Vail Resorts wants to make it easier for its most loyal guests to bring their friends to the slopes, in celebration of the social side of skiing and snowboarding. Today, the company announced “Epic Friend Tickets,” a new benefit for 2025/26 season-long Epic Pass Holders to share incredible savings with those they want to ski and ride with most. Passes are on sale now, and the lowest price of the Fall ends September 1.
Pass Holders with an Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Epic Military Pass, Northeast Value Pass, and most of the company’s other season-long passes will receive 6-10 Epic Friend Tickets, depending on when they purchased their Pass. Epic Friend Tickets provide 50% off lift tickets at the company’s 37 North American resorts for the 2025/26 winter season. Plus, friends can also apply 100% of the cost of one redeemed Epic Friend Ticket toward an eligible 2026/27 Epic Pass – providing double the savings.*
“Skiers and snowboarders know this sport is magic; a passion you can’t help but pass on,” said Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz. “If you ski or ride, chances are someone brought you into the sport, and we want to make it easier for you to pay it forward. Epic Friend Tickets are the next step on our nearly two-decade-long journey to find ways to make skiing more accessible to more people.”
“We will always give the best deal to our Pass Holders who commit to skiing with us ahead of the season,” continued Katz. “That said, we know not everyone can plan ahead, so if you don’t have an Epic Pass, the next best thing is knowing someone who does.”
With the introduction of Epic Friend Tickets, eligible Pass Holders who purchased before April 14, 2025, will receive 10 Epic Friend Tickets, and those who purchase after will receive six Epic Friend Tickets. Epic Friend Tickets replace and upgrade Buddy Tickets, a former Pass benefit, which generally offered much lower savings off lift ticket prices, and which varied by resort.
Epic Friend Tickets can be used at all 37 of the company’s North American resorts including big destinations like Vail Mountain and Whistler Blackcomb; regional destinations like Stowe, Heavenly, and Crested Butte; and local ski areas like Mount Sunapee and Afton Alps. Epic Friend Tickets can be redeemed through EpicPass.com then activated in the My Epic app for direct-to-lift access. The accompanying Pass Holder must scan their Pass in a lift line before an Epic Friend Ticket becomes scannable.
A gift that keeps on giving, Epic Friend Tickets provide significant savings this winter and next. Friends get 50% off lift tickets this season, and whatever they pay for that ticket can be used as a credit towards an eligible 2026/27 Epic Pass.
