Buy your ski pass in spring. Epic and Ikon both open next season’s sales in March at the lowest price of the year, then raise prices in steps until sales close in early December. For 2026/27, waiting from March to October added $56 to an adult Epic Pass, $50 to an Ikon Pass and $70 to Ikon Base, before the October increases even landed.
That is the short answer to when to buy a ski pass, and if you are reading this in mid-October 2026 it comes with awkward timing. Epic’s prices went up again after 7 October and Ikon’s after 8 October. You haven’t missed the season; you’ve missed the cheapest part of it. This guide lays out the whole calendar, what each delay actually cost this year, the deadlines nobody advertises and what to do with the weeks that remain. If you are still choosing between passes, start with our guide to the best ski pass for 2026/27.
All prices here were checked on the operators’ own sites and in Vail Resorts’ own announcements. The autumn figures date from 1 October 2026.
The ski pass calendar for 2026/27
The pass year runs backwards from the ski year. Next winter goes on sale while this winter is still running, and the price climbs as the snow gets closer. Here is how the 2026/27 season played out:
| When | What happened | Epic | Ikon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early to mid March | Next season goes on sale at the year’s lowest price | Adult $1,089, ages 13–30 $869, child $555; $49-down option | Ikon $1,399, Ikon Base $949; renewals about $50 below the new-buyer price |
| 25 May | First Epic deadline | Lowest price ends; last chance for six Epic Friend Tickets | — |
| 7 September (Labor Day) | First autumn increase | Adult $1,145 after this date | Steps up through September, October and November |
| 7–8 October | Autumn deadlines | Increase after 7 October; passes bought before it came with five Friend Tickets; Epic SchoolKids registration closes | “Last day to save” was 8 October |
| Early December | Season-pass sales typically close | Check epicpass.com for the exact cutoff | Check ikonpass.com for the exact cutoff |
| 15 January 2027 | Ikon refund window | — | Refundable passes, bought at +20%, refundable through this date |
| 31 January 2027 | Colorado kids’ passport sales end | — | — |
Neither company publishes its whole price schedule in advance. Each deadline shows up as a countdown banner on the pass site as it approaches, which is why so many people only notice an increase the day after it happens.
When is the cheapest time to buy a season pass?
In March and April, as soon as the next season goes on sale. That is when Epic and Ikon charge the lowest price of the year, offer the most bonuses (six Epic Friend Tickets, Ikon’s renewal discount) and, on Epic, let you lock in a pass for $49 down. Every later deadline costs more.
The reason is simple economics. A pass bought in March is a bet on a winter nobody can see yet, and the operators pay you to take it. They get guaranteed revenue months before the first lift turns; you get a lower price in exchange for carrying the risk of a thin snow year, an injury or a change of plans. As the season approaches, that risk shrinks and so does the discount.
Last winter showed what that risk looks like. US resorts recorded 52.6 million skier visits in 2025/26, down 14.7% on the season before and 32nd of 48 seasons on record, largely because the West had a thin snow year, according to National Ski Areas Association figures reported by Ski Area Management. Pass holders who bought in March 2025 had already paid for that winter. That is the bet the spring discount pays you to take, and most years it is a good one.
Spring buying has practical advantages too. Epic’s $49-down option, which collects the balance in mid-September, is available only on spring purchases. Vail Resorts also offered skiers who bought a lift ticket at any of its 37 North American resorts in 2025/26 up to $175 off select Epic Pass products, a credit aimed squarely at converting last winter’s day skiers. And spring is when you know the most about your own skiing, because last season’s day count is fresh.
How much do ski pass prices go up?
For 2026/27, between the March launch and 1 October, an adult Epic Pass rose $56, Epic Local $40, an Ikon Pass $50 and Ikon Base $70. Epic’s child and teen tiers rose $20 to $40. Both companies then raised prices again after 7 and 8 October.
| Pass | Launch price (March 2026) | Price on 1 Oct 2026 | Increase so far |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epic Pass, adult | $1,089 | $1,145 | +$56 |
| Epic Pass, ages 13–30 | $869 | $909 | +$40 |
| Epic Pass, child 5–12 | $555 | $585 | +$30 |
| Epic Local, adult | $809 | $849 | +$40 |
| Epic Local, ages 13–30 | $649 | $675 | +$26 |
| Epic Local, child 5–12 | $425 | $445 | +$20 |
| Ikon Pass, adult 23+ | $1,399 | $1,449 | +$50 |
| Ikon Base, adult 23+ | $949 | $1,019 | +$70 |
Multiply by a household and it adds up. Two adults and two children on full Epic Passes paid $3,288 at the March price and $3,460 on 1 October, a $172 difference, and the family that waited also got one fewer Epic Friend Ticket. Two adults on Ikon Base paid $140 more for waiting until October.
Keep that in proportion, though. Fifty or seventy dollars is real money, but it is small next to the cost of buying the wrong pass, or a pass you won’t use. A skier who buys Ikon in March to save $50 and then spends the winter at an Epic resort has lost $1,399, not saved $50. Decide what to buy first. Timing comes second.
What buying early gets you besides the price
The headline discount is only part of the case for spring. These are the extras that disappear, or shrink, as the year goes on:
- Epic Friend Tickets. Season-pass holders can share these with friends and family for 50% off lift tickets, or 25% off a child’s ticket. For 2026/27, buyers by 25 May got six. Buyers by 7 October got five. Check how many a later purchase includes.
- A smaller deposit. Epic’s $49-down plan exists only for spring buyers. Later in the year both companies offer 0% financing instead: Epic FlexPay and Ikon’s Affirm plans, subject to approval.
- Renewal pricing. Ikon’s renewal price undercuts its new-buyer price by roughly $50, so returning holders should check it before buying as a new customer.
- Summer access. Vail Resorts’ spring pitch reminded buyers that pass holders get summer access at mountains including Vail, Whistler Blackcomb, Park City and Beaver Creek. Buy in spring and the pass works for a summer of gondola rides as well.
- Time to plan. Lodging for holiday weeks books out, and reservation systems at some destinations reward the people who plan early.
Is it worth waiting for the snow forecast before you buy?
Rarely. Seasonal forecasts describe tendencies, not snowfall at your resort, and prices rise before any reliable signal arrives. This winter NOAA expects a very strong El Niño, which historically favors the southern Rockies, but CPC itself says the typical impacts are not guaranteed. Buy refund protection instead of waiting.
The 2026/27 outlook is a good example of why. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center put the chance of a very strong El Niño this winter at better than 90% in its September discussion. Strong El Niño winters have tended to be wetter in southern Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and southern Utah, and drier in the Pacific Northwest, northern Idaho and Montana. Central Colorado is closer to a coin flip, and Tahoe swings either way. Those are tendencies across decades of winters, not a promise about February at your mountain. Our page on this winter’s ski season forecast covers what the outlook does and doesn’t tell you.
So if snow risk is what worries you, protection is a better answer than delay. Two options:
- Ikon’s refundable passes cost 20% more and stay refundable through 15 January 2027. On Ikon Base that premium is about $204, nearly three times the $70 you would save by buying in March instead of October. Refundability is expensive insurance; buy it for a specific reason, such as a due date or a job that might move.
- Epic Coverage comes with eligible Epic passes at no extra charge. It allows refund requests for qualifying events, so read Epic’s terms to see what counts before you rely on it.
The deadlines that aren’t about Epic or Ikon
The two big passes dominate the conversation, but several other deadlines arrive earlier and close harder:
| Product | 2026/27 deadline | What happens after |
|---|---|---|
| Indy Pass (Base and Indy+) | Sale closed 11 September 2026 | Sold in limited allotments; only the Add-on remains |
| Epic SchoolKids (free, grades K–5) | Registration closed 7 October 2026 | Wait for next year’s program |
| Colorado Ski Country kids’ passport ($76) | 31 January 2027, or earlier if it sells out | No passport for this season |
| Ski Utah kids’ passport (about $69) | Moves each autumn | Confirm with Ski Utah |
| Resort day tickets | Prices rise as the date approaches | Window prices are the highest of all |
The Indy Pass is the one that catches people out. Its main passes sell in limited allotments, and this season’s sale ended in September, three months before Epic and Ikon stop selling. If an independent mountain is part of your plan, decide in summer. Our Indy Pass guide covers the Add-on that remains for this season.
Day tickets follow the same rule as passes, only faster. Advance tickets routinely run 20% to 40% below the window, and Epic Day Passes started at $46 to $97 a day in spring, before rising with everything else. Window prices are where the worst numbers in skiing live: Jackson Hole’s walk-up ticket ran $250, $289 over Christmas and New Year, and peaked at $356. Nobody needs to pay that. Buy tickets online the day your trip dates are fixed.
When should you not buy a ski pass at all?
When you won’t ski enough days to break even, when your only possible dates fall inside the blackout or peak periods of the tier you can afford, or when you’re a first-season beginner. Buying early only saves money on a pass you’ll use; a cheap pass you don’t use is the most expensive kind.
The break-even test is per person: divide the pass price by what your advance-purchase tickets would cost at the resorts you’ll actually ski. Our guide to whether a ski season pass is worth it runs the numbers in detail. For most adults on a full Epic or Ikon pass, it takes somewhere between five days at the most expensive resorts and nine at cheaper ones.
The holiday trap is the second filter. The cheaper tiers save money by restricting the busiest dates, which are exactly the dates families and office workers can travel. Before buying Epic Local, Ikon Base or a regional pass, check its 2026/27 restrictions against your calendar. Our guide to ski pass blackout dates lists them.
And if this is your first winter, skip the season pass entirely. A resort beginner package, with lesson, rental and a limited lift ticket bundled, is almost always the better first purchase. Our best ski pass for beginners guide explains why.
Can you buy a ski pass after the season starts?
Not a multi-resort season pass. Epic and Ikon have typically closed season-pass sales in early December, and the next chance is the spring sale for the following winter. Until then, the options are advance-purchase lift tickets, multi-day ticket products and, at some resorts, their own passes.
This is the real cost of putting it off past December. It isn’t $50; it’s the whole season. A skier who meant to buy Epic Local and missed the cutoff is buying day tickets all winter. At Vail, where the February walk-up price was $307 when we checked, ten advance-purchase days at 20% to 40% off still come to roughly $1,840 to $2,460, two to three times the price of the pass. If you are going to ski that much, don’t let December slip past.
If you do miss it, the damage control is straightforward. Buy every ticket online and as early as your plans allow, because advance prices rise as the date approaches. Look at the resort’s own multi-day products, which are usually cheaper per day than buying day by day. And ask your home mountain whether it sells its own season or spring pass, since resort-level products run on their own calendars.
If you are reading this in October or November
You can still buy. Season-pass sales have typically stayed open until early December, and Ikon’s own pattern is to step up through November. What you can’t do any more is buy at the spring price, so the useful question is not “is this the cheapest moment?” but “will waiting tell me anything?”
Usually it won’t. The price only rises from here, and the decision rests on things you already know: your home mountain, your likely day count and your holiday dates. If those point clearly to a pass, buy it now. If they don’t, waiting another month will not make them clearer, and at some point in early December the option disappears.
Here is the test in practice. Say it is mid-October and you expect eight days this winter, all at Breckenridge and Keystone, two of them over Presidents’ Day weekend. Epic Local covers both mountains with no restricted dates, so the decision is plain arithmetic: if eight advance tickets for your dates cost more than the current Local price, buy the pass today. Waiting until November changes nothing in that sum except, probably, the price.
Now change one fact: you’re not sure the trip will happen at all. Then the question isn’t timing but protection. The refundable options described above are the right tool for that uncertainty; a later purchase date is not.
A few things are worth doing the day you buy:
- Book holiday-week lodging. Christmas and Presidents’ Day weeks fill early at most major resorts.
- Check reservation rules. Ikon flags the destinations that need lift reservations on its comparison page. Make any holiday reservations as soon as the pass is in your account.
- Register children for any program still open. The Colorado passport stays on sale until 31 January or until it sells out.
- Buy advance tickets for anyone in your group without a pass. Holiday-week day tickets climb the closer you get.
- Put next March in the calendar. That is when you’ll buy at the right price.
A buying checklist for next spring
When the 2027/28 passes go on sale in March, work through this list before you click buy:
- Count last season’s real ski days, per person, not the days you hoped for.
- Name your home mountain and confirm which pass covers it next season. Line-ups change every spring. If you ski on the East Coast, our best ski pass for East Coast skiers guide maps who owns what.
- Compare the two big passes only if both cover the mountains you care about; our Epic Pass vs Ikon Pass comparison sets them side by side.
- Price the household, using child, teen and young-adult tiers. Our best ski pass for families guide covers the family discounts and free kids’ programs.
- Check renewal pricing if you held a pass this season.
- Buy before the first deadline, which was 25 May on Epic this year.
- Decide on refund protection deliberately, not by default.
- Diarise the autumn deadlines for kids’ programs, which close in October.
The same discipline works for equipment, which follows its own annual price cycle. Our guide on when to buy ski gear on sale covers that calendar. For everything else about choosing a pass, from the Mountain Collective to the regional products, go back to the complete ski pass guide.
Frequently asked questions
When do Epic Pass prices go up?
For 2026/27, Epic raised prices after 25 May, after 7 September and again after 7 October 2026. The lowest price of the year ran from the March launch to 25 May, when the adult Epic Pass cost $1,089. By 1 October it cost $1,145.
When do Ikon Pass prices go up?
Ikon’s prices step up through September, October and November. Its 2026/27 adult pass launched at $1,399, with Ikon Base at $949, and by 1 October cost $1,449 and $1,019. Ikon’s site gave 8 October as the last day before the next increase.
When do ski pass sales end?
Epic and Ikon have typically stopped selling season passes in early December, around the start of the season. Neither publishes the cutoff far in advance, so check the pass page. The Indy Pass sells out much earlier: its 2026/27 sale closed on 11 September 2026.
Can I still buy a ski pass in November?
Usually yes, for Epic and Ikon, until sales close in early December, but at a higher price than in spring. If you know your home mountain and expect to ski enough days to break even, buying sooner is cheaper than buying later.
Is it cheaper to renew a ski pass?
On Ikon, yes: renewal pricing undercuts the new-buyer price by roughly $50. Epic offered its own spring incentives for 2026/27, including up to $175 off select passes for people who had bought lift tickets at its resorts the previous season.
Can I get a refund if I buy early and then can’t ski?
Only with protection. Ikon sells refundable passes at a 20% premium, refundable through 15 January 2027. Epic includes Epic Coverage with eligible passes, which allows refund requests for qualifying events. A standard pass without either is generally non-refundable.
When should I buy lift tickets for a holiday trip?
As soon as your dates are fixed. Advance online tickets routinely cost 20% to 40% less than the window, and holiday-week prices rise as the date approaches. Window prices at major resorts can pass $300 a day over Christmas and Presidents’ Day.
Sources
- Vail Resorts — Epic Pass lowest price ends 25 May (5 May 2026)
- Epic Pass — 2026/27 prices
- Epic SchoolKids
- Ikon Pass — 2026/27 passes and deadline
- Ikon Pass — compare passes
- Colorado Ski Country USA — Ski Passport
- Ski Area Management — US skier visits 2025/26
- NOAA Climate Prediction Center — ENSO diagnostic discussion
Image credits
| Image | Photographer | Licence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring skiing above the valley, Aspen Mountain (featured image) | Wolfgang Moroder | CC BY-SA 3.0 | Commons |
| Spring snow below the gondola, Aspen Mountain | Wolfgang Moroder | CC BY-SA 3.0 | Commons |
| Steamboat Springs, Colorado | CarTick | CC BY-SA 3.0 | Commons |
| Snowmass Village gondola | William D. Moss | Public domain | Commons |
| Arapahoe Basin East Wall | Keflavich | Public domain | Commons |
| Night skiing and pass gate | Unknown | CC BY 2.0 | Commons |
| Snow guns in autumn, Mönichkirchen | Peter Haas | CC BY-SA 3.0 | Commons |