Ski for free with Decente!

[John]

Just got a new Decente jacket, Has a Passport for free lift tickets inside!
The tickets paid for the jacket
The passport is good for the following:

U.S.A.
CALIFORNIA
Big Bear Mountain or Snow Summit
China Peak
Homewood Mountain Resort

IDAHO
Brundage Mountain

IOWA
Sundown Mountain Resort

MAINE
Shawnee Peak

MASSACHUSETTS
Nashoba Valley
Wachusett Mountain

MICHIGAN
Boyne Mountain
Boyne Highlands
Pine Mountain
Shanty Creek Resorts

MONTANA
Whitefish Mountain Resort
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Bretton Woods

NEW YORK
Belleayre
Gore Mountain
Hunter Mountain
Whiteface Lake Placid

NORTH CAROLINA
Appalachian Ski

PENNSYLVANIA
Hidden Valley Resort

UTAH
Canyons Resort

VERMONT
Pico Mountain

WASHINGTON
Mission Ridge

WISCONSIN
Mt. Lacrosse Ski Area
Trollhaugen
CANADA

ALBERTA
Norquay

BRITISH COLUMBIA
Big White
Silver Star
Sun Peaks Resort

ONTARIO
Hockley Valley Resort

 

[Nick]

Is this any Decente jacket?

 

[jaytrem]

Is this any Decente jacket?

No, just the ones specifically in the Passport collection. It's a great deal indeed, I used it for a bunch of years. Very similar to the Geigerrig Passport but the tickets are typically good on weekends and holidays.

 

[St. Bear]

I used it a couple years ago. Great deal, and when combined with some ticket swapping with people over on Epic, it became an outstanding deal.

The addition of Gore/Whiteface would've been nice when I used it. I do see that Jay and Sunday River are no longer participating.

 

[John]

No, just the ones specifically in the Passport collection. It's a great deal indeed, I used it for a bunch of years. Very similar to the Geigerrig Passport but the tickets are typically good on weekends and holidays.

this is the link to the collection, it has a few different styles/colors available. Essentially Decente will pay you to ski by having the free lift tickets, and they get free advertizing by your wearing them... Everyone wins!
http://www.descente.com/collections/passport/

 

[St. Bear]

this is the link to the collection, it has a few different styles/colors available. Essentially Decente will pay you to ski by having the free lift tickets, and they get free advertizing by your wearing them... Everyone wins!
http://www.descente.com/collections/passport/

They are pretty good coats too. I'm really happy with mine.

 

[dlague]

No, just the ones specifically in the Passport collection. It's a great deal indeed, I used it for a bunch of years. Very similar to the Geigerrig Passport but the tickets are typically good on weekends and holidays.

Huh? Not to sound cheap or anything, but we find great gear for a third of the price and we ski in temps that are sub zero on some days and we are perfertly fine!

However, made me consider it for a second - my wife needs a new jacket, but Cha ching! Ya we usually buy last years models and use the money we saved to purchase lift ticekt packages like Fox 44's deal!

My options in that list are Shawnee Peak, Bretton Woods and Pico. We can ski Pico on a 2 fer deal every sunday, Shawnee Peak on a 2 fer, and Bretton Woods for $20 on Sunday afternoons.

 

[John]

Huh? Not to sound cheap or anything, but we find great gear for a third of the price and we ski in temps that are sub zero on some days and we are perfertly fine!

However, made me consider it for a second - my wife needs a new jacket, but Cha ching! Ya we usually buy last years models and use the money we saved to purchase lift ticekt packages like Fox 44's deal!

My options in that list are Shawnee Peak, Bretton Woods and Pico. We can ski Pico on a 2 fer deal every sunday, Shawnee Peak on a 2 fer, and Bretton Woods for $20 on Sunday afternoons.

I thought the 2 for 1 deals were mid week only... I'll have to look into that. I have 4 kids and skiing isn't a inexpensive sport, no-one sounds cheap when they try to save a little cash. You wouldn't find my kids and I skiing Stowe without the ski Vermont deal. It's a great mountain but the lift tickets are ridiculous. (the ride from Boston kind of stinks too) We typically call Wachusett home, but sometimes it's nice to bring the kids north.

 

[JDMRoma]

They are pretty good coats too. I'm really happy with mine.

Same here, got in on that deal a couple of years ago…still have my Jacket and Love it. Lightweight and keeps me plenty warm !
Bummer to see that Jay is no longer participating in this !

 

[jaytrem]

Huh? Not to sound cheap or anything, but we find great gear for a third of the price and we ski in temps that are sub zero on some days and we are perfertly fine!

Every year I've been able to find them for 20-25% off before the season started. That put the price in the low $200s. My best year I was able to use 15 or 16 tickets. There were about 10 more tickets in the book then though. SO if you're ambitious enough it is a great deal. I figure even if you just use the NY ones you're doing pretty well.

 

[CoolMike]

Do the snow pants in the passport collection include the lift tickets? I couldn't find anything about it on the website.

Also, thanks for the above link - I'd grab a jacket if I didn't buy a new one half-way through last season.

 

[jaytrem]

Do the snow pants in the passport collection include the lift tickets? I couldn't find anything about it on the website.

Also, thanks for the above link - I'd grab a jacket if I didn't buy a new one half-way through last season.

No, only comes with the jacket.

 

[dlague]

Every year I've been able to find them for 20-25% off before the season started. That put the price in the low $200s. My best year I was able to use 15 or 16 tickets. There were about 10 more tickets in the book then though. SO if you're ambitious enough it is a great deal. I figure even if you just use the NY ones you're doing pretty well.

If that is the case is a good deal! I would need to be able to ski at least 6. So if you did 15 then more power to you!

 

[jaytrem]

If that is the case is a good deal! I would need to be able to ski at least 6. So if you did 15 then more power to you!

15 was a lot easier when there were 40+ tickets in the book, and grouped a lot closer. Anyway, this is a good online store to get them for 20-25% off....

http://www.joessportinggoods.com/

They often have sales, probably best to sign up for their mailing list if interested.

 

[St. Bear]

The year I bought my jacket, there were select snowpants that came with the passport.

If anybody does participate, I highly suggest getting in contact with some of these guys.
http://epicski.onthesnow.com/t/121592/official-2014-descente-passport-thread

 

[jaytrem]

The year I bought my jacket, there were select snowpants that came with the passport.

That may or may not be correct. A fellow A-zoner went for the pants one year and even though the ad stated it came with the book, it turned out it was a mistake. Luckily Descente was kind enough to send him one anyway. The pants were $240, so it's not like they were much less than a jacket. But it was nice of Descente to take care of it. Even though there are usually(maybe always) pants in the passport collection I'm 99.9% sure none of them come with a pass.

 

[jaytrem]

Just in case anybody is interested in buying one of these. They're 20% off here until Nov 10th....

http://www.joessportinggoods.com/

I've purchased from them a few times. No issues.

 

[dlague]

Just in case anybody is interested in buying one of these. They're 20% off here until Nov 10th....

http://www.joessportinggoods.com/

I've purchased from them a few times. No issues.

Wow that is 20% off? Rather put that towards new skis or boots!

 

[jaytrem]

Wow that is 20% off? Rather put that towards new skis or boots!

Yeah, me too. But if you just use the 4 NY ones during Christmas week, for $232 you're not doing too bad. As mentioned earlier, it was a lot easier to get your moneys worth when there were 40+ tickets rather than 29.

 

[abc]

I've got two of them! So here's my take:

1. Yes,hunt down a shop that has them on discount!

BUT, note the following caveat:
a) be careful which model has the passport and which one doesn't.
b) occasionally a jacket arrives from the shop WITHOUT the passport! Call them up and a good shop will hunt down the passport and send it to you. Or you can also call Decente and they MAY send you a replacement

2. It's only a good deal if you can use a few tickets. Better yet, if you can use MANY of the tickets.

In my case, I travel out west once a year anyway. The 2 years I had the passport, I targeted a "cluster" of mountains on the passport: one year in Tahoe, another in Salt Lake City. (a third "cluster" can be had in Colorado also, which I did in one of the 2 years. In other words, I went out west TWICE that year and most of my lift tickets are free! Just pay flight/motel/car)

Those are IN ADDITION to the northeast mountains I can hit. So in one year, I probably used 10 of them, which is FAR OVER the price of the jacket. The second year, I was still slightly ahead.

If you only use a couple near your home, it may not work out all that great.

3. Those are good jackets, if it fits your need.

Why did I buy the second jacket? The first one I ordered online and it didn't quite fit. But instead of returning them, I just stashed the jacket and used the free tickets. Since I went out west TWICE that year, I got my money's worth and the jacket just sat in the closet...

The second year, I got a jacket that fits AND still use enough of the coupons to be ahead on cost. Look at it another way, I got a nice jacket for free while paying to ski the mountains I want to ski anyway.

I thought about selling the jacket that didn't fit. But instead gave it to my good friend who happened to have an empty house in Park City that I got to stay for free while there! (I also gave them the free Snowbasin ticket I didn't have time to use)

4. Pay attention to restrictions and valid days.

It's getting more and more restrictive each year.