The upside of big corporations: they can offer killer deals on multiple resort destinations. Once Vail Resorts started offering the Epic Pass in 2008, good at six ski areas in Colorado and California, others took notice. Now even ski hills under separate ownership have partnered up. These are the best multi-resort passes in North America.
Best For: Western Powder Hounds
Last winter, Alta, Aspen/Snowmass, Jackson Hole, and Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows united to offer the Mountain Collective pass. This year it adds Snowbird, Whistler, and Mammoth Mountain. Which means you now get 12 days and a combined 30,376 acres at North America’s top resorts. This is particularly good news for snowboarders, who were shut out of skiers-only Alta last year and now have access to neighboring Snowbird. Plus, you get 50 percent off additional day tickets, and there are no blackout dates. ($379)
Best For: Alt-Mountain
Buy a full-season pass at any of the 12 participating resorts and get 33 days of skiing at 11 other cult favorites, including Bridger Bowl, Crested Butte, California’s Mountain High, Oregon’s Mount Hood Skibowl, Utah’s Snowbasin, Idaho’s Schweitzer, and Washington’s Stevens Pass, plus discounts on lodging and rentals. Fine print: you can’t redeem your 33 free tickets on Saturdays or holidays. From ($389)
Snowbird
Best For: Globetrotters
The Epic is still the one to beat for unlimited access to 28,797 total acres at posh resorts like Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, and California’s Heavenly, plus under-the-radar spots like California’s Kirkwood and Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin. This year’s pass is even better, thanks to the addition of Utah’s Canyons Resort, which has 4,000 powder-stuffed acres across nine mountain peaks and some of the best backcountry access in the Wasatch. And you still get five days in Verbier, Switzerland; Arlberg, Austria; and Les Trois Vallées, France. ($709)
Best For: Easy Access
Utah’s resorts are close to Salt Lake City, which is why the state has become the go-to escape for urban skiers across the country. Starting this winter, you can combine the 560 inches of annual snowfall at Alta and Snowbird with the manicured groomers and lively après of Deer Valley and Park City. With a season pass to one resort, you get three free days at the other three. Watch out for holiday blackout dates. (From $999)
Best For: Yanks
One pass gets you on 41 lifts and into 2,343 acres of tree skiing and cut trails at Maine’s Sugarloaf and Sunday River and at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire, plus lodging and lift-ticket discounts at Boyne Resorts’ legendary western ski areas, like Crystal Mountain in Washington, Utah’s Brighton, and Big Sky. ($1,055)
Deer Valley