Indy Ski Pass

[abc]

Agree. Both Epic and Ikon are actual SEASON PASS, meaning there’re mountains you can ski unlimited days!

Indy “pass” is really more a discount, prepaid ticket “pack”. Yes, it targets people who only ski below a certain number of days. (Or in conjunction to another “real” season pass). So it will suffer the same dynamic of pre-paid ticket packs. There are certain demographic that want couple of days in different mountains. That would be their core pool of buyers.

It looks like they’re seeing what happens to many ”non-core” buyers who move on. So the change to auto-renew might actually be the right move. The more dedicated weekend skiers who like to ski different mountains (or go where the snow hits) will happily stay on the auto-renew pool. Those who opt out will probably not come back anyway. That leaves more spots for the new comers.

 

[eatskisleep]

View attachment 68077

The add-on for existing mountain pass holders is a steal

 

[AdironRider]

Agree. Both Epic and Ikon are actual SEASON PASS, meaning there’re mountains you can ski unlimited days!

Indy “pass” is really more a discount, prepaid ticket “pack”. Yes, it targets people who only ski below a certain number of days. (Or in conjunction to another “real” season pass). So it will suffer the same dynamic of pre-paid ticket packs. There are certain demographic that want couple of days in different mountains. That would be their core pool of buyers.

It looks like they’re seeing what happens to many ”non-core” buyers who move on. So the change to auto-renew might actually be the right move. The more dedicated weekend skiers who like to ski different mountains (or go where the snow hits) will happily stay on the auto-renew pool. Those who opt out will probably not come back anyway. That leaves more spots for the new comers.

Me thinks there were never limited spots to begin with, which is why it inevitably opens up to the wait list like four times a year. Its just manufactured scarcity.

I have yet to meet a person who wanted an Indy pass who wasn't able to get one.

 

[AdironRider]

I also just went in and checked, as I don't remember my Indy plus add on being that expensive, and sure enough, it went up by $30 from 329 to $359.

 

[millerm277]

Still a pretty good deal, but I'm going to bow out on Indy this year. I've found the mountains I like (Midd, Dartmouth, Jay which I have season passes for all three) and am using my Indy less and less.

Honestly I think this is the downside to Indy's business model and the reason they are shifting to autorenewal. Indy is geared towards casual skiers (in general - not the populace of this board) and for the one's that do progress to being more aggressive in terms of the amount they ski, they often shift to season passes at the mountain they like (like I've done). Losing overall pass purchasers is a big problem for the Indy business model, much more so than season pass products like Epic where all the mountains are owned by Vail and they can adjust accordingly.

You're also spending what, $1500+ on season passes here?

I'm not saying it's the wrong choice for you, but you're talking a very different price range here to the Indy Pass.

Beyond this, I'm not sure it's some big problem for them - they've got the Addon for people like you who are buying a full pass to somewhere in the Indy space but want to ski elsewhere sometimes.

More fundamentally, they aren't operating resorts and my understanding is their payments to resorts are mostly based on actual visits to them on the pass rather than large fixed payments. If 10% fewer people buy it - that might be unfortunate and would mean less revenue, but it's not like they have the kind of large fixed capital + operating costs that the actual ski resort operators have.

 

[AdironRider]

I get pretty good deals on my Midd and Dartmouth passes as part of my contracts with them, but yes spring rates would put me at about 1500 for those three passes if I was to be a regular paying customer. I also get approx 75 days a year so the math works for me.

Not operating resorts is their biggest liability because they can't adjust based on sales. Vail can hire fewer people or curtail hours but Indy just has to pay out.The Indy model only works if there are enough pass buyers that don't use the passes much to offset those that do use them a lot. They bake in a little bit of security by adjusting the rates they pay to resorts depending on redemption rates, but that can only do so much. If the balance for Indy shifts to far into the heavy user, the model collapses. Think gym memberships, or (and not saying this is the case for Indy), ponzi schemes. They need money coming in to support the money going out. Vail can just adjust operating expenses when shit hits the fan.

 

[Smellytele]

I also just went in and checked, as I don't remember my Indy plus add on being that expensive, and sure enough, it went up by $30 from 329 to $359.

That is not the add on price. That is the base indy price.

Sorry I was mis-remembering and was think of the non + add on.

Although if you work at an indy ski area they have a killer deal for empolyees I have heard

 

[LoafSkier19]

That is not the add on price. That is the base indy price

No, he’s right. Indy+ Add-on is $359 and Indy Base pass is $349

 

[deadheadskier]

I
think the appeal for Indy depends on a number of factors.

I have several friends who only buy Indy and love it. They ski about ten days a year. I have other friends who are more frequent skiers that do the Add On. And some like me that do another pass plus Indy.

The one constant with most everyone I know who buys the pass is they like the less corporate culture / vibe that most Indy mountains provide. That means mostly fewer crowds, less cookie cutter operations, often cheaper F&B and just better overall customer service.

Where folks live makes a difference too. For the Southern NH skier, it's fantastic. 14 mountains within day trip range for me. 28 days if I want em for $400. And obviously more with overnights.

I'd be curious to know what their volume statistics are by year. Are they growing, flat or declining? Next year is year six for me on Indy. I don't even think about switching back to Epic or pursuing iKon. Though if I still lived in Portland, I'd definitely have Boyne/iKon over Indy. I also would if I still lived in VT.

 

[thetrailboss]

I
think the appeal for Indy depends on a number of factors.

I have several friends who only buy Indy and love it. They ski about ten days a year. I have other friends who are more frequent skiers that do the Add On. And some like me that do another pass plus Indy.

The one constant with most everyone I know who buys the pass is they like the less corporate culture / vibe that most Indy mountains provide. That means mostly fewer crowds, less cookie cutter operations, often cheaper F&B and just better overall customer service.

Where folks live makes a difference too. For the Southern NH skier, it's fantastic. 14 mountains within day trip range for me. 28 days if I want em for $400. And obviously more with overnights.

I'd be curious to know what their volume statistics are by year. Are they growing, flat or declining? Next year is year six for me on Indy. I don't even think about switching back to Epic or pursuing iKon. Though if I still lived in Portland, I'd definitely have Boyne/iKon over Indy. I also would if I still lived in VT.

I’d have to think growing. Good price point. Good value. Lots of variety. And as said, no downsides or crowding or other issues.

 

[Smellytele]

I’d have to think growing. Good price point. Good value. Lots of variety. And as said, no downsides or crowding or other issues.

Not saying it is Indy as the lone factor, but the crowding seems to be picking up at these places. It is all relative though going from always ski on to a wait. Ragged and Burke even Black I have seen an uptick of lines.

I have skied 14 days (just over $21 a day) on Indy. Magic this weekend. I have also been to Killington a few times early season. Paid for Cannon on a few residence days and early season. Also paid early season at Burke and Jay. I will still use Cannon and Jay days this spring. Still have 2 days at Sugarbush to use on the $99 deal. should have 35 or so days in this year including 6 days in Utah in March.

 

[deadheadskier]

Not saying it is Indy as the lone factor, but the crowding seems to be picking up at these places. It is all relative though going from always ski on to a wait. Ragged and Burke even Black I have seen an uptick of lines.

I have skied 14 days (just over $21 a day) on Indy. Magic this weekend. I have also been to Killington a few times early season. Paid for Cannon on a few residence days and early season. Also paid early season at Burke and Jay. I will still use Cannon and Jay days this spring. Still have 2 days at Sugarbush to use on the $99 deal. should have 35 or so days in this year including 6 days in Utah in March.

Anecdotal, but during this trip I've had locals at Burke, Owl's Head and Sutton all say there's been a noticeable uptick in business from Indy. They seemed to appreciate it and think it's a good thing for the businesses and hopefully future investment. I haven't heard anyone complain that it's making these places overrun like you often do from regulars at Epic or iKon mountains.

 

[snoseek]

Add on base jumped a bit. Ill probably reup next year as its a good value and allows me to be geographically spread out to follow weather. Also there's just so many daytrippable options from my house even if i never left nh its still a deal.

I feel kind of stupid buying 3 passes but all 3 together are cheaper than 1 ikon pass so whatever

 

[AdironRider]

I’d have to think growing. Good price point. Good value. Lots of variety. And as said, no downsides or crowding or other issues.

I think the growth rate is decreasing, probably significantly. I don't necessarily think they are losing customers overall just yet.

I think crowding is starting to have an effect at specific mountains. Jay, Bolton and Waterville come to mind here. Jay at least has enough infrastructure to handle it, Bolton not so much. Waterville handles it alright when that POS six pack is working correctly. These are currently exceptions IME but they are some of the largest drivers in what makes the Indy pass attractive as the more notable mountains included for East Coast customers.

Like I for example will tolerate some crowds at Jay, but at Bolton? Yeah no. That place is fun but not that fun to deal with crowds.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Again anecdotally, but MLK weekend at Burke was very busy, with a long line snaking up the hill. Busy but manageable. My first time visit to ragged was a Saturday after a mid week snow storm and it was extremely busy, to the point of crowded, and almost unenjoyable. I don’t know if I’d go back on a weekend.

I don’t begrudge these places their busy days but I need to learn to avoid them better

Funnily enough, the best crowd avoidance I’ve found is using my full ikon on holidays where the base pass is blacked out. My old move was to go Indy on a holiday but I feel like all the base pass people do that now.

 

[shawnanigans]

Has anybody seen what the 16 new resorts for this year are? I tried to find them yesterday but just kept getting sent to what was added for 25/26 season.

The mandatory $10 for the Indy Card that does absolutely nothing is shameful. Either make it work for at least some of the mountains, or bake it into the price so it's less obvious you are paying $10 for nothing.

I did 2 years on Indy before switching to Ikon the last 2 years and the direct to lift benefit of Ikon is so much better than having to deal with ticket window/customer service with an Indy pass. Maybe it has gotten better over the past 2 seasons but I have waited in significant lines at Jay and Saddleback among others just to reload a card. I also dislike having to keep a stack of mountain specific RFID cards in my boot bag. They really should figure out how to make the Indy card work at all mountain gates and be direct to lift.

But even with those gripes I am probably going to downgrade from full to base Ikon and add Indy back into the mix. I am waiting to see where Ikon renewal rates come in before making a final decision. But between 2 days at Jay and 2 at Saddleback it really pays for itself.

 

[skimagic]

The new resorts are alpine and xc, listed below. Sign me up!

New alpine resorts for 2026-27 include Les 7 Laux and Valmorel, France;
Levi, Finland;
Stranda Ski Resort, Norway;
Stöten i Sälen, Sweden;
Bergbahnen Hohsaas AG, Switzerland;
Murray Ski Ridge, British Columbia.;
Pebble Creek, Idaho;
Thrill Hills, N.D.

Seven new cross-country ski area partners are Steamboat Ski Touring Center and Haymaker Nordic Center, Colo.; Bethel Village Trails, Franconia Inn & Outdoor Center, and Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center, N.H.; Northern Maine Community Trails, Maine; and The Loppet, Minn.

 

[Killingtime]

Again anecdotally, but MLK weekend at Burke was very busy, with a long line snaking up the hill. Busy but manageable. My first time visit to ragged was a Saturday after a mid week snow storm and it was extremely busy, to the point of crowded, and almost unenjoyable. I don’t know if I’d go back on a weekend.

I don’t begrudge these places their busy days but I need to learn to avoid them better

Funnily enough, the best crowd avoidance I’ve found is using my full ikon on holidays where the base pass is blacked out. My old move was to go Indy on a holiday but I feel like all the base pass people do that now.

Burke was very busy for Presidents Day. The people working there seemed very happy about it and definitely attributed it to the No-Blackout Indy Pass days. You may be correct though. I have a Base Ikon and use my Indy for black out days. Seem like a lot of people are doing the same thing.

 

[skier0819285]

The mandatory $10 for the Indy Card that does absolutely nothing is shameful. Either make it work for at least some of the mountains, or bake it into the price so it's less obvious you are paying $10 for nothing.

The $10 card is just a way for Indy to boost profits. They pass on 85% of the "pass" revenue to mountains, but that $10 is not considered part of the pass price. So it just goes straight to their bottom line. Kind of feels scammy from the mountain perspective and customer perspective.