2016/2016 MAX Pass or Pico Pass

[Zermatt]

Looking into season passes for 2016/17 season. I live in CT.

Our family has a vacation home about 30 minutes from Pico and 40 minutes from Killington.

I was leaning toward a full Pico pass at $399 and think we will probably ski 10 days next season. Assuming Pico is in full operation I have no problem skiing 10 days there, looks like a great mountain. I would also get one for my 7 year old for $189. I'd pass on my 5 year old. Who pays the $59 when a day ticket is free?

Just learned about the MAX Pass today and for $600 I could get 5 days at Pico and 5 at Killington plus many others. It would clearly be a bonus to go beyond the 10 days (most likely a few days at Stratton). And there is a small chance I would take a trip out west for a long weekend. If I did I would go to a MAX resort.

Any suggestions? At 10 days or less should I just be buying day tickets in advance to try and capture the pre-purchase discount? I'm not a huge fan of this since I have no need to go skiing if the weather sucks.

I was also pricing the "express" cards and those don't look like the a good deal if you are skiing only on weekends and peak days.

 

[medfordmike]

I have been contemplating something similar. I have had a Pico Pass the past two years. This season was rough which has me thinking a bit about a multi mountain option but it was also a record breaking year as far as low snowfall. I don't know if this helps but I thought a lot about the discount card route. Since I mostly ski weekends and don't prefer Killington on holidays and many peak weekends due to crowds it didn't seem to great value for when and how I like to ski. I am not a big voucher guy although this year I did a few. Lesson learned was I went to places on days I would not have (or gone someplace I liked better) so I was not stuck with a voucher. So I understand your concern with not going that route.

I think if your are mostly going to go to K, Pico, and maybe Stratton Max is not great. If you are going to hit ME and Loon and spend some time out west then it makes more sense to get Max. You can get discount tickets to K and Stratton if you are not expecting to hit more eastern Max mountains from their websites or other sources. Also your Pico pass gets you 20% off K tickets walk up. Not sure where your house is but Sunapee is a nice family mountain and the tickets are not cheap. So if you think you might use the three tickets there than Pico might make the most sense money wise. I live near Sunapee so I use those tickets every year and right now I will likely keep the Pico pass since I would probably prefer Pico the most anyway of the three you mentioned but that might say more about my tastes and preferences in ski area vibe. In my case I live near Boston so I might supplement it with a midweek Cannon pass to round out things next year.

 

[Zermatt]

I'm banking on not a repeat of this year snow-wise. Too far to Sunapee, we are in the Champlain Valley.

If I could guarantee 15 days at K, Pico and Stratton it would be a no-brainer to buy it. But with free lodging so close to Pico and K it is hard to justify paying to sleep any place else. Which gives the edge to a Pico pass. Although, Stratton could be worked into the drive home.

Also, if I did 5 days out west it would also be a lock for the MAX pass, but already booked for a ski week in Zermatt next season.

Thanks, still a few weeks to ponder.

 

[boston_e]

Hmm, to my way of thinking, in your situation with lodging and kids the Pico pass would be the way to go.

A few things to consider:

- Do you expect to ski most days with the family? If so, Pico is considerably more "family friendly" than Killington IMO.

- If you wanted, you could likely still pick up 3 to 4 days at Killington on top of the Pico pass and still not go over the $600 mark by going the pre-buy/voucher route.

- What if your family really gets into it and you end up wanting to get more than 10 days in? With the season pass your cost will remain fixed regardless of how many more days you go.

As far as the $59 kids pass, basically it just allows you to go direct to lift rather than waiting in the ticket line to get the free ticket every morning. We found it to be worth it (and also eliminated the sibling rivalry of "I have a pass and you don't"), but I also get why many people (even most) would choose not to get it.