Epic Pass Buyer’s Guide: A Breakdown of How to Hack the Full, Local, and Day Pass Products

Analysis

Mar 24

If you plan on spending the 2023-24 season between Vail, Colorado and other Epic Pass resorts, pairing a Day Pass product with an unlimited pass may give you the best bang for your buck.
Photo by Glade Optics on Unsplash

By Steven Reale

Epic Passes for the 2023-2024 season are now on sale, and the roster of resort offerings, as well as the dizzying array of pass options, have not changed much since last year. If you are considering an Epic Pass product for next year, it can be overwhelming to sort through the options, with so many variations of day and season passes that it’s difficult to count. But given how assorted these options are, there are some little-known opportunities to save you money on your 2023-24 Epic Pass purchase through rather unorthodox pass tier hacks. Below, you’ll find our comprehensive guide on selecting the right Epic Pass product, or combination of passes, to save you the most money without sacrificing quality.

Epic Pass Background

Epic Passes can be divided into two main categories: season-long and day passes, but even within each category, there are numerous options available, including which resorts are included, how many days the pass offers at each, and whether there are holiday blackouts.

In addition, there are discounts available for seniors, those with adaptive skiing needs, and those actively serving in the military as well as for veterans.

As we’ve mentioned before, the more flexible you can be with your plans, the more you stand to save. Therefore, if you can avoid holidays for your mountain getaway you will not only save money on your pass, but you will also avoid crowded holiday lift lines.

Unlimited Epic Pass

The top-of-the-line Epic Pass costs $909 for adults, and includes unlimited access—including on holidays—to every Vail-owned resort, 7 days access at Telluride, and numerous international skiing options. Most skiers and riders will not benefit from this tier. Who will? Well, this is the only pass to offer unlimited access to Vail, Beaver Creek, or Whistler Blackcomb; those local to these mountains will probably want this pass. Otherwise, skiers and riders who plan on shredding extensively through the season while spending more than 10 combined days at Vail, Beaver Creek, or Whistler Blackcomb; those who plan to visit those and other top Epic resorts on holidays; or those who want to squeeze a Telluride visit into extensive skiing/riding plans for the season might benefit from this pass.

Epic Local Pass

Most skiers and riders will not fall into the previous category, and the Epic Local Pass, at $676 for adults, will prove to be a great option for many. Vail Resorts has spent several decades acquiring ski resorts in nearly every mountain region across the United States and a few beyond. Those living near a Vail-owned resort who also plan to visit to one or more of Vail’s flagship resorts may find the Epic Local pass to be the most economical option. On this pass, season-long access to most of Vail’s roster of resorts is available, but: holiday access is unavailable at their top tier of destination resorts; visits to Vail, Beaver Creek, and Whistler Blackcomb are limited to 10 days total; Telluride is unavailable; and the roster of international resorts is considerably thinner.

Regional Passes

For skiers and riders who won’t be traveling, Vail also offers a variety of regional passes offering access to various subsets of their resort holdings, in varieties that include midweek, full-week, non-holiday, and holiday access. For example, Tahoe locals who do not plan on traveling to the Rockies might consider the Tahoe Value pass, which, at $489, represents a $187 savings over the Epic Local pass. But Tahoe locals who do plan on traveling to the Rockies may be well served by the Tahoe Local Pass, which offers 5 non-peak days at top Vail resorts for $575, offering a $101 savings from the Epic Local pass.

Day Passes

Skiers and riders who do not expect to chalk up enough mountain days to warrant a season-long pass can also purchase day passes, which come in a multitude of varieties. Depending on your plans, day passes can be a low key way to upgrade your experience without splurging for a season-long pass. Be honest with yourself: if you are unlikely to ski or ride enough days to make the Epic, Epic Local or a regional pass worthwhile, going the day pass route is probably your best bet.

There are three tiers of day passes offering different levels of resort access, and each of these tiers comes in varieties either offering or blacking out holiday access. Each of these passes can then be purchased in units of 1 to 7 days, where the per-day price decreases as the number of days increase. It is not immediately obvious, but according to a Vail customer service representative, you can actually purchase two of the same day pass if you need more than 7 days, although the system will require two separate transactions. If this would be a useful route for you, we encourage you to reach out to Vail customer service yourself to confirm. If you do buy more than one day pass, the decreasing per-day pricing structure means you’ll get the best deal buying one 7-day pass, and putting the rest of your needed days on the other. In addition, if you’re planning to visit multiple resorts on different day pass tiers, you’ll sometimes save money by splitting your passes by the number of days you intend to spend in each tier.

Hacking the Epic Pass

Here is where things really start to get interesting. The conventional wisdom is that the break-even point for those considering day passes vs. season length passes is 7 days, meaning that anyone planning to ski or ride 7 or more days at Vail-owned resorts during the 2023-2024 season will be best served by a season pass. However, this is not universally true: depending on the resort(s) you wish to visit, purchasing multiple day passes can cost less than an associated season pass. Similarly, if you can be precise about your skiing plans, and you only plan on spending one or two days at a destination resort, you can strategically cobble together regional passes and day passes and save overall.

It is worth pointing out that the Michigan and Ohio resorts each have their own regional passes, but the Northeast Value and Northeast Midweek passes also grant access to them. Skiers and riders local to these resorts have an even wider array of available pass options.

Pass Breakdown Tables

The possibilities for combining regional passes and day passes are nearly endless, but in the tables that follow, we offer guidance for how to make this work. For simplicity, the scenarios in the table assume that no holiday access is required, but adjusting any individual scenario to accommodate holidays is not too complicated. Please write us at admin@peakrankings.com for additional assistance in planning your vacation getaway.

Tier 1 Rockies and West Coast resorts

**The Summit Value Pass is considered the Season Pass product for Breckenridge.