Ski passports for 2024-25, free or almost free, 4th, 5th, and/or 6th grades in selected regions

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Parents with kids in elementary school may be able to take advantage of "ski passports" depending on the region where they plan to ski/board in 2024-25. Most are available regardless of where people live. For example, the Utah passport is not restricted to Utah residents. In general, need to plan ahead. Many passports are only available during the fall.

Epic SchoolKids registration is open. There are programs for Colorado, Utah, and Whistler-Blackcomb that provide a few days of free lift access to kids in Kindergarten through 5th grade. There are holiday blackout dates that vary depending on location. No purchase of an adult Epic pass is required. For Park City, a free first-timer lesson and rental package can be set up in advance once per child. The Colorado program provides to most days (4 days at each Epic resort in CO), but also requires in-person registration.

Epic SchoolKids | Epic Season Pass

www.epicpass.com

 

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Ski Vermont has a Fifth Grade Passport for $35. Proof of grade is required, but it's open to anyone. Don't even need to be an American. Presumably that means Canadian families could apply. A student using a passport must be with an adult who has a lift ticket or pass of some sort. An adult can bring 1-2 kids using a VT Passport.

 

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Michigan is continuing the 4th-5th grade program. The list of participating ski areas/resorts is pretty long, and includes Ikon and Indy locations that are donating lift tickets. There is an app and the cost is $30.

Cold is Cool!

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www.goskimichigan.com

"
September 2024 – Clarkston, MI – Ski areas and resorts across Michigan have teamed up to provide skiing to 4th and 5th grade students with the “Cold is Cool” Ski & Ride Passport App. All fourth- and fifth-grade kids with a passport can ski for free, up to three times, at each of the 29 participating ski areas, which totals over 90 lift tickets/trail passes per child. The cost for access to the app is $30, which includes a $8 donation to MIsnow, a new nonprofit dedicated to introducing Michigan children to the slopes and trails, promoting diversity and inclusion and providing education on sustainability practices. All Cold is Cool lift tickets are donated by the ski areas.

Steve Kershner, chairman of the Michigan Snowsports Industries Association (MSIA), says that when a child is in the fourth or fifth grade, they are at the perfect age to learn to ski or snowboard. “They have the coordination and enthusiasm to pick up the sport quickly.”

Application instructions for the Passport are available on MSIA’s website, goskimichigan.com, and at coldiscool.org. Parents/guardians upload a photo of the child (to use as their identification at the lift ticket window) and proof of grade, such as a report card or progress report. MSIA then must make sure all documentation is correct before approving the application, which may take a few days. However, parents can get immediate access to the app by visiting one of the participating Michigan ski retailers and bringing along proof of grade. “This is a great benefit if the family is heading to the slopes within a day or so of applying,” says Mickey MacWilliams, MSIA executive director.

For fourth and fifth graders to use the free lift or trail passes, a paying adult must accompany them. “We feel that fourth and fifth graders should be supervised by an adult while on the slopes and trails. Our intention is to make this a fun, affordable and safe activity for the entire family,” says Kerchner. Up to two kids with Passport access can ski free with each paying adult. The Passport is valid through the end of the 2024/25 ski season.

In addition to the lift tickets donated by the participating ski areas, the Cold is Cool Passport App also includes coupons for 20% off a helmet purchase and $20 off the purchase of $100 at participating ski shops. Some ski areas have also included coupons for equipment rental and discounted lessons.
. . ."

 

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SkiUtah has a passport for 4th-5th graders for $69, with the price going up after Nov. 30, 2024. Doesn't matter where the family lives. Some of the resorts do not have blackout dates, including Snowbasin and Solitude. Fair to say for a family with a 3rd or 4th grader, planning trips to SLC for a couple years based on Ikon or Indy for other members of the family could be worth serious consideration.

 

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The deadlines for ski passports are often in the fall.

Registration for EpicSchoolKids is already closed. Registration for an upcoming season starts in the spring.

 

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Mountain Capital Partners (the other MCP, not Mountain Collective Pass) offers free season passes for kids 12 and under. For anyone that lives near one of the MCP resorts in the southwest, Utah, or Williamette Pass in Oregon, worth checking out.

From Purgatory website:

 

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The Ski NY kids passport program has expanded and now, for an application/processing fee of $45, any kids in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades ski 2 days per year free (with purchase of adult lift ticket) at a whole bunch of areas including some really great ones like Gore, Whiteface, Plattekill, Belleayre, etc as well as lots of smaller ones, plus some XC areas. Holiday dates excluded at some ski resorts. You do not need to live in NY to qualify for the passport.

List of ski areas and any relevant blackout dates here: https://www.iskiny.com/ski-ride/ski-ny-ski-ride-passport-program

 

[Skac1919]

The Ski NY kids passport program has expanded and now, for an application/processing fee of $45, any kids in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades ski 2 days per year free (with purchase of adult lift ticket) at a whole bunch of areas including some really great ones like Gore, Whiteface, Plattekill, Belleayre, etc as well as lots of smaller ones, plus some XC areas. Holiday dates excluded at some ski resorts. You do not need to live in NY to qualify for the passport.

List of ski areas and any relevant blackout dates here: https://www.iskiny.com/ski-ride/ski-ny-ski-ride-passport-program

Thanks for sharing this! Maybe next year will be the one to finally try an Adirondacks trip as I’ll have a 3rd grader!

 

[marzNC]

The Ski NY kids passport program has expanded and now, for an application/processing fee of $45, any kids in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades ski 2 days per year free (with purchase of adult lift ticket) at a whole bunch of areas including some really great ones like Gore, Whiteface, Plattekill, Belleayre, etc as well as lots of smaller ones, plus some XC areas. Holiday dates excluded at some ski resorts. You do not need to live in NY to qualify for the passport.

List of ski areas and any relevant blackout dates here: https://www.iskiny.com/ski-ride/ski-ny-ski-ride-passport-program

Thanks for sharing! The list of locations participating is impressive. Not only all three ORDA mountains, also Catamount, Plattekill, Windham, Catamount, West, Greek, Holiday Valley, and Bristol. Even Mountain Creek in NJ. I stopped by Holiday Mountain on the way to the Berkshires to see fall colors in early October. The story of how that's come back from almost becoming a lost ski area is a good one.

Fee is $45 and get 2 days for a long list, including Belleayre, Gore and Whiteface, along with Catamount, Bristol, Greek, Plattekill, and Windham.

 

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Thanks for sharing! The list of locations participating is impressive. Not only all three ORDA mountains, also Catamount, Plattekill, Windham, Catamount, West, Greek, Holiday Valley, and Bristol. Even Mountain Creek in NJ. I stopped by Holiday Mountain on the way to the Berkshires to see fall colors in early October. The story of how that's come back from almost becoming a lost ski area is a good one.

Fee is $45 and get 2 days for a long list, including Belleayre, Gore and Whiteface, along with Catamount, Bristol, Greek, Plattekill, and Windham.

Thank you so much for mentioning Holiday Mountain. I never even knew about it and it's only an hour from my house! I saw the name on the list and just rolled it into Holiday Valley in my mind, somehow. So THANK YOU for calling it out!

My older kid has the NY Ski passport this year so stopping by for a couple day outings is absolutely on our list now. I'm always so thrilled to visit small local slopes - I grew up taking occasional big family trips to VT, Whiteface, or out to Breckenridge, but mostly skiing at Thunder Ridge and Sterling Forest (RIP) and while a big destination mountain is definitely exciting, the little local places have a special place in my heart.

 

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Thank you so much for mentioning Holiday Mountain. I never even knew about it and it's only an hour from my house! I saw the name on the list and just rolled it into Holiday Valley in my mind, somehow. So THANK YOU for calling it out!

My older kid has the NY Ski passport this year so stopping by for a couple day outings is absolutely on our list now. I'm always so thrilled to visit small local slopes - I grew up taking occasional big family trips to VT, Whiteface, or out to Breckenridge, but mostly skiing at Thunder Ridge and Sterling Forest (RIP) and while a big destination mountain is definitely exciting, the little local places have a special place in my heart.

You're most welcome!

I learn about revivals in NY of places like Holiday Mountain from the NYSkiBlog guys. The regular posters ski the Big3 and a few destination resorts in VT, but they also pay close attention to the small hills.

I learned to ski because I attended North Country School in Lake Placid for middle school (boarding 4th-8th grades) long ago (season lease straight skis, leather boots). NCS has a ski hill on campus with a rope tow. In two seasons I didn't become good enough to ski the trees on the upper part of the hill. Students get to ski Whiteface a few times during the season. My daughter was an advanced skier when she attended and got turned into a tele skier.

Since I moved to Chapel Hill, NC in high school and then stayed, our home hill is Massanutten in northern VA. Great place for my daughter to learn. Small resorts and ski areas are perfect for tweens because they can't get lost. I was comfortable letting her and her ski buddy for a long weekend ski without me so that I could ski the upper mountain. Can't do that at a big resort.

 

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I learned to ski because I attended North Country School in Lake Placid for middle school (boarding 4th-8th grades) long ago (season lease straight skis, leather boots). NCS has a ski hill on campus with a rope tow. In two seasons I didn't become good enough to ski the trees on the upper part of the hill. Students get to ski Whiteface a few times during the season. My daughter was an advanced skier when she attended and got turned into a tele skier.

To be clear, I only attended NCS for 7th and 8th grades. Only a few of my classmates started in 4th grade. They were much better skiers than was by 8th grade.

NCS has an alumni gathering at Alta Lodge in April, so I get to ski with a few of my schoolmates there these days. First took my daughter as a tween, partially because kids 12 and under are free during the last few weeks of the season. Alta Lodge closes the same day that Alta Lift Co, shuts down the lifts, which is typically the third Sunday of April.