How To Choose the Best Season Pass for Your Family

• How to Choose a Season Pass Based on Where You Ski
• How to Choose the Best Season Pass for Holiday Travel
• Epic or Ikon: Which Season Pass Offers the Best Perks?
• How To Choose A Multipass Based on Your Skill Level
• What’s the Best Season Pass for Storm Chasers and Frequent Fliers?

Raising a ski family is not for the faint of heart. It’s expensive, exhausting … and one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do. Both Epic and Ikon passes have plenty of family skiing, but they’re not equal when it comes to pass discounts and the learning terrain on tap. Here’s how it breaks down on the Epic Pass and the Ikon Pass, and what else to consider when trying to hook your crew on the best family pastime in the world.

Which Pass Offers the Best Value for Families?

Families with kids, teens, and young adults are in luck this year. Pretty much all of the big passes have honed in on those age groups as demographics where they need to beef up pass sales. Accordingly, prices have either remained steady or dropped slightly from past years. For the Epic Pass, prices for kids 5 through 12 years old are $555, then it rises to $869 for teens and young adults ages 13-30.

A kids Ikon Pass is going for $478 for next season, plus Ikon offers $100 off with purchase of an adult pass (see below). However, a young adult Ikon Pass (13-22) jumps to $1,178, and, starting at 23, skiers pay for full Ikon Passes at $1,678 a pop. That said, Ikon is offering a new perk for young adults 23-28: The Squad Pack offers $199 off of each pass for a group of five who buy their Ikon Base passes together. That brings the cost down to $750 each.

Epic doesn’t offer a child discount with adult purchase, but it does have its Epic SchoolKids program, offering free skiing at certain resorts. This can be useful depending on where you live and how often you plan to ski. 

What’s more, on Epic, kids under 5 ski free, but cost $238 on Ikon.

Ikon Child Pass Discount

This is a good deal that gets families up to $200 off their total pass purchase. You can get $100 off your child’s pass with the purchase of an adult Ikon Pass or $50 off with the purchase of an adult Ikon Base. There’s a maximum of two adult/child pass discounts, so if you have more than two kids, you have to pay full price for the rest. The child discount is a limited-time offer, so act soon.

Epic SchoolKids

Vail Resorts rolled out the Epic SchoolKids program in 2015 initially with the Colorado and Utah packs, but it’s since expanded to include B.C. With the SchoolKids programs, kindergarten through fifth graders in Colorado get four days of skiing each at Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge, and Crested Butte, while Utah and B.C./Washington kids get five days respectively at Park City and Whistler Blackcomb. You have to provide proof of residency and grade, rendering Epic SchoolKids useful only to families who live near these resorts, but free skiing is a great deal if it applies to your brood.

Best Value for Families with Young Kids

For families who need unlimited days at their local resort, the Ikon Pass reigns, as the discounted child pass with adult purchase is useful to more skiers.

Best Value for Families with Teens and Young Adults

Epic Pass and Epic Local, for ages 13-30, which is are $869 and 649, respectively, compared to Ikon’s $1,198 for the full Ikon (and a painful $1,678 for the 23-plus crowd) and $814 for the Base

Also Consider

Many ski states offer a free “passport” for 4th, 5th, or 6th graders for a small administrative fee. Look for details in early fall at organizations including Ski Vermont, Colorado Ski Country USA, and Ski Utah.

Which Pass Offers More Family-Friendly Resorts?

All ski resorts have enough beginner terrain for new skiers, but where Epic has pulled away from Ikon is in the amount of “feeder” resorts on its passes. These small regional ski areas are located throughout the Midwest and the East, and provide a less intimidating learning experience than, say, a Whistler or an Aspen. Places like Pennsylvania’s Liberty, Whitetail, and Jack Frost, and Ohio’s Alpine Valley, Brandywine, and Boston Mills. There are even dedicated passes to just the Ohio ski areas (only $449), and other regional resorts to keep skiing affordable for families at their nearest slopes.

Elsewhere on Epic, when families are ready for bigger resorts, Okemo, Vt., Keystone, Colo., and Northstar, Calif. are all known for their ski schools, beginner terrain, and family programming.

Ikon’s resort all have plenty of beginner and intermediate terrain. Copper Mountain, for one, is known for its naturally separated slopes that keep newer skiers insulated from everyone else. Winter Park’s Galloping Goose lift serves the green runs at the bottom of Mary Jane and tickets are just $10. Sun Valley has its own separate beginner mountain, Dollar Mountain, designed for new skiers. And in southern Calif., Ikon’s Snow Valley is known for its beginner terrain and learning facilities.

Best Terrain for Families

Epic Pass, with a higher number of smaller ski areas and more pass options aimed toward hooking people onto the sport.

Also Consider

The Indy Pass is an affordable option for families, especially those living in the Midwest, where there are 35-plus Indy Pass ski areas to choose from.