2024-25 Indy Pass Now on Sale for Renewing Pass Holders; Powder Mountain Drops from Pass

The Indy Pass is guaranteeing at least 200 alpine and cross-country partners for the upcoming 2024-25 season, and will give purchasers their money back if it cannot achieve this guarantee by mid-November.

The Indy Pass debuted for the 2024-25 season last week, opening renewals exclusively for current and past Indy Pass holders. For renewing pass holders, the adult rate starts at $279 for the Indy Base Pass and $379 for the Indy Plus Pass.

Starting March 8 at 10am MT, sales open to the general public, with adult rates going for $349 for the Base Pass and $449 for the Plus Pass. For the first time in years, the 2024-25 Indy Pass suite will not see any price increases versus the prior year.

As with last year, Indy Passes will be limited in quantity. Those who cannot secure a pass tomorrow can sign up for a waitlist to buy a pass later in the season.

This year, Indy has instituted what it calls a “200 Resort Guarantee.” If the pass does not feature over 200 pass partners by November 15, 2024, pass holders may request a refund for their purchase between that date and December 1, 2024.

As of March 7, the Indy Pass has already signed 180 returning pass partners for the 2024-25 season—and the company is expected to sign a handful of additional partners this Friday. While Indy includes cross-country ski areas as part of its resort roster, it’s pretty much certain that at least 125 of these mountains will be downhill alpine ski resorts.

Indy Pass 101

The Indy Ski Pass is a budget alternative to the better-known Epic and Ikon season pass products. Unlike its more expensive counterparts, Indy only offers two days at each full partner resort. However, the list of partners is lengthy, with at least 125 independent downhill ski resorts across the East Coast, Midwest, Rockies, West Coast, Japan, and Europe. Indy also features a handful of “Allied” ski resorts; access to these mountains is not fully included on its passes, but is significantly discounted.

Utah’s Powder Mountain, which was recently bought by Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, is leaving the Indy Pass for the 2024-25 season.

Our Take

The Indy Pass doesn’t make much sense as a true season pass due to its two-day limit at each resort, but the product may offer an incredible value for those looking to do multiple weekend trips—or skiers and riders eyeing a winter road trip across the Northeast, Upper Midwest, or Northern Rockies. With its going rate topping out at just $449 even for the top-of-the-line Plus Pass, Indy comes across as a much cheaper alternative to its Epic and Ikon competitors. And since Indy offers a smaller quantity of passes for sale with fewer available dates at each resort, its partners tend to see fewer lines than those on the two aforementioned mega-passes.

However, while the Indy Pass offers a much higher quantity of hills than the Epic and Ikon Passes, they tend to be smaller and less developed than the massive resorts on Epic and Ikon. And while Indy does still feature a few large ski resorts, including Oregon’s Mount Hood Meadows and British Columbia’s Big White, one of the few ski resorts on Indy that could compete with Epic and Ikon’s destination offerings—Utah’s Powder Mountain—will be leaving the pass for 2024-25. As a result, pending any unforeseen development, the pass likely will not offer any resorts in the US Rockies that span over 2,000 acres for the upcoming season.

In addition, the Indy Base Pass comes with severely restrictive blackout dates across several partner mountains, including some resorts that prohibit access on all weekends and holidays. The Indy Plus Pass has no blackouts, but for non-renewing pass holders, this upgrade is only $155 less than the Mountain Collective Pass, which also comes with a two-day limit for its partners but features many of the same destination-grade partners as Ikon.

The Indy Pass might not be flawless, but it's a game-changer if you use it the way it's intended. There are few other ski resort access products that will allow you to rack up the same quantity of runs during the season without facing significant lift lines. If you're eyeing an Indy Pass and don't qualify for early renewal, make sure to grab one quickly once they drop tomorrow morning.

For more information on the Indy Pass, check out our breakdown of Indy vs. Epic, Ikon, and Mountain Collective in video form below.