Are Epic Passes Worthwhile?

According to my Epic Pass at a glance, last season I skied 23 days on 20,839 vertical feet at 7 resorts: Attitash, Liberty, Okemo, Roundtop, Snow Mount, Whitetail, and Wildcat. I had the Northeast Value Pass, which cost $495. The lift ticket ranged from $80 to $100 a day. Let’s do the math: $80 x 23 days. That’s $1,840. I saved $1,345. My three older kids had Epic Local Passes for $311 each. They saved $4,587.

In addition to saving almost $6,000, Epic Passes allowed us to skip the purchasing line, which could be long on weekends. The equipment rental lines were even worse. I heard people stand in line for two hours. An equipment rental at the resorts costs $45 a set. For our boys, we rented a snowboard set and two ski sets for the season at Sun & Ski. The used equipment cost $150 to rent for each set. We decided to rent for them instead of buying because they grow too fast.

For me, I am not growing anymore; therefore, I bought a pair of used Head skis for $50 and a pair of used ski boots for $40 through Facebook Marketplace. I spent an additional $75 to get my skis tuned, waxed, and adjusted to fit the boots. When I filled out the form, I checked myself as a beginner; therefore; they made my bindings easy to pop off when I slipped or fell. When I skied steeped slopes, my skis would pop off if I couldn’t control myself. As a result, I had to learn to ski well in order for my skis to stay on, which was a good thing. I kept the binding setting as it was even though I advanced to double-black-diamond slopes. I am not sure how old my skis are, but I love them. Head seems like a good brand.

Through my experience, I learned that you don’t need expensive skis to hit all the terrains. You just need to get over your fear and embarrassment. I felt no shame when I fell. In skiing, falling is part of learning and growing. Before I started skiing, I didn’t understand why people paid so much money to just go down the slopes. After I joined in, the feeling of skiing down the mountains was just incredible. The adrenaline rush was indescribable. You just have to feel it to get it.

Skiing is, no doubt, an expensive sport, but you can make it affordable and enjoyable. We spent a bit up front, but we didn’t have to think about it for the entire season. Epic Passes were definitely worth the investments for us. It is a fantastic sport to do with your family. We also saved money by packing our lunches and drinks. Sandwiches and noodle cups were all we needed. We are now ready to look into getting Epic Passes for next year. I am glad that my wife is doing all of the purchases. If it weren’t for her, we probably wouldn’t end up skiing so much last season. My goal for next year is to get her on the green slopes.