10 Best Ski And Snowboard Resorts To Use Your Epic Pass This Winter

Ski resort owner and operator Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) changed skiing forever—for better and worse—when it invented the first major national (now global) season ticket, the Epic Pass. Sales of passes for this winter end on December 2, so if you want one, you need to move fast.

In the 16 years since it debuted, the Epic Pass has grown in stature and breadth, and while it has spurred a handful of competitors, it has firmly remained the number one such multi-mountain season pass in skiing, with about 2.4 million sold last winter, an increase of 4% from the previous winter and another year of steady growth. If you have a multi-mountain pass, chances are good it’s the Epic. That’s why I have compiled this list of the 10 Best Ski And Snowboard Resorts To Use Your Epic Pass This Winter.

Vail Resorts has grown to 42 ski resorts around the world, its last major acquisition being Switzerland’s Crans-Montana Mountain Resort last winter, and in addition to all of its own resorts, the Epic Pass has negotiated free included skiing at 35 major partner mountains worldwide, including dream destinations Italy, France and Japan. For those planning a ski vacation away from home, these partners may be the real power of the pass, and as you will see below, half of the top spots for your pass do not belong to Vail Resorts. Between these, the Epic Pass covers the largest resort in the world, the largest in North America and the largest in the U.S. That says something.

Even with inflation, the Epic Pass today still costs less than what many skiers traditionally paid for a season pass to just one mountain when it was launched in 2008. For many, it has significantly driven down the daily cost of skiing, even as single day lift tickets at top resorts have zoomed well north of $200. The Epic Pass can pay for itself in as little as four days per winter, and that is how it changed skiing for the better, by making it cheaper—and for avid or frequent skiers, much cheaper. The downside is that it has also made some mountains much more crowded, in many cases sparking anger among locals.

It’s still early, but this is quickly shaping up to be an amazing ski season. Huge storms have given many parts of the Western U.S. a start on what looks to be an excellent winter, with some resorts opening earlier than ever, and many with an unprecedented percentage of terrain available before Thanksgiving. In Europe, parts of the Alps have also gotten off to strong early start. All signs point to great winter for ski and snowboard vacations, and all of the properties on Epic Pass welcome snowboarders.

The flagship Epic Pass is unrestricted, covering all 77 mountains within the Epic portfolio worldwide, with no date restrictions, including peak holidays. For Vail Resorts the numbers of days it can be used is unlimited, and at most partners, 5-7 days, usually enough for an entire trip. It is now at its full price (there are always discounts for early purchase) of $1107. Then there are several less expensive iterations with restrictions on dates or geography (such as midweek only or passes just for the Northeast or Lake Tahoe regions) and 1-7 day Epic Day Passes with discounts off of what you would pay walking up to the ticket window. Finally, the Epic Pass is offered at significant discounts for active and retired military and their dependents.

I remain a fan of the concept, because I don’t want people, especially families and newcomers, to get priced out of the sport, something that could easily happen without the steep discounts offered by multi-mountain passes. But if you do have an Epic Pass, some destinations are better than others for both quality and beating the crowds, which has become much more important to traveling skiers, especially since the pandemic. Here, in my very informed opinion, are the 10 best ski and snowboard resorts to use your Epic Pass this winter.

Telluride, CO

If I had to pick just one U.S. resort to ski on Epic, this would be it. Telluride is independent, not part of the Vail Resorts company, and is the only destination that requires Epic passholders to make advance reservations—but it’s worth the effort. Telluride is my favorite U.S. ski resort taking the pass, is famously uncrowded, and also has a charming Old West town and great restaurants. As a ski destination it’s the whole package, and despite false rumors to the contrary, it is not especially hard to get to, though this widespread misunderstanding helps keep the lift lines short.

My favorite thing about Telluride is that the mountain has a lot of terrain for every ability, from first timers to the best extreme skiers, and especially an overlooked but substantial group, advanced intermediates. Just about every big resort claims to have plenty of skiing and riding for all abilities, but this is rarely the case, and many mountains offer little terrain for certain skill levels. Not Telluride. Here’s the most recent story I did on this wonderful ski destination here at Forbes.

Skirama Dolomiti, Italy

Another non-Vail Resorts partner, this is a vast interconnected network of eight ski resorts in the Dolomites, arguably the most beautiful ski mountain landscape on earth, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its natural beauty, and it’s Italy, so the food is awesome.

The Dolomites is my favorite ski destination in the world, with charming towns connected by a modern and massive lift and trail network, offering up a staggering array of ski-in/ski-out lodging at every price point, from rental chalets and mom and pop hotels to multiple Forbes 4-Star luxury hotels, Relais & Chateaux gems and everything in between, plus Michelin-starred dining. There is so much skiing and so much of everything else here you go back year after year and have a fresh experience. But there are a couple of epicenters, and Skirama Dolomiti includes resorts in the Brenta Dolomites, an overlooked sub-region that is truly a hidden gem, and you can read more about it read this feature on it here at Forbes.

Les Trois (3) Vallees, France

This wins for sheer scale and takes the title of world’s largest interconnected ski resort system. It includes seven interlinked mountains with a very modern lift system and has some of the most famously upscale ski towns on earth, especially tony Courchevel, full of luxury hotels and Michelin-stars. But to me, one of the big highlights, besides massive amounts of skiing and French cuisine, is that it is the epicenter of European staffed chalet culture, just an entirely different—and in many ways better—kind of ski vacation than most Americans are used to. This is especially true in upscale Meribel, just over the ridge from Courchevel, which is famous for its vast array of luxury chalets with private chefs, spas and free flowing champagne. This is a very special, and surprisingly affordable, take on the luxury ski vacation, and one well worth experiencing. For more info, read my article on European ski chalet vacations here at Forbes.

Park City, Utah

Vail Resorts owns the most popular ski resorts in the country (Vail, CO and Breckenridge CO) but I prefer the nation’s largest, Park City, UT (another Utah resort often claims to be bigger but incudes non-lift served sno-cat skiing that costs extra to access, and that kind of fuzzy math can be applied to any number of mountains with sno-cat and heli-skiing onsite). Park City has 7,200-acres of lift served skiable terrain, more than twice the size of major destination resorts such as Mammoth, Winter Park, Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Snowbird, Alta and many other famous names. The 330 trails and seven terrain parks are served by 40 lifts, and all of it is in charming Park City, the easiest ski town in the country to get to, 45 minutes from the reliable and well-connected Salt Lake City airport. It offers a legit long weekend ski trip option from anywhere in the country and is one of the few Western resorts that skiers from the East coast can reasonably reach in time to ski on the day of arrival, often with a non-stop flight. Patk City is one of those old mining towns turned ski town with real Old West flair, and the resort is so well integrated there’s a chairlift from Main Street.

Hakuba Valley, Japan

In recent years Japan has become the world’s Bucket List fantasy ski destination, mainly because it gets more snow than any other place on the planet, but also because the food is amazing, the value proposition excellent, and it offers a completely different cultural experience in addition to the skiing, from food to lodging to hot springs bathing. But most of the press has gone to the northernmost island of Hokkaido and its big, westernized resorts, especially Niseko, the first choice of most Americans simply because the media keeps covering the same places and they don’t know anything else.

I personally think the Nagano region (both Nagano and Hokkaido have hosted the Winter Olympic Games) on the main island, much closer to Tokyo, is a better trip. It gets the same otherworldly and prodigious snow but here it lasts much longer because there are less foreign visitors and most locals don’t like to ski ungroomed terrain. Nagano also pairs better with Tokyo, the main international airport and one of the world’s greatest tourism cities, and the ski towns here offer much more local culture—no taco trucks like Niseko. Hakuba is a big resort in Nagano that gives you 5-days on the Epic Pass, but if you feel like you just have to go to Hokkaido because everyone else is doing it, the Epic Pass is also good at Rusutsu there, a huge resort with 18 lifts and exceptional snow. Or do what I did the first time I skied in Japan and combine both into one longer trip. To get a better handle on what skiing in Japan is like, the differences between the regions, planning and tips, and why it has exploded in popularity, read my award-winning feature for Town & Country here.

Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood, Lake Tahoe, CA/NV

These three Vail Resorts-owned Tahoe resorts are close enough together where you can ski them all in one trip, but each has a very distinct personality that may be better for you. Tahoe is famous for its huge storms and prodigious snowfalls, and Heavenly, spanning the California and Nevada border with two distinct base areas, is the largest mountain and the place most people go if they are choosing just one. It delivers with ample skiing for all abilities, great lake views, and a base in South Lake Tahoe with easy access to casinos, dining and tons of nightlife. Kirkwood has always been a personal favorite of mine, a little more old school, rougher around the edges, and a magnet for excellent skiers, with some of the best expert and extreme terrain anywhere. Northstar is the white glove Tahoe luxury Tahoe spot, the region’s answer to Colorado’s tony Beaver Creek (also a Vail Resort). For families, groomer lovers and less aggressive skiers, Northstar is hard to beat—especially if you spring for the mid-mountain Ritz-Carlton, one of the best hotels in American skiing.

Stowe, VT

I live in Vermont, and to be honest, if travel was no object I’d pick several other Western Epic Pass spots ahead of anything in the East, because Western skiing is simply better. But New England has a huge drive market, as in tens of millions, and a lot of people want to drive to a weekend on the slopes or go skiing without flying. So, if you are coming to Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine, there is no better place to use your pass than Stowe, New England’s classic mountain, and a Vail Resorts property. It famous for its extremely challenging double-black diamond runs, but is also one of the best places to learn to ski, on wonderful beginner mountain Spruce Peak, which is now connected to the main event, bigger Mt. Manfield, by gondola. There’s a great base village and a lot going on, and Stowe is also a wonderful town and home to the best ski town lodging and dining in all of New England. There’s other great Northeastern skiing, but there’s no complete ski vacation destination that can compare.

Powder Highway, British Columbia, Canada

In recent years the only region that has rivalled Japan as the “next big thing” in skiing is British Columbia’s Powder Highway, a circular drive route in the Canadian Rockies that links eight ski resorts and gets a lot of snow, hence the name. The appeals include an extended road trip option, but several of the resorts are big enough for an entire stay. Most are old school mountains where the emphasis is on skiing, short lift lines and value rather than nightclubs, Michelin-stars and high thread count sheets. If you are one of those skiers who ran out and bought a Sprinter or other camper van in the pandemic and are now wondering what to do with it, this is the trip for you. Three of the biggest stops on the Powder Highway are partners on the Epic Pass, most notably famed Kicking Horse, the “Champagne Powder Capital of Canada,” along with big Fernie and smaller (but not small) Kimberly Alpine Resort.

Breckenridge & Keystone, CO

Vail Resorts is a Colorado-based company, born and raised in the state, with its biggest and most popular ski resorts, so it was hard for me to choose just one of their flagships. I have always been a fan of Breckenridge, because it offers real big mountain skiing with a wealth of varied terrain, and like Telluride above, has plenty for every ability level. It is also one of the easiest resorts in the area to get to and is directly connected to an atmospheric Old West former mining town with plenty of food and especially drink options. It has the highest lift served skiing in the nation, and wind often repacks its vast above tree line terrain at night so you get fresh tracks skiing even when it doesn’t snow.

But it is very close to and easy to combine with (especially using Epic Pass) next door neighbor Keystone, which was last year’s most improved resort in American skiing. After a massive expansion it now offers some of the most accessible bowl skiing in the Rockies for all day loops, and is quite literally better than ever (read my story here at Forbes).

I also have to give honorable mention to Beaver Creek and Crested Butte. Beaver Creek is best known as the fanciest ski resort in the nation, with staffers serving free warm chocolate chip cookies in a village that has heated sidewalks and escalators everywhere so those in boots don’t have to trudge through snow or use stairs. But it also has great skiing, with immaculate grooming for beginners and intermediates, and one local secret is that powder here lasts longer than just about any other mountain because so many people come for the groomers. Beaver Creek is an exceptional place to ski after a storm, but the reason I love it is because it has some of the best black and double black bump skiing in the nation, long mogul runs—which I often have all to myself, top to bottom. The appeal of Crested Butte is an enormous amount of highly advanced backcountry-style terrain, and it is one of those resorts that calls out to experts, especially in big snow years like the huge one shaping up right now.

Whistler/Blackcomb, British Columbia, Canada

It would be hard to leave this one off, because it is both the largest and most popular ski destination in all of North America, a must-visit dream destination for most skiers and snowboarders. That being said, while this list is not in order, there are a couple of reasons I put it last. Compared to many other spots on this list, snowfall is inconsistent, and when it does get a lot of snow, its coastal location means the white stuff is typically wetter than the dry powder many skiers chase. The resort has one of the best arrays of dining on the continent, and several standout luxury hotels, but it’s not a repurposed historic town like many in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, and has a manufactured feel, often with a spring break excess vibe—an appeal for many visitors but not all of them. But when there’s a lot of snow, no place on this side of the Atlantic or Pacific has more skiing and riding, and as a Vail Resorts property, Epic Pass access is unlimited.

So we ended up with more than ten great ski vacation options, but better too many than too few. All are among the best ski and snowboard resorts to use your Epic Pass this winter. Pray for Snow!