Aspen Skiing Co. eliminates Classic Pass, lineup will be announced in August
Spring sale starts on non-chamber Premier Pass
Aspen Skiing Co. hasn’t determined yet what its season pass lineup will look like next season but the once-popular Classic Pass has bitten the dust.
Skico will announce the bulk of passes and prices in August, as it has usually done. The tradition was disrupted last year because of the pandemic. Skico officials worked on pass options and pricing right up until they announced the results in late September.
“We are reviewing all the new pass options and what we offered in the past” to decide what to offer next season, Skico vice president of communications Jeff Hanle said Tuesday.
The only pass price that has been announced so far is the spring sale of the Premier Pass without the chamber of commerce discount.
Skico’s website said it is eliminating the Classic Pass — once the darling of the company because it was attractive to Front Range residents as well as some Roaring Fork Valley folks who only wanted to ski five to six times a season.
Support Local Journalism
“A lot has changed and the industry has evolved, with the introduction of new passes such as Ikon and Mountain Collective, which work well for destination guests,” Skico’s website said. “While we are planning to move away from the Classic Pass as currently configured, we will replace it with something that we believe will work well for our local and regional Classic Passholders as well.”
The COVID-19 pandemic was the Mother of Necessity for Skico, forcing creation of new passes for 2020-21 to try to spread people out through the week. A new weekday-only pass was introduced, as was a Valley 7-Pack Pass, good for any day of the week minus some blackout dates during holidays. The Premier Pass with the chamber of commerce discount remained one of the favored passes among customers.
“Overall pass sales were up,” Hanle said about last season.
Skico’s website said pass prices haven’t been finalized beyond the spring sale of the Premier Pass without the chamber discount.
“Typically, prices increase around 5 percent from year to year,” Skico said.
The Premier Pass with the chamber discount was sold for $1,799 during the earliest period last season. A 5% increase on that price would boost the price to about $1,889.
The spring sale is being held for the third consecutive year for the non-chamber Premier Pass. The adult Premier Pass is $2,299 if purchased by June 15. Last spring, that pass was sold for $1,999. The pass must be paid for in full, but Skico will offer a full refund through Aug. 13.
Other offerings during the spring sale are the Premier Senior Pass for customers aged 65 to 69, which is being sold for $1,699 while the Premier Silver, for those 70 and older, is $549.
The Premier Child/Teen for ages 7 through 17 and the Premier College is $699 during the spring sale.
The Premier and Premier Senior passes include an Ikon Base Pass as well as multiple discounts to Skico-related services and products.
Reporter Kaya Williams contributed to this story.