Broomfield, CO – Vail Resorts this week announced the Epic Season Pass, a new unlimited, unrestricted season pass that’s valid for the entire 2008-2009 ski and snowboard season at all five Vail Resorts ski areas — Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, and California’s Heavenly — for an initial price of $579.

“Vail Resorts’ new Epic Season Pass is a groundbreaking initiative that will completely change how our guests experience their ski and snowboard vacations,” said Rob Katz, chief executive officer of Vail Resorts.

The new Epic Season Pass offers skiing and riding across 17,400 acres of Vail Resorts terrain encompassing 722 marked trails, served by 128 ski lifts on every day of the season, including holidays. The pass also includes unrestricted skiing and snowboarding at Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

“We designed the new Epic Season Pass program to reward our most loyal guests and to bring greater excitement to the sports of skiing and snowboarding,” Katz added. “Vail Resorts’ new Epic Season Pass gives our guests the opportunity to ski or ride when they want, how they want. They can visit for a week-long vacation during the holidays and then decide later in the season to return for an extended weekend getaway or even to book a last-minute trip after hearing about one of Colorado’s or Tahoe’s epic snowfalls. They can ski all day or just for an hour. In essence, we’re taking the thought out and putting more fun into a ski vacation.”

According to Katz, Vail Resorts modeled the Epic Season Pass on the very successful Colorado and Summit pass programs offered on-site in the Colorado market and the Heavenly Pass program offered on-site in the Tahoe and San Francisco markets. “These programs have been a real ‘win-win,’ offering our guests a terrific value and our Company incredible guest loyalty,” he said. “In designing the Epic Season Pass, we removed the key limitations and restrictions and are offering it for sale online, better tailoring it for all of our guests from around the world.”

This week’s Epic Pass announcement caused a stir amongst loyal Colorado skiers and riders. The $579 price point represents a significant increase over last year’s Colorado Pass, although the latter limited skiing at Beaver Creek and Vail Mountain and had blackout days during key holiday periods. The Colorado Pass also included skiing at nearby Arapahoe Basin, and the original announcement for the Epic Pass did not mention A-Basin at all. Fearing the demise of the Colorado Pass, many who have little intention of using the additional Epic Pass benefits saw the Epic Pass announcement as little more than a price increase.

Amy Kemp, Corporate Communications for Vail Resorts, allayed these concerns on Wednesday. “Arapahoe Basin will be included on the $579 Epic Season Pass, along with Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly, for a total of six resorts and more than 18,000 acres of unlimited, unrestricted skiing and snowboarding for the 2008-2009 season,” Kemp said. “Also, we’re planning to announce the details and pricing for the Colorado and Summit pass programs on April 2.”

Purchasers of the Epic Season Pass will also receive exclusive offers and promotions for lodging, dining, ski rental and ski school.

The Epic Season Pass is priced initially at $579 for adults and $279 for children ages 5-12. The Epic Season Pass will be valid for the 2008-2009 ski season and will only be available for purchase through Nov. 15, 2008. The Epic Season Pass will earn points in the company’s PEAKS loyalty programs and is non-transferable and non-refundable.

For more information or to purchase an Epic Season Pass online, visit www.epicpass.com.