MAX Pass 2016-2017

steamboat1 said:

The Mountain Creek mid week plus pass qualifies & is only $319.99.

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I knew there was one under the $349 mark also. Aggravating either way.

Jcb890 said:

No Stowe this year is a bit disappointing though.

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If you join a ski club you can still ski Stowe for a reasonable price ($46). They have 3 ski club appreciation days every month Dec - April. Many of them on weekends.

steamboat1 said:

I've wanted this product since it first came out also. It only started being eligible as an add on to my pass two weeks ago. I hope my complaining on this site & others had something to do with making that happen. As a stand alone pass it wasn't worth it to me.

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$
Thank Vail. They got the ball rolling with Epic Pass.

We bought the stand alone product. The addition of Solitude grabbed us as we knew we would be traveling between Utah and Colorado a lot more when it came out. (and it was $599.00 last March when I bought). We are weekend warriors here in the east so the selection at the time was suitable. It's only gotten better (both east and west) too. The winter season is just not that long when it comes down to planning. With 2 trips west and 7 + weekends in NE (excluding Holidays and Holiday weekends when I wont go up there) won't even use up my allotment of tickets. Did we pay too much? I think the break down was about $23/day when we added up the plans.

It will be interesting to see if any products come out in competition with them in the future. Mountain Collective would be an interesting one if they got more into the eastern market.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

steamboat1 said:

If you join a ski club you can still ski Stowe for a reasonable price ($46). They have 3 ski club appreciation days every month Dec - April. Many of them on weekends.

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I know. But, it seems like a waste of the membership fee if it'll basically only get used for a trip or 2 to Stowe. With the M.A.X. Pass, we'll have plenty of passes to use in New England this season. Hopefully we'll be able to use it enough to get our daily ticket price down to ~$30/day.

Jcb890 said:

I know. But, it seems like a waste of the membership fee if it'll basically only get used for a trip or 2 to Stowe. With the M.A.X. Pass, we'll have plenty of passes to use in New England this season. Hopefully we'll be able to use it enough to get our daily ticket price down to ~$30/day.

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That is smart. It is very easy to load up on too many deals and get left with a bunch if things don't work out! What so great about the max pass is that you virtually cannot run out. If you really want Stowe though, you just have to figure out what else you need that a ski club membership offers. There's tons of other VT (and NH for that matter) ski club appreciation days at non-max pass resorts, but it all depends on how much you're able to get out there.

Jully said:

That is smart. It is very easy to load up on too many deals and get left with a bunch if things don't work out! What so great about the max pass is that you virtually cannot run out. If you really want Stowe though, you just have to figure out what else you need that a ski club membership offers. There's tons of other VT (and NH for that matter) ski club appreciation days at non-max pass resorts, but it all depends on how much you're able to get out there.

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Oh yeah, definitely. Last year we bought a club membership and didn't use it once all season due to other deals and crappy weather. I also bought us both a VT Ski 3 Pass and we both only used 2/3. With being "Weekend Warriors", we're thinking the M.A.X. Pass will give us plenty of opportunity in VT/NH/ME that we'll have a tough enough time using up enough tickets to get the daily cost down where we want it.

4aprice said:

$
Thank Vail. They got the ball rolling with Epic Pass.

We bought the stand alone product. The addition of Solitude grabbed us as we knew we would be traveling between Utah and Colorado a lot more when it came out. (and it was $599.00 last March when I bought). We are weekend warriors here in the east so the selection at the time was suitable. It's only gotten better (both east and west) too. The winter season is just not that long when it comes down to planning. With 2 trips west and 7 + weekends in NE (excluding Holidays and Holiday weekends when I wont go up there) won't even use up my allotment of tickets. Did we pay too much? I think the break down was about $23/day when we added up the plans.

It will be interesting to see if any products come out in competition with them in the future. Mountain Collective would be an interesting one if they got more into the eastern market.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

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you didnt pay too much. you got the smartest pass available for an eastern skier without a home mountain and who has intentions to get out west at least once.

mountain collective is not a great deal. the resorts are second to none. but 2 days at each place, and none of the places are geographically proximate, results in a lot of money out of pocket. i did it three seasons ago and hit jacson, alta/snowbird, and squaw/alpine. two seasons ago i did epic local for a 15 day colorado jaunt. last year max. this year max. i see myself buying this pass for the indefinite future. it suits my needs better than anything else. peaks is a joke and aside from the wildcat faithful, i dont see the appeal. hunter and mt snow? mmmkay no thanks.

edited to add - yes you could combine mammoth with squaw/alpine, and jackson with alta snowbird, but then you're talking about rental cars, 4wd rental cars for mountain roads. $$$$

KustyTheKlown said:

you didnt pay too much. you got the smartest pass available for an eastern skier without a home mountain and who has intentions to get out west at least once.

mountain collective is not a great deal. the resorts are second to none. but 2 days at each place, and none of the places are geographically proximate, results in a lot of money out of pocket. i did it three seasons ago and hit jacson, alta/snowbird, and squaw/alpine. two seasons ago i did epic local for a 15 day colorado jaunt. last year max. this year max. i see myself buying this pass for the indefinite future. it suits my needs better than anything else. peaks is a joke and aside from the wildcat faithful, i dont see the appeal. hunter and mt snow? mmmkay no thanks.

edited to add - yes you could combine mammoth with squaw/alpine, and jackson with alta snowbird, but then you're talking about rental cars, 4wd rental cars for mountain roads. $$$$

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I actually like the peaks one as I don't live far from The Crotch so I can ski that for a few hours when I have something going on and get some night skiing in as well and then on days when I can get away I can hit Wildcat. Then a day or 2 at Attitrash and Mt Blow to mix it up. The MAX doesn't give me the local home mtn that I need to get in 10-15 days. Also no plans to ski out west the next few years. Different choices for different people and life styles.

Smellytele said:

I actually like the peaks one as I don't live far from The Crotch so I can ski that for a few hours when I have something going on and get some night skiing in as well and then on days when I can get away I can hit Wildcat. Then a day or 2 at Attitrash and Mt Blow to mix it up. The MAX doesn't give me the local home mtn that I need to get in 10-15 days. Also no plans to ski out west the next few years.

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This.

I jumped on this too. Looking forward to using it as much as possible this year.

Need to figure out a Western trip.

Kicking Horse is tempting.

-w

Smellytele said:

I actually like the peaks one as I don't live far from The Crotch so I can ski that for a few hours when I have something going on and get some night skiing in as well and then on days when I can get away I can hit Wildcat. Then a day or 2 at Attitrash and Mt Blow to mix it up. The MAX doesn't give me the local home mtn that I need to get in 10-15 days. Also no plans to ski out west the next few years. Different choices for different people and life styles.

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Same boat here. The only option on the Maxx pass that is at a distance I would want to do regularly for day trips is Loon and Loon isn't a mountain I'm all that into because of the crowds. Everything else is 2.5 hours plus. I'm 1:15 to Crotched, 1:40 to Attitash and 2:00 to Wildcat.

If the White Mountain Super pass was the same price as Peaks, I'd potentially consider it. That's really the only other multi mountain New England pass I'd consider as a NH resident who primarily day trips.

deadheadskier said:

If the White Mountain Super pass was the same price as Peaks, I'd potentially consider it. That's really the only other multi mountain New England pass I'd consider as a NH resident who primarily day trips.

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I'm really hoping that the Super pass changes their pricing structure next year. I was looking at pass options while bored at work yesterday and the super pass has some truly fantastic options, just not worth it at its current price. Coming from MA, Wildcat is a tad far to get to compared to the superpass offering of Cannon instead, which is almost a full hour closer. If it was even with $100 of peaks, I would seriously consider it.

The only downside is that wildcat offers a slightly longer season and crotched has night skiing that is more accessible for me and also superior IMO.

deadheadskier said:

Same boat here. The only option on the Maxx pass that is at a distance I would want to do regularly for day trips is Loon and Loon isn't a mountain I'm all that into because of the crowds. Everything else is 2.5 hours plus. I'm 1:15 to Crotched, 1:40 to Attitash and 2:00 to Wildcat.

If the White Mountain Super pass was the same price as Peaks, I'd potentially consider it. That's really the only other multi mountain New England pass I'd consider as a NH resident who primarily day trips.

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FWIW Sunapee is also on the Maxx but likely is even a less attractive option than Loon for you...

Forgot about Sunapee. If either Cannon or Wildcat was on the MAXX, I'd do the $299 add on in a heartbeat. I just don't see that happening anytime soon

deadheadskier said:

Forgot about Sunapee. If either Cannon or Wildcat was on the MAXX, I'd do the $299 add on in a heartbeat. I just don't see that happening anytime soon

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Being that Cannon is state owned and managed and Wildcat is part of Peak - I would agree, do not see that happening.

Getting the MAX add on to my midweek Killington/Pico pass was a no brainer for me. Just doing 5 days at Okemo & Stratton brings the daily cost of the add on down to $30. Skiing those places also knocks about an hour off either my drive up or back from VT. which is an added bonus. I can also day trip to Mountain Creek during the week on those weeks I don't drive to VT. for several days (shouldn't be bad during the week). I usually try to go to VT. every other week for a few days. Having Sugarloaf as an option to go to for some spring skiing is also something I'll likely take advantage of. Haven't been there since the old ASC "All For One" days when it was part of my Killington pass. I could also hit Sunday River on my way up or back or mix it in with a trip to Loon which I've never skied. Sunapee (also never skied) is daytripable(is that a word) from our place in VT. I'm not planning a trip out west but would consider it if New England gets washed out early which happens & I've done before last minute. I'll certainly get my monies worth out of the Max add on in any event.

Sounds like you have a good plan for this season.

steamboat1 said:

Getting the MAX add on to my midweek Killington/Pico pass was a no brainer for me. Just doing 5 days at Okemo & Stratton brings the daily cost of the add on down to $30. Skiing those places also knocks about an hour off either my drive up or back from VT. which is an added bonus. I can also day trip to Mountain Creek during the week on those weeks I don't drive to VT. for several days (shouldn't be bad during the week). I usually try to go to VT. every other week for a few days. Having Sugarloaf as an option to go to for some spring skiing is also something I'll likely take advantage of. Haven't been there since the old ASC "All For One" days when it was part of my Killington pass. I could also hit Sunday River on my way up or back or mix it in with a trip to Loon which I've never skied. Sunapee (also never skied) is daytripable(is that a word) from our place in VT. I'm not planning a trip out west but would consider it if New England gets washed out early which happens & I've done before last minute. I'll certainly get my monies worth out of the Max add on in any event.

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Go out west, its worth it. No the eastern selections are fine and it does sound like you have your self a good plan. I'm telling you when comes to planning these things out from a New York area peep, I'm surprised at how little time there is to use up these tickets. Wife and I are still working by necessity. We are "Weekend Warriors" on the east coast. Early season is a bad time for me as far a work, we are not going up north during the holiday periods of Christmas, MLK and Presidents day week, that's what the Camelback Pass is for. That and along with the the Mountain Creek MAX Pass 5 times which should allow me to get 2 weekday afternoons/ week from January through March. 2 trips to the Rockies to see the boy, and use my Colorado and Utah tickets, leaves about 7 weekends to travel and with 7 areas to visit it works out quite nicely to be about a weekend at each area. We will do Stratton, Okemo, Killington, Pico, Sunapee, Loon and get as far north as my buddy's place up at Sunday River. Should have some interesting options still left for the last 3 weeks of the season between April 1 and about April 20th after we get back from out west, to finish it off right.
West will include WP and Copper, Solitude and Brighton in Utah and a first time trip to Steamboat which I'm very excited about. Wouldn't mind getting to Crested Butte either but it probably won't happen. I'm still kinda surprised that its all paid for already. I'm probably not the model customer.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Believe me I've been west enough times to know what it's all about. Still love me some eastern skiing. Even with free tickets it's still an expensive trip for me, here it's not. Like I said if conditions warrant I'll consider it.

Stevens Pass added, now 39 areas.