Where are you going this season (25/26)?

Sorry post #48. On phone in Quito airport.

jamesdeluxe said:
Skiwelt and Westendorff: two days to see how Austria's intermediate heaven has evolved since we were there in 2003.
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I’m glad I’ve seen them but they are perhaps the last Euro places I’d return: minimal above tree line terrain and mostly manmade snow. The Innsbruck group sounds interesting per the other thread.

It’s Europe with enlightened lift ticket pricing, so no need to be confined to one’s multiarea pass as in the US.

Now that your wife is with you, I thought the Dolomites were high priority: intermediate heaven with mind blowing scenery and awesome food.
 
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Tony Crocker said:
I thought the Dolomites were high priority: intermediate heaven with mind blowing scenery and awesome food.
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Our calculations:
  • If we follow the Indy Pass itinerary mentioned above, our ski tickets will cost $0 (or $52 x 2 if we buy a discounted additional day in Innsbruck).
  • We don't have an Ikon Pass so at the current exchange rate a one-week offpeak Dolomites pass (through the end of January) would be $482 x 2. A peak pass from early Feb until the fourth week of March would be $532 x 2. A thousand dollars may be a rounding error to some here but not to us. Better to wait until we can buy an Ikon and take advantage of it in North America and the Alps.
Tony Crocker said:
I’m glad I’ve seen them but they are perhaps the last Euro places I’d return: minimal above tree line terrain and mostly manmade snow.
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As mentioned above, I wouldn't necessarily go to the Skiwelt by myself but I'm reasonably sure that my intermediate wife (who hasn't skied in eight years) will be fine with the easy meadow cruising as shown in this report and relaxing in the sun at the many atmospheric huts. Kleinwalsertal is also on Indy Pass and I enjoyed it a couple years ago; however, it would add 3-4 more hours of driving so we'll save that for another time.
 
Stuart has been cheerleading the Indy Pass for months now. James can send him an email end of season for most diverse use.

I looked up Indy for interior NW and resorts are dispersed: Silver and 49 North from Spokane, Lost Trail and Montana Snowbowl from Missoula and Brundage and Tamarack from Boise. Those are all worthwhile areas but realistically most people will fly into one of those places and ski a mix of places in easier drive range.

I will likely be driving to Canada and can go anywhere along the way. I had not received my Indy Pass in the mail as of Nov. 22.
 
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jamesdeluxe said:
Especially helpful, I suppose, if one is hoping to combine a major pass with one of the smaller ones.
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Except when someplace is missing. The heart icon in the middle is Monarch. The maroon snowflake near Fort Garland is Cuchara. I'm headed towards Pagosa Springs in a week. Would be nice if nobody else knew why. ;)

Screenshot 2025-11-27 at 3.36.43 PM.png
 
MarzNC said:
Except when someplace is missing. The heart icon in the middle is Monarch. The maroon snowflake near Fort Garland is Cuchara. I'm headed towards Pagosa Springs in a week. Would be nice if nobody else knew why.
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You can add comments or updates in the reddit link/see screenshot below.


1764287018171.png
 
Selena (Indy Pass & Entabeni Systems)
Nov 27, 2025, 12:57 PM MST
Hi Tony,
Thanks for reaching out! Indy Passes are currently being mailed out, you should receive them in the next month. In the meantime go ahead and redeem using your ID.

Thanks,
Selena
 
jamesdeluxe said:
You can add comments or updates in the reddit link/see screenshot below.
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Thanks, but I don't need to deal with Reddit . . . have more than enough online timesinks related to skiing. ;)

When Indy came on the scene, I sent comments to OpenSnow in the fall a few times about missing locations. It was very hard to keep up with additions. Maintaining a database that is accessible publicly is a never-ending task. Stuart knew why he started building tables, and that keeping them up would lead to losing sleep sooner or later.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
We'll receive our Indy Passes "in the next month"?!? Good that there's a workaround but I wonder what the holdup is.
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Since anyone with an ID can get a lift ticket at any Indy pass, does it really matter? That's always been the case. What's different for 2025-26 is that there was a fall sales period that lasted more than a few days. The office staff is only a few people.

An Indy pass is simply a convenient ID, not an RFID pass. Slightly quicker than looking up an odd name, but having a copy of the Indy receipt with the ID# accomplishes the same thing.
 
snowtrekker said:
It looks like this map only shows places that are part of multi-resort passes.
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Yes, as noted: :icon-e-wink:
jamesdeluxe said:
this Google map that plots locations of the various North American mega passes (Epic, Ikon, Mountain Collective, Indy, Powder Alliance, Cooper, Freedom, and Power)
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snowtrekker said:
I don't think Wolf Creek accepts any (at least that I could find, though you would know so correct me if I'm wrong!
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It's rare these days to find ski areas that aren't on any multi-resort passes, even the smaller ones.
 
snowtrekker said:
It looks like this map only shows places that are part of multi-resort passes. For example Whitewater is also missing.

I don't think Wolf Creek accepts any (at least that I could find, though you would know so correct me if I'm wrong!
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Correct, Wolf Creek is completely independent and doesn't have any type of pass agreement with another ski area. Ticket prices are around $100 for Adults (13-64), even for busy Peak days.

I made the comment to tease because @jamesdeluxe mentioned the map could be good for people planning a trip to a given area. Not too many people bother to have more than one multi-resort pass during the same season. Although Indy in addition to Ikon or Epic can make sense for someone who plans to ski a lot of days away from home. What the map is more useful for is deciding which multi-resort pass or agreement is of the most interest for given season.

When travel costs for a long distance trip are considered and someone has already decided on a major multi-resort pass, buying a day ticket for a day or two at an independent ski area in the vicinity can make sense. Assuming skiing with relatively few people on the slopes is of interest. ;)

When I planned the trip last season to use Indy at Tamarack and Brundage, checking out Bogus Basin was always part of the the plan. We ended up adding a couple days at Sun Valley since most of the crew met up in SLC. We stopped by Soldier Mountain just to wander around the base for future reference. Next trip to Sun Valley, I want to ski at Soldier, which is also on Indy.

When I use Ikon or the Mountain Collective at Big Sky, I always add a couple days at Bridger.

Stuart made a table in Dec 2024 for public lift-served ski areas in the USA not connected to a "mega-pass." There are 20, mostly in the west. Pretty sure he'll keep updating the table.

December 18, 2024
www.stormskiing.com

Multimountain Ski Pass Membership, Led by Indy, International, Surges in 2024

U.S.-based passes add 59 partner mountains, 34% increase over 2023 | 2024-25 season preview, part 3
www.stormskiing.com www.stormskiing.com
 
MarzNC said:
Not too many people bother to have more than one multi-resort pass during the same season. Although Indy in addition to Ikon or Epic can make sense for someone who plans to ski a lot of days away from home
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I know a number of people who do that, including Tony (and Tseeb?) here.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
I know a number of people who do that, including Tony (and Tseeb?) here.
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Not a surprise . . . my primary ski buddy who lives close enough to drive to Colorado in a few hours or Utah in a day has Epic, Ikon, and the MC. I've often had Ikon and the MC since both were available. I know people who live close enough to NY and New England skiing to justify having Indy plus Ikon. But we don't need a map of all the multi-resort resorts to decide which multi-report pass to buy.

Most of the people posting in the Indy Pass FB group who do ski safaris out west clearly do not also have Ikon/Epic/MC. Most of the posts asking questions are from people who plan to fly from the northeast or drive from the PacNW.

People who have Indy plus Epic/Ikon/MC ski far more than 10 days a season, which is the upper limit for the target market for Indy. Or at least was when Doug Fish first came up with the idea.
 
Skip Wolf Creek. They're greedy bastards, and the "resort" sucks. Their prices have skyrocketed in the last few years, and some people I know can't even get a season pass anymore... or if they do, it's blacked out half the season. (p.s. I lived there for 3 yrs).

The only good thing going for them is (usually) snowfall, however they're in the same boat as many... sure 80% open, but if you don't want to ski on rocks, you stick to the 10% decent run coverage on about 15". My buddy that lives there was up the other day and bragged that at least he's on snow... I guess there's that, which right now is something.

Oh, and then there's the Texans...

.. end rant.
 
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