The winter ski season is still underway, but resorts in Utah and elsewhere are ready to start selling multi-resort passes for the 2019-2020 season.
Utah’s Snowbasin Resort and Idaho’s Sun Valley Resort announced Tuesday that they will partner on a joint season pass, the Sun and Snow Pass, for the 2019-2020 season. It will go on sale Friday.
The Sun and Snow Pass offers three days of skiing and riding at each resort, and 50 percent off the daily lift ticket rate after that. The passes are $359 for adults and $89 for children age 12 and under, if bought between Friday and May 31. From June 1 to Labor Day, the price is $399 for adults and $99 for kids.
Snowbasin and Sun Valley also are joining the Epic Pass program, the pass offered by Vail Resorts — which includes Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort among its destinations in 10 states, Canada, Australia and Japan, as well as locations in Europe.
It looks like Epic — which pioneered the multi-resort concept 10 years ago — will have one less location to offer next winter. According to a recent report in the Colorado Sun, that state’s Arapahoe Basin resort is dropping out of the Epic lineup, ending a 10-year deal with Vail Resorts. Crowding, particularly in the parking areas, was the main reason it cited for ending the partnership.
Epic Pass has not announced when its 2019-2020 passes will go on sale, or for how much. A call to Vail Resorts was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Alterra Mountain Company, which operates 13 ski destinations including Utah’s Solitude and Deer Valley resorts, announced it will start selling its Ikon Pass and Ikon Base Pass for next season — its third year — on Tuesday, March 5.
A consortium of companies accept the Ikon passes at 38 ski destinations in 12 states — including Deer Valley, Solitude, Alta, Snowbird and Brighton in Utah — as well as four Canadian provinces, and resorts in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Chile.
The Ikon Pass allows unlimited access at 14 destinations — Solitude is among them — and 7-day or 7-day-combined access at the others, including Deer Valley, Brighton, Alta and Snowbird. The Ikon Base Pass has unlimited access to 12 sites, including Solitude (though with holiday blackout dates), and 5-day or 5-day-combined access (with blackout dates) at the others.
The Ikon Pass for 2019-2020 is $949 for adults (23 or older) on their first pass, or $919 for renewals; $699 for first-time young adults (13 to 22), or $679 for renewals; $299 for children 5 to 12, or $199 if bought with an adult pass (limit two); and $49 for children 4 and under.
The Ikon Base Pass is $649 for adults (23 or older) on their first pass, or $619 for renewals; $499 for first-time young adults (13 to 22), or $489 for renewals; $259 for children 5 to 12, or $159 if bought with an adult pass (limit two); and $49 for children 4 and under.
Deer Valley, in addition to taking part in the Ikon program, announced Tuesday it will start selling its own passes for 2019-2020 starting Tuesday, March 5. The adult pass, for ages 23 to 64, are $2,365 if bought by Oct. 16. (Prices for young adults, seniors, students, children, and military and locals-only discounts can be found at the resort’s website.)
