Epic & Ikon Passes Wilmington Ski Club, April 2019 What Are Epic & Ikon Passes? • Season passes on steroids • Instead of buying a pass for one resort, these passes work at dozens of mountains Why Do These Exist? (a short history of ski resort consolidation) • First there were Vail & Beaver Creek • 1996 Vail went public and started buying other resorts: • Breckenridge & Keystone Heavenly Northstar Kirkwood, Afton Alps, Mount Brighton Canyons, Park City, Perisher, Wilmot, Whistler Blackcomb, Stowe And just 9 months ago: Mount Sunapee, Okemo, Crested Butte, Stevens Pass • Vail wanted to keep customers going to their resorts • In 2009 they created the Epic Pass; one pass for all Vail properties Enough About Vail... What About Ikon? • IntraWest, Aspen, and Mammoth saw what Vail was doing • Merged to form Alterra • Alterra launched Ikon Pass in January 2018 to rival Epic Pass • Replaces Rocky Mountain SuperPass What Resorts Honor The Ikon Pass? • Unlimited Days at: • Squaw Valley Alpine • Winter Park Resort, CO Meadows, CA • Big Bear Mountain Resort, • Tremblant, QC CA • Mammoth Mountain Resort, • Copper Mountain Resort, CO CA • Snowshoe, WV • Blue Mountain, ON • Eldora Mountain Resort, CO • June Mountain, CA • Crystal Mountain, WA • Solitude Mountain Resort, UT What Resorts Honor The Ikon Pass? • Limited Days at: • Sugarbush Resort, VT • Aspen Snowmass, CO • Brighton, UT • Cypress, BC • • Steamboat, CO Boyne Highlands, MI • • Sunday River, ME Alta/Snowbird, UT • • Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, WY Boyne Mountain, MI • Sugarloaf, ME • Thredbo, Australia • Big Sky Resort, MT • The Summit at Snoqualmie, WA • Loon Mountain, NH • Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Mt Hutt, NZ • Stratton, VT • SkiBig3, AB • Taos, NM • Niseko United, Japan • Killington-Pico, VT • Revelstoke Mountain Resort, BC • Deer Valley Resort, UT • Valle Nevado, Chile What Do They Cost? • Depends on what level you buy • At this time last year there were 14 different Epic Passes � • We let them know that was confusing • Ikon was sure not to make that mistake… “Local/Base” vs. “Full” Passes • Epic Pass: $939 • Ikon Pass: $949 • Epic Local: $699 • Ikon Base : $649 ☜ WSC recommends for 2020 • Both have discounted passes for service personnel and students • Epic Day Passes (good for 1-7 days) are something WSC will consider for next season’s trips WSC Is Trying To Help • 2020 is an all Ikon Pass year for WSC: • Mammoth (6 ski days) • Steamboat (6 ski days) • Winter Park (4 ski days) • You could ski 16 days on one pass (more if you go out West on your own) Are They Worth It? • Ikon Base Pass ($649) is best for most people • Compared to walking up to a ticket window, absolutely worth it; would pay for itself in a week • WSC doesn’t pay ticket window prices, so... • Are you going on one WSC trip? Nope, not worth it. • Are you going on two WSC trips? Maybe. • Are you going on three WSC trips? Yep! What Are The Cons? • No refunds (But you can buy insurance which gets you a credit) • Non-transferable • Can’t sell to anyone else • Can’t lend your pass to another WSC member to use if you take a day off • Trip insurance will not cover them if you file a claim for dropping off a trip How Do I Get One? • ikonpass.com • Prices will probably go up after April 24. Nothing definite, but they did go up $50 last year. • If you are 100% sure you want one, buy soon • If not 100% sure, wait • Sales end when season starts (Thanksgiving-ish) • If you buy, make sure to tell your trip leaders The Future • Pushback is occurring against Epic & Ikon • Some resorts are saying they’re not making as much $ as they had been promised • Arapahoe Basin (“A-Basin”) will drop out of Epic this coming season, citing “too many skiers” • Savings aren’t as great as clubs had been promised; WSC likely won’t do a dedicated season in 2021.