Telluride Releases 2020-21 Season Passes with No COVID Protections
Several months after most competitors, southwest Colorado’s Telluride ski area has finally put their season pass up for sale. The pass comes with unrestricted access to the mountain and costs $1,750 for adults 25 and older at the start of the season. Prices are lower for young adults and children, and passes are free for those 80 and older.
On its own, Telluride’s season pass is completely non-refundable. But for a 7% premium, passholders can purchase Multi-Event Registration Insurance, which covers a variety of unexpected circumstances. However, this insurance policy does not cover COVID-19.
Our Take
Telluride offers one of the most compelling Colorado resort experiences thanks to its extraordinarily diverse terrain and charming town. This makes it especially disappointing that this winter’s season pass is such a risky purchase.
It’s bordering on unbelievable that Telluride’s passes have no COVID protections. The passes are already extraordinarily expensive to begin with—the $1,750 asking price is among the highest from any North American resort—and the fact that the costly insurance add-on doesn’t even cover cancellations due to the virus just adds insult to injury.
We’ve examined dozens of other pass products from major destination resorts, and all of them at least offer a pre-season deferment window or some sort of mid-season interruption credit (the small, local Snow King hill is the only other resort we’ve reviewed that doesn’t currently offer COVID pass protections). There’s no question that making this pass purchase will be extremely risky—buyers will have no avenue to getting their money back in the event of closures.
Alternatively, consumers can receive 7 days of access to Telluride next seasons by purchasing a full Epic Pass. We’re not huge fans of Epic’s assurance policies (or their announced reservation system for most non-Telluride options on the pass), but these protections are still considerably better than nothing. If you’re planning on buying a season pass but can stomach skiing 7 or fewer days at Telluride next winter, it might be worth considering the Epic Pass as a safer (and substantially cheaper) bet.
