

You may not think getting an Epic Pass is worth it 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 tiers based on the mountains included. You can purchase access to 22 resorts (including the smaller Vail resorts), 32 resorts or all 46 mountains.

For a single-day ticket, the adult pass price starts at $56 ($28 for children) for a limited number of ski resorts (those in the Midwest, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania). The cost then jumps to $91 per day for most ski resorts ($47 for kids) or $118 per day ($61 for kids) for the full range of Vail-owned and partner resorts.

The more days you purchase, the less expensive it is per day. For example, a seven-day pass at the 22 resorts on nonpeak dates is just $326 total or $47 per day. Or, you’re looking at $100 per day for all-access. Of course, if you’re looking to ski during peak holiday dates (there are only 11 of them), the price goes up; it’s capped at $139 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 during the peak Christmas week, you can purchase an Epic Day Pass in advance and save money.

Note that only Epic four-day, five-day, six-day and seven-day passes with “All Resorts” access include access to Telluride and the six resorts of the Canadian Rockies.

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 (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) in Colorado
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 2025-2026 Epic Pass products automatically include Epic Coverage, which provides refunds for personal events such as job loss, injury and illness, as well as for certain resort closures.

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. 28-29, 2025; Dec. 26-31, 2025; Jan. 17, 2026; and Feb. 14-15, 2026. Keep in mind that some of the regional passes have additional restricted dates, including at Vail, Park City, Beaver Creek and Whistler Blackcomb, among others.

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 2025-2026 season currently cost $1,051 for adults (ages 13 and up) and $537 for children (ages 5 to 12). There are no full Epic Pass discounts for teens.

This Epic Pass gets you access to:

Vail Ski Resort
Beaver Creek Resort
Breckenridge Resort
Keystone Resort
Crested Butte Mountain Resort
Park City Mountain Resort
Heavenly Ski Resort
Northstar California Resort
Kirkwood Ski Resort in California
Stevens Pass in Washington
Whistler Blackcomb
Stowe Mountain Resort
Okemo Mountain Resort
Mount Snow
Mount Sunapee
Attitash Mountain Resort in New Hampshire
Wildcat Mountain in New Hampshire
Crotched Mountain in New Hampshire
Hunter Mountain Resort
Liberty Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania
Roundtop Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania
Whitetail Resort in Pennsylvania
Jack Frost Big Boulder in Pennsylvania
Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania
Laurel Mountain in Pennsylvania
Hidden Valley Resort in Pennsylvania
Afton Alps in Minnesota
Mount Brighton in Michigan
Wilmot in Wisconsin
Alpine Valley in Ohio
Boston Mills Brandywine in Ohio
Mad River Mountain in Ohio
Hidden Valley in Missouri
Snow Creek in Missouri
Paoli Peaks in Indiana
Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis in Switzerland
Crans-Montana in Switzerland
Verbier 4 Vallees in Switzerland
Perisher in Australia
Falls Creek in Australia
Hotham Alpine Resort in Australia

At partner resorts, the full Epic Pass gets you access to seven days at Telluride Ski Resort, seven days at Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, unlimited access to 26 European resorts and five days in Japan.

And for the 2025-2026 season, you’ll now receive five days of consecutive, unrestricted access to Verbier 4 Vallees.

Snow-covered lookout at Tombstone Territory — SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY

Epic Local Pass

For the 2025-2026 season, the Epic Local Pass provides unlimited access to:

Breckenridge Resort
Keystone Resort
Crested Butte Mountain Resort
Stevens Pass
Okemo Mountain Resort
Mount Snow
Mount Sunapee
Attitash Mountain Resort
Wildcat Mountain
Crotched Mountain
Hunter Mountain Resort
Afton Alps
Mount Brighton
Wilmot
Alpine Valley
Boston Mills Brandywine
Mad River Mountain
Hidden Valley in Missouri
Snow Creek
Paoli Peaks
Liberty Mountain Resort
Roundtop Mountain Resort
Whitetail Resort
Jack Frost Big Boulder
Seven Springs Mountain Resort
Laurel Mountain
Hidden Valley Resort in 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 you plan to ski outside of North America, you’ll receive five days in Japan at Hakuba Valley and Rusutsu Resort, as well as five days in Switzerland at Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis and Crans-Montana. For next season, you’ll also receive five days of consecutive access to Verbier 4 Vallees, but with some restricted days.

In short, if you can work around a few restrictions, the current Epic Local Pass pricing is a deal at $783 for adults, $407 for children ages 5 to 12 and $633 for teens between 13 and 18. To compare, a seven-day, restricted Epic Day Pass is currently $694 for adults, so you can ski unlimited times throughout winter without paying too much more money.

Hot tip: If you’re looking to purchase the Northeast Value Pass or Ohio Pass and you have a child who is 5 or 6 years old, you can purchase a Tot Pass. This pass is significantly cheaper. It’s right around $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

colorado skiing — ADVENTURE PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES

If you had an Epic Pass last year, you’ll notice that this year’s options are almost identical; the price increased by approximately 8%.

The main change is that more pass options — such as the Epic Local Pass — will have access to Switzerland’s largest ski resort, Verbier 4 Vallees.

There will also be a few new lift upgrades and terrain enhancements, with projects at various resorts, including Park City, Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis and Perisher.

Bottom line

Breckenridge, Colorado, town skyline in winter at dusk. SEAN PAVONE/GETTY IMAGES

Using a pass has been the most cost-effective way to ski at major mountains for years. Now, with single-day lift tickets knocking on the door of $300, it’s more beneficial than ever to plan ahead and get some kind of Epic Pass to avoid paying those incredibly high rates.

Based on how much my family has skied this season, with the Epic Pass in hand, we are skiing for approximately $35 per day ($18 per day for my kids), including seven days in Beaver Creek and Breckenridge. This is a huge savings compared to the day rates at most mountains throughout the U.S. — even the independent resorts not on Epic.

On top of those more accessible prices to get you on the lift, 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. Just make sure you plan ahead.

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