Skiing With Kids: Expert Tips for Ski Parents

Choosing the RIGHT Season Pass for Next Season

• Jessica • Season 1 • Episode 13

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Episode Summary

Skiing with kids is expensive — and buying the wrong season pass can cost your family hundreds of dollars before you ever click into a binding. In this episode, Jessica Averett, a PSIA-certified ski instructor and ski mom of five, breaks down the four major multi-resort passes (Ikon, Epic, Mountain Collective, and Indy) so you can stop guessing and start skiing with a real plan. She covers every tier, every price point, and the exact questions every ski parent needs to ask before buying.

What You'll Learn

  • The critical difference between the full Ikon Pass and the Ikon Base Pass — and which one is actually the better deal for your family based on when and where you ski
  • How Epic's new teen and young adult pricing changes the family math, and how to decide between the full Epic Pass and the Epic Local Pass when you're trying to teach kids to ski without breaking the bank
  • Which passes deliver the best family skiing tips for specific regions — Utah, Colorado, Vermont, and California — so you stop paying for resorts you'll never use
  • Why the Mountain Collective is ideal for families who travel intentionally to world-class mountains, and why the Indy Pass is the smartest option for children learning to ski at smaller, less crowded resorts
  • The one thing every ski parent must do before the price goes up — and why spring is the only time to buy

Resources & Links

Key Takeaway

"The right pass is the one that matches how and where your family actually skis — not the one with the most resorts on the brochure."

Skiing with Kids is hosted by Jessica Averett, a ski instructor and mom of five who has spent more than 20 years helping kids learn to ski. This podcast helps parents create calmer, happier ski days by focusing on confidence, connection, and simple strategies that actually work with kids on the mountain.  She's the founder of First Tracks: A Parent's Guide to Teaching Kids to Ski, a course that walks parents through everything they need to know to skip overpriced ski school and confidently teach their own kids to ski.

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Welcome to Skiing with Kids. I'm your host Jessica, a ski instructor, mom of five, and someone who's seen just about every ski day meltdown that you can imagine. After 20 years of teaching kids on the mountain, I've learned that great ski days aren't about perfect technique. They're about confidence, connection, and knowing what actually works. And this podcast is where we break it all down. Today we are talking about season passes, and as a sche mom of five and someone who has spent more hours than I care to admit, researching ski passes, running the math and trying to figure out where every ski dollar goes on the mountain. I know this might sound like a dry topic, it's like spreadsheet stuff, like the fine print, but I promise if you're a ski family, understanding all your options for season passes is one of the most important things you can do to prepare for your ski season Now. All of these ski passes have just started going on sale in the spring. They pre-sell them at the lowest prices of the season with the best bonuses. So I wanna go through the options right now because the right pass for your family can save you hundreds. Sometimes even thousands of dollars. Now the wrong pass can leave you locked out of your favorite resort on a holiday weekend when you really wanna go skiing with your family or even paying full window price because you hit your day limit. So we're gonna break down the four big multi resort passes, the icon pass. Epic Pass Mountain Collective and the Indie Pass. For each one of these passes, I'm gonna walk you through the different tiers within that pass because both Icon and Epic have multiple versions at very different price points. And I also will share you with you the specific family and teen pricing that you need to know so that you get the best bang for your buck. Then we're gonna talk about which regions each pass is strongest in, and at the end, I'm gonna give you my honest take on which pass is best for which kind of family. There's a lot to cover. Here we go. Before we get into the specifics of passes, I wanna talk about something that applies to every single pass that we're going to discuss today. And this is the family math. Now when you're buying solo, you are buying one pass and you're moving on. When you're a ski family, you're potentially buying 4, 5, 6, or if you're me, seven passes at once and the costs multiply really fast. So the decisions that you make here, which pass, which tier and when to. They have an outsized impact on your family budget. And now here's what I want every ski parent to be thinking about before they buy anything. How many days are you actually going to ski next season? Not how many you hope to ski, not how many you idealistically would ski, but how many will you realistically ski? Because the economics of every pass will hinge on that number. Which resorts do you actually ski at? Not which ones are on the brochure that look awesome. The ones that you can drive to, the ones your kids know, the ones you'll actually use. Do you care about holiday access? This could be a big one for families who don't wanna pull their kids out of school too much. If you're skiing Christmas Week, Martin Luther King Weekend and President's Weekend, let's be honest, those are peak family ski times and the past here that you choose matters enormously. A lot of lower tier passes will black out those dates entirely, and others will let you in, but require advanced reservations and they can sell out months ahead. Also, how old are your kids? This matters more than you might ever, than ever right now because both Icahn and Epic have made significant moves this season on Teen and Child Pass pricing. We're gonna talk all about that later. And finally, buy early. Another thing to factor in is what type of skiing does your family like to do? If you're just starting out and you're typically doing easy groomers, you're not gonna be interested in a past that is appealing to someone who wants to go to extreme resorts. Okay, so think about where you wanna ski and what kind of terrain you're looking for so that you can decide that. And finally, by early, every single pass on this list has the lowest price in the spring, not the fall, not when the snow starts flying spring. The moment these passes go on sale is the cheapest that they will ever be. And I will repeat this more than once today because this is important. Also, several of these passes have special bonuses that you can get if you buy them in the spring that you won't be able to get in the fall. Okay, let's talk all about the passes. Now. Let's start with the icon pass. The Icon Pass is the one that I get asked the most about from families in my area, and it makes sense because if you're skiing in Utah, Colorado, or California, the icon lineup is actually really exceptional. But before we talk about resorts, let's talk about tiers because the icon Pass actually comes in three different flavors. Okay, so let's start with the full icon pass. This is the flagship and for the 26 27 season, it starts at 1399 for adults. Um, you get unlimited skiing at 18 destinations and up to seven days at 56 additional resorts, no holiday blackouts and access to over 76 resorts worldwide. This is the past for families who ski often ski hard, who wanna ski over the holidays without restrictions. And who wanna be able to wake up any day of the year and just go. Now the icon based pass is the next tier down. It starts at 9 45, 9 49 for adults, um, which is $450 less than the full pass. Now you'll still get access to most of the same resorts. But with a few differences, you're limited to five, not seven days at non unlimited destinations. And if you have holiday blackout dates, um, Christmas week specifically, uh, December 26th to the 30th, plus Mark Martin Luther King weekend and President's weekend. If your family skis those dates, the base pass won't work for you because you are gonna be blacked out then. Now if you don't care about skiing, then um, personally I recommend avoiding those times because it is when the ski resorts are the absolute most crowded, and it's always like a nightmare taking your kids there when it's that crowded. So if you don't care about that and you can ski some of those more off peak times, this could save your family a significant amount of money. Now Icon also has what they call their session passes, and those start at 2 99 for adults and it's gonna give you anywhere from two to four days at different icon destinations. It's not a great fit for a lot of ski families who are going a lot as their primary pass. But it could be a good add-on for a parent who maybe doesn't ski as much of the rest as the rest of the family. Or if you're taking, getting a pass to maybe a local hill and you know you're gonna just take one ski trip to a bigger destination. Now family and teen pricing, which is where things get really interesting. This season are great for Icon Kids 12 and under have their own pricing tier. And for the 26 27 season icon introduced a new family pricing structure. Um, so if you buy an adult icon pass, you will save a hundred dollars on each child passes on each child pass. Um, so child passes with icons start as low as 2 49. So if you have three kids that are 12 and under, you're looking at $300 in extra savings just from the family pricing alone, right? Um, kids 400 have a really, really cheap option. Just kind of have to pay a processing fee Now for teens, icon has historically priced teens, uh, 13 to 22 at a discounted tier. That's notably cheaper than adult pricing, but more than child pricing. Um, the icon base pass for teens is 6 79 this year, and the icon full pass for teens is 9 99. Now, unfortunately, the age cutoff for child pricing is based on your kids' age as of December 31st. So if you are like me and have kids who have spring birthdays and you're hoping that you can get them in when they're 12 and not quite thir 13. In the kid pricing. That is not going to work. Let me tell you, that was really heartbreaking for me because that's gonna hit us really hard next season. Um, also, you know, a thousand dollars for my 13-year-old season pass feels like a lot, but um, just really enjoy those times when your kid is in the seat, the that kid tier under 12 because they can save so much money. Let's talk about the epic pass next, because Vail keeps spreading and spreading. Um, an epic pass is Vail's Vail Resorts product, and for the 26 27 season, they've made a few moves on pricing, especially for teens and young adults. And these are important to know about when you're making your decision. Now the full Epic Pass is 1080 $9 for adults, 31 and older. Now, I think it's crazy that they are not considering 30 year olds adults, but whatever. Just take advantage of this. Um, this is the flagship no blackout date pass, giving you unlimited access to 42 Vail owned resorts, plus various levels of access to their partner resorts worldwide. And they have over 90 of those destinations. Now, here's where it gets really interesting for families, teens and young adults. 13 through 30, pay 8 69 for the full epic pass. That's a 20% discount over the adult price. Now this is new for the 26, 27 season and a pretty good deal. So if you have a teenager, a college student, whatever, the full epic pass for them costs $220 less than it does for you. Now kids ages five through 12. Pay 5 55 for the full Epic Pass and Kids four and Under Ski free at Vail Resorts. So let's run the math on that. For a family of four, let's say two adults at 10 89 each one, teen at 8 69, and one kid at 5 55, that's gonna cost you $3,602 for four Epic passes with no blackout dates. That's very significant. But compared to buying. Window tickets, you know, at Vail or Breckenridge, where a single day is gonna run you anywhere from like 280 to $350. This family could break even in just a few days. Right now, the Epic Local Pass is the more budget friendly tier for adults 31 and over. It's 8 0 9 for teens and young adults. It's 6 49 and kids five to 12. It's 4 25. Now here's what you get. You're gonna get unlimited blackout free access at 29 resorts, including. Breckenridge, Keystone, Crested Butte, and 10 other days combined at other Vail Mountains like Vail itself, beaver Creek Whistler, and you're gonna get some holiday restrictions at Resorts Light, Kevin Lee, park City, and a few others. Now, the blackout dates on the Epic Local Pass are Thanksgiving weekend, the week after Christmas, Martin Luther King weekend and President's Weekend. Pretty much the same dates as you're gonna find for being blacked out on the Icon Pass, right on the icon Base Pass. Now, the big question for families is the full Epic Pass or the Epic Local Pass. If your family, um, mostly skis at like Breckenridge or Keystone and you don't need to ski Veil or Beaver Creek over the holidays, the Epic Local Pass is a very solid value. You're saving $280 per adult. 2 20 14 and one 30 per kid versus the full pass price. Now I'm just gonna let you know, like I said before when I was talking about the icon pass, those times that those resorts are blacked out are also the worst possible times to ski with kids. Um, having so much experience skiing Park City during those blackout dates and instructing there, I can tell you that is not a place that you wanna be with your kids unless you really love waiting in long lines. Now for a family of four, who mostly is going to be skiing those, um, Colorado Front range resorts, you know, Breckenridge Keystone, um, the Epic Local Pass could save you $700 total, right? But if Christmas week is your annual family ski trip, the Epic Local Pass is gonna block you out. Um, know your dates before you buy, right? Uh, if I were you, I would recommend, hey, maybe get that Epic local pass and go the week before Christmas when it's less crowded. Now, one perk that both of these Epic passes shares is that early buyers this season get 10, um, epic Friends tickets. They used to call 'em Buddy Passes, um, which give 50% off lift tickets for additional guests. Or, uh, 25% off the kids lift tickets. So that can be a good value for families. Maybe if your extended family or friends don't have enough passes and just wanna join you for a day or two. Right now, if Epic and Icon, you know, are the big corporations, the Mountain Collective. Is what I'd like to call the premium independent option. It's built around some of the most iconic independent resorts in North America, and it operates completely differently from those other mega passes. Now here's how the Mountain Collective Pass works. You have one price, only one tier. It's 6 69 per adult for the 26 27 season. And kid passes start at 2 39. Kids 500 are free. Now for that, you're gonna get two days at each of two seven. Resorts worldwide with zero blackout days. You can also buy unlimited additional days at 50% off the window ticket rate for any of those resorts. Right now there's no blackout restrictions on any of those days either. And the resort list on the Mountain Collective is absolutely incredible. Um, we're talking Aspen Snowmass, Jackson Hole. Alta Snowbird, big Sky. Grand Targe Revel, snow Revels, Stokes Snow Basin, sun Valley, Taos, Sugarloaf, so many incredible resorts. Now, these resorts are largely independent, non-corporate mountains, and they tend to be less crowded and more snow focused. They also all have something else in common. They have really expensive window ticket prices. Um, Jackson Hole and Aspen regularly charge close to $300 for a single day. Now two free days at each plus half price extras starts looking really attractive, really fast for a family of four, doing one trip to Jackson Hole and one trip to Aspen in the same season. This pass is gonna pay for itself and then some. Now the Mountain Collective is simplest to understand. You either ski those mountains or you don't. No tears to decode. No comparing like the base versus the full pass. Um, the mountain list matches where your family travels. It's a clean, transparent deal. Now, one thing to note for families is there is a 25% friends and family discount on single day lift tickets, up to eight tickets per season with a few holiday blackout dates. Now, it's not the same level of savings as like an icon or epic deal, but it helps when extra family members are visiting for the day. Now if you do just have maybe one big ski trip planned for the season where you're skiing away from home, it might make sense for you to just buy a regular pass at one local mountain and then get something like the Mountain Collective so that you can have that iconic, um, travel ski experience with your family. Now the Indie Pass is definitely the underdog of the group, and honestly, it might be one of the best kept secrets in family skiing. Now here's the pitch. It's 3 99 for the Indie plus pass. The flagship, no blackout version, you're gonna get two days at each of over 300 independent ski resorts. Now the Indie Base Pass offers the same two day access, but with holiday blackout dates, and you're gonna get a little bit lower price point. Now kids under 12 pay just over $200 for the Indie Plus Pass and 1 69 for the base pass. Now there are also a few add-ons that you can get, which is for families who already have a season pass at like an indie partner mountain, and that's gonna drop the price to 2 69 for adults and 1 69 for kids. Now if you already buy a local season pass at an indie mountain, you can stack this on top for a really great value for some travel ski days in there. You can also get a learn to turn pass for 180 9, all ages six and up, and that is three full days, including lessons and rentals. So if you're a family with a brand new little skier, this is an extraordinary value because you're basically getting a full start to ski package for less than the cost, the cost of a window ticket at a resort like Vail for your kid. Um, so if your family's like, oh, I think that this is the year I'm gonna take the plunge, the indie passes awesome. Now the Indy Pass is built on a philosophy of skiing at independent owned mountains. Many of them are family run operations and they prioritize a low key uncrowded experience over like the corporate mega passes that you're gonna see at like these icon and epic resorts. Now, these are the mountains that feel like skiing used to feel like when I was growing up for a Vermont family. The Indie Pass has excellent coverage with JP Peak. Burke Mountain and others, so you'll kind of get that really authentic Vermont ski culture for Utah. India includes Cherry Peak up near Logan. It's a super small, low key, genuinely family friendly resort, and it's about as low pressure as mountain skiing gets. This is ideal for really young kids in beginners for Colorado and California. The Indy coverage is a little bit thinner at the Marquee Mountains, but it's growing. Every year. They have over 300 resorts. Now there is one major catch with the Indie Pass. It sells out every single year. They deliberately cap pass sales to protect the resort experience. Now, if you want the Indie Pass for 20 26, 27, you need to move quickly. There's a wait list system, and once they're gone, they are gone. Now let's give a quick regional breakdown here. I wanna give you a little cheat sheet here. Now if you're gonna be skiing out in Utah, icon is the strongest choice for most families. Full Icon gives you Unli Unlimited access at Snowbird Solitude Alta Brighton, and you can also ski at Deer Valley with limited dates. Utah Icon is the strongest choice for most families. The full Icon Pass is gonna give you unlimited access to solitude plus skiing at Deer Valley. Snowbird, Alta Brighton. So many great Wasatch Corridor ski resorts. Park City's on Epic Mountain Collective covers Alta and Snowbird together, plus snow basin for an independent mountain travelers. The Indie Pass has Cherry Peak for beginners and young kids just getting started. Now, if you're gonna be skiing in Colorado, uh, if you're ski Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, beaver Creek, that is full epic territory, full stop. Summit County almost is exclusively owned by Vail Resorts there. They have so many resorts there. Um, if you don't need Vail or Beaver Creek over the holidays, the Epic local Pass is going to save you a good chunk of money. If you're looking for some other resorts like Steamboat, Steamboat, winter Park, Aspen Icon, or Mountain Collective, depending on how many days you ski are your best option, Aspen is on Mountain Collective with an extra ha. And with those extra half price days, it can be a better deal than the icon based pass. Um, but it just depends on how many days you're skiing. Now if you're gonna be skiing in Vermont, you wanna grab an epic pass for STO or Oche icon for Sugarbush or Stratton. Now Indy has a lot of Vermont options for smaller, more authentic Vermont experience. Now, for a family that skis sto over the weekends, you need a full epic pass. The Epic local Pass does have blackout dates on their peak dates There. If you're gonna be skiing in California, get the icon pass for Mammoth Palisades, Tahoe and Big Bear. Epic is great for Heavenly North Star and Kirkwood up there in Tahoe. Now there's a strong overlap in Tahoe and it really comes down to which mountains your family prefers and which side of the lake. Southern California families especially should look hard at Icon, given that it has big bear access. Now here are the questions I want every ski parent to ask before jumping in and buying. How many days will you ski? If you ski 10 or more days at one primary resort? Sometimes a local season pass at that mountain is still a better value and a smarter move for you than one of these big multi-res resort passes. Run the numbers before, assuming that the big pass wins for my family. Being able to drive to skiing is almost always gonna get us more days than taking those big flight long weekend holidays, and it's gonna cost us significantly less. Now is your family planning on skiing over the holidays? If yes, and you wanna get one of these big passes, you're gonna need either the full icon pass or the full epic pass. The base and local versions are gonna block out the week after Christmas, Martin Luther King weekend and President's weekend. Exactly the dates when many families want to ski, even though I'm telling you, you shouldn't ski, then do not buy the restricted pass and then try and ski those dates because you're gonna be turned away and you're gonna be really frustrated. Now if you have teenagers this season, epic's discount for the age 13 to 30 is really significant. $220 off the full Epic Pass and one 60 off the Epic local pass. And if you have teens who skis a lot, that math matters. Icon's. Teen pricing is also discounted from adult race. Rates and they have a really cool thing that I forgot to mention earlier, and that is called the squad pack. If you have a group, I believe of four friends, um, you all get your pass kind of in the, under the same account. You save a huge chunk of money and it's just, I think it's just slightly more than the teen price. So it's kind of that good intermediary for those like 20, those skiers who are in their twenties, right. Um, check the site for the exact numbers because it just went into, and I can't remember the exact pricing on that, but it is a pretty good deal there. Now if you have little, little kids, remember that kids four and under are free. Almost all of these places for kids. Five to 12, all four passes have child pricing. Um, icons, new family discount with a hundred dollars off per kid when paired with an adult pass is actually really awesome. It's gonna save my family a few hundred dollars this year if you are buying. So it's really good if you're buying multiple kid passes now. Also think about if you are a travel family or a home mountain family. Like I said, that really matters for our family. Being able to drive to the resorts we wanna ski at saves us so much money. So home mountain families will often do best with a full season pass at their local resort. The multi resort passes shine when you are planning trips, right? The Mountain Collective Pass is specifically designed for, um, that intentional ski travel. It's not built for someone who's like skiing at one Mountain 30 days a sea season, because you only get two days at each resort. Right, and I'll say this one more time. Buy your pass is early every pass spring. Pricing lowest prices of the year. No exceptions. So what is my family doing guys? We have done so many things over the years and it was really hard for us to make our decision this year. Uh, when we first moved to Utah, we were skiing at Solitude, I was working there, and we got some really great benefits at Partner Resorts. Park City is really close to us. So then we switched over to Park City, um, when I was working there and our kids were skiing with their friends and it, the crowds just got more and more. So we, this last year we skied, just got a pass to a local resort here. Um, and it was okay. I don't think any skiing's been great in Utah here in 2026. Next year we are going for icon passes. I said that icon is not gr. Like sometimes it makes sense to just have a local mountain, the closest resort to us. Is Deer Valley. It's only 15 minutes from our house right here, so that gives us some days at Deer Valley. But our kids are finally at a level where we feel like we can get some really good bang for our buck, um, pushing them on harder terrain at places like Alta and Snowbird. It also gives us days at Brighton and Solitude. Um, my kids are obsessed with Brighton skiing. All the jumps, they all learn to ski at solitude. And then we can ski at snow basin with grandma and grandpa and take a few ski trips here and there. Was that a really long answer for Where are we gonna ski this year? So we're getting icon passes. We are actually purchasing them today because they have also some spring skiing deals, so we'll get in some spring skiing. Hopefully if the 75 degree temperatures next week don't hold true. Okay. Enough about me. Let's bring this home right here. The icon Pass is the best choice for most Utah and California families for fam. And it can also be a great choice for families skiing. Uh, Steamboat Win Winter Park, Aspen, a Basin, and it'll give you holiday access with no restrictions. Right. The Icon Base Pass is a strong budget option for families who don't want holiday ski weeks and are realistic about their day count at non unlimited resorts. Um, it's gonna save you $450 per adult and that adds up really fast. Right now, the full Epic Pass is the best choice for most Colorado families, especially if you're skiing that Summit County area. Vermont families wanting STO and anyone skiing Park City should get that epic pass. The Epic Local Pass is excellent for families who primarily ski the unlimited resorts, Breckenridge Keystone, here where I live. Most people are gonna get the Epic local pass and they're just going to avoid Park City on those holiday times right there. Now the teen pricing with the Epic passes can make it a really good deal, especially because, uh, they're considering all the way up to age 30 18. So that can be an excellent value for young adults as well. Mountain Collective is my top choice for families who wanna take some, just a few awesome ski trips at iconic independent mountains where they can get like world class skiing and they're not going to be totally overwhelmed by, um, the mega pass crowds and pricing. Now if you like smaller resorts, which who doesn't because they are absolutely amazing. The Indie Pass is the best choice for budget conscious families, right? That's great for families with beginning skiers. Families who just love like that community and like more relaxed fill and vibe. You're gonna get less crowded mountains., If you're learning to ski the learn to turn pass on the Indie Pass. Is amazing and something that you should just grab as quick as you can. Now, any of these passes, I'll be honest, is a better move than buying window tickets all season. I cannot believe how expensive window lift ticket prices are, but it's astronomical and it will cost you, your family a small fortune and probably scare you away from the sport really quickly or drain your kids' entire college savings. Either one. You can pick. So think about it. Do the math and figure out the one that your family's gonna use the most. Now, if you wanna go deeper on planning your family's ski season, the gear, the progression, the teaching strategies, all of it. I'm here to help you and we cover so many different topics here on the Skiing with Kids podcast. I can't wait to hear which pass your family chooses, and I'll see you out there on the mountain.