Epic vs. Ikon: Which Pass Should You Buy? (A Regional Breakdown)

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Did I overuse the ding sound effect?

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Disclaimer: All statements made within the video are personal opinions emanating from personal experiences. None are factually backed-up and are not intended to be interpreted as such.

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[SRGSkiing]

Disclaimer: Yes, there is a metric buttload of filler footage in this video. We've got a lot of places to explore in the future.

If any of you have footage of anywhere we haven't visited and would like to see it featured in a video, you are always more than welcome to reach out and we can discuss compensation.

Did I overuse the ding sound effect?

[xiaoduan]

Epic actually has far more unlimited access destinations. Like in West Canada, I agree that Banff Big 3 is better than Whistler Blackcomb. But is 7 days total in Big 3 better than unlimited access to Whistler Blackcomb? I really doubt it. Not mention the majority of the population of west Canada live in Vancouver and Whistler is much more accessible.

[xXBIGSlilXx]

One caveat I think you missed in Colorado is park skiers. Ikon is far better for them. While I agree they are very closely matched in all other metrics, if you want to ski park, Ikon is a no brainer.

[JasonTaylor-poxc]

Epic in Colorado is good for beginners, especially once Beaver Creek opens. Of course, that means early and late season aren't that great. Keystone and BC close early, followed closely by Vail. Breck is better for beginners as long as base 9 is open, base 8 is only open an extra week or so on each end. Keystone's early season is only good for very beginners (bunny, Endeavor and Scout) as Schoolmarm is both a hard green and a white ribbon of death for a solid 2-3 weeks until Spring Dipper and Breck opens up.

[michaeltravers]

On the east coast, the Ikon mountains are better but the epic mountains are closer to home. Only Stratton and Sugarbush are unlimited on ikon pass. In NH, the epic pass and ikon pass aren’t the only option. They have the white mountain super pass. In VT, Killington, Pico, Sugarbush beat Mount Snow, Okemo and Stowe. Stratton is competitive on chairlifts, but the mountain is flat and is nicknamed flatten. While Stowe has the front four, you can only access it from the fourrunner quad which has long lift lines. Killington offers mid mountain chairlifts just as the Caynon Quad to most of the expert trails off of the summit without lift lines. Stowe isn’t as big as Killington so it is hard to spread out. While the spruce side of Stowe isn’t as crowded as Mount Mansfield, the terrain isn’t as good as Mount Mansfield. I’d say in VT to go with Ikon unless you live near or have a second home near an Epic mountain or am a park rat. Those who are park rats should get epic pass to ski Mount Snow. Killington focuses on terrain expansion in the early season not building the big jumps so in the early season Mount snow has an earlier big jumps opening.

[samfaught]

I live in Albuquerque and for me, the answer is neither! Taos only has seven days on the Ikon Pass and isn’t on the Ikon session pass or Ikon base pass. At that price, it’s a wash vs just buying lift tickets if you don’t use it at any other resorts. Purgatory, Sandia Peak and Pajarito are on the Power Pass. Meanwhile, the nearest destination resorts are Telluride and Crested Butte. Wolf Creek and Ski Santa Fe are not on any major pass as far as I am aware. I guess this is one place where the multi-resort pass system hasn’t really made its way yet.

[MegaGouch]

I live in NZ (meet you on the ski lift at Remarkables) and always wondered if it would be worth buying one of these US based passes.

Might look into an Ikon pass, being able to ski Mt Hutt or Remarkables, then Niseko Japan and/or Canada/the US would be quite nice.

If Ikon had Hakuba then that would be a bit advantage (for us in Oceania) at least.

[kdubu]

The Alpine Valley on the Epic pass is in Ohio. The video marks the independent Alpine Valley in Wisconsin incorrectly.

[GreatBearProductions]

Might be moving to utah for the winter (park city). I live in the mid atlantic and have only skied the mid atlantic, I've never been anywhere but PA, MD, VA, and WV. So im very good at and love skiing groomers and was wondering what pass to go for. I think you said park city resort has some nice groomers but that's only one resort vs four with ikon. Any suggestions?

[Custom_Stryfe_Main]

Just as a note for anyone who for some odd reason is making a trip to the Mid-Atlantic for skiing, I would highly suggest you DO NOT buy a pass. First of all, besides Blue and Camelback, the best resorts here are fully independent. Secondly, every one of those resorts sells at least one kind of ticket that is significantly cheaper than an epic or ikon day/session pass. Blue is cool because it has 2 express 6 packs and an express quad, and as far as I know it's the only resort in the region that blows snow in the trees so you can actually ski the glades.

[brittanywhiteley]

As Mid-Atlantic goes I honestly wouldn't count Blue Mountain in Ikon's favor because Blue has the massive issue of too much uphill capacity for what can fit on its trails (and this is exacerbated by the resort's layout funnelling everyone on a single runout at the base). A resort with a 1000 ft. Vertical doesn't need a high speed quad and TWO high speed 6packs out of base. I personally prefer Elk (no pass affiliations) or Montage (Indy) when skiing PA, though I'll acknowledge that Camelback and 7 springs are both pretty good too.

[DosAussieThai]

In Australia, Epic Pass is far more popular among skiers and snowboarders due to the launch of Epic Australia Pass while IKON pass is just a more expensive also-ran type of pass. People who ski Thredbo or Buller are more likely to buy the standard Season pass than the IKON Pass because it's cheaper and most people don't go overseas. By contrast, every single person who wants to buy a season pass for Perisher, Falls Creek, and Hotham will buy Epic Pass - screw New Zealand.

As for Japan, Rusutsu is a large single ski resort by Japanese standards and has the most expensive daily lift pass of any resort in Japan - almost double that of most resorts. Lift Queues are minimal at most lifts other than the beginner ones at the main base. By contrast, Niseko United is quite busy and everything is more expensive there. Wind hold problem is frequent too due to the exposed nature of volcano.

Hakuba has 10 resorts to choose from and after the 5 consecutive free days on the Epic pass, the daily lift pass is much cheaper than Niseko and Rusutsu.
Arai is one single resort. It may entertain experienced riders for a day or two, but after that, they will get bored.

For me, Epic Pass wins for Japan.

Having said that, I have an Epic pass and a Hakuba season pass so Epic pass doesn't help. Except for when/if I lose or damage my Hakuba pass, I will have the 5-day Epic pass as a backup because despite already having the necessary technology to print out the tickets on demand, for some reason Hakuba insists on having the central office issue the replacement ticket which will take 5 days and 5, 000 yen >o<

[carterfan]

You are sleeping on Wildcat.... it's way better than Hunter, or Attitash... it's better than Okemo IMO... ask around😅😅

[Jeremy-su]

Both of these passes suck if you live in or around Portland Oregon. Would rather spend my money getting a fusion pass & get two resorts. Specially since not everyone has money to travel to all the spots Ikon or Epic offers

[borndrum]

Great video, but the dings were ear piercing 😂

[leozendo]

Same saver tier pass, iKon is 2x more expensive

[dr.timsmith]

Both scams, support your local ski resorts