2020-21 Ski Season??

[DAman]

I put down my deposit for an Epic Pass for next season.

I have 2 great reservations for 4 days at Northstar in a three bedroom unit and 5 days in one in Park City. Looking for Tahoe in January and possibly a few more days in Park City.

Then I started thinking....

Will we be able to ski at all next season? If so how will it look?

If the mountains are open, how will our families feel about us going(my wife doesn't ski and my kids are not able to at this point in their lives-in college and starting careers)?

 

[travelhacker]

I have been worried about the exact same thing. I used to buy epic passes as soon as they were available. I think I'm going to wait the full amount of time even if it means I miss out on some of the perks like buddy tickets, etc.

The good news is we have some time to wait and see what happens as some states start gradually reopening...that should give us a little bit better of an idea.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

We usually buy early season but are holding off for now. May buy individual day tickets as needed even if more expensive.

Tahoe basin right now has some of the most severe restrictions I've seen on non-essential travel. $1000 fine/day and potential misdemeanor. Even if one is going to check on their second home. I am not sure if Northstar falls into those restrictions because it is at the edge of the basin. The main hospital is in Truckee so I would expect that Placer County has similar restrictions.

 

[TravelTime]

Squaw Valley is allowing you to buy a 2020-2021 IKON pass at their early bird special price. You can decide between Sept and Dec of this year if you want to use it or roll it over to the 2021-2022 season. Are any of the other ski resorts doing anything special to reduce uncertainty for next ski season?

https://www.ikonpass.com/en/community

 

[Ken555]

I received an email re the Epic pass that if we buy and can't/won't use it we can apply the money toward the following year pass. I thought that was a good solution to offer, short of a refund.

 

[DAman]

I received an email re the Epic pass that if we buy and can't/won't use it we can apply the money toward the following year pass. I thought that was a good solution to offer, short of a refund.

I received the Ikon Pass email but not one from Epic Pass. I thought that the Ikon pass people were smart doing it.

I'm thinking if the resorts are open and social distancing is still in play how will it work? Will the gondola outside Marriott Timber Lodge operate? If so will it only let related people ride in a car? What about the tram at Heavenly?

Same thing with chair lifts?

I don't think it will be an issue on the slopes but rulemakers in Sacramento may not see it that way and require six foot spacing(I guess that will take care of the riders and skiers who ski over my tips-not very often but it did happen this past season).

The good news is with a timeshare unit I won't have to worry about being in a crowded bar or restaurant if I don't need or want to be there. My group likes to drink and cook in our unit(and eat and drink well we do).

Skiing is something that keeps me mentally healthy. It makes me exercise and do yoga in the off season. It gets me together with both old friends and now new friends. It will be a very bad thing for me if next season is cancelled.

Plus if next season is cancelled I will have lots of Hyatt and WM points/credits that may or may not be restricted.

Of course my main focus is to remain healthy.

 

[x3 skier]

I certainly plan to be spending the ski season again next year in Steamboat Springs as I have for the last 24 years. Since I have a part time job with the Resort, I no longer buy a season pass. If I didn’t, I would buy an Ikon Pass, especially since they will allow you to skip a season without penalty.

Cheers

 

[Ken555]

I received the Ikon Pass email but not one from Epic Pass. I thought that the Ikon pass people were smart doing it.

Now I’m not sure which I received... sorry, if I can find the email I’ll confirm later.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Marathoner]

I have bought both the Mountain Collective pass and the Epic Local pass again as I have done for several years now. I want to choose where I go and not be bound by the limits of a single ski pass.

Skiing is a physically challenging sport which improves your physical and mental health. As a result, paying for ski passes is the equivalent of a gym membership in terms of being able to engage in achieving fitness benefits. I don't know how physically fit my body will remain and while I hope it will remain healthy a long time, I am going to ensure that I spend time and money this year to ski because I enjoy skiing and I also hope to improve my fitness by skiing during the winter - creating a virtuous circle. Hence, investing in skiing passes is equivalent to investing in your physical fitness.

Also, both Vail and Alterra are receiving a lot of flack from passholders right now for unilaterally cancelling their ski season this year without any compensation. They will continue to receive grief and complaints about it. Next season, I expect that if the ski season doesn't open, they will likely do the right thing and compensate season passholders.

Finally, skiing is inherently a physically distant activity from others except for the on-mountain restaurants and ski lifts. If COVID-19 remains with us into the new year, I expect that we will be able to create compensating controls for the restaurant and ski lift situation. So, I don't feel like we are taking a large risk by assuming the mountains will be open next season

 

[x3 skier]

Also, both Vail and Alterra are receiving a lot of flack from passholders right now for unilaterally cancelling their ski season this year without any compensation. They will continue to receive grief and complaints about it.

Seeing how the Governor of Colorado ordered Colorado Ski Areas to close, including Vail and Steamboat, the day after they shut themselves down, the complaints seem somewhat misdirected.

Cheers

 

[Marathoner]

Seeing how the Governor of Colorado ordered Colorado Ski Areas to close, including Vail and Steamboat, the day after they shut themselves down, the complaints seem somewhat misdirected.

Lets not let facts get in the way of a good lashing by the masses!

 

[Krteczech]

I renewed my IKON pass, plan to use it at Steamboat, Winter Park and Aspen. I am an optimist and cannot imagine winter season without skiing.

 

[Marathoner]

EPIC PASS


WE ARE TAKING CARE OF YOU, OUR VALUED PASS HOLDERS.
We know the unexpected ending to last season was disappointing. So we are offering our season pass holders from last season credits, of up to 80%, to put towards a pass for next season. As you start dreaming of next winter, and we all get ready for ski & ride season, nothing should get between you and the mountains you love.

 

[DAman]

I renewed my IKON pass, plan to use it at Steamboat, Winter Park and Aspen. I am an optimist and cannot imagine winter season without skiing.

I have my Epic Pass and timeshares at Northstar, Marriott Timber Lodge(Heavenly Valley), and Park City next season.

Looking for one more week in Park City....waiting on a deposit for MOU or MSW with two different ongoing searches but hoping to use an eplus trade.

I don’t want to think about a winter without skiing.

I had 18 days skiing this season. A 20% discount will be nice for next season’s pass.

 

[DAman]

I’m thinking about doing a couple of days at Snowbasin while in Utah. Two days of skiing there comes with my Epic Pass. I have never skied Park City or Snowbasin.

Should I ski there or just ski Park City the entire time? I would stay at Worldmark Wolf Creek which is close to Snowbasin if I do decide to ski there.

I ski diamond runs most of the time.

I appreciate your thoughts.

 

[x3 skier]

I’ve skied both and there’re both a lot of area. Personally I prefer Park City for the town life in addition to the skiing which is very good either place. Park City is huge after they gobbled up The Canyons.

If you have the opportunity, I would ski both.

Cheers

 

[Marathoner]

Alta, Snowbird, and Solitude provide a more sublime skiing experience, in my opinion. Park City is a much bigger and more challenging mountain than Snowbasin. The apres-ski in the town of Park City is top tier and excellent. The restaurants and the bars are awesome. That said, Snowbasin is a very good ski mountain and should be experienced. I recommend going to Park City for most of your trip and ski at Snowbasin for a couple days. If you can make it to the other 3 resorts I mention, I highly recommend them.

 

[DAman]

I’ve skied both and there’re both a lot of area. Personally I prefer Park City for the town life in addition to the skiing which is very good either place. Park City is huge after they gobbled up The Canyons.

If you have the opportunity, I would ski both.

Cheers

Thanks for your thoughts. A lot of it will come down to what my friends want to do. I'm sure two days at Snowbasin would be ok. I like town life too.

I hope to have 2 weeks in the area. I have 5 nights booked at the WM near the Canyons and hope to add some time in Park City at one of the Marriotts. I have a waitlist request for the WM in addition to an OGS for the Marriotts for additional time.

If this trip goes well I hope to return in future years to do Snowbird/Alta. I think they require an IKON pass. If I get one of those I may have to include a week in Steamboat too!

 

[Ski-Dad]

The thoughts of no skiing in 2020/21 disturbs me. Ahhhh, what will I do? Well for starters, I bought a snowmobile last week. But skiing is what I love. I was going to renew my Ikon pass, but decided to hold off for awhile. I know I can bump the pass forward a season, but I will hang on to my $$ for now.

What Covid has given me is a lot more time to get in better shape for next ski season. I am now pounding out time on my mountain bike and getting back into running (125km last week)

I have active requests in for Steamboat and Snowbird/Alta. If international travel restrictions persist, I may be grounded to skiing at home (Canada). This isn't so bad, except the closest Ikon mountain to me is Tremblant and it is a 14 hour drive. In contrast, Sugarloaf and Sunday River are 8 and 9 hours respectively, but there is the small matter of an international border that is presently closed to non-essential travel.

 

[Ironwood]

The thoughts of no skiing in 2020/21 disturbs me. Ahhhh, what will I do? Well for starters, I bought a snowmobile last week. But skiing is what I love. I was going to renew my Ikon pass, but decided to hold off for awhile. I know I can bump the pass forward a season, but I will hang on to my $$ for now.

What Covid has given me is a lot more time to get in better shape for next ski season. I am now pounding out time on my mountain bike and getting back into running (125km last week)

I have active requests in for Steamboat and Snowbird/Alta. If international travel restrictions persist, I may be grounded to skiing at home (Canada). This isn't so bad, except the closest Ikon mountain to me is Tremblant and it is a 14 hour drive. In contrast, Sugarloaf and Sunday River are 8 and 9 hours respectively, but there is the small matter of an international border that is presently closed to non-essential travel.

I don't think it was a full season anywhere. In nearly 50 years of skiing, I only got on the boards 4 times this season, my least ever outings. Tremblant is a little closer for me, about 8/9 hours depending on stops and we managed to get one day on the big hill this season. Skied the much smaller Mont Blanc the next day as they closed the top of Tremblant due to the storm of the winter with high winds. But, with the ski/snowboard season cut short, I see some deep discount gear deals online and this may be my chance to upgrade 9 year old Salomon's.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

But, with the ski/snowboard season cut short, I see some deep discount gear deals online and this may be my chance to upgrade 9 year old Salomon's.

Good idea. It's time to retire my current skis and get something new.

 

[boraxo]

We had Epic Day Pass credits from last year (Vail refunded 80% as we were unable to use them) - and doubled down for 2020-21 by purchasing Tahoe Local passes and Mountain Collective Passes. We plan to do an adult trip to Aspen so the Mtn Coll. easily pays for itself (3 free days at Aspen + 2 days at Squaw) and kid's pass is a steal at $99. The Tahoe Epic passes are a bigger gamble as I expect California will be more conservative about opening resorts, but the marginal cost was low with the credits. There are a few blackout days but we try to avoid those times and can always get a cheap day pass at our fav local resort, Diamond Peak.

Both Mtn Coll and Tahoe/Epic are 100% refundable so I think this is a reasonable wager. And we hope to own a Hyatt timeshare week for use in Tahoe that will be convenient to Northstar and not far from Tahoe.

 

[PigsDad]

I just have a 20% credit on my Epic pass, but I am perfectly happy about that since I was done with my ski trips for the year by the time the resorts closed down and I had gotten my money's worth from my pass already. I'm going to use that to discount this year's pass, and am planning several trips. Since I have a bunch of HGVC points to use since we cancelled our big summer trip this year, I have made several reservations in Breckenridge (along with the fixed week I own there), and since I still work for a living , some of my trips I am planning on working remotely from the resort and getting in a few hours of skiing every day. My work schedule is quite flexible, so I think it will work out well. And I can always run over to Keystone (also on the Epic pass) and hit some night skiing if I want.

Hopefully the covid situation will be at the level where the ski resorts can operate this winter. I'm sure there will still be many restrictions in place, but hoping for the best.

Kurt

 

[ski_sierra]

I have a number of ski reservations for next season. I'm not going to buy a pass until December when I can figure out what the rules are going to be regarding lift lines and number of people on lifts as well as the cases. Losing money on those reservations might be ok depending on the covid situation.

 

[twise625]

Still debating on buying the Epic and using the credit they gave me from last year by Labor Day. I have an ongoing search in for a unit in Park City at Marriott Mountainside in December - if it matches before the Epic pass discount cut off its a no brainer for me. Then I'll start working on a couple additional Epic resort vacations for later in the season. I love the early season skiing in Park City. Granted, the snow can be a bit inconsistent and the runs are not all open, but the lack of lift lines makes up for all of that in my opinion. Coming from the Midwest, there have always been plenty of runs open to keep us entertained for 4-6 days of skiing. I skied last year at Copper Mountain for the first time and really liked it - again, lift lines were manageable weekdays in Feb/March. I've been looking for a prime ski season unit to purchase at Village Square at Copper Mountain since I got back. The only ones I have seen have been on SMTN and through the MLS system for 10-14K. Unfortunately Copper is part of the Ikon collective...decisions, decisions!