October is here! Ski season is just around the corner and I’ve been getting ready. My new skis have been mounted, my old skis have been tuned, I’ve acquired some gear that I needed and I’ve purchased all of my season passes and lift tickets for the upcoming winter. To say I’m glad it's finally fall would be an understatement. Since my last day on skis in May, I’ve been waiting for the snow to fly and that wait is finally almost over. It won’t be much longer now.

I’ve only been skiing consistently for 5 seasons. The upcoming winter will be my 6th. I grew up in Kentucky and while I did ski a few times as a kid, I didn’t really have the opportunity to ski much until I moved north, first in Pennsylvania and now in northern New York, where I've lived for 4 winters. During that time, I’ve had a full ‘SKI3’ season pass to the 3 state-run ski areas in New York: Whiteface Ski Area, Gore Mountain and Bellayre Mountain. The SKI3 pass has been my only season pass for the last 4 ski seasons and it’s served me well, but it’s time for a change.

I only live about 40 minutes from Whiteface Ski Area. Whiteface has the greatest vertical of any ski area in the East. It’s my home mountain and that’s not changing, but this season I decided to not get the SKI3 for the first time. Instead, I’ve got a Whiteface Limited Pass. It’s valid only at Whiteface Mountain and I’m blacked out during holiday periods. I’ve never skied at Bellayre Mountain, but I do ski at Gore Mountain a number of times during the winter, so it was a difficult decision to make, but I've got other passes that will keep me busy this season. It just didn’t make sense to spend the extra money to have the full SKI3 pass.

With that being said, for the first time ever I have multiple season pass products and I’m very excited about it. I don’t live very far from most of the Vermont ski areas. It’s a 90-minute drive to Jay Peak, Stowe, Sugarbush, etc. I love skiing at those places and usually get to ski them a couple of times each winter. This year, however, I will be skiing at them a lot.

The first season pass I purchased for next season, aside from my Whiteface pass, was a full pass to the snowiest ski area in eastern North America, Jay Peak. Prior to last winter, I didn’t really ski trees, but after a few great days at Jay Peak I was hooked and now here we are. I’m a season pass holder. Like most passes, you get to ski for the remainder of the season for free if you buy it early, so I actually already have 9 days logged on my Jay Peak pass from last spring. The pass is good at several mountains, but I’m likely only going to be using it at Jay Peak, given the location of the other mountains.

Castle Rock at Sugarbush in February 2024

After purchasing my Jay Peak pass, I decided to go on ahead and buy an Ikon 4 day session pack. The 4 day pack gets you 4 days of access to the 39 ski areas on Ikon Base, like Sugarbush, Killington, Sugarloaf, Mount Tremblant and a lot of places not just out west, but around the world. It’s a good deal, with tickets costing much less than they would mid-winter. My favorite Ikon mountain is Sugarbush and my plan was to use 2 days there and 2 days elsewhere. However, plans have changed and I'll talk about that later in this post.

The next pass I purchased was a Smuggler’s Notch Bash Badge. This will be my 2nd winter with a Bash Badge. Smugg’s is an old-school mountain. Aside from a t-bar, all of the lifts are doubles and the vibe is just different. I love it. It also gets a ton of snow. I’m looking forward to another winter there.

The Bash Badge is not a season pass. It’s more of a frequent skier card than a season pass. You pay $100 for the badge and then full-day tickets are $30 all season and half-day tickets are $20. That’s a pretty good deal when a ticket at the window will cost you nearly $100 mid-winter!

Over the summer I decided that I wanted to ski at Stowe a few times this winter and maybe visit Wildcat over in New Hampshire. I usually get a few days in at Stowe each winter using an Epic Day Pass, so that’s exactly what I purchased this year. With the Epic Day Pass, lift tickets were around $85 (with blackouts) for Stowe and Wildcat, should I want to go there, or anywhere on else on the pass I have access to. Another great deal! I purchased 3 days of tickets. I’ll likely use two of those at Stowe and venture away for the 3rd day.

Finally, we’ve reached the pass I’m most excited for this winter. Remember that Ikon 4 day session pack I bought? Well, my wife upgraded that to an Ikon Base Pass for my birthday. In the East, the pass has unlimited skiing at Sugarbush, Stratton, Mount Tremblant and more. Plus, you get 5 tickets to each of the 39 ski areas on the pass. This is huge for several reasons.

For one, I love Sugarbush. It’s one of my favorite places to ski. Having what is essentially a season pass to there is going to be awesome. Plus, it allows me to ski at Killington more early and late season, pushes me to make that trip to Maine to ski Sugarloaf and gives me the opprotunity to ski out west. I’ve traveled out west, but I’ve never skied out west. It’s going to happen this winter.

So there you have it. My ski season plans. I know to some this may sound like a lot of passes, but I did ski 136 days last winter. Even if I just ski 100 days, these passes will be getting a lot of use. I’m excited. This winter is going to be awesome!

SKI SEASON PLANS

SKIING THE WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN TOLL ROAD IN MID-OCTOBER

SEARCHING FOR COLD IN MID-AUGUST