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Family skiing together at Big White Ski Resort

2026/27 PASS REVIEW

SnowStart Kidz Pass review: CA$39.99 can unlock a remarkable Canadian ski season

SnowStart currently stretches across 69 participating ski areas, from neighborhood hills to Lake Louise, Revelstoke and Sun Peaks, with up to three visits at each. The price is almost beside the point. The more important decision is when to use it, because each child gets only one SnowStart season between ages 6 and 12.

PRICE: CA$39.99 + taxELIGIBILITY: Ages 6–12 · onceACCESS: 3 visits × 69 areasSTATUS: Pass on sale · visits later
Editor score8.9/10

Best for: Canadian families choosing one high-use SnowStart winter for an eligible child.

A six-year-old can qualify for SnowStart. That does not mean six is the right age to use it. This is a pass worth saving for the winter when a child has the legs, confidence and family calendar to take advantage of it. Pick that winter well and CA$39.99 can follow a young skier from local rope-tow days to some of Canada's biggest mountains.

Photo: Big White Ski Resort

PRICECA$39.99 + tax
ELIGIBILITYAges 6–12 · once
ACCESS3 visits × 69 areas
STATUSPass on sale · visits later

PassTracks Score breakdown

Proposed staging score based on the current 69-area roster and published 2026/27 rules; Clarity is diagnostic.

Useful Access
9.3
Value
9.7
Flexibility
7.5
Geographic Fit
8.8
Clarity (diagnostic)
8.3

USEFUL ACCESS

The breadth is not just numerical.

SnowStart's roster combines community hills where three visits can cover a meaningful portion of a child's winter with destination mountains where a few included days can be genuinely valuable.

Lake Louise, Marmot Basin, Big White, Revelstoke, Panorama, Sun Peaks, RED, Whitewater, Mount Washington, Cypress and Blue Mountain are enough to make the network consequential without pretending every one of 69 areas will fit one family.

The product can work as local family access, a road-trip companion or child access on a destination trip.

Group of young skiers at Big White Ski Resort
Photo: Big White Ski Resort
VALUECA$39.99 is almost absurdly inexpensive. Family skiing is not.

On paper, the current roster offers as many as 207 child visits: three at each of 69 areas. We would not use that theoretical maximum as a serious value calculation. No family is realistically driving across nine provinces to exhaust the pass.

PassTracks found only one current area, MMC-Shames Mountain, with standing free daily lift access for children 12 and under. Nearly the entire network therefore represents access a family would otherwise have to pay for, even before temporary or package-based promotions elsewhere.

The calculation changes at the 29 mountains that require a full-paying adult. There, inexpensive child access can be tied to a much larger family purchase. SnowStart remains excellent value, but it is not CA$39.99 skiing for the household.

Buy if

  • Your child is 6–12 and this looks like a high-use ski winter, not merely the first year they qualify.
  • Your family already skis enough that adult-ticket requirements often represent spending you would have made anyway.
  • Several participating areas line up with normal weekends or a planned Canadian ski trip.
  • You are comfortable reserving ski days in advance and checking mountain-specific rules.

Pause if

  • Your child is newly eligible but still unlikely to ski much this winter.
  • You would be buying expensive adult lift tickets primarily to activate the child's SnowStart benefit.
  • Few participating mountains are realistically useful from where you live.
  • Your family depends on spontaneous ski days and dislikes reservation systems.

What works

  • CA$39.99 buys up to three visits at each of 69 currently listed areas, mixing local hills with major destinations.
  • Only MMC-Shames currently publishes standing free daily lift access covering the full SnowStart age band, so nearly the entire roster represents incremental child access.

What to watch

  • Each child gets only one SnowStart season, and every visit requires advance booking with capacity and local rules still in play.
  • Twenty-nine areas require a full-paying adult; the other 40 require an adult onsite. Blackouts and the participant roster can change.

FLEXIBILITY

Three visits is generous. Using them still takes a plan.

The three-visits-per-area rule looks wonderfully simple until you start using it. Every visit requires advance booking, inventory can be controlled, blackouts apply and local procedures vary.

Twenty-nine areas require a full-paying adult and 40 require an adult onsite. Add one-time child eligibility and SnowStart rewards families willing to plan rather than families that decide where to ski over breakfast.

Skier overlooking alpine terrain at Marmot Basin
Photo: Marmot Basin
GEOGRAPHIC FITNational reach is not evenly distributed reach.

Sixty-nine areas across nine provinces is national reach, but it is uneven: 21 are in British Columbia, 17 in Ontario, 16 in Alberta, 6 in Quebec, 4 in Nova Scotia, 2 in Saskatchewan, and 1 each in Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

A family with five useful SnowStart mountains within realistic driving distance may get more from the pass than one surrounded on the national map by dozens of areas several hours away.

DON'T SPEND THE PASS TOO EARLY

The cheapest year isn't necessarily the best year.

SnowStart becomes available at age six, but eligibility is not an expiration notice. Because a child can use the program only once, families should think about the season ahead before applying.

A beginner taking three tentative local ski days may barely scratch the pass. Two winters later, that same child might be capable of skiing full days, joining a family trip to the Rockies and visiting several nearby areas.

There is no universal perfect age. There is a better question: Which winter gives this child the best chance to actually use what SnowStart offers?

Complete access

Complete pass access

Core access and structured benefits are listed separately.

69 physical locations68 full Alpine1 Nordic-only0 Allied0 discount-only

69 locations

  • Castle Mountain ResortCSIA SCHOOLAB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Eastlink ParkAB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Edmonton Ski ClubCSIA SCHOOLAB · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Kinosoo Ridge Snow ResortCSIA SCHOOLAB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Lake Louise Ski ResortCSIA SCHOOLKids 5 & under freeAB · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Long Lake Ski HillAB · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Manning & District Ski ClubAB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Marmot BasinCSIA SCHOOLKids 5 & under freeAB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Mt. NorquayCSIA SCHOOLAB · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Nitehawk Year-Round Adventure ParkAB · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Pass Powderkeg Ski AreaAB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Rabbit Hill Snow ResortCSIA SCHOOLAB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Sunridge Ski ResortAB · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Tawatinaw Valley Ski HillKids 5 & under freeAB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Whispering PinesAB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • WinSportCSIA SCHOOLAB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Apex Mountain ResortCSIA SCHOOLKids 7 & under freeBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Baldy Mountain ResortBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Big White Ski ResortCSIA SCHOOLKids 5 & under freeBC · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Cypress MountainBC · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Fairmont Hot Springs Resort Ski AreaKids under 5 freeBC · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Harper Mountain Ski HillBC · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Hudson Bay Mountain ResortCSIA SCHOOLBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • MMC - Shames MountainKids 12 & under freeBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Manning Park ResortCSIA SCHOOLBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Mount Timothy Recreation ResortBC · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Mount Washington Alpine ResortCSIA SCHOOLBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Mt. Seymour ResortCSIA SCHOOLBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Murray Ridge Ski AreaCSIA SCHOOLBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Panorama Mountain ResortCSIA SCHOOLKids 5 & under freeBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Phoenix Mountain Ski AreaBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • RED Mountain ResortCSIA SCHOOLKids 6 & under freeBC · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Revelstoke Mountain ResortCSIA SCHOOLKids 5 & under freeBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Sasquatch Mountain ResortCSIA SCHOOLKids 5 & under freeBC · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Silverstar Mountain ResortBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Sun Peaks ResortCSIA SCHOOLKids 5 & under freeBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Whitewater Ski ResortBC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Falcon Ridge Ski SlopesMB · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Crabbe MountainCSIA SCHOOLKids 5 & under freeNB · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Marble Mountain ResortCSIA SCHOOLKids 5 & under freeNL · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Cape SmokeyNS · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Ski Ben EoinCSIA SCHOOLNS · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Ski MartockNS · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Ski WentworthCSIA SCHOOLNS · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Antoine MountainON · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Batawa Ski HillON · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Blue Mountain ResortCSIA SCHOOLON · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Boler MountainCSIA SCHOOLON · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Boogie MountainON · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Calabogie Peaks ResortCSIA SCHOOLON · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Dagmar Ski ResortON · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Hardwood Ski & Bike (Cross-Country)ON · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Hidden Valley Highlands Ski AreaCSIA SCHOOLON · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Hockley Valley ResortCSIA SCHOOLON · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Horseshoe Valley ResortON · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Loch Lomond Ski AreaCSIA SCHOOLKids 5 & under freeON · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Mount St. Louis MoonstoneCSIA SCHOOLON · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Sir Sam's Ski & RideCSIA SCHOOLON · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Snow Valley ResortON · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • The Recreation Outdoor Campus (ROC)ON · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Uplands Golf and Ski ClubON · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Belle NeigeQC · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Centre de ski Le RelaisQC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Le Petit ChamonixKids 0–5 freeQC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Mont RigaudCSIA SCHOOLQC · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Parc du Mont Saint-MathieuKids 6 & under freeQC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Ski Massif du sudQC · 3 child visits · adult on site required
  • Duck Mountain Ski AreaKids 4 & under freeSK · 3 child visits · full paying adult required
  • Optimist HillCSIA SCHOOLSK · 3 child visits · adult on site required

2026/27 · on sale now

Current products

The pass purchase is live. Ski-day reservations for the upcoming season typically open in early November and remain capacity-controlled.

SnowStart Kidz Pass

CA$39.99 + applicable tax

One eligible child, one SnowStart season, up to three booked visits at every current participating area.

Centre de ski Le Relais illuminated for night skiing in Québec
Centre de ski Le Relais, Région de Québec © GouvQc / Steve Deschênes
THE LAST RUNChoose the right winter.

SnowStart's headline sounds almost too good to be true, but the catch is not hidden in some punitive fee schedule. It is in the logistics of family skiing: reservations, adult tickets, travel, weather, school calendars and whether a child actually wants another day on snow.

Get those pieces aligned and CA$39.99 can become one of the best purchases a skiing family makes all winter. Just don't spend the child's one SnowStart season simply because you can.
SnowStart Kidz Pass 2026/27Current 2026/27 reviewCheck price · CA$39.99 + tax