2018/2019 season pass

Now that the max pass is meeting its demise after one nice year, I'm already thinking about where to make my home next winter.  I'm a past Gore pass holder, and while it's big, diverse, and convenient  (one hour exactly from my driveway to their parking lot), I just can't get into going back there fulltime.  Every time I'm there, ala today, I just can't overlook the faults, no matter how big or small.  I think my overall feeling there stems from them being state-owned.

I think I want a smaller mountain with better vibes.  Right now I'm thinking along the lines of a Pico, Bromley, or Magic.  Not a full pass, so I can go someplace bigger if I want during the holiday periods.  It feels like a risk going small, but owning a pass is always a risk.

What are my fellow max passers looking to do next year?

Right now I’m leaning towards a Plattekill season pass. If nothing changes on the Freedom Pass, I’ll get 3 days each at magic and Bolton valley and a few other places. I may also finally join mount greylock ski club for a little more variety when the snow is good. That was my plan for this year until I got distracted by the max pass.

Saratogahalfday wrote

 I just can't overlook the faults, no matter how big or small.  I think my overall feeling there stems from them being state-owned.

What faults specifically? I'm just curious, not going to say that Gore is perfect.

I find that when I ski at any one mountain for a long time, I start to find a lot of things wrong with it. I go to Gore frequently enough that I know it well, but infrequently enough that it's still a treat for me, and I tend to not notice the problems.

Ha I do the same thing.

I switched from Mount Peter to Mountain Creek, Windham to Hunter, and Hunter to Whiteface.  It took over a full season to recognize all the problems although that's happened at Whiteface faster especially because there have been so many problems this season.

I'm going to get another orda pass despite Whiteface's dumpster fire of a season because Gore has been pretty good and if it happens again I can just ski Gore more often again.  And I can ski Belleayre when I'm at home.

I've pretty much always been a dual passholder.  This year my second pass was Max Pass.  I think I'd get some version of the Ikon Pass next year.  I like Tremblant and Killington too much to not go on a regular basis and I could ski Stratton when at home which is much better than Belleayre when I have time for the extra drive.

I've thought about this a bit, but am waiting until final pass packages are offered to make a real decision.

One option I was thinking of was to buy a Gore/WF Empire Card (or whatever they're calling their frequent skier card). $70, but you get one free ticket, $ off each time you go, and every 5th time is free or something.

I thought I'd miss Gore and WF this year, but I've only used 2 out of 10 MAX Pass days there, and I think I might go to the Vermont Max Pass resorts more in March.

I have the empire card, and it's sweet. If you play it right, pay the 70 bucks on a weekend. it's actually cheaper than a full price ticket. Then go during the week 4 times, it's 50% off. It costs me 30 bucks to ski Gore during the week. Then save that free ticket for a weekend where you'd otherwise only save 25%. I'll ski the ORDA mountains a total of 10 times this season for well under what a season pass would cost me.