Ikon Adds Windham and Mount Bachelor as Pass Partners

Alterra has announced that Mount Bachelor in Oregon and Windham in New York will partner with Ikon starting in the 2020-21 season. Full passholders will have access to 7 days at both mountains, while base passholders will have access to 5 days. Neither resort will be included on the Ikon Session Pass 4-Day. This announcement comes on the heels of expanded Ikon renewal and deferment policies last week, and a day after Epic announced their own revamped 2020-21 renewal and refund policies.

Link to information: https://www.alterramtnco.com/news/2020/04/28/ikon-pass-expands-with-the-addition-of-mt-bachelor-and-windham-mountain

Our Take

These expansions are both important for Ikon, but for different reasons. With Vail Resorts’ acquisition of Peak Resorts last season, they were able to expand Epic’s coverage to more local mountains in addition to existing destination resorts. Ikon, which is a desination-heavy pass, was consequently at a disadvantage this season. The pass’s addition of Windham, which is only a few hours north of New York City, now gives passholders in the area a decent day-trip choice.

On the other hand, Mount Bachelor has now become the first Oregon resort to join a major multi-day pass product (we’re not including Powder Alliance and Indy Ski Pass, which offer 2-3 free lift tickets per season at participating resorts). This gives Ikon a major advantage in the region, allowing it to cement itself as the dominant pass-player in Oregon over Epic, which has no resorts in the state. It’s interesting that Mount Bachelor wasn’t on Ikon already, as other Powdr-owned mountains, such as Killington, Copper, Eldora, and Snowbird, have been partnered with the pass for years.

While we haven’t reviewed either of these resorts yet, we understand why Alterra made both of these moves. It should be interesting to see how crowds at both these resorts shape up next season (or later in the event of continued COVID interruptions).