Colorado Ski Passport
$76 for four days at each of 19 areas, up to 76 days, plus two published junior daily rentals. Extraordinary child value; parents still need access.
Family & youth ski passes · 2026–27
The best family ski deal depends on more than the kid price.
Grade passports, free kids passes and youth discounts can be extraordinary values. But parent access, blackout dates, age rules and the mountains a family can actually use determine what the winter really costs.
Price the family, not the child.
The family math
The child's ticket is only one line in the family budget.
A cheap child pass is not automatically a cheap family ski day. A $40 passport or free youth pass can be a remarkable deal, but the adults may still need full-price lift tickets, season passes or a companion product. Add rentals, lessons, driving and lodging, and the least expensive item in the cart can distract from the purchase that actually controls the household budget.
The program rules matter just as much as the sticker price. Some offers require a paying adult for every redemption. Others need advance reservations, exclude holiday dates or spread a large theoretical day count across mountains a family will not realistically visit. Seventy-six possible child days are not seventy-six usable family days if the parents cannot afford or schedule the same trips.
That does not make grade and age programs weak values. Quite the opposite: a family may use only four or six days and still save decisively. The useful calculation is concrete. Choose the mountains, dates and likely number of household ski days, then price every family member who needs access. The winner is the product combination that solves that real calendar, not the one with the most impressive child-day headline.
Start with age and grade
The rules change with every birthday.
Family programs are eligibility systems before they are ski passes. Find the child’s age or grade first, then price the adults and read the redemption rules.
Ski Utah Passport
$79 before December 1, then $99. Three days at each current participating resort; 14 are operating in the detailed 2026–27 list.
Ski NH Passport
$59 for one alpine or cross-country visit at each participating New Hampshire area. Open to students regardless of residency.
Ski Vermont Passport
$40 for three vouchers at each of 20 alpine areas plus 30 cross-country days. Adult accompaniment and area rules matter.
SKI NY Free for Kids
The 2026–27 application is scheduled for October. Final resort participation and redemption rules must be confirmed before planning.
SnowStart Kidz
CA$39.99 plus tax for up to three visits at participating areas. One-time eligibility; adult-ticket and reservation rules can differ.
Power Kids
Free unlimited, no-blackout access across the current Power Pass network, with no adult purchase required.
Colorado Gems Teen
$210 for two days at each of 10 Gems mountains, or 20 days total, with published holiday blackouts.
Colorado Gems Parent
$350 for the same 10-area network after a qualifying child or teen purchase; one Parent Pass per household.
WinterKids Passport
A $40 family membership for up to five people, unlocking seasonal ski-area and winter-activity offers across Maine.
What to know for 2026–27
The kid deals are getting broader, but the rules still matter.
Colorado now covers K–6
The $76 Passport provides four days at each of 19 areas and two junior daily rentals. It is broader than a one-grade program, but published holiday blackouts remain.
Epic SchoolKids stays free
Colorado K–5 gets four days at five resorts; Utah K–5 gets five Park City days; eligible Canadian and Washington K–5 students get five Whistler Blackcomb days. Regional eligibility and blackouts differ.
Epic changes the older-kid math
Separate child, teen 13–17 and young-adult 18–30 pricing means teenagers should not automatically be modeled as full adult-price buyers.
SnowStart is age-based
The Canadian program covers ages 6–12 rather than a school grade, with up to three visits per area and one-time eligibility. Adult-ticket and reservation rules are resort-specific.
PassTracks rankings
Compare the family programs we've reviewed and scored.
Order, scores, status, facts and review links are preserved from the existing Family & Youth dataset.
On sale
Colorado Kids’ Ski Passport
9.4/10 PassTracks ScoreGrade-based youth passport
Dataset priceUS$77 grades K–2; US$82 grades 3–6
Access4 days × 19 areas
For K–6 families planning Colorado ski days. Published peak-date blackouts apply.
On sale
Ski Utah 4th, 5th & 6th Grade Passport
9.3/10 PassTracks ScoreGrade-based youth passport
Dataset priceUS$79 launch; $99 Dec. 1
Dataset access3 days × 15 resorts
The preserved score and card facts reflect the approved dataset; the current operating list is discussed above.
Registration opens October 2026
Ski Idaho Passport
9.1/10 PassTracks ScoreGrade-based passport
PriceUS$29 through Dec. 20
Access3 days grade 5; 2 days grade 6
Access at 18 areas, with ski-area restrictions varying. Registration opens October 2026.
On sale
PA Outdoor Adventure Pass
8.2/10 PassTracks ScoreYear-round youth access pass
PriceUS$69
Access50+ providers; 12 ski areas
For Pennsylvania families with a fourth- or fifth-grader; provider-specific restrictions apply.
The family programs the big comparisons miss
Some of the best family deals barely look like season passes.
Grade-based passports
Colorado Ski Passport
K–6; $76; four days at each of 19 areas.
Ski Utah Passport
Grades 4–6; three days at each participating resort; $79 before the December 1 increase.
Ski NH Passport
Grades 4–5; $59; one alpine or cross-country visit at each participating area.
Read the review →Ski Vermont Fifth Grade Passport
$40; three alpine vouchers at each of 20 areas plus 30 cross-country days.
Read the review →SKI NY Free for Kids
Grades 3–5. The 2026–27 application opens in October; final participating-area terms remain a pre-launch check.
Age-based free and low-cost programs
Power Kids
Free for children 12 and under, with unlimited no-blackout access and no adult purchase requirement.
SnowStart Kidz
Ages 6–12; CA$39.99 plus tax; up to three visits per participating Canadian area.
Read the review →Epic SchoolKids
Free but regional: Colorado, Utah and Whistler Blackcomb each have different access and eligibility.
Teen + parent pairing
Colorado Gems Teen Pass
Ages 12–17; $210; two days at each of 10 Gems areas with holiday restrictions.
Read the review →Colorado Gems Parent Pass
$350; a qualifying child or teen product is required; one Parent Pass per household.
Read the review →
When the national pass wins
Sometimes the family discount is built into the big pass.
Ikon
Children 5–12 have separate pricing, with up to $100 off each child pass when bought with an adult Ikon Pass. Ages 13–22 use young-adult pricing. It works when the household repeats the same Ikon network.
Epic
Child, teen 13–17 and young-adult 18–30 tiers change the household math. Epic can be simpler when the family repeatedly uses Vail-owned mountains.
Mountain Collective
Current age bands separate free 5-and-under, paid child 6–12 and teen 13–18 products. It is limited days per destination, not an unlimited family season pass.
Indy
Child products follow the same two-days-per-partner structure. Base includes blackouts; Indy+ removes them. Price the household and check current availability before planning around it.
How to read the rankings
Price the adults before celebrating the kids' deal.
Start with what the whole household needs to buy. A $40 child passport can be extraordinary value, but the family day may still require two adult lift tickets, reservations and a holiday-safe plan. The useful comparison is the cost of the ski days the family can realistically take together.
Compare adult tickets, Gems Parent eligibility and the mountains the household will actually use before treating every possible Passport day as cheap.
Build the same trip calendar for the adults, then compare Ikon, Epic, Mountain Collective, the Ski Utah Yeti Pass or ordinary lift tickets.
New Hampshire and Vermont reward families willing to rotate among mountains and manage each program’s blackout, reservation and adult-ticket rules.
A discounted child Epic, Ikon, Indy or Mountain Collective product may be simpler when everyone will ski the same network for several days.
Family pass FAQ
The rules parents need before checkout.
What is the best ski pass for families?
The best family pass is the lowest-cost combination that covers the adults and children on the mountains and dates the household will really use. A grade passport may be exceptional value, but only after adult access, blackout dates and reservation rules are priced.
Which kids ski passes are actually free?
Power Kids is free for children 12 and under, with unlimited no-blackout access and no adult-pass purchase requirement across the current Power Pass network. Epic SchoolKids is also free, but eligibility and days differ in Colorado, Utah and Whistler Blackcomb.
What is the Colorado Ski Passport?
For 2026–27, the Colorado Ski Passport costs $76 for students in kindergarten through sixth grade and includes four days at each of 19 participating Colorado areas, or 76 potential days. Holiday blackouts apply, and adults still need their own access.
What is the Ski Utah Passport?
The Ski Utah Passport is for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders. It costs $79 before the December 1 price increase to $99 and provides three days at each participating resort. Fourteen resorts are operating in the current detailed list because Eagle Point paused 2026–27 operations.
What is the Ski NH 4th & 5th Grade Passport?
The $59 Ski NH Passport gives eligible fourth- and fifth-graders one lift ticket or trail-pass voucher at each participating New Hampshire alpine and cross-country area. Residency is not required; each area’s redemption rules still apply.
What is the Ski Vermont Fifth Grade Passport?
The $40 Ski Vermont Fifth Grade Passport offers three vouchers at each of 20 participating alpine areas plus 30 cross-country trail-pass days. It is open regardless of residency, requires adult accompaniment and is subject to area-specific rules and blackouts.
What is SnowStart Kidz Pass?
SnowStart is a Canadian sampling program for children ages 6–12. The published price is CA$39.99 plus tax, with up to three visits at each participating area. It is a one-time program, and some areas require a paying adult and advance booking.
What is Power Kids?
Power Kids is a free season pass for children 12 and under. It includes unlimited access with no blackouts at the current Power Pass mountains, requires no adult-pass purchase and includes the published Chile access for the current product.
How do Colorado Gems Teen and Gems Parent work together?
The $210 Teen Pass is for ages 12–17 and provides two days at each of 10 Gems areas. A qualifying Ski Passport or Teen Pass purchase can unlock one $350 Parent Pass per household for the same 10-area network; holiday blackouts apply.
Is Epic or Ikon cheaper for a family?
Neither is always cheaper. Epic separates child, teen and young-adult pricing and may fit households repeating Vail-owned mountains. Ikon has child pricing for ages 5–12, young-adult pricing for ages 13–22 and an adult-purchase child discount. Compare the whole household at the mountains and dates you will use.
Do kids ski free on Mountain Collective?
Children five and under have a free product in the current Mountain Collective age structure, while ages 6–12 and teens 13–18 use separate paid tiers. The pass provides a limited number of days per destination rather than unlimited access.
Is a grade passport worth it if the parents still need tickets?
Often, yes. A family can use only a fraction of a passport’s theoretical days and still save substantially. Price the adult tickets or passes, remove dates blocked by restrictions, and count only trips the household will realistically take together.