Top Stories

Why does a daily lift ticket cost more than $200? Chairlifts, snowmaking, grooming, labor, and affordable housing all add up to drive the cost of a daily lift ticket as explained in this video from Wendover Productions.

The first deadline for savings on season pass prices for the 2020-2021 season is coming, and skiers and snowboarders will have to decide whether the low cost or the uncertainty of COVID-19 virus carries more weight.

Snowbird and Snowbasin Resort on Wednesday unveiled their compensation plans for season passholders whose spring skiing and snowboarding was cut short by COVID-19.

The uncertainty of when, where and for how long the COVID-19 outbreak will last has forced much of the country into flexible mode -- and the two behemoths in the multi-resort season pass business are no different.

After opening up sales for 2020-2021 passes in early March, both Epic Pass and Ikon Pass have evolved over the last month as conditions change.

As the mountain resort industry remains at a standstill amid the expanding coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in North America, Alterra Mountain Company has made adjustments to maintain financial viability.

I don’t usually get confused in public restrooms, but there I was in the men’s room at the Mangy Moose: totally stumped. It was December, Jackson Hole was beginning to see the storms of this winter’s historic snowfall, and the skiing was superb. Town morale should have been peaking. There in the urinal, however, was a bumper sticker to the contrary that read IKONnot Ski. I was immediately bummed. The attitude it reflects is pervasive: that multi-passes, specifically Ikon and Epic, are bad for skiing and bad for ski towns.

The multi-resort season pass gauntlet has been thrown down: The Ikon Pass goes on sale March 5 with a new four-day boutique "session pass" and additional East resorts coming into the fold.

It’s the time of year to ponder passes.  

Colorado's Arapahoe Basin Ski Area joins the Ikon pass for the 2019-20 season. Now Ikon Pass holders have access to snow at 40 global destinations, including six in Colorado.

Both the Epic Pass and Ikon Pass streamline skiing and riding costs during the winter. Now that summer's here, they switch gears to make warm-weather times in the mountains more affordable, too.

It looks to be a busy summer at resorts owned by Denver-based Alterra Mountain Co. as the firm begins to catch up on much-needed improvements both on and off the mountain.

The season pass landscape has erupted with options. Chief among them for access to worldwide areas are Ikon and Epic passes.

New this season, Sugarbush passholders will receive a limited number of “Ski with Me Tickets” allowing their friends and family to receive a 25 percent discount on window rate tickets. The lowest rates are available through May 8.

With a boffo snow year all across the nation, the multi-resort season passes earned their keep in 2018-2019 as skiers and riders hop-scotched around. Now, those same passes are up for sale for next season.

Alterra and Vail Resorts are going head to head snapping up resorts. Can they save skiing and make selling lift tickets a viable business?

The first mega-pass for skiing and snowboarding across North America and abroad goes on sale March 5, courtesy of Colorado-based Alterra Mountain Co.

As we bid a fond farewell to 2018, the editors at SnoCountry take a look at the news that shaped skiing and riding at mountain resorts across North America over the year.

Now part of the Alterra Mountain Company and the Ikon Pass, the quaint slopeside village and trails of southern Vermont’s Stratton will soon offer a new lift and restructured trails that benefit every level of skier and rider at the mountain.

Renovations all around at early-opening California ski and snowboard resorts – in restaurants, base lodges, bars and on the hill.

New England boasts six resorts for Ikon Pass holders, all within five hours of each other. With an easy flight into Boston, you can hit them all in six days. Here’s an inside look at the Northeast’s Ikon adventures.