Vail’s Epic Pass and Alterra’s Ikon Pass dominate the American ski market. The complaint alleges they steer skiers and riders into expensive season-pass “bundles” by setting daily lift tickets at exorbitant levels. The case was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Denver on behalf of four individuals, three of them Colorado residents, seeking damages for them and others affected by Epic and Ikon pricing across the U.S.

“For years, skiers have been told that soaring lift ticket prices, reduced choice, and overcrowding are simply the new reality,” attorney Greg Asciolla of the DiCello Levitt law firm, which filed the suit, said in a statement. “Our complaint alleges that these outcomes are not the result of healthy competition, but of exclusionary conduct by two companies that dominate access to the most desirable destinations.”

Broomfield-based Vail Resorts and Denver-based Alterra both called the suit “without merit.”

“We launched the Epic Pass in 2008 to make skiing and riding more accessible, reducing the price of a season pass by 60%,” the Vail Resorts statement said. “We’re proud that 18 years later, it����ap still one of the best values in the industry, especially following our further 20% price reduction in 2021. As we acquired smaller resorts over the years, we also launched new, lower-priced pass products, such as the Epic Day Pass Local and Limited, for guests who only want to ski close to home.”

Alterra’s statement the company would defend itself “vigorously.”

“The Ikon Pass provides the best value to access more than 70 premier mountain destinations around the world, and each of our North American resorts sells its own suite of lift ticket access products at various price points designed to meet the needs of our guests,” Alterra’s statement said. “It is disappointing that we are forced to defend this baseless claim and divert any attention away from operating our business and delivering incredible experiences.”

The suit alleges the companies deliberately raised ticket-window prices over the years to exorbitant levels in an effort to push consumers into buying their season passes at earlybird prices in the spring for the subsequent season. Vail Resorts chief executive Rob Katz has made statements this year suggesting the company is rethinking its lift ticket pricing. Katz returned to the company a year ago, having previously served as CEO from 2006 to 2021.

“We will always give the best value to our pass holders who commit ahead of the season,” the Vail Resorts statement said, “but that said, we have also been intentional to price our lift tickets, sold in season, on a resort-by-resort basis, including numerous new discount opportunities this past season.”

The lawsuit says Epic and Ikon pass prices have rapidly risen at a pace well beyond the inflation rate. Although the Ikon Pass is consistently priced higher than the equivalent Epic Pass, the complaint says Ikon accounts for 54.8% of the mega pass market vs. 38.7% for Epic. The earlybird price for the Epic Pass rose from $793 in 2021-22 to $1,089 for 2026-27, according to the complaint, while the Ikon Pass increased from $999 to $1,399 over that period.

“Yet the sale of the Epic Pass and Ikon Pass have become the primary source of lift revenues and resort visitation for Vail Resorts and Alterra over the years,” according to the complaint. “For example, for Fiscal Year 2025, Vail Resorts’ various Epic Passes provided 65% of lift revenue and 75% of lift visitations. As a result, Vail Resorts and Alterra make every effort to drive more and more people to purchase their respective Mega Passes. But in order to do so, they each have resorted to an anticompetitive scheme that, as alleged herein, violates the antitrust laws.”

CEO Jared Smith will step down from his role at the end of the season, . Smith will serve as an advisor to the “office of the CEO” over the next year as the recreation company searches for his replacement.

“Serving as CEO of Alterra has been an honor, and I am deeply proud of the incredible people, capabilities and businesses we’ve added to this amazing company,” Smith said in a statement. “The commitment of the ownership group to these mountains, and to the team members and communities they serve, is truly unique. I’m confident the progress we’ve made has positioned the company well to build on that foundation in the years of growth ahead.”

No reason for Smith’s departure was given.

Alterra, headquartered in Denver, is the company behind the Ikon Pass, which provides ski and snowboarding access to dozens of mountain resorts across the world. That includes Steamboat, Winter Park and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado.

An executive committee — including ownership representatives from KSL Capital Partners and Henry Crown and Company — will join with former CEO Rusty Gregory to lead Alterra’s day-to-day operations until a new CEO is appointed, according to the announcement.

“Jared has been a valued leader at Alterra Mountain Company for many years, and we are grateful for his leadership and partnership,” Alterra Mountain Company Board Chairman Eric Resnick, who is also CEO of KSL Capital Partners, said in a statement. “Over the course of his tenure, he has made a lasting impact during a period of continued growth and operational advancement, while ensuring the company maintained the culture and commitment to our communities that make Alterra special.”

When , the unrestricted Ikon Pass will be priced at $1,349, an increase of $20 over last year’s early-bird price. , is priced at $1,089.

The Ikon Base pass will be priced at $924, a $15 increase over last year’s spring pricing. The comparable Epic Local Pass is on sale for $809. The Ikon Base pass and Epic Local pass both come with restrictions.

Vail also announced 20% discounts on both Epic passes for skiers and riders in their 20s.

Epic Passes for 2026-27 go on sale, luring Gen Z with big discounts

Alterra is introducing a new product called the "Squad Pack" for ages 23-28. That product allows five people to lock in Ikon Base passes at $750 each, as long as one person purchases all five passes. By comparison, the Epic Local pass for twenty-somethings, with the new 20% discount, is selling for $649.

Ikon also announced expanded access at two Colorado resorts. Arapahoe Basin will offer unlimited access next season for Ikon Base pass-holders. Those who purchase those passes early will be entitled to unlimited access this season, beginning April 6.

Also new, Snowmass will offer five-day access to Ikon Base pass-holders next season with select blackout dates. The Ikon Base pass does not offer access to Snowmass sister resorts, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands or Buttermilk.

went on sale Tuesday with the full adult Epic Pass priced at $1,089, a $38 increase over the early-bird price a year ago. Young adults (18-30) will pay $869, though, the same price being charged for teens (13-17). The full Epic Pass provides access to more than 90 resorts with unlimited, unrestricted access to 42 resorts.

The Epic Local Pass, with access to more than 50 resorts and unlimited, unrestricted access to 29 resorts including Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte, is priced at $809 for adults over 30 years of age but $649 for 20-somethings and teens. The early-bird price a year ago was $783.

The price break for 20-somethings is part of a wider, long-term strategy for Vail Resorts.

“We’re constantly assessing where could we make it easier for people to get into the sport and get fully engaged,” said Vail Resorts chief executive Rob Katz. “One of the things we identified over the last eight months was, we really think Gen Z is the biggest opportunity for the sport over the next 10 to 20 years. It’s critical that they get passionate about the sport.

“They don’t have the same disposable income that you see with a lot of folks that are older,” Katz added, “so we felt this was an opportunity for us to roll back pricing for them, to try and build that engagement. That turns into long-term skiers for us, and ultimately for the whole industry.”

Epic Friends tickets, which debuted last year, are back. Those purchasing 2026-27 Epic season passes early will receive 10 Epic Friends tickets, which are good for lift tickets priced at  50% off.

Skiers and riders who purchased a lift ticket this season at one of Vail Resorts’ 37 North American resorts now can save up to $175 off the price of select 2026-27 pass products. That could bring the price of an Epic Pass for 20-something skiers down to $694, or an Epic Local pass for $474.

Katz served as the company’s CEO from 2006-21 and is credited with creating the Epic Pass in 2008, which revolutionized the industry. He returned to that role last May after his successor, Kirsten Lynch stepped down. Her tenure was marked by downward-trending stock prices and a series of blows to the company’s image.

Katz has been looking for ways to freshen the brand’s appeal with new pricing strategies, reimagined restaurant menus and revamped marketing.

“We’re in the experience business,” Katz said. “We do have to constantly freshen up the experience by doing something new, ensuring that the products we have — the price and the way we communicate them — are relevant for today’s consumer. And today’s consumer is constantly changing. We’ve got to stay up with that … trying to be out front and aggressive in building engagement in the sport.”

Vail Resorts typically doesn’t announce how long early-bird pricing will be in effect, but there is usually a price increase around Memorial Day and another in September.

Alterra Mountain Company, Vail Resorts’ rival which markets Ikon Passes, generally announces its early-bird prices a couple of days after Vail. Last year Epic Pass prices were announced on March 4, with Ikon following on March 6.

Current prices for Epic products are $1,127 for the full Epic Pass and $833 for the Epic Local Pass which comes with restrictions. When passes went on sale at early-bird prices in March, they were $1,051 and $783,  respectively.

Rival Alterra Mountain Company has not announced its deadline for purchasing Ikon Passes, but that is expected to come in mid-December, as usual. Current prices are $1,519 for the Ikon Pass and $1,009 for the Ikon Base pass.

Both companies also sell variable multi-day passes. Epic is charging $463 for four-day passes. Four-day Ikon passes are going for $569.

The two years ago, but it was put on hold for seven months after A-Basin’s previous owner, DREAM, announced it was selling the area to Alterra Mountain Company pending U.S. Department of Justice approval. The sale finally closed last November and planning resumed.

Ski areas update their master plans with the U.S. Forest Service every decade or so. But even after the agency officially “accepts” those plans — a process that can take up to a year — individual projects must be approved on a case-by-case basis.

As expected, no terrain expansions are being planned, but an additional 395 parking spaces would be added and two small gondolas would be built — one from the upper parking lots to the pedestrian tunnel that accesses the base area, and the other from the base area to a building supporting a new learning area at Sawmill Flats. A detachable quad chairlift would be built from that building to mid-mountain, providing access to the Lenawee Express lift, which runs from mid-mountain to the summit.

Moving ski school operations to an on-mountain beginner area would reduce congestion in the landlocked base area. The current ski school facility in the base area could be converted to accommodate restaurant seating.

Other improvements would include adding 65 acres of terrain covered by snowmaking, which would nearly double A-Basin’s snowmaking acreage, and installing new avalanche mitigation hardware for remote operation that would be safer for patrollers to operate.

Improvements for summer operations would include the addition of 10 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails and four tiny 150-square-foot cabins with outdoor decks at midmountain that would be available for day-use rental. A-Basin could also add summer camping in its parking lots. Campsites would include picnic tables and RV hookups with vault toilets and trash removal.

“More than anything, we’re really focused on fixing the guest and employee experience in our existing area,” said . “I’m excited to be able to park a few more people so a few more people can have a good time. I’m excited to help our avalanche program. I’m excited that we can be a little more responsive with snowmaking and get more terrain open a little faster.”

He’s also looking forward to serving beginners better with the new learning area.

“We don’t have a lot of green terrain,” Henceroth said. “The proposed gondola and the proposed detachable quad will optimize the ideal teaching terrain that we do have.”

A-Basin began implementing a parking reservation system during the 2024-25 winter season, requiring parking reservations on weekends and select holidays in all of the ski area’s main lots through the height of the season.

A-Basin Chief Operating Officer Alan Henceroth has credited the parking reservation program with allowing the ski area to offer unlimited access on the Ikon Pass while maintaining the guest experience. Unlimited access will only be available with the full Ikon Pass, while the Ikon Base Pass will continue to offer five-day access to A-Basin during the 2025-26 season.

Like the 2024-25 season, parking reservations will continue to cost $20 per vehicle with a free option for vehicles that carpool with four people during the 2025-26 season, Silverman said. But next season, reservations will only be required on Saturdays and Sundays between Jan. 3 and May 3, she said. Parking will continue to be free after 1 p.m. on weekends.

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But the snow gods have smiled on Winter Park recently. As of Thursday, the resort had received 340 inches of snow this season, the most of any ski area in Colorado. Its base depth of just under six feet stood at 11% above normal for the date.

And so, even as other ski areas are shutting down for the season — eight have already closed and five more will close on Sunday — Winter Park is still going strong. It will stay open two more weeks, while the Mary Jane side of the mountain will remain open as long as conditions permit. Last year, that was May 28.

Resort companies like Alterra and Vail Resorts that are investing in expansions of their snowmaking systems acknowledge the threat of climate change is a consideration in their thinking, but the more immediate goal is to extend the length of seasons in the near term.

“There are benefits to it being a hedge against climate change, but that����ap not why we did it,” said Winter Park spokeswoman Jen Miller. “It����ap kind of an interesting story for us, because we are now one of the resorts that has the longest seasons in Colorado. We’re opening earlier and we’re staying open later.”

Vail Resorts invested more than $100 million in snowmaking company-wide over the past 10 years. In 2019, Vail Mountain underwent the largest snowmaking expansion project in the resort’s history with a heavy focus on two trails from the summit down to Mid-Vail. The company also has invested in snowmaking at Keystone, so that it can offer skiing at the top of that mountain in October, and at Breckenridge, where it aims to offer skiing into May.

“We’ve been able to extend our season by 12 days at our Rocky Mountain resorts,” said Bill Rock, president of the mountain division at Vail Resorts. “The industry (overall) has invested in snowmaking as well, but the industry in the Rockies has added about five days.

“We look to provide more days, and more consistent conditions, for our guests,” he continued. “We try to open Keystone as early as we can, and thanks to our investment in automated snowmaking, we’re able to do that. We go into May at Breckenridge, and that����ap because of our investments in snowmaking there. We’ve been able to have some of our longest seasons at Vail over the last few years.”

Mountaintops tend to be colder than base areas and can hold snow longer. That’s why early-season skiing at Keystone and Vail can involve skiing at the top of the mountain, but riding the lift or gondola down to the base rather than skiing.

In 2020, the Aspen Skiing Company installed snowmaking at the top of Aspen Mountain for similar reasons. “It was very much intended to create an upper-mountain opening and closing scenario in lower snow years,” said Aspen Snowmass spokeswoman Hannah Dixon, adding that there are provisions to do the same at Snowmass in that resort’s master plan.

According to the Lakewood-based National Ski Areas Association, the average length of ski seasons in the Rocky Mountain region over the past decade has fluctuated between 122 and 132 days, excluding the COVID-shortened season of 2019-20 (103 days). The average length over that period has been 127 days, but the past three seasons stood at 130 days or more.

Miller said Winter Park exceeded 200 days the past two seasons, and it will again this season if Mary Jane hangs on until late May as it did last year. Winter Park has seen above-average snowfall the past three seasons, too.

“This is our 85th season,” Miller said. “If you go back to the early days of skiing in Colorado, we didn’t start skiing until late December or January. Natural snow is variable, and snowmaking has allowed us to broaden the season. It’s part of doing business as a ski area in the west.”

Although ski areas operate their snowmaking guns primarily in early season, resort officials say those efforts continue to pay dividends in the spring because manmade snow is denser. As a result, it is more durable and holds up better when warmer temperatures arrive in the spring.

“When you build a super-solid, consistent base on the front end, you see less snowmelt and fewer issues when temperatures warm in the spring,” said Vail Resorts spokeswoman Lindsay Hogan. “It has benefits on both sides of the season.”

Eldora Mountain Resort, the Front Range ski area that opened Nov. 7 this season and will close on April 20, is seeking approval to expand its water storage capabilities for snowmaking in the future.

“That is just a common-sense hedge against what we’re seeing in terms of climate trends,” said Eldora spokesman Sam Bass. “We need the opportunity to store more water in case there is a summer when our primary snowmaking water storage doesn’t fill up all the way. Any ski resort that����ap thinking about the future, which is every one, is probably thinking about ways to ensure that they have adequate water supplies and the ability to make snow.”

The ability to offer early-season skiing is a key part of Eldora’s competitive strategy. This season it opened a week earlier than scheduled. Last season, it opened two weeks ahead of schedule.

“That time of year, we’re essentially the same size as Winter Park or Copper, or any of the big guys, because we all only have a couple of trails open,” Bass said. “The Ikon passholder, early in the season, if they only have two or three Ikon options to choose from, they say, ‘Why would I drive to Winter Park or Copper when I can just drive to Eldora for the same amount of terrain or more?’ It����ap an opportunity for us to make hay early and provide a good product for the people who really want to get out and get after it early-season.”

The looming specter of climate change remains a concern for the industry, however.

“Climate change has a real impact on our business, and it’s something that we’re concerned about,” said Rock, who is second in command at Vail Resorts to chief executive Kirsten Lynch.  “We’re uniquely positioned to serve our guests during this volatility that it represents. The $100 million in snowmaking across the company has allowed us to provide reliable conditions for our guests throughout the whole season.”

The same is true of Winter Park’s massive investment in snowmaking.

“It puts us in a much better position long-term, depending on how snowfall will be in the next 10, 20, 30 years,” Miller said. “It����ap a tricky subject. It����ap something that ski areas have done for a very long time, but it����ap become more of a reality that this is what we’re going to need to be able to operate in the future.”

The unrestricted adult Epic Pass for next season is selling for $1,051, as compared to an early-bird price of $982 a year ago for the current season. The adult Epic Local pass, which comes with restrictions, is going for $783. It was $731 last year. Last year’s Epic Pass prices increased 8% over the year before.

Broomfield-based Vail Resorts usually announces its price structure before its Denver-based rival, Alterra Mountain Company, reveals Ikon Pass prices. Last year, Ikon prices were announced two days after the Epic reveal.

The Epic Pass offers unlimited access to all 42 resorts owned by Vail Resorts while offering access to dozens of partner resorts. The Epic Local pass offers unlimited access to 29 resorts and access to others with restrictions.

Vail Resorts also announced that passholders will have expanded access to resorts in the Verbier region of Switzerland, two hours from Geneva.

Epic Day passes (available in increments of one to seven days) are selling for $47-$100 per day.

Indy Pass, an alternative to Epic and Ikon that serves more than 200 independent ski areas, announced its prices Saturday with renewals going for $349 and new passes costing $369. Colorado ski areas that participate in the Indy Pass include Loveland, Powderhorn, Sunlight, Granby, Echo, Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs and Hoedown Hill in Windsor.

A-Basin patrollers voted to become part of the CWA 7781 United Mountain Workers, which will negotiate a contract with Denver-based Alterra Mountain Company and A-Basin officials. That union is currently negotiating a contract with Keystone which, like Park City, is owned by Vail Resorts. The contract at Breckenridge will expire in the spring.

“We have faced many ups and downs, but we are proud of our team and how much we have accomplished over some trying times,” the Arapahoe Basin union posted on its Instagram account. “This pushed everyone mentally and physically, but in the end we have come together and decided to unionize.”

A-Basin officials responded with a prepared statement.

“We respect the decision made by Arapahoe Basin Ski Patrollers to have the Communication Workers of America (CWA) union represent them,” the statement said. “Our focus remains on supporting our patrol team — and all of our employees — by providing competitive wages, good benefits, a safe working environment and opportunities for professional growth.”

The patrollers at A-Basin had been closely observing the tensions in Utah, where Park City’s patrollers went on strike Dec. 27, 2024. The strike caused significant problems for Broomfield-based Vail Resorts. The employees returned to work last Thursday after winning concessions that included a $2 hourly increase to $23 for new patrollers and $4 for experienced patrollers.

“It does feel like United Mountain Workers is on a winning streak, between an extremely strong contract being won by the patrollers in Park City and winning our unionization vote at A-Basin,” said Max Magill, president of Local 7781, who has been a fulltime patroller at Park City for 10 years. “I hope to see the tone in the ski industry shift a bit from being extremely antagonistic towards unions to being a bit more neutral.

“I don’t think any ski area ownership company wants what just happened in Park City and Vail Resorts. We hope to see a ripple effect in bargaining rooms,” he added.

Magill said he expects similar wage increases at Breckenridge, Keystone and other Vail Resorts properties. Crested Butte’s patrollers’ contract expires next fall.

“We are so excited in Park City to have set a new standard within the industry and within our union of how strong a compensation package can be,” Magill said in an interview. “We are really fortunate in Colorado and throughout our local to have very strong memberships that are willing to fight for the contract they feel they deserve.”

Jack Western, an avalanche dog handler at A-Basin in his eighth season on the patrol, praised his fellow patroller for taking on the challenge to organize in recent months.

“It’s normal for ski patrols to be really tight groups, especially given the nature of the job, but when we’re all standing together to fight for a higher standard at our workplace as well, I don’t think you could find a more caring and committed group of people,” Western said in a written statement furnished by the union. “We love the mountain, we love skiing and all the different intricate parts of our job, and we’re excited to continue to raise our standard for ourselves and for everyone that visits.”