Industry News
In its latest move to make skiing and riding more accessible, Vail Resorts announced a new discount averaging over 30% off lift tickets at 12 of its top destination resorts for guests who purchase four or more weeks in advance. Guests can save $100 or more per lift ticket and up to $175 of lift ticket cost can be applied to an Epic Pass for the following season. “Up until this season, there were two ways to save on lift access at our mountain resorts–you could either purchase an Epic Pass or Epic Day Pass pre-season for a huge value, or save a smaller amount on lift tickets by purchasing online at least seven days in advance–our goal is to fill that gap,” Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz, said in a press release. “While we will always give the best deal to our Pass Holders, with this new discount, our hope is to make the sport more accessible for guests who aren’t thinking about skiing and snowboarding until winter arrives.”
The new lift ticket discount will be available for skiers and riders at these resorts for the 2025-26 season:
- Vail Mountain
- Beaver Creek
- Breckenridge
- Keystone
- Crested Butte
- Park City Mountain
- Whistler Blackcomb
- Heavenly
- Northstar
- Stowe
- Okemo
- Mount Snow
If purchased today, the first eligible day for the new savings is January 5, 2026. Lift tickets are available now on all Vail Resorts’ 37 North American resorts’ websites. Lift ticket prices vary by resort and peak period.
Today’s announcement follows the company’s debut of Epic Friend Tickets earlier this year, which provide friends of season-long Epic Pass Holders with half-off lift tickets to celebrate the social side of skiing. The Epic Friend Ticket discount is based off window pricing and cannot be combined with this new discount.
As an additional step to make skiing and riding more accessible, Vail Resorts guests with a lift ticket this season can turn their ticket in for savings on an Epic Pass for next season. Epic Friends can use the total cost paid, and all other lift ticket purchases can apply up to $175 of what they paid with certain restrictions.
Nearly 75% of Vail Resorts’ visitation comes from skiers and riders with a season-long Epic Pass or Epic Day Pass purchased ahead of the winter season, and the remaining ~25% of visitation is from guests who purchase a lift ticket. Less than 2% of visitation comes from guests who purchased their skiing at the ticket window. In 2019, Vail Resorts introduced Epic 1-7 Day Passes for more occasional skiers and riders, which provide up to 65% off compared to the cost of lift tickets when purchased ahead of the season.
Today’s announcement displays Vail Resorts’ commitment to reimagining every step of the guest experience. Alongside making the sport more accessible, the company is focused on a series of enhancements–from simplifying how you book your trip to transforming how you get your gear. This season, resorts will also be celebrating what makes each of them unique—and guests can look forward to more events, enhanced dining options on the mountain, a new connected Ski & Ride School experience, and continued improvements to on-mountain flow through investments in new lifts and real-time lift-wait transparency.
Note: lift tickets purchased and scanned prior to the 2025-26 winter season do not qualify and this offer is only available to guests who were not season pass holders (including Epic Day Pass Holders and Whistler Blackcomb Day Pass Holders) during the 2025-26 North American winter season.
