Vail Resorts Epic Pass

[jim-ratliff]

Lynn and I bought the Epic pass last year for $619 (and got $100 of store credit at the local store that was reselling them).  The motivation then was that we knew she had a weeks Ob-Gyn Continuing Ed at Beaver Creek.  We were very pleased with the "effective rate" of lift tickets for the number of days that we skied.

And even though we don't plan to do all of our skiing in Colorado next year (thinking of a Lake Tahoe trip and I always like Utah), we still decided that we were going to get them again.  The current deal for a "Local Pass" gives unlimited skiing at the Summit County and Lake Tahoe resorts, and 10 days combined at Vail and Beaver Creek for $479.  And that includes the two Lake Tahoe resorts.  Too good a deal to pass up, we decided.  There are restrictions associated with the busy times (Christmas, MLK, etc) but we never go out there at those time anyway.

Oh, and as part of the Epic Pass you get registered for their Epic MIX which tracks you on every lift you enter and gives you lifts ridden and total vertical skied for each day by logging onto their web site.  It was fun to logon to MIX each day and track where Lynn and Heidi were skiing while they were at Beaver Creek, and the data was amazingly up to date (less than 1 hours delay).

Just saying!      Ohhh, and I guess I should confess that it was the AdSense ads at the top that got us thinking about it.

PS.  So Lake Tahoe experts (jbotti, phil, snowhot, ??).  Whats the better time of year to have good snow in the FAR west.

[jbotti]

Tahoe snow comes in large dumps and at times it can be weeks between storms. Because Tahoe starts at 6000 feet (not that high) and because it is roughly where North Carolina is on the east coast, Tahoe gets more than its fair share of warm sunny days in the middle of winter and this really damages the snow. It is impossible to know in advance when these stretches will arrive. This was the biggest year on record at Squaw and they got around 12 inches of snow for the entire month of January. Go figure!!

Generally November the resorts are rarely open due to lack of snow. December for the the past 6-7 years has been very spotty. Usually by around Christmas enough snow shows up and saves the day (last year was the first good December and November in many years). January , February and March are usually solid and if I had to pick a time in advance I would go late Jan into early Feb.  From MLK weekend up to Presidents Day weekend would be the month that I would focus on.

Squaw has a great feature on its site and gives daily snowfall for each seaosn going back 10 or so years. Here is the link:

http://www.squaw.com/snowfall-tracker-2010-11

[Svend]

Hmmm....season's passes, eh? That's a good deal -- only $600 and change.  Nice.  Now you've got me thinking that we should do that for Banff.  Terryl and I must have each spent close to or more than that on lift tickets at Louise and Sunshine this year.  But.....they too have season's passes in the $600 range....will check them out and see if they're usable throughout all three resorts in the park.  Makes a long weekend trip actually seem feasible.  Jim, you Da Man!

[jim-ratliff]

Why thank you Sir Viking.   


It seemed like a hard decision last year, but 19 of my 25 days were out there (and 4-5 more than that for Lynn), so my $619 purchase was a daily lift ticket of $32. 


That made this years decision much easier by comparison, even though we expect to ski fewer days there.


This years ticket is more restrictive (only allows 10 total days at Vail/Beaver Creek) and restricts the popular holiday periods, but price is also $479 instead of $619 for the less restrictive package last year.  Even a one week vacation of 6 ski days is break even or better (most of the daily prices are close to $100.

Shop around, you might be surprised how aggressive some resorts can be for an early season commitment.

[jbotti]

Squaw for years held firm at $1100-1200 for a full pass (no retsrictions). Now you can buy a full pass for $699 and a restricted pass for $399. Yes lots of good deals out there at this time of year.

[LivingProof]

Well, Jim, you've got me thinking about making the investment.

The Epic Gathering is at Tahoe in late February, Phil and Snow Hot, are the "Gathermeisters" and I had a great experience last year both skiing and meeting a bunch of great people. It's high on the agenda for next year, and, I finally get to Tahoe. Plus, JB is there and we can finally make some turns, unless he's in Montana. Are all Tahoe resorts included?

A wish list item is to get back to Summit Co sometime, so it would work for that trip. Some friends from last years gathering are at Vail each year. If nothing else shows up, that would work. Plus Southwest Airlines Philly to Denver and Reno works for cheap airfare.

Skiing decisions are a good thing.

My full season pass at local Blue Mtn cost $415 for next season and that's a done deal.

[jim-ratliff]

The Epic Gathering is at Tahoe in late February, Phil and Snow Hot, are the "Gathermeisters" and I had a great experience last year

Actually, Lynn and I are considering the Epic Gathering as well, and I've wanted to ski around Lake Tahoe for a few years now.

The Epic Pass is only for the Vail Resorts family (A-Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek, Heavenly, and now Northstar) and most plans have some restrictions as to where and when you can use the pass.

So a Harb camp, a week in Colorado, Epic, and a long weekend in Utah or Big Sky might be our season next year.  Whoops, but then there is the desire to have the third annual PMTS East (Meput, Todd, et.al.) in New Hampshire.

Too many ski desires, too little time.

[meput]

Whoops, but then there is the desire to have the third annual PMTS East (Meput, Todd, et.al.) in New Hampshire.

Hey, what happened to the possibility of the PMTS East gathering being in Maine ??!!??

[midwif]

Jim 2

It's in the hands of Dan, the east coast PMTS gathermeister (yes, ripping that off of epic),
where the ultimate destination will be.
I have to admit that Maine is quite a schlep for me and especially, Jim 1.

But, will try to make it if that is the "chosen" spot, as long as the schedule stars align.
Lynn

[ToddW]

Does the Epic pass work in the Alps?  I've had prophetic visions that Lynn's skis are going to Hintertux next season ... with or without her. 

Seriously, the Hintertux camp is a great experience and not much harder to get to than Colorado or Utah if you're based on the East coast (8 hours from JFK vs 4 hours to Denver.)  Great instruction, good beer, 5 course meals, an excellent group of campers, and stunning views add up to a great deal.

[midwif]

Hintertux is on the "bucket" list. But probably not next year.
Unless you talk me into it Todd!

My daughter graduates next June, so the wallet should be able to consider it more fully for the year following.

[meput]

Hintertux is on the "bucket" list. But probably not next year.
Unless you talk me into it Todd!

Talk us all into it ! Sounds like a great idea!   

Todd, your job is to convince us all that Hintertux is our best skiing investment for the winter of '11/'12. You have all summer to carry out this task. We all will benefit from a "skiing thought of the day" everyday on why we should all go to Hintertux. Remember: Sell, Sell, Sell...

[midwif]

Wellllll......
If the gang is headed that way, how could I say no???
If at least 4 others commit, I will request that week of vacation off.

The pressure is on Todd.......
Sell, sell, sell....
 

[ToddW]

[ToddW]