Enhancing Your Experience This Season

Excitement is high for the 2021-22 North American ski and ride season, and we cannot wait to welcome you back to the mountains we all love! Our teams have been hard at work all summer and fall to make sure you have a great experience when you visit.

Here are four updates we are excited to share to help you maximize your ski and ride time at our resorts, all season long.

Prioritizing the guest experience: Lift tickets limited during three holiday weeks

This season, to prioritize the guest experience and our Pass Holders, we are limiting lift ticket sales across our 34 North American Resorts during three popular holiday periods: Christmas & New Year’s (Dec. 25-Jan. 2), Martin Luther King Jr Day (Jan. 14-17) and President’s Day (Feb. 18-27). Lift tickets will not be limited on any other day this season.

Here’s what you need to know. 

If you are a current Pass Holder:

• There are no Pass Holder restrictions during these times, beyond any blackout dates associated with your pass. Plus, Pass Holder benefit tickets will also not be impacted, so you can still get your crew on-mountain for the holidays.
• Employee and dependent pass access will also not be impacted.

If you are not a Pass Holder:

• Lift ticket availability is visible on resort websites. If you are planning to visit during these dates, we strongly recommend you purchase in advance of your trip. If lift tickets are sold out on a specific day at a specific resort, that day will show as unavailable online and lift tickets will not be available to purchase at ticket windows.
• Remember, passes are still on sale on EpicPass.com. To confidently lock in your holiday mountain access, consider an Epic Day Pass which provides up to 65% off lift ticket prices. With an Epic Day Pass, you can lock in the number of days you want to visit, from 1-7, and decide later when and where to go – without concern of a day selling out. Epic Day Passes are non-refundable, except as provided in Epic Coverage. Pass prices increase Nov. 21.
• Lift access with the purchase of a ski and ride school lesson will be available and not limited during these holiday periods.

EpicMix Time: Now with full-day forecast of lift line wait times

New this season, our EpicMix app will include a full-day forecast of lift line wait times at 12 of our most popular resorts. While EpicMix Time has always included real-time lift line wait times, this enhanced version gives you a look into the future with a prediction of wait times in 15-minute increments for all lifts, all day long. Our hope is by transparently sharing this information, you can better plan your ski and ride day.

How does it work? EpicMix Time combines historic and actual wait time data with guest counts, wait times at other lifts, snowfall, day of the week, and period of the season to create a predictive model. It also leverages machine learning, so its forecast will improve in accuracy throughout the season.

EpicMix Time will be available at: Whistler Blackcomb, Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek Resort, Breckenridge Ski Resort, Keystone Resort, Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Park City Mountain, Heavenly Ski Resort, Northstar California, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, Stowe Mountain Resort and Okemo Mountain Resort.

It launches in December, so download EpicMix today!

Improving the mountain experience: New Operating Plan

No surprise, the efficiency of lift loading can have a real impact on lift line wait times. So, it’s a good thing we have a ton of historical data – via EpicMix – that we’ve analyzed and leveraged to create new operating plans expected to load lifts more efficiently and reduce lift line wait times!

Our new operating plan includes everything from updating lift maze layouts, optimizing lift load and unload approaches to safely reduce lift slows and stops, and even adding dedicated lift maze coordinators at our busiest lifts. The faster we can get you up the mountain, the more time you can spend skiing and riding.

And in further good news, our new operating plan extends beyond lift lines. Other examples include:

• Implementing new online rental processes at 18 resorts to cut down on time to rent equipment
• Incorporating new parking best practices across many resorts to increase parking efficiency
• Optimizing seating options at key food and beverage outlets’ indoor and outdoor spaces
• Reimagining the pre-arrival processes for ski and ride school to expedite guest check-ins

Epic Lift Upgrade: Investing in new lifts and expanded terrain

On top of these exciting updates, we are also unveiling new lifts across five resorts this season, plus expanded terrain at Beaver Creek.

• Beaver Creek’s 250-acre McCoy Park expansion will offer 17 new trails of naturally gladed, groomable terrain with two new chairlifts.
• Breckenridge’s new Freedom SuperChair will complement the existing Independence SuperChair to provide guests the opportunity to experience the wide-open terrain of Peak 7 in a whole new way.
• Keystone’s Peru Express lift at the Mountain House base area is being upgraded to a new high-speed, six-passenger chairlift.
• Crested Butte’s Peachtree lift is being replaced with a new three-person fixed-grip lift.
• Okemo’s Quantum lift is being upgraded from a four-to six-person, high-speed chairlift – now named Quantum Six. The existing four-person, high-speed Quantum lift is being renamed Evergreen Summit Express, and it will replace the Green Ridge three-person chairlift.

Next season, 19 new lifts are coming to 14 resorts as a part of Vail Resort’s Epic Lift Upgrade initiative to deliver game-changing projects that will significantly reduce wait times and make getting on and around the mountains easier, faster and more enjoyable.

Bottom line, we cannot wait to welcome everyone back this winter season and are doing everything we can to make sure you have an Experience of a Lifetime at our resorts.