Alterra Debuts 2023-24 Ikon Passes With Significant Base Plus Price Increase; Taos Leaves Base Pass

Earlier today, Alterra released the Ikon Pass product suite for the 2023-24 season. Adults can purchase a full Ikon Pass, which comes with unlimited access to 15 resorts and no holiday blackout dates, for $1,159—an increase of 7% from last year. An Ikon Base Pass, which offers unlimited access to 14 resorts with holiday blackouts, goes for $829, an increase of 8% from last year. Children and young adults under 23—as well as military personnel, college students, and nurses—are eligible for substantially cheaper pass rates.

Eight full Ikon destinations are excluded from the base pass, but those looking to visit the excluded destinations without splurging for the full pass can opt for the Ikon Base Plus Pass. The Base Plus goes for $1,049 for adults, costing an additional $220 on top of the regular base pass. This represents a 14% price increase versus last year, nearly double the hike of Ikon’s other pass options.

Ikon has maintained their Session Pass suite for the 2023-24 season, continuing to offer 2, 3, and 4-day access to select destinations. As with previous seasons, Session Pass products will offer flexible days of access to the overwhelming majority of resorts available on the Ikon Base Pass.

Returning passholders can purchase discounted passes, with full pass adult renewals costing $1,059 (for a $100 discount) and base pass renewals starting at $779 (for a $50 discount). Base Plus renewals start at $999 (a $50 discount). These renewal discounts will likely last through early May. While Session Passes do not come with renewal discounts, 2022-23 passholders are eligible for renewal discounts should they choose to upgrade to one of Ikon’s other products.

For 2023-24, most Ikon access terms remain the same. However, a few minor changes have been made. First off, Southern California’s Snow Valley, which Alterra acquired last year, joins both the Ikon full and Base passes with unlimited access and no blackouts. Additionally, the regular Ikon Base Pass will no longer grant access to Taos, but those interested can purchase 5-day access with the Ikon Base Pass Plus. Taos will continue to offer the same 7-day access on the full Ikon Pass as last season, but this high-alpine New Mexico resort will no longer be available on the Ikon Session Pass.

Perhaps the biggest changes to the Ikon pass suite for the upcoming season involve new perks accessible to passholders. Ikon season and Session passholders will receive complimentary access to Outside+, as well as exclusive discounts to gear retailers such as Smith and North Face. North Face discounts must be redeemed by June 30, 2023, while Smith discounts must be redeemed by the end of December.

As with every season since COVID, Ikon is including pass deferral benefits on every pass. This policy allows pass purchasers to defer the use of their pass until the 2024-25 season by December 14, 2023. In addition, if Ikon Pass destinations close due to COVID-19 between December 16, 2023 and March 3, 2024, non-Session passholders will receive a “proportional credit” towards the purchase of a 24/25 Ikon Pass product.

For 2023-24, Ikon is continuing to partner with Affirm to offer payment plans. For a limited time, purchasers will be able to lock in 3, 6, or 12-month installment plans, with rates ranging between 0-15% APR depending on creditworthiness.

Passes go on sale March 16.

Our Take

One takeaway from this year’s Ikon lineup is that the Ikon Base Plus Pass, which offers access to the same destinations as the full Ikon Pass but comes with holiday blackouts, now makes little sense as a standalone product. We will caveat that those doing trips to multiple Rockies mountains next winter, especially in Utah and the Northern Rockies, will unlock considerable access benefits with the upgrade versus the Base Pass. But with an adult early-bird price already cresting $1,000—and the full Ikon Pass costing just $130 more (just $60 more with renewal discounts)—it only takes a single holiday date to pay off the difference between the full Ikon Pass and the Base Plus. The Base Plus pass makes even less sense for young adults 23 and under, and it’s a straight-up foolish purchase for kids 12 and under, where, perplexingly, the Base Plus rate is actually higher than the full Ikon Pass.

It’s interesting to see Taos leave the Ikon Base Pass and move to Base Plus for its entry-level access tier; as we noted in our review, the New Mexico mountain rarely sees the crowds of the better-located, more popular destinations in Colorado, Utah, and Tahoe. However, Taos does not have the same uphill capacity of these resorts, and on-site lodging options are somewhat limited, meaning that the resort may be moving to more restrictive access as a preventative measure more than anything else.

But ultimately, the changes to this year’s Ikon Pass suite are largely uneventful—and perhaps the least revolutionary since the pass debuted in 2019. With Epic generally maintaining the status quo with its passes this season, it seems like the general pass landscape versus last season remains unchanged. Ikon continues to command a price premium over Epic with fewer unlimited mountains and more restrictive blackouts on the base passes, while Epic continues to offer access to Vail-owned mountains at competitive prices. Perhaps this means that after several years of shakeups, both pass products have settled into business models that work for them long term.

For more information on resorts on the Ikon Pass, see our Ikon Pass mountain reviews as well as our Colorado, Tahoe, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Western Canada rankings.