Best of the Rest: Non-Ikon/Epic/MCP Pass Discussion for 2018-2019

[Mike Rogers]

!!!! How is that even a deal? Is it even humanly possible to ski enough days to make that worth it?!!

I don't think many individuals would go for it.

But if you are looking for a corporate pass, it's a really good deal. Transferable passes are crazy expensive, but if you are regularly entertaining clients at the ski hill. $3350 for a season is a steal.

 

[Seldomski]

I don't think many individuals would go for it.

But if you are looking for a corporate pass, it's a really good deal. Transferable passes are crazy expensive, but if you are regularly entertaining clients at the ski hill. $3350 for a season is a steal.

Yep this would be something a company could buy and give out to 'employee of the week' or when entertaining clients. I know a local company used to give out a Tesla Model S to the employee of the month (they had to return it after the month). Some companies give out seats to a particular game from season tickets as rewards.

The key as @Mike Rogers says is the transferable nature.

Compared to the Deer Valley season pass, it's an amazing deal.

 

[David Chaus]

Indeed, I'm already planning a Schweitzer/Whitewater/Whitefish loop, probably add in a day or two each at Lookout Pass & Silver Mt.
At a stretch, could also hit Fernie and Stevens Pass.

May I suggest hitting Red Mtn since you’ll be hitting Schweitzer and Whitewater? It’s not even out of your way, and I would go out of my way to ski Red.

 

[Sibhusky]

I think the draw to Whitefish is it's FREE for him.

And out of the way or not depends on where he's flying into. If it's Calgary or Spokane, its certainly far out of the way. If it's Seattle or Vancouver, then not so much.

 

[Jim McDonald]

I was actually looking at flying into Spokane and going Red/Whitewater/Fernie/Whitefish/Schweitzer, looked like maybe 1,500km of driving through some really beautiful country over 15-20 days. The only skiing cost would be at Red (senior rates) so even with TYO-GEG cost it's not really expensive. Adding Silver & Lookout would push the driving up a few km and the lift pass cost, but would depend more on how much time I'd have available.

 

[Muleski]

How about the USST Gold Pass? 250 areas, max of 50 days at any one. "Fully Transferrable."

$10K. The plus is that $9K is deductible as a contribution to the USST. HaHa.

You know that your host is serious about the sport when they have four hanging in the boot room for guests to use!

The only irritating deal is that you have to take the medal with you, and procure a day ticket. Of course, other than that price.

Hurry, they only sell 450 season. That's $4.5Mil in revenue.

 

[Itinerant skier]

Monarch is now listed on the Powder Alliance page. A really nice addition. As mentioned in the Borg assimilation thread, Stevens will remain in the Powder Alliance for 2018-2019.

 

[Stev]

I just picked up a Silverton Spring Unguided Pass at the early bird rate of $149 (actually $165 with the shipping fee.) A pretty good deal with all of the benefits (see below)

Here is a link: https://silvertonmountain.com/shop/season-passes/unguided-season-pass/

THE $149 SPRING UNGUIDED PASS
THE BEST DEAL IN SKIING INCLUDES $39 HELI SKIING, 42 FREE DAYS TO PARTNER RESORTS, AND EXCLUSIVE PRIVATE MOUNTAIN DAY!
Check out this awesome early bird deal (regular price is $499):

• • Access to the mountain for the following Unguided dates. This is a 166% increase in schedule length and the earliest spring unguided dates ever. Dates include:
    • Wednesday, March 20 (Passholder-Only Private Mountain Day)
    • March 21-24
    • March 28-31
    • April 4-7
    • April 11-14
  • $89 Standby Guided Skiing/Snowboarding during Guided Season.
  • A one-time $39 heli drop to Grassy Bowl or Butter Bowl with Heli season extended into unguided season!
  • $2 Premium draft beers all season
  • PLUS 42 FREE days at the following partner resorts:
  • • 3 days at Monarch Mountain, Colorado
    • 3 days at Eaglecrest, Alaska
    • 3 days at Mission Ridge, Washington
    • 3 days at Sundance Mountain Resort, Utah
    • 3 days at Red Lodge Mountain, Montana
    • 3 days at Sunlight Mountain Resort, Colorado
    • 3 days at Powderhorn, Colorado
    • 3 days at Mount Bohemia, Michigan
    • 3 days at Snow King, Wyoming
    • 3 days at Homewood, California and $100 off cat skiing included
    • 3 days at Smugglers’ Notch Resort, Vermont
    • 3 days at Brundage Mountain, Idaho
    • 3 days at Mad River Glen, Vermont
    • 3 days at Mt. Baldy, California

$16 priority shipping fee is automatically added to all pass purchases. If you pick up your pass in person you will be refunded the $16 mail out fee.

*free skiing to Silverton Mountain passholders only (non-transferable) with certain blackout dates.



Item # 1955368403
$149.00

 

[Itinerant skier]

I just picked up a Silverton Spring Unguided Pass at the early bird rate of $149 (actually $165 with the shipping fee.) A pretty good deal with all of the benefits (see below)......

That's a great deal!! Probably worth it for the heli-drop alone. Unlike Powder Alliance or Power Pass, this one has a couple of east coast options. Nice.

I have to admit I'm amused by a ski area that is so rustic that it doesn't have running water at its base area, but does have draft beer.

 

[marjoram_sage]

I'm curious if people find the Powder alliance useful. I find the Powder alliance to be utterly useless for me. There are too many restrictions. The cost to get to those destinations would be higher than the cost savings of the lift tickets. I don't think the cost of lift ticket is the biggest cost in skiing. Lodging, food and transportation is far higher cost.

If I had not bought the epic pass this year, I would have bought the Grand Targhee pass. I'm strongly considering it next season. I like the fact that it's really uncrowded and has great snow. I would probably go there for 10 days around Xmas and a week around President's day.

They have a list of partner resorts but I don't have a good sense of the partner restrictions. The website says lodging is required but many of the resorts on the partner list don't have any lodging: https://www.grandtarghee.com/tickets-passes/season-pass-partners/

I'm based in SF Bay area so I could probably use the 3 days at Homewood easily. I don't want to go that often to Tahoe as the crowds and traffic make it a frustrating experience. I could probably do a couple of three day weekend trips to Colorado (cheap flights to Denver on Southwest) and use the 3 days each at Loveland, Copper and perhaps Monarch.

 

[nay]

^^^Loveland gives you 3 Monarch days, and Loveland is uncrowded with great snow...

 

[marjoram_sage]

The Loveland Pass seems like great value. $419 only for the season! 3 days free at so many partner resorts.

Are the crowds under control at Loveland during Xmas and President's day weekend? I should check it out for a day during my 10 day trip to Colorado this Xmas.

 

[nay]

The Loveland Pass seems like great value. $419 only for the season! 3 days free at so many partner resorts.

Are the crowds under control at Loveland during Xmas and President's day weekend? I should check it out for a day during my 10 day trip to Colorado this Xmas.

A Loveland patroller put it this way:

“We have far greater uphill lift capacity than we do parking.”

The only times I have seen any lines at Loveland have been big powder days where passes and the interstate to the west are closed, and the people who stop are carpooling.

But without lodging, tons of parking, or being on a major pass, Loveland is by far the most reliable low crowd ski area on the Front Range and it has the most reliable soft snow conditions due to windfill blowing over The Ridge.

Definitely worth a visit.

 

[New2]

I'm curious if people find the Powder alliance useful. I find the Powder alliance to be utterly useless for me. There are too many restrictions. The cost to get to those destinations would be higher than the cost savings of the lift tickets. I don't think the cost of lift ticket is the biggest cost in skiing. Lodging, food and transportation is far higher cost.

Generally I don't think buying a pass just for the Powder Alliance benefits is worthwhile. But if you're going to ski a good amount at one area and are interested in some bonus days elsewhere, it can be a great deal. For Bay Area skiers with a cabin or condo near Sugar Bowl, Sierra-at-Tahoe, or China Peak, it's probably a great deal. But it sounds like you're not in that boat.

 

[marjoram_sage]

Generally I don't think buying a pass just for the Powder Alliance benefits is worthwhile. But if you're going to ski a good amount at one area and are interested in some bonus days elsewhere, it can be a great deal. For Bay Area skiers with a cabin or condo near Sugar Bowl, Sierra-at-Tahoe, or China Peak, it's probably a great deal. But it sounds like you're not in that boat.

Definitely not in that boat. After a frustrating trip with traffic and crowds to Sierra-at-Tahoe last year in March, I've decided to plan in advance and fly to resorts elsewhere. It's really hard to win in Tahoe: either you have bad snow or you have crowds. And certainly the way real estate is going now, it might not make sense for a new buyer to invest in Tahoe. It would be better to fly to Utah or Wyoming to ski with that annual budget. Flights on Delta and Southwest tend to be quite affordable when booked in advance.

My goal now is to seek out uncrowded ski resorts and ski the most in my limited time off. With a kid it's not really feasible to do a weekend trip to Tahoe for me. I need to take Friday and Monday off to keep a good travel time to ski time ration. I'm stuck with Epic pass this year but I'm doing my research for next season.

A Loveland patroller put it this way:

“We have far greater uphill lift capacity than we do parking.”

The only times I have seen any lines at Loveland have been big powder days where passes and the interstate to the west are closed, and the people who stop are carpooling.

But without lodging, tons of parking, or being on a major pass, Loveland is by far the most reliable low crowd ski area on the Front Range and it has the most reliable soft snow conditions due to windfill blowing over The Ridge.

Definitely worth a visit.

yeah.. Loveland sounds incredible. Staying west of Loveland would be ideal to beat the traffic. Loveland/Grand Targhee pass would serve me well next season.

 

[pchewn]

I'm curious if people find the Powder alliance useful. I find the Powder alliance to be utterly useless for me. There are too many restrictions. The cost to get to those destinations would be higher than the cost savings of the lift tickets. I don't think the cost of lift ticket is the biggest cost in skiing. Lodging, food and transportation is far higher cost.

The Powder Alliance is great. I have a Fusion Pass (Timberline and Mt Hood Skibowl). This winter a friend of mine and I will be visiting areas in the Pacific NW that are on the Powder Alliance (Bridger Bowl, Bogus Basin, Schweitzer, Steven's Pass.) It makes a great road trip. I'd be getting the Fusion Pass anyway, but the extra benefits of being able to go to other areas is icing on the cake.

https://www.pugski.com/threads/road...zer-silver-mission-stevens.12321/#post-284072

 

[marjoram_sage]

The Powder Alliance is great. I have a Fusion Pass (Timberline and Mt Hood Skibowl). This winter a friend of mine and I will be visiting areas in the Pacific NW that are on the Powder Alliance (Bridger Bowl, Bogus Basin, Schweitzer, Steven's Pass.) It makes a great road trip. I'd be getting the Fusion Pass anyway, but the extra benefits of being able to go to other areas is icing on the cake.

https://www.pugski.com/threads/road...zer-silver-mission-stevens.12321/#post-284072

wow.. that's a nice trip. Someday I'd like to do a trip like that with buddies. It looks like you have targeted all uncrowded resorts.

 

[pchewn]

wow.. that's a nice trip. Someday I'd like to do a trip like that with buddies. It looks like you have targeted all uncrowded resorts.

Yeah, neither of us are into the mega-resort experience. We are seeking a higher signal-to-noise ratio.

 

[Stev]

I'm not sure if this has been posted somewhere on the forums. Angel Fire offers a $99 Teachers Season Pass. This is a full pass with no blackouts and it includes Powder Alliance benefits too. Here is a link:
https://www.angelfireresort.com/activities/winter-activities/skiing-and-snowboarding/season-passes/
(The price is $99 until December 13th. It goes up to $199 after that.)

 

[Nathanvg]

I'm not sure if this has been posted somewhere on the forums. Angel Fire offers a $99 Teachers Season Pass. This is a full pass with no blackouts and it includes Powder Alliance benefits too. Here is a link:
https://www.angelfireresort.com/activities/winter-activities/skiing-and-snowboarding/season-passes/
(The price is $99 until December 13th. It goes up to $199 after that.)

It says it's valid only at AF so it does not include powder alliance, right?