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The Indy Pass has added more than 50 new alpine and Nordic resorts in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan for the 2023-24 season. Sales of the pass have also reopened with limited supply available after sales were halted in April due to “overwhelming demand.”
Would-be purchasers must join a waitlist in order to receive a “permission code” to buy a pass, according to the Indy Pass press release.
With the additions, 183 areas now participate in the Indy Pass program. New partners this winter include Big White Resort, B.C.; Cooper Spur, Ore.; Loup Loup, Wash.; Dartmouth Skiway and Whaleback, N.H.; Ski Big Bear, Pa.; seven ski areas in Japan; and SkiWelt, Austria, considered one of the three largest connected ski areas in the country (along with Arlberg and Ski Circus) with nine resort villages accessible on the same lift ticket.
Twenty-three cross-country ski areas are part of the new round of partners, most of which are located in western North America, including Whistler Olympic Park in British Columbia; Trapp Family Lodge, Vt., is one of six areas east of the Rockies to join the pass.
A full list of all new areas added to the Indy Pass can be seen here.
Earlier this month, Dartmouth Skiway and Whaleback left the newly created No Boundaries pass, a requirement of participating in the Indy Pass. The No Boundaries Pass includes up to three lift tickets at New Hampshire’s Tenney Mountain and Granite Gorge, and Maine’s Mt. Abram, for $99.
In addition, earlier this year Indy Pass officials required current ski area partners who had reciprocal season pass agreements with Ski Cooper, Colo., to drop that affiliation in order to participate. Ski Cooper lists 61 reciprocal ski areas on its website, including 18 ski areas that it partners with as part of the Freedom Pass, which offers three free days at each participating area.
Officials at the Indy Pass said both the No Boundaries Pass and the Ski Cooper season pass were revenue-generating pass products that represented direct competition with the Indy Pass.
“We are serious about growing the Indy Pass and doing it responsibly,” said Erik Mogensen, whose technology solutions firm Entabeni purchased the Indy Pass earlier this year.
This season the pass will be RFID-enabled, with a handful of partners beta-testing direct-to-lift access. Indy Pass holders can also continue to present personal identification to redeem tickets at partner resorts.
Indy Pass founder Doug Fish told SAM that they may not be done adding resorts to the pass.
“We are considering another round of additions before the season begins,” Fish said.
According to Fish, the growth in ski area partners will likely benefit participating resorts. “With added resorts, comes added pass sales so we anticipate an increase in overall revenue for payout to our resorts, in addition, our average pass price is up which should be reflected in our overall yield,” he added.
Indy Pass has not revealed how many more passes will be sold, or how long this current round of sales will be open to the public.
