This season, Vail Resorts sold fewer Epic Passes than the year before for the first time in the product’s 17-year history. Early-season Epic Passes started at $982 and rose to $1,107 by December, and Ikon opened at $1,299 and climbed to $1,449. As multi-resort passes get pricier, those seeking a break from crowded mountains are the first to make a move to smaller ski areas.

Smaller mountains, like Powderhorn, offer early-season passes for $429, with access to five other resorts. Andy Daly, who used to run Vail Resorts, pointed out that these places offer far more terrain per skier, which matters to both older skiers and those who find a weekend at resorts such as Copper Mountain or Vail too intimidating. With ski towns left to impose higher taxes on themselves to make up for the influx of visitors, and smaller multi-resort passes becoming increasingly available, it will be interesting to see whether more skiers leave the mega passes behind for a calmer experience on the mountain.

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This information was sourced from Real Vail. The original article can be found here: https://www.realvail.com/democratization-or-ruination-a-deep-dive-on-impacts-of-multi-resort-ski-passes-on-ski-towns/a21314/