Hello All,

I'm new to skiing and I was hoping I could bounce a few things off you guys collectively. My only experience has been at Snowshoe and while its a fantastic resort, it's kind of out of the way if I wanted to make it a day trip coming from NoVa. I only recently learned how much closer Whitetail and Liberty are to the DC Metro area.

My question to you all is, From everyone's experience how many trips would i have to make so the Epic Pass pays for itself?

Thank you all.

CoolBreeze303 wrote:

Hello All,

I'm new to skiing and I was hoping I could bounce a few things off you guys collectively. My only experience has been at Snowshoe and while its a fantastic resort, it's kind of out of the way if I wanted to make it a day trip coming from NoVa. I only recently learned how much closer Whitetail and Liberty are to the DC Metro area.

My question to you all is, From everyone's experience how many trips would i have to make so the Epic Pass pays for itself?

Thank you all.

Not sure, but I think a Whitetail weekend day ticket for an adult is about $80, a night ticket is about $50.  You would need to compare this to your preference for the many passes offered here:  https://www.epicpass.com/pass-results/passes.aspx

If you chose the adult Northeast value epicpass at $599 it would take about 7.5 (x 80) days at Whitetail to break even.  If you are active duty they have a fantastic pass deal at $169.

I appreciate the feedback Jim, Thank you.

If you are able to go 2 times a week with at least once during midweek it might be worth buying

they can have very short seasons and seeing what Ikon did to snowshoe (crowds) it just may get too crowded 

Vermont wrote:

If you are able to go 2 times a week with at least once during midweek it might be worth buying

Ideally, I wanted to only use it midweek twice a month, once with the kids and once without. 

CoolBreeze, any chance of you making it out West next year?  

While I am generally a Whitetail and Snowshoe fan, skiing in the rockies is light years better, and does not have to be expensive.  You can easily find lodging in Salt Lake City, Dillon, or Silverthorne for $120ish per night.  Airfare to Utah is $500ish, but can generally be found RT to Denver in the $200's.  

Doing a trip out west plus skiing locally is how to get the most out of an Ikon or Epic Pass.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely I'll be able to ski the Rockies this season, but I did some checking into the airfare from IAD➡️SLC➡️DEN➡️IAD was under $500. Maybe if my fortunes turn around this summer, a CO ski trip may happen.

Thank you for bringing up this motivation.

CoolBreeze303 wrote:

Hello All,

I'm new to skiing and I was hoping I could bounce a few things off you guys collectively. My only experience has been at Snowshoe and while its a fantastic resort, it's kind of out of the way if I wanted to make it a day trip coming from NoVa. I only recently learned how much closer Whitetail and Liberty are to the DC Metro area.

My question to you all is, From everyone's experience how many trips would i have to make so the Epic Pass pays for itself?

Thank you all.

Hello!  Have you heard of the Indy Pass?  Bryce, Massanutten, and Canaan Valley are all day trip distance from DC and are on Indy.  For $199, you get to ski two days at each of the Indy locations.  There are also locations in NC and VT.  All are smaller than Snowshoe but just as much fun as Whitetail or Liberty.  All have good ski schools if that's of any interest.

Indy won't be on sale until Sept. 1.

Although I live near Raleigh, my home mountain is Massanutten.  Used Indy to check out Bryce and would be happy to return.  One advantage for Bryce is that it's not really crowded on weekends.

Hello!  Have you heard of the Indy Pass?

No, I'm embarrassed to say that this is the first I've heard of the Indy Pass. I looked into it this weekend and I think this is exactly what I'm looking for to not only get more experience myself, but to get my girls lessons. 
 

I cannot thank you enough for bringing this to my attention.

CoolBreeze303 wrote:

 

Hello!  Have you heard of the Indy Pass?

No, I'm embarrassed to say that this is the first I've heard of the Indy Pass. I looked into it this weekend and I think this is exactly what I'm looking for to not only get more experience myself, but to get my girls lessons. 
 

I cannot thank you enough for bringing this to my attention.

 

 

You're most welcome!  You are exactly the target market for the Indy Pass.  I just posted a link to a recent podcast with Doug Fish, the creator of Indy.  Last season was the first for Indy.  Having a kid's price is new for 2020-21.

If you happen to have a 4th or 5th grader, PA and Wintergreen usually have deals good for a ski day or two.

Warning, now that I know you have kids I'll probably be strongly encouraging you to take them to Massanutten for a weekend.  :-)  That's where my daughter learned to ski starting at age 4.  Also my friend's kids when they were 4 and 6 several years later.  All learned more than enough fundamentals to ski blue groomers at Alta by the time they were tweens (ages 7-9). 

Although now that I've experienced Bryce, that's probably the best Indy location for a first lesson doing a day trip from DC.  Mnut is better if staying overnight though because there are far more non-skiing activities.