What Pass are you Buying '19-'20 Season?

After approx. 20 years as ORDA passholders, forced to ski primarily weekends, and have the non-holiday pass this season, have come to a decision point on renewing at $599 or going with a base Ikon at $649.  Not both due to skiing less than 20 days per season recently, and loving the diversity of snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and intrigued on backcountry or tele.

Challenges:  live 75 minutes from Gore, and 2.5 hours to WF, so day trips super easy.  Closest Ikon would be VT, K at 3 hours.  Crowds,  lift lines, we are spoiled at ORDA locations.

Pros: ability to have enough days in the East while at least one or two trips out west.  Also not skiing the conditions experienced at Gore last few years.  It just has not been good "generally" on weekends.  Less holiday blackouts than the ORDA non holiday pass.  

I would miss Gore, but these days (post kids) searching for quality, not quantity.  Will return to ORDA when retired in a few years and able to pick and choose days, not just weekends.  Ready for a change.

What are you doing?  

Sticking with ORDA and Freedom.

Freedom.....I reading as a season pass at one of the 19 participating mts must be purchased also?   Of which ORDA is not a member.  

Basically I have a Gore pass and a Plattekill pass.  They come with other mountains: the two that I actually ski are Whiteface and Magic.

Hoser wrote

Freedom.....I reading as a season pass at one of the 19 participating mts must be purchased also?   Of which ORDA is not a member.

Correct
Freedom Pass= season pass + 3 Days each at the other hills. How close are you to Plattekill or Magic?

Harvey wrote

Basically I have a Gore pass and a Plattekill pass.  They come with other mountains: the two that I actually ski are Whiteface and Magic.

Don’t forget Belle

I've been thinking about this myself and am not sure what I intend to do. Been skiing Greek Peak with a season pass for 25 years (with two years at Song/Lab). Debating whether I want to get a pass there next year for $475, or get a multi-mountain product and ski fewer days locally and more in Vermont and out west.

This past season Song and Lab also had an offer which  I think started in January where you could buy a season pass for this season and get next season as well - price was around $550 for an individual adult for that I think. So if that came up again I'd probably jump on that but wouldn't know until late this year or early next year -- too late to pick up a cheap Greek pass if I didn't get the Song/Lab deal.

If I went multi mountain I'd ski locally on cheap weeknights, any coupon or online deals I could find, etc. And the Lab Tuesday night Nastar league is a good deal too - this year it was $70 for 5 or 6 days of skiing - you could free ski both before and after your race runs. Plus a decent banquet at the end of the season.

Exactly!  Hit VT and the West, while finding "Deals" for Oak, Woods, Snow Ridge, etc when not looking to drive. Just need to shake it up a bit.

How much is a Snow Ridge season pass? Maybe get a season pass at one of the smaller local mountains if it’s cheap enough and get a Champlain Valley Ski Card for variety. No Western resorts but a day each at Gore & WF plus some NVT and Quebec.

Good question, I'm thinking another Magic pass, but not an unlimited.  Possibly the non-holiday pass, and hit fellow little guys over some holidays (Oak, McCauly, ect).  The max pass affected me more then I thought, I definitely need some variety in my season.  

Prob 2.5 hours to Belle/Platty and over 3 to Magic.  

After having an ORDA pass the last 3 years. Think I am going to do the IKON base, and then just use the Empire card for remaining days at Gore and WF and/or chase deals at other areas. In the past I have done ORDA and pieced together vouchers/Ski VT/Champlain Valley Cards for skiing at non-ORDA mountains.

While that works for skiing the East, it does not out west, and I already had 3 days in Colorado, 2 at IKON mountains, and am about to do 5 more in Aspen next week. Could have saved a bundle with IKON. Also doing 2 or 3 at Squaw this April, but will buy the IKON now, which allows for unlimited spring skiing there this season starting early April. So I will get a few days on next years pass to get a head start.

Although I average 16-20 days on my ORDA pass a season, with SB, K, and Stratton (although I hate it) on the pass, there are good early/late/mid season VT options that I could see using in place of Gore. This season was also the last year I could take advantage of the under 30 pass, and with the price increase to ski holiday periods at Gore for a full pass, makes more sense for me to do the Empire Card and then couple it with IKON base to string together a few west trips and more VT trips.

Now if ORDA was to get on Mountain Collective or IKON that would completely change my mind. If only.

I'll be buying an Old Forge Pass and gas

campgottagopee wrote

I'll be buying an Old Forge Pass and gas

Haha that too for me as well!

Looks like Ikon pass is now only 5 days at Stratton for the upcoming season.  Might thin out the crowds a little, but still probably a shitshow on big weekends.

I'll most likely do Ikon + Orda again.  

Kleetus - Have you done the math of how many days you need to ski on an Orda Season Pass to == Buying an Empire Card?  Curious for my wife.  That being said there is value in not having to deal with the lift ticket window.

TheGreatAbyss wrote

Looks like Ikon pass is now only 5 days at Stratton for the upcoming season.  Might thin out the crowds a little, but still probably a shitshow on big weekends.

I'll most likely do Ikon + Orda again.  

Kleetus - Have you done the math of how many days you need to ski on an Orda Season Pass to == Buying an Empire Card?  Curious for my wife.  That being said there is value in not having to deal with the lift ticket window.

I did, comes out to break even at 13-14 days if buying the full adult ORDA pass to equal Empire Card assuming you are paying the full holiday weekend rate for each day. If the rate is less than the full holiday, such as early or late season or you ski mid-week, the number of days to break even would increase on ORDA vs Empire as the tickets are cheaper as are the discounts on the Empire Card.  

I agree there is value for not having to deal with the ticket window, but I have never really waited all that long at Gore or WF to get a ticket when I did Empire in the past.

Kleetus wrote

campgottagopee wrote

I'll be buying an Old Forge Pass and gas

Haha that too for me as well!

All the cool guys buy one

TheGreatAbyss wrote

That being said there is value in not having to deal with the lift ticket window.

+1000

I wish all these non Vail / Ikon East Coast mountains would join forces to create a third option.  If you combined Orda, the Peak Pass, and the Freedom pass into one super pass I think you'd have a real contender.  I've never been to Platty, but if you put it as an add on to Gore, it would be a no brainer to have that and Magic.  I'd maybe even be willing to go back to Hunter for the first time in 10 years - Midweek of course

TheGreatAbyss wrote

I've never been to Platty

(Roughly) where do you live?