In the battle for the ultimate season pass the Resorts of the Canadian Rockies have chosen a team. The Calgary based resort conglomerate adds its roster of Canadian hills – Fernie Alpine Resort, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, Kimberley Alpine, Nakiska, Stoneham and Mont Sainte Anne – to Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass.
They join Colorado’s Telluride and nine resorts in Japan’s Hakuba Valley as new additions to the pass for 2018-2019. The Epic Pass now includes unrestricted access to 15 Vail Resorts, including Whistler-Blackcomb, and limited access to 46 other ski hills, including the RCR owned hills.
According to a press release the US$899 full pass includes:
“Full access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado; Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood at Lake Tahoe; Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont; Afton Alps in Minnesota; Mt. Brighton in Michigan; Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin; Whistler Blackcomb in Canada; and Perisher in Australia for the 2019 season. New for the 2018-19 season, Epic Pass holders will receive seven days of skiing or snowboarding with no blackout dates at Telluride in Colorado and at Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (Fernie Alpine Resort, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and Kimberley Alpine Resort in British Columbia, Nakiska in Alberta, and Mont Sainte Anne and Stoneham in Quebec), and five total consecutive days with no blackout dates at Hakuba Valley’s nine ski resorts in Japan. The Epic Pass also grants limited access to Les 3 Vallées, Paradiski and Tignes-Val D’Isere in France; 4 Vallées in Switzerland; Arlberg in Austria and Skirama Dolomiti in Italy.”
Three other pass options give more restricted numbers of days for reduced pricing.
The other two major multi-area ski passes now pale in comparison. The Mountain Collective includes two days at 16 ski hills, including Banff’s Big Three (Lake Louise, Sunshine Village and Norquay) and Revelstoke Mountain Resort for US$429. More like the Epic Pass, the Ikon Pass is a season’s pass good at 12 resorts, including Blue Mountain and Tremblant. In addition there’s limited access at the Banff hills and Revelstoke Mountain Resort, as well as early booking privileges and summer hiking discounts for CMH Heli-Skiing. In total Ikon covers some skiing at 26 North American resorts for US$899.
RYAN REPORT is a frequent web post by Ski Canada magazine’s technical editor, Ryan Stuart.
