Ikon vs Epic ... Why Choose?

[James O]

FYI,
It appears from Ikon website that prices for both passes go up $100 on May 1.

 

[PinnacleJim]

How do WP, Copper, and Steamboat compare to Breck, Keystone, and A-Basin?

I think the biggest difference for a vacationer (i.e. not a local) is that Breck, Keystone and A-Basin are all in Summit County and you can ski all three easily without having to move to a different condo or hotel. It's really not practical to ski WP, Copper and Steamboat staying in one place. I've had the Summit Value pass for years, and this past season did the Keystone/A-Basin pass plus a Copper 4-pack. This for my annual 3-week vacation in February.

 

[Stev]

Would someone mind providing some insights on how the two passes compare the CO resorts? I've had an Epic Local Pass the couple years, but spent most of that time skiing in Tahoe. This past year my wife and I spent several days at Breckenridge. My wife and I really enjoyed the town and we were thinking about going back next year. The Ikon Base Pass is somewhat appealing since we are located outside of DC. Snowshoe is 4.5 hours away, but the drive isn't fun. I wouldn't want to make that drive more than twice in a season. Another (smaller) factor is that I also qualify for one of the Ikon discounts, so the base pass is almost $200 less than the Epic Local Pass.

It looks like I will be in SF for work next January, so we will likely extend that trip and go to Tahoe for several days. We would likely go back to CO for several days so the pass is worth it. My wife really liked the town of Breckenridge. Aspen looks like it could be a viable alternative, but it's also a longer drive. How do WP, Copper, and Steamboat compare to Breck, Keystone, and A-Basin? The other consideration is if we go to Tahoe, having access to three resorts versus one may be a good option, especially if conditions are not optimal.

I think the biggest difference for a vacationer (i.e. not a local) is that Breck, Keystone and A-Basin are all in Summit County and you can ski all three easily without having to move to a different condo or hotel. It's really not practical to ski WP, Copper and Steamboat staying in one place. I've had the Summit Value pass for years, and this past season did the Keystone/A-Basin pass plus a Copper 4-pack. This for my annual 3-week vacation in February.

PinnacleJim, I concur.

While I mostly ski Tahoe, I have made a few trips to Colorado. I'll share my opinions along with some of what I have experienced.
Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, and Breckenridge are very close to each other. I actually skied all three in one day just because I could. I prefer skiing Arapahoe Basin and Breckenridge over Keystone. The town of Breckenridge also makes for a nice base to explore.
Back in 2010 I purchased what was called the Pow Pow Platter. A sampler of three resorts - Steamboat, Winter Park, and Copper Mountain. For $99 dollars I got a pass for one day at each resort. There was a lot more driving involved on this trip. I enjoyed the low angle pow, tree skiing, and friendly locals at Steamboat. Winter Park seemed to be a mostly mogul mountain with a few powder stashes. I really liked Copper Mountain with its efficient transit system, separated terrain/lodges, and a more interesting feel on the upper mountain. I liked it even more when I returned a few years later on a powder day.

Kcip, Is your qualifying Ikon discount a military pass? If so, Epic also has good military discounts.

 

[DoryBreaux]

I don't have to choose or buy both . We were actually on the fence, but when they added mammoth to the cheap Ikon that was a no brainier.

 

[MarkP]

Sweet Dreams are Made of This
But my reality says choose one each year and use the cost of the other for après.
And until I retire (18.5 months to go!) I wouldn't have time to enjoy all those acres and elevations.

With Whistler-Blackcomb the destination for my group's ski week next season, my choice was clear... Epic 4.

An initial cut at my Sweet Dream ski gypsy month:
- Fly Baltimore - Reno
- Tahoe (Heavenly, Kirkwood, Northstar, 8-10 days on the pass, a few days at others)
- Mt. Bachelor (2 days... friend has a great wife that lets him winter there)
- Whistler (4 days on the pass)
- Big White, Red Mtn, possibly others in BC/AB (2-6 days)
- Washington state mountains (0-4 days, depending on time left)
- Fly Seattle - Baltimore



Add in a trip to VT (Okemo, Stowe, 4-ish days on the pass), gets me to 16-18 days on the pass... for me, a very good return on the investment.

 

[raytseng]

With Whistler-Blackcomb the destination for my group's ski week next season, my choice was clear... Epic 4.

An initial cut at my Sweet Dream ski gypsy month:
- Fly Baltimore - Reno
- Tahoe (Heavenly, Kirkwood, Northstar, 8-10 days on the pass, a few days at others)
- Mt. Bachelor (2 days... friend has a great wife that lets him winter there)
- Whistler (4 days on the pass)
- Big White, Red Mtn, possibly others in BC/AB (2-6 days)
- Washington state mountains (0-4 days, depending on time left)
- Fly Seattle - Baltimore

View attachment 44264

Add in a trip to VT (Okemo, Stowe, 4-ish days on the pass), gets me to 16-18 days on the pass... for me, a very good return on the investment.

you meant epic local right?
you can always call vail to change your pass and pay the difference if you bought the epic4.

 

[Alexzn]

My segment of the population tends to ski one "home" mountain, so those umbrella passes will allow a few trips over winter. Both Epic and Ikon have plenty of opportunities for a road trip. Between Mammoth, Jackson, Big Sky, and Aspen there is plenty of road trip opportunities. I tend to despise Northstar and Kirkwood is too far. So it's Ikon only for us. Saves money for an Arcteryx kit.

 

[dovski]

I have a completely different take on this.
We ski every weekend at Alpental near Seattle, my kids are in the Freeride program there. So I start with the Snoqualmie Unlimited pass for $469. I then got a Mountain Collective add on pass for $249 ($1 for the kids). This will cover us for 6 days of Skiing in the Banff Lake Louise Area plus my guys trips to Aspen and Alta. We live pretty close to Whistler so I also got the Local Edge card 5 day pass for Whistler at $364 - this gives me unlimited early season skiing until Dec 14 and then 5 days the rest of the season 2 of which can be used at other Vail resorts. So my total cost this season is $1082 and I will get my local Season pass, 10 days at Whistler, 2 days at vail, 2 days at Aspen, 2 days at Alta, 2 Days at Snowbird, 2 Days at Lake Louise, 3 Days at Sunshine (Banff) and 1 Day at Mt. Norquay (Banff).

For my family of 5 this works out to a total of $3738 which is not bad when you consider the 24 ski days we will be getting at premier resorts plus our local season pass. This is actually saving us thousands of dollars. If I happen to make it to France with work during ski season I will definitely take advantage of the Chamonix benefit the Mountain Collective has too

 

[Sibhusky]

I like how you're saving money by ignoring all the transport and lodging costs.

 

[Nancy Hummel]

I like how you're saving money by ignoring all the transport and lodging costs.

Looks like a great season to me and an opportunity to ski at many different places without paying crazy lift ticket prices.

 

[dovski]

I like how you're saving money by ignoring all the transport and lodging costs.

I like to ski and am willing to travel, so this is something I already do. I save on transport and lodging costs by booking early, cooking our own meals vs. going out and using air miles. So not ignoring these costs, just being smart about it and working to minimize them. Doing this allows me to ski and travel a little more. Remember not all of us live next to a great mountain like you

 

[dovski]

Looks like a great season to me and an opportunity to ski at many different places without paying crazy lift ticket prices.[/QUO

Looks like a great season to me and an opportunity to ski at many different places without paying crazy lift ticket prices.

Tell me about it. Whistler just upped their daily ticket to $180 CDN and the discounted 2 day ticket at Vail is $400 US, so planning the year in advance and locking in cheap lodging/deals really lets us stretch our ski $$

 

[David Chaus]

I have a completely different take on this.
We ski every weekend at Alpental near Seattle, my kids are in the Freeride program there. So I start with the Snoqualmie Unlimited pass for $469. I then got a Mountain Collective add on pass for $249 ($1 for the kids).

Interesting, I wasn’t aware you could do an MCP add-on for Snoqualmie. I don’t see it on their website.

 

[David Chaus]

I got my use out of my MCP this year, 13 days:
Sun Valley x2, Snowbasin x3, Alta x2, Snowbird x2 on one trip,
Lake Louise x2 and Sunshine Village x2 on the trip I just completed.
$429/13 days = $33 per day of skiing. I can live with that.

The only advantage for me of an Ikon or Epic pass would be if I stayed longer at any one resort, which would probably limit the number of resorts I visited. So in all likelihood I would not have used an Ikon or Epic pass for more skiing days that I did with the MCP this year.

 

[Alexzn]

I actually don't know how you can fit a lot of ski travel if you have kids on teams. between all the training and semi-mandatory competition travel, there is hardly any room for going away. When both my kids competed, there was some racing or freeride event almost every other weekend. Of course for us going to Northstar for a race is "travel"

 

[MarkP]

you meant epic local right?
you can always call vail to change your pass and pay the difference if you bought the epic4.

Epic 4 is what I meant. 4 days at each resort are enough to cover my expected time in the Tahoe area and at WB as well as for any New England trip. The buddy and SWAF tixs only save $8-$24 each with respect to advanced online purchases for the mountains I plan on skiing (2017-18 season numbers), not covering the extra cost of moving up to the Local option.

 

[SKI-3PO]

I believe it’s 4 days total not 4 days at each resort.

 

[raytseng]

roger roger ski-3po.

 

[dovski]

Interesting, I wasn’t aware you could do an MCP add-on for Snoqualmie. I don’t see it on their website.

It was a special promo for those of us who bought our 18/19 passes early and you had to take advantage of it by April 6th. Absolute screaming deal as they gave you a coupon code to save $160 per adult pass and you could still get the $1 kids pass. So family of 5 came out to $599 versus regular early season price of $409 per adult. At those prices you have to do it

 

[dovski]

I got my use out of my MCP this year, 13 days:
Sun Valley x2, Snowbasin x3, Alta x2, Snowbird x2 on one trip,
Lake Louise x2 and Sunshine Village x2 on the trip I just completed.
$429/13 days = $33 per day of skiing. I can live with that.

The only advantage for me of an Ikon or Epic pass would be if I stayed longer at any one resort, which would probably limit the number of resorts I visited. So in all likelihood I would not have used an Ikon or Epic pass for more skiing days that I did with the MCP this year.

You Should check out the Whistler Edge Card as that is a great deal and if you buy it now you get free skiing until Dec 14th and then the additional days you paid for. You can also use some of your days at other Vail resorts. I did the math and I am going to spend about $30/day skiing at whistler 10 days plus get 2 days a Vail. Nice way to augment the Mountain collective. Edge card is only available to BC and WA residents