Buying An Epic Pass For Next Season? Now You Can Pay Over Time.

A massive price increase? More blackout dates? A cap on the number of passes sold? We’ve been waiting with anticipation on what Vail Resorts will roll out in regards to the 2022-’23 Epic Passes after a season marred by crowds, staff shortages, parking woes, and more at many of its ski areas. We finally have the answers, and in a nutshell, there are no major changes.

For the 2022-’23 season, Epic Pass prices increase, but only slightly. And aside from the addition of Pa.’s Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and Laurel, purchased mid-2021-’22 season, Sun Valley and Snowbasin moving to Ikon, expanded Epic Day Pass options, and a new monthly EpicFlex payment plan that lets skiers finance the cost of the pass, the resorts, access, and perks remain mostly unchanged. 

Surprising? Not really. It was a rocky season for Vail Resorts, starting when the company shocked the ski universe when it cut Epic Pass prices by 20 percent across the board—bringing the cost of the mega pass back to 2015-’16 rates but with access to 70-plus resorts rather than 11. Not surprisingly, skiers found this to be a heck of a deal, and Vail Resorts sold a record total of 2.1 million Epic Passes, a whopping 76 percent more than last season. (This number includes Epic Day passes.)

What happened next is well documented on this website as well as social media, and was really a perfect storm of ski-town issues exacerbated by the pandemic, compounded by low pass prices, and hammered home by a low-snow year in parts of the country.

Last week Vail Resorts took one big step in the right direction to address staff shortages, arguably the most pressing problem, and one that’s kept lifts and terrain from opening and skiers services from running at full capacity. By raising minimum wage to $20/hour (a 30-percent increase), as well as other initiatives aimed to attract and retain workers next season, the company hopes to get back in skiers’ good graces.

That, combined with massive resort updates that will either add or upgrade 19 lifts across 14 resorts for the 2022-’23 season, gives VR a fighting chance at getting things back on the right track. In the meantime, here are the full details of next seasons’ Epic Passes, on sale today.

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What’s New for 2022-’23

Pay Over Time With Epic FlexPay

Ikon has offered it for the last couple of seasons, and now Epic has jumped on board, offering four pay-over-time plans in three-, six-, nine-, and 12-month options. You don’t have to put any money down. The FlexPay plans populate when you put a pass product in your cart.

More Epic Day Pass Options

Vail Resorts continues to champion access throughout its passes, debuting a tiered approach to the Epic Day Pass with one- through seven-day options. Tier 1 access 22 resorts in the VR portfolio; Tier 2 includes 32 resorts; and Tier 3 features access to all 37 of Vail’s North American resorts. Pass prices range from $44 for one day on the Tier 1 plan to $555 for seven days—that’s $80 a day—on Tier 3, and you can choose to add holiday access at all tier levels if you plan to ski over the restricted blackout dates.

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Full Epic Pass

The full Epic Pass provides unlimited, blackout-free access to the following resorts.

United States

• Afton Alps, Min.
• Alpine Valley, Ohio
• Attitash Mountain Resort, N.H.
• Beaver Creek, Colo.
• Big Boulder, Pa.
• Boston Mills, Ohio
• Brandywine, Ohio
• Breckenridge, Colo.
• Crested Butte, Colo.
• Crotched Mountain, N.H.
• Heavenly, Calif./Nev.
• Hidden Valley, Mo.
• Hidden Valley, Pa.
• Hunter Mountain, N.Y.
• Jack Frost, Pa.
• Keystone, Colo.
• Kirkwood, Calif.
• Laurel Mountain, Pa.
• Liberty Mountain Resort, Pa.
• Mad River Mountain, Ohio
• Mount Snow, Vt.
• Mount Sunapee, N.H.
• Mt. Brighton, Min.
• Northstar, Calif.
• Okemo, Vt.
• Paoli Peaks, Ind.
• Park City, Utah
• Roundtop Mountain Resort, Pa.
• Seven Springs, Pa.
• Snow Creek, Mo.
• Stevens Pass, Wash.
• Stowe, Vt.
• Vail, Colo.
• Whitetail Resort, Pa.
• Wildcat Mountain, N.H.
• Wilmot, Wis.

Canada

• Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.

Southern Hemisphere

• Falls Creek, Australia
• Hothham, Australia
• Perisher, Australia

Epic Pass Limited Resort Access

In addition to the ski areas listed above, the full Epic Pass offers a limited number of days at participating resorts, then 50 percent off additional days. Please check out the Epic Pass website for the most up-to-date info.

United States (7 Days)

• Telluride, Colo.

Canada (7 Days)

• Fernie Alpine Resort, B.C.
• Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, B.C.
• Kimberley Alpine Resort, B.C.
• Mont-Sainte Anne, Qué.
• Nakiska Ski Area, Alb.
• Stoneham, Qué.

Europe

Note that many of these European ski resorts have special requirements in order to use an Epic Pass. For more information, please read the fine print on the Epic Pass website.

Les 3 Vallées, France (7 Days) 

• Val Thorens
• Méribel
• Courchevel
• Les Menuires
• Saint Martin de Bellevelle
• La Tania
• Orelle
• Brides-Les-Bains

Skirama Dolomiti, Italy (7 Days)

• Madonna di Campiglio
• Pinzolo
• Folgarida-Marilleva
• Pejo
• Ponte di Legno-Tonale
• Andalo-Fai della Paganella
• Monte Bondone
• Folgarida-Lavarone

4 Vallées, Switzerland (5 days)*

• Bruson
• Verbier
• La Tzoumaz
• Nendaz
• Veysonnaz
• Thyon

Ski Arlberg, Austria (3 Days)*

• Lech
• Zurs
• Stuben
• St. Christoph
• St. Anton

*Must book minimum 3 consecutive nights of lodging at participating property to redeem passes. Click here for more information.

Japan (5 Days)

• Able Hakuba Goryu
• Hakuba47 Winter Sports Park
• Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field
• Hakuba Cortina Snow Resort
• Hakuba Happo-One Snow Resort
• Hakuba Norikura Onsen Snow Resort
• Jiigatake Snow Resort
• Kashimayari Ski Resort
• Tsugaike Kogen Snow Resort
• Rusutsu

Epic Pass Price Information

• Adult (13+): $841 (from $783 this season)
• Kids (12 and under): $428

Restrictions

• No blackout dates at any of the limited or unlimited locations above for the full Epic Pass.

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Epic Local Pass

Epic Local pass holders get unlimited, blackout-free access at these resorts.

United States

• Afton Alps, Min.
• Alpine Valley, Ohio
• Attitash Mountain Resort, N.H.
• Big Boulder, Pa.
• Boston Mills, Ohio
• Brandywine, Ohio
• Breckenridge, Colo.
• Crested Butte, Colo.
• Crotched Mountain, N.H.
• Hidden Valley, Mo.
• Hidden Valley, Pa.
• Hunter Mountain, N.Y.
• Jack Frost, Pa.
• Keystone, Colo.
• Laurel Mountain, Pa.
• Liberty Mountain Resort, Pa.
• Mad River Mountain, Ohio
• Mount Snow, Vt.
• Mount Sunapee, N.H.
• Mt. Brighton, Min.
• Okemo, Vt.
• Paoli Peaks, Ind.
• Roundtop Mountain Resort, Pa.
• Seven Springs, Pa.
• Snow Creek, Mo.
• Stevens Pass, Wash.
• Whitetail Resort, Pa.
• Wildcat Mountain, N.H.
• Wilmot, Wis.

Restricted Access on the Epic Local Pass

Epic Local pass holders get blackout-restricted access the these resorts.

United States

• Beaver Creek, Colo.*
• Heavenly, Calif.
• Kirkwood, Calif.
• Northstar, Calif.
• Stowe Mountain, Vt.
• Park City, Utah
• Vail, Colo.*

Canada

• Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.*
  

*The Epic Local pass provides 10 days combined at Beaver Creek and Vail, and 10 days at Whistler Blackcomb.

Blackout dates
Nov. 25-26, 2022
Dec. 26-31, 2022
Jan. 14, 2023
Feb. 18-19, 2023

Epic Local Pass Price Information

• Adult: $841: $626 (from $583 this season)
• Teen (13-18): $506
• Kids (12 and under): $325

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Epic Pass Perks

• EpicFlex Pay, new for next season, allows you to defer payments to September with no money down. You can choose between three-, six-, nine-, and 12-month plans.
• Epic Coverage is included in all passes and covers qualifying personal events including injury and job loss.
• 20 percent off lodging, dining, lessons, and more at Vail Resorts locations in North America. Learn more here.
• 20 percent off guided cat skiing in Keystone and Whistler Blackcomb’s heliskiing packages.
• 10 Buddy Pass tickets, offering up to 45 percent off window rates. Purchase by April 21 for Buddy Pass inclusion.
• 6 Ski With A Friend (SWAF) Tickets of varying discounts. Learn more here.

For more information and details about the various regional passes, including the Northeast Value and Tahoe Local passes, visit the Epic Pass web page.