Epic Is Cheaper, Ikon Is Bigger, Mountain Collective Might Be Enough - Which to Buy for 2025-26?

Decide soon or say "dang it."

The bad news is that multi-mountain ski season pass products have become a buy-early-or-feel-dumb game that rewards those who pay attention.

The good news is that everyone can secure these early-bird rates on Epic, Ikon, and Mountain Collective passes right now.

But not for long – 2025-26 Ikon Pass prices increase this Friday, April 18. Mountain Collective will lose its $30 renewal discount and bonus third day at the resort of your choice on April 28. Epic prices typically jump around Memorial day.

So which to buy? You should buy at least one of them, and maybe more. If the Indy Pass were currently on sale, I would recommend that product in addition to – or perhaps even instead of – anything analyzed here. Sadly, Indy limits their sales quantities, and the pass may or may not go back on sale prior to the 2025-26 winter (likely at an increased price). You can read my Indy sermon here.

For now, let’s focus on what you can purchase today:

Here’s what four of those passes will add up to for an assortment of hypothetical families:

OK cool. But, uh, what do these passes actually get you? Well, there are lots of ways to consider that. First, let’s look at the number of ski areas you can access with each of the five passes:

Which looks even-ish. But Epic’s roster contains an outsized number of suburban neighborhood speedbumps. That’s great if you live next door, but Ikon has holstered a far greater number of destination ski areas. Check out the difference in the number of thousand-plus footers on each pass:

To underscore the point, compare total U.S. skiable acreage available on each pass coalition:

Now, let’s look at each pass’ number of ski areas by U.S. region:

And by U.S. state:

And by everything outside the U.S.:

Which is, well, a lot. And since comparing numbers of partners leaves off a pretty important piece of information – how frequently, and when, you can actually use that pass to access each mountain – here’s every Ikon, Epic, and Mountain Collective ski area sorted by region (I know you really don’t want to leave your Pet Rectangle, but this is best viewed on desktop, or at least here):

Best viewed on desktop.

Before we go any further, let’s compare the kick-ass Epic Day Pass:

Best viewed on desktop.

To the whatever-the-opposite-is-of-kicking-ass Ikon Session Pass:

OK, now that you understand all the passes, use this handy flow chart to pick the very best pass for you (best viewed on desktop):