As winter in North America approaches, Ikon Pass holders can look forward to over $1billion in new and improved infrastructure and experiences aimed at enhancing the guest experience, including new terrain expansion, reimagined base areas and lodges, innovative beginner areas, new lifts and gondolas, expanded snow making, imaginative culinary offerings, improved skier services and more.
Winter 23/24 also offers pass holders new destinations – Alyeska in Alaska and Snow Valley in California.
This winter, skiers and riders will have access to more than 1,000 additional acres of terrain across multiple Ikon Pass destinations. Highlights include Steamboat’s new Mahogany Ridge which adds 650 acres of advanced and expert terrain, making Steamboat the second largest ski resort in Colorado. Aspen Mountain will see its largest expansion project in decades, adding a new lift that will serve 153 acres of new terrain, expanding intermediate, advanced and gladed runs. Plus Loon Mountain’s South Peak Expansion will add 30+ acres of new terrain, a new quad chairlift, with 50% more beginner terrain. Meanwhile Sugarloaf’s West Mountain expansion will add 120 new skiable acres, beginner and intermediate trails, transformational lift upgrades, including the new Bucksaw Express high-speed quad.
Ikon Pass destinations look to welcome new skiers and riders with a more accessible and comfortable experience. There will be new beginner and intermediate trails available at Loon’s South Peak and Sugarloaf’s West Mountain, Revelstoke is adding a centralised progressive zone and Stratton will offer a completely re-imagined Learning Zone with new surface lifts and terrain.
Plus Taos Ski valley is upgrading the Pioneers Beginner area with a new lift and regraded terrain, Copper continues to expand its Western Territory, with the introduction of new beginner trails and gladed areas and Steamboat’s Greenhorn Ranch, dedicated to beginner terrain, will open for its second season at the midstation of the Wild Blue Gondola. Look for an enhanced beginner area also at Boyne Mountain and Revelstoke.
Ikon Pass holders will enjoy more than 25 new state-of-the-art lifts this upcoming season, significantly increasing uphill capacity at their favourite mountains and helping ease congestion to maximise time on the mountain. Across all Ikon Pass destinations, new and modernised lifts will also improve access to high-elevation beginner terrain, create better skier and rider circulation, and allow skiers and riders of all abilities to enjoy scenic vistas. Others will provide faster and easier connections between different skiing areas within a destination.
Highlights include Big Sky Resort’s iconic Lone Peak Tram which will transform access to the highest scenic overlook in Montana, Steamboat’s second and final leg of its Wild Blue Gondola will open in December, and The Highlands in Michigan is installing a new six-person, high-speed Doppelmayr D-Line bubble chairlift, complete with heated seats – the first lift of its kind in the Midwest.
Plus Tremblant, Stratton and Crystal Mountain will begin offering direct-to-lift access with new RFID technology at all major lifts and there will be new and upgraded lifts at Winter Park, Snowshoe, Aspen Mountain, Mammoth Mountain, Solitude, Schweitzer, Taos Ski Valley, Sun Valley, Brighton, Loon Mountain, Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Snowbasin, Mt. Bachelor, Boyne Mountain, The Highlands, The Summit at Snoqualmie, Dolomiti Superski, Kitzbühel, Thredbo (2024).
Ikon Pass holders will also discover eight new lodges this winter season, from new and innovative on-mountain spots to redesigned mid-mountain lodges, all offering delicious new culinary offerings and comfortable yet fun spaces to recharge and relax.
Ikon Pass holders will benefit from upgraded skier services and diversified offerings, all designed to create a seamless experience on- and off-the-mountain, with redesigned rental shops, updated locker rooms, more spacious base lodges, improved parking lots, re-imagined children facilities, and fun off-mountain activities.
Snowmaking upgrades allow Ikon Pass destinations to open terrain faster and more efficiently this season, helping to provide guests with an early season. Automated and energy-efficient snowmaking systems allow destinations to take advantage of shorter snowmaking windows, and recover from weather events more quickly.
Ikon Pass is currently on sale for the 23/24 winter season. For more details, visit www.ikonpass.com
Categories: America, News, Resort News & Reports