 Poster: A snowHead
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@Scooter in Seattle, thanks, useful perspective. Interesting that even as a local it doesn't necessarily wash its face for you; if I lived on the West Coast, or if the Epic/Ikon passes had unlimited European coverage even in their current resorts, I'd easily be in the money.
Like you, a bunch of the variables are outside my control - and frankly, on the current pricing model, Vail/Epic "lose" on me, as the very high day pass prices mean that I'm less likely to tag ski days onto work trips. Clearly the tradeoff is that VMR "gains" on enough other people, that it doesn't mind losing on me.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| snowdave wrote: |
I should be able to get about £230 of value from the 3V option, and £200 or so from the Verbier coverage, which makes it £370 for the rest. At that level, what I'm debating is whether it's worth me buying it and gambling that I'll have at least 5 days in the US as well. |
I've just had a pleasant 7 days skiing Val Di Sole/Passo Tonale/Pejo on it too this year but agree you really want to bank at least a week in US or Canada on it to make the full pass pay off.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Scooter in Seattle wrote: |
| making the investment now sort of “forces“ you to plan more trips, not a bad thing. |
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| @snowdave, gambling is probably the right word. I’ve had an ikon pass every year they’ve been sold, and I either crush it or lose my shirt depending on lots of things, many of which are not within my control like the weather. I use it in Europe as well. |
I’ve been crushing it so far. (Apart from one season I had injured myself, but that was covered by insurance)
Though some of the years, I ended up skiing very late into spring. Part of the motivation was because I felt I hadn’t quite use it “enough”. But also partly because the late spring skiing would be “free”! 
That said, my situation is quite unique. I live close enough to snow to ski on weekends. I’ve been known to ski on Saturday and white water kayak on Sunday nearby! Not sure I’d do the same if I live somewhere else.
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So for me, it has been a gamble worth taking overall. For you, I’d suggest you give it a go for the coming season and then sit back and see how it went
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I’ve always advocate the opposite. Only buy a pass when having good indication one can use it enough to come out ahead by a big margin.
I feel freedom to ski anywhere I fancy has its price. For one thing, pass isn’t the only expense. Lodging and flight cost is equally significant. Buying a pass locks me down to a subset of the ski destinations, which may end up costing me more on lodging and/or transportation. That “pass penalty” will only be worthwhile if I can come out quite a bit ahead with the pass. Breaking even would be a loss in my calculation. Otherwise, I’d rather pay the “freedom premium” to ski any resort I feel like. (There’re still plenty of non-Vail owned mountains around)
P.S.
By the way, I don’t use the artificially inflated day rate from Vail when calculating the “break even” point. I use the prevailing day rate of my usual (non-Vail) ski destination instead.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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New for the 2025/26 season, Epic Pass & Epic Adaptive Pass include five consecutive days of unrestricted access to Verbier 4 Vallées; and the Epic Local Pass provides five consecutive days access, with some restricted dates. In addition, Pass Holders will be able to access Verbier 4 Vallées by visiting the lift ticket window with their pass, and will no longer be required to book lodging to receive lift access.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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That particular “new” benefit was highlighted on the first post 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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abc, you're right, my intention was to add kitzbuel, but somewhere between the first page, and the epic app, I copied the wrong sentence
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FAQ
- but, come to think of it, the prices in the Euro mega resorts are also becoming prohibitive for a lot of people. Accommodation and lift pass prices have absolutely shot up in recent years... 
