2026–27 season

Deals worth the ink

Pass windows, packages, and the unfashionable mountains that keep a family week possible.

2026–27

Buy the pass in the spring window

The only 'deal' that reliably beats a week of window tickets.

Epic and Ikon both run their cheapest family pricing in spring, not in November when you are already committed. If you will ski more than four days at pass mountains, start there. Read this year's child-pass rules — they change. We do not reprint last season's PDF as if it were a coupon.

2026–27 · West

Kids-ski-free and midweek lodging

January weeks, not Christmas. Read the age cutoff.

A handful of mountains still run kids-ski-free with a paying adult on certain weeks — often early January or late March, often with lodging attached. Age cutoffs are usually 12 and under, sometimes younger. If the free ticket requires a $400/night hotel, do the kitchen-condo math anyway.

In season · Utah

Brighton nights instead of a Saturday window ticket

The Wasatch value play if you already live here — or if you're visiting and the kids can ski after 4.

Night tickets are the remaining honest bargain on the Wasatch. Not a first-timer product. Excellent for locals and for visitors who skied Solitude in the morning and still have legs.

2026–27 · Vermont

Smugglers' Notch week packages

Independent, bundled, and often cheaper than piecing Epic together for little kids.

Lodging + Snow Sport University + Treasures care is the product. Compare the week price to a 'cheap' Vail trip with à la carte lessons. For under-10s, the package is the deal.

January & early March · Colorado

Steamboat shoulder weeks on Ikon

The Vacation Center is easier to book when the rest of Texas is not in town.

Ikon has made Steamboat busier. The family program is still the reason to go — pick weeks that are not national holidays, book the Vacation Center the day lodging opens, and fly Hayden if you can.

Every season

Season leases and valley rental

Don't rent at the base at 8:30am on Saturday.

Valley shops in Salt Lake, Denver, and Burlington will demo or lease overnight. You skip the resort rental zoo and often spend less. First-timers can still rent on-hill if they need a rec-fit after day one.

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