Start with the days you can count on

One number for the season hides how sure you are about each day, so the days go into three piles. Locked in holds trips with fixed dates and money already spent, Likely holds trips you expect to take, and Hopeful holds the powder-day version of the season. Every pile also takes a count of holiday or blackout days, and, while the refundable option is on, a count of days before January 15. The circles and diamonds under each pile draw the same days, with a divider at January 15.

Put your own prices on it

Pass prices move during the sales season, so every field starts as a round example with an example label that turns into your price once you type over it. Window tickets take a regular and a holiday price. The advance pack takes a price per day, a day limit and a switch for holiday coverage. The restricted pass covers regular days only, the full pass covers everything, and the refundable version adds a percentage to either one. Epic-style and Ikon-style rules set day limits, holiday coverage and the refund option in one click and leave the prices alone.

Watch the cost add up

The chart adds one ski day at a time. At the left edge, before any day is skied, each pass line already sits at its price, and that is what the season costs if it never happens. From there window tickets climb in steps, passes run flat, and the pack and refundable lines bend where a day limit or a refund rule applies. Shaded bands show where each pile ends, and the stretch after your last planned day is dimmed. A marker shows the day window tickets catch up with the full pass for your actual mix of days: with regular days at $140, eight days come to $1,120, and every holiday day at $190 brings that day forward. Pointing at the chart lists what each option costs on any day.

Break the plan on purpose

The table asks which option hurts least if the season shrinks. It prices every option for four versions of the season: nothing happens, only the Locked in days happen, the Likely days happen too, and every day happens. With the example prices, window tickets cost $0, $610, $1,080 and $1,880 across the four columns, while a $1,120 full pass costs the same in each and sits $1,120 above the cheapest option when the season never happens.

The last column keeps the largest gap for each row and splits it into money at risk if the season never happens and money overpaid if you do ski. The row with the smallest worst-case gap is named under the table, followed by a line on what would change without the refund option, without holiday days, or with one Likely day fewer. The comparison covers cost only.

Price the escape hatch

The refund panel opens with the extra cost of the refundable option, which is $224 for 20% on a $1,120 pass. Below it, three outcomes show the net pass cost after a refund and how it compares with the regular pass: no scan by January 15, one scan, and two or more scans. The table takes the refund route only when it is cheaper and pays window prices for the days you ski after refunding. Whether the extra cost comes back with the refund depends on the provider’s current terms, so it is a switch you set, and it starts at No.

Move a price or a pile and the worst-case column re-sorts itself, which is the quickest way to see which assumption your choice depends on. Prices, blackout dates and refund terms change during the sales season, and the terms on ikonpass.com and epicpass.com are the ones that count.

Last updated: September 2026