Most skiers who buy the Ikon Pass for the 2020–21 season won't need advance reservations to hit the slopes, according to Alterra Mountain Company, which operates the pass.
It's a different story at the nearly three dozen mountains covered by the Epic Pass from Alterra competitor Vail Resorts. Vail announced in late August that in order to control crowds in the era of Covid-19, all visitors will need to make reservations for lift access—and that includes pass holders.
Anybody with an Ikon Pass, however, will, in most cases, still be able to stroll up to any resort covered by the pass and get on a lift without having booked a slot ahead of time—which, after all, is one of the reasons why people buy multiresort passes in the first place.
In a statement, Alterra says that it will control crowds by limiting the number of daily lift tickets available for advance purchase. Additionally, walk-up window sales and undated tickets will be discontinued until further notice.
The plan is to prioritize pass holders over single-day skiers.
Alterra owns and operates 15 properties in North America, including 3 in Canada and a dozen mountain resorts in the United States: Steamboat (pictured) and Winter Park in Colorado; the soon-to-be-renamed Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, Mammoth Mountain, June Mountain, and Big Bear Mountain Resort in California; Stratton and Sugarbush Resort in Vermont; Snowshoe in West Virginia; Crystal Mountain in Washington State; and, in Utah, Deer Valley Resort and Solitude Mountain Resort.
The Ikon Pass is valid at all of those sites, as well as at many more mountains, including Colorado's Aspen Snowmass, Wyoming's Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Montana's Big Sky Resort, and Sugarloaf in Maine.
The policy changes outlined above are valid only at resorts owned and operated by Alterra. When making your winter vacation plans, you should check with the other, independently owned resorts covered by the Ikon Pass to find out what their policies are.
Alterra's statement also recommended checking with individual Ikon Pass destinations to learn about requirements relating to face coverings, social distancing, and cleaning protocols.
