Epic Pass Poll

[MarkP]

I have a confusion with the day pass.

When reviewing the day pass page, near the top of the page it says it's valid at 43 resorts, then a bit lower, only 29 resorts, expressly excluding W/B, Vail, Beaver Creek, Breck, Park City.

A bit lower, under the Resort Access section it then lists those 5 that were excluded as being included.

I called about it, but the agent was not helpful. Has anyone else noticed this and/or perhaps gotten clarification?

 

[dbostedo]

I have a confusion with the day pass.

When reviewing the day pass page, near the top of the page it says it's valid at 43 resorts, then a bit lower, only 29 resorts, expressly excluding W/B, Vail, Beaver Creek, Breck, Park City.

A bit lower, under the Resort Access section it then lists those 5 that were excluded as being included.

I called about it, but the agent was not helpful. Has anyone else noticed this and/or perhaps gotten clarification?

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I'm not sure where the confusion is. The way I read it, if you buy one now, you'll get 43 resorts.

If you wait until May, there will be another option, for $67/day, that is only North America, and doesn't include WB, Vail, Breck, Park City, or Beaver Creek. (There are 34 North America resorts, so getting rid of the 5 listed gives you the new 29 resort option.)

 

[raytseng]

yes, the way I read it: it looks like there are going to be 3 EpicDay flavors

1) Unlimited (5day=$93/day)
2) Holiday/blackout Restricted (5day=$79/day)
3) (coming later) NA 29-resort only; ($67/day) (holidayrestricted?)

Notice there is slightly different access too for 4Day+ VS 3Day- which is how you get to 43 vs 34..

The Epic 4-Day, 5-Day, 6-Day and 7-Day Passes include access to Telluride in Colorado, Snowbasin in Utah, Sun Valley in Idaho and the six (6) Resorts of the Canadian Rockies.

They really should have named it 3 different things, but there are sooo many products already, the data scientists are probably having it out with the Sales/Marketing with the right level of complexity of a pass for everyone, but not to overwhelm the customer.

 

[skibum4ever]

I buy an Epic Keystone only pass because we have a condo there. I'm excited that it's only $311 which means it pays for itself in TWO days of skiing. Amazing!

We generally combine a Keystone trip with skiing other IKON areas in CO and UT.

 

[MarkP]

yes, the way I read it: it looks like there are going to be 3 EpicDay flavors

1) Unlimited (5day=$93/day)
2) Holiday/blackout Restricted (5day=$79/day)
3) (coming later) NA 29-resort only; ($67/day) (holidayrestricted?)

Notice there is slightly different access too for 4Day+ VS 3Day- which is how you get to 43 vs 34..


They really should have named it 3 different things, but there are sooo many products already, the data scientists are probably having it out with the Sales/Marketing with the right level of complexity of a pass for everyone, but not to overwhelm the customer.

Thanks, @dbostedo and @raytseng for the more careful interpretation.

My "simplified" way to now market it to myself:
- Buy now for as little as $74/day (7 days, no holidays) and enjoy at 34-43 resorts (depending on how few/many days you choose)
- Or buy later for as little as $67/day and enjoy at 29 resorts (the penalty for delay is fewer resorts)

I prefer clarity/certainty over simplicity. Not ending up with confused and ticked off customers is often overlooked by Marketing folk; perhaps if their bonuses were linked to Customer Service review they'd do better.

 

[dbostedo]

Or buy later for as little as $67/day

I'm tempted to buy a 3 or 4 day, just to ski Whitetail/Liberty/Roundtop next season if it's really $67/day (and that's not for the higher numbers of days)... that't pretty cheap.

 

[Jb.schulte]

According to a mass email to pass holders I received a week or so ago, they're not doing reservations next season.
Edit: At least that's their plan currently. I suppose if COVID doesn't improve they may still do reservations.


I hope you're right. Not having a singles line has been really annoying at times.

I ski solo quite a lot and the lack of a singles line is really frustrating. Also, when it's time to exit the line maze and head for the lift and there is no other single to put on the chair with me, I feel guilty about being on a quad alone.

 

[Tricia]

I ski solo quite a lot and the lack of a singles line is really frustrating. Also, when it's time to exit the line maze and head for the lift and there is no other single to put on the chair with me, I feel guilty about being on a quad alone.

I was skiing at Mt Rose on Sunday with a friend who had just taken a vacation at Northstar.
She was kind of a-mazed at how little direction they had at Northstar compared to Mt Rose (a small privately owned hill)
Her surprise was exactly what you're describing.

At Rose we have lines for groups and two lines for singles. Singles will be asked if they mind riding with another single.

 

[Wilhelmson]

If i were to own two passes i would probably go with Ikon for more variety in the northeast. But for a trip to the rockies theres a good chance we would get Epic and have the Stowe option closer to home

I swear i will never ski where a reservation is required.

 

[Seldomski]

a-mazed

I see what you did there.

Lift mazes at Kirkwood vs. Heavenly vs. Vail were all different. Kirkwood being the most chill and Vail being least chill. At Heavenly Sky chair, there was some more hand holding from lift attendees to load the 6 person chair back to Nevada side.

I do appreciate Vail's efforts. They have a pretty big target on their back and bad press about them could have impacted all ski areas, not just Vail properties.

That said, I am looking forward to the singles line being a thing next year. Definitely not able to get as many runs in this season without it.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Any lift that seats more than two has a singles line at Breck.

 

[Tony]

At Heavenly Sky chair, there was some more hand holding from lift attendees to load the 6 person chair back to Nevada side.

You're giving Heavenly credit for an upgrade that is needed, but has not been done. Sky chair is a Quad. The only 6-packs at Heavenly are Powder Bowl and Tamarack.

 

[Dave Petersen]

Im the one that changed my vote - my gut reaction was "negative" but then rationalized we dont ski when "others" typically ski. ie. weekends/holidays. Epic Local works just fine and its cheaper now. 10 days at Vail for $58.30 per day with some other free stuff thrown in - all good.


Would have been nice to get an email though, as a passholder from back when it was the "Colorado Locals Pass" and you had to buy it physically in CO (still have same email address), might have been nice. email isnt hard.

The photo on my pass is still the same when it was the Colorado Local’s pass.
Photo is probably 20 years old.

 

[John Webb]

My last pass of theirs was also a 20 yrs old Colorado Locals Pass.
I never lived in CO but they let me downgrade from the full Epic.

I pulled the trigger Monday for a Tahoe Value Pass as it is one of their few
that has a senior discount. Not sure why ?

They can't send the forms to sign on my new account (everything changed but the email)
Maybe I'll just login on my 20 year old account and they will say they already have a photo.
lol

 

[John Webb]

So I'll get 10 buddy passes for 2022. Does anyone know if they are worth anything ?
How much of a discount or is that a secret ?

 

[raytseng]

So I'll get 10 buddy passes for 2022. Does anyone know if they are worth anything ?
How much of a discount or is that a secret ?

its pretty significant if you need to host someone skiing at a vr. since window and advanced price is so inflated
I think it'll knock off $30 to $40 off the price which is a pretty decent chunk, and likely just at or below the lowest advanced rate (but without commiting and giving you gameday flexibility). But the person still is maybe paying around $100/$150 for 1 days skiing so it doesn't make sense for large numbers of passless skiers.

So if the scenario is you're in a bigger group with mostly epicpass holders and just 1 passless friend, and someone else in your extended group also has buddy passes so it's not too important that everyone gets the benefit.

So its pretty valuable should you need to use it, but scenarios where you'll actually end up using them, let alone using them all up are pretty low.

 

[Doug Briggs]

@Snowfan's buddy passes were $129 during the full season. They go down when skiing is less than 100%, IIRC.

 

[jseeski]

I buy an Epic Keystone only pass because we have a condo there. I'm excited that it's only $311 which means it pays for itself in TWO days of skiing. Amazing!

No Ikon or Epic pass for me! I buy a local Whitewater pass because I live there. I managed to get it down to $10/day this year. I'm waiting for one of the local cat ski operators to offer a reasonably priced unlimited season pass...

 

[David]

I bought the 6 day pass for a vacation next season but only because my friends that I want to travel with all have one to visit family in Breck. And since they already have one they'll only travel to resorts we're they can use it even though there are better skiing options right next door.
I also have a local pass and will probably get the Indy Pass add-on for another vacation or 2.

 

[MooseOnTheLoose]

Once trips out west get factored in it usually makes sense for me to buy an epic pass. I'm planning to spend a couple weeks at Whistler and Kicking Horse next season. There's a local hill in my area for night skiing on weekdays that costs about the price of the pass over a full season too.

I might get another pass for night skiing at a local non-vail/icon resort to mix things up and help my local hill. It's only like $180-ish for the whole season.

That's a bummer if they wiped out the singles lines. I did Heavenly, Kirkwood, and Squaw a couple years ago with singles lines and it was great! Hope it's back to normal for the 21/22 season.