Two of North America’s biggest ski resort operators, Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Company, are facing legal action over their lift ticket pricing. A class-action lawsuit alleges that the companies have artificially inflated daily lift ticket prices. This, the lawsuit claims, is a move to force skiers and snowboarders into purchasing the resorts’ costly season passes.
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Denver by four skiers; three from Colorado, and one from Massachusetts. They allege that Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Company are engaging in anticompetitive practices, violating antitrust laws.
According to Greg Asciolla, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs, skiers have been told that rising lift ticket prices, reduced choice, and overcrowding are simply the new reality. Asciolla stated that the complaint alleges these outcomes are not the result of healthy competition, but of exclusionary conduct by two companies that dominate access to the most desirable destinations.
The Epic and Ikon Passes
Vail Resorts introduced the Epic Pass in 2008, which the lawsuit claims fundamentally changed the ski industry. The multi-mountain season pass now provides access to 42 Vail-owned ski areas and another 30 through contracts around the world. Alterra followed suit in 2018 with the Ikon Pass, covering 18 resorts it owns and another 70 through deals.
Within Utah, the Epic Pass can be used at Park City Mountain, whilst the Ikon Pass provides access to Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Deer Valley and Snowbasin.
For the 2025-26 season, a full Epic Pass was priced at $1,051, while a full Ikon Pass cost $1,329. Cheaper, local-only season passes are also available.
Pricing Strategy Allegations
The lawsuit claims that after introducing the multi-mountain passes, Vail and Alterra sharply increased daily lift ticket prices, exceeding $350 a day at top-tier resorts. The lawsuit states that this is not an accident, or the result of competitive market forces. It alleges that lift tickets for ski areas within the Epic and Ikon ecosystems are priced to induce customers into buying the mega pass bundles.
Vail CEO Rob Katz spoke about the advent of the Epic Pass and the increase of daily lift ticket prices across the industry, telling The Wall Street Journal that the company absolutely led an industrywide, ultimately global transformation. He added that part of that was making the season pass the absolute best opportunity and then making the lift ticket more expensive, arguing that those buying a lift ticket at a ski resort are not giving the resort any advance commitment.
These passes commit skiers and snowboarders to buy before the season starts, regardless of snow conditions. This provides resort operators with a reliable income stream, no matter the weather.
Pass Sales and Lawsuit Claims
Vail Resorts, a publicly traded company, reportedly sells around 2 million Epic passes each year. The lawsuit estimates that privately held Alterra sells approximately 1 million Ikon passes annually.
- The Epic Pass provides access to 42 Vail-owned ski areas.
- The Ikon Pass covers 18 resorts owned by Alterra.
- Daily lift ticket prices have exceeded $350 at some resorts.
The lawsuit contends that while the season passes generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the companies, they are not good deals for customers.