You’ll have a hard time convincing anyone at ASO Mammoth that there’s a better mountain than Mammoth, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find us taking advantage of the Ikon pass and visiting other mountains.
Unless you’re lucky enough to chase winter around the world, then you have a limited window to ski or snowboard every year. Add in the fact that there are hundreds of ski resorts that have their own unique terrain and weather patterns and you can see why many people want to ski as often and at as many different mountains as possible during the winter. Annual ski passes that cover multiple mountains allow skiers and snowboarders to do just that. To help you make a decision about which pass is right for you, we’ve broken down three of the most popular passes below!
Call us biased, but it’s hard to deny that the Ikon pass is one of the best annual passes on the market.
The Ikon pass comes in two different options, the base pass and the full pass. Both offer access to 41 different ski mountains across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe, Asia, and South America, and this year the Ikon just added Zermatt Matterhorn to its family of mountains. You can literally travel the world with this pass, but if you ask us the most important mountain included under the Ikon pass is Mammoth Mountain of course.
So what’s the difference between the base pass and the full pass? The first difference you’ll want to know about is the price. The full pass costs $1,099 while the base pass costs $799. Next, the full pass gets 14 mountains with unlimited skiing and riding along with 7 days at 26 other mountains without any blackout dates. The base pass has a similar setup with unlimited skiing and riding at 12 mountains and 5 days at 28 other mountains but with blackout dates.
To access a full list of the Ikon’s destinations, click here.
Like the Ikon pass, the Epic pass offers two different passes with access to some of the best ski mountains in the world.
Although the Epic Pass offers more access to mountains in North America instead of around the world, the focus on mountains all across America makes this pass perfect for seeing what the US has to offer for skiers and snowboarders. For example, not only does the Epic pass cover Vail, Heavenly, and Mount Snow, but they just added Telluride for the 2019/20 season.
The Epic pass costs $989 and offers unlimited access to several resorts across the US along with 5-7 days of access to resorts in Canada, Japan, and Europe. The Epic Local Pass costs $739 and offers unlimited access to several US resorts, but also offers 2-10 days at several other resorts in the US and Japan with blackout dates. For more flexibility, check out the Epic Day Pass here.
Lastly, the Mountain Collective pass covers several resorts mostly focused in the American West and Rockies at the lowest price on this list.
In terms of pure numbers, the Mountain Collective pass gets you 36 days of skiing and snowboarding, at 18 mountains, on five different continents for a price of $509. To make things even better, Mountain Collective pass holders can plan their trips freely thanks to no blackout dates. Of course, it helps that the Mountain Collective pass also gives you access to Mammoth Mountain!