Vail Resorts is gearing up for ski season with deals and discounts on its Epic Pass. Right now, season passes are at the lowest price of the fall, and the resort company is sweetening the deal even more this year with a new pass benefit. With the purchase of an Epic, Epic Local, or Epic Military Pass, you get between six and 10 day passes for your friends discounted to 50% off.
The Epic Friend Tickets are a new Epic Pass offering for the 2025/26 ski season. In a press release, Vail Resorts said it launched them to “celebrate the social side of skiing.” It’s an enticing new benefit that replaces the Epic Buddy Tickets from years past.
“Skiers and snowboarders know this sport is magic; a passion you can’t help but pass on,” Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz said in the release. “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: Half-Day Prices, Full-Day Passes, Credit for Next Season
Previously, Vail Resorts offered Buddy Tickets with the purchase of an Epic Pass. But the discounts on those passes were less significant and sometimes varied from one resort to another. The Epic Friends Tickets work at any of Vail’s 37 North American ski resorts and offer the same discount at all of them.
Not only that, but to entice people to buy into an Epic Pass next year, every dollar someone spends on an Epic Friend Tickets can be used as a credit toward purchasing a 2026/27 Epic Pass.
The earlier you buy an Epic Pass, the more Epic Friend Tickets you get. Anyone who bought an Epic Pass before April 14, 2025, will get 10 half-price day tickets for their friends. If you bought your Epic Pass after that, you get six half-price tickets.
To use an Epic Friends Ticket, you redeem one of them on EpicPass.com and activate it in the My Epic app. The Epic Pass holder then scans their pass in the lift line first, and their friend scans in behind them. You and your friend have to be together in the lift line in order for the Epic Friend Ticket to work.
“We will always give the best deal to our Pass Holders who commit to skiing with us ahead of the season,” Katz said. “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.”
Epic Pass Prices Go Up September 1
As always, the best time to buy your Epic Pass is now, as prices will continue to go up until they stop selling. Last year, the full Epic Pass for adults broke $1,000 for the first time, and this year it’s holding its ground. The full Epic Pass this year is $1,075 for adults and $548 for children. The Epic Local pass will be $800 for adults and $416 for children.
Active and retired military and their dependents get a screaming deal with the Epic Military Pass, which accesses all of Vail’s 42 resorts for $190. Veterans and their dependents get the same pass for $614.
Those prices won’t last, though. On September 1, the Epic, Epic Local, and Epic Military passes will increase in price. Vail Resorts did not indicate by how much, but it’s usually around a 6-7% increase.
If you plan on skiing the Epic Pass this year, buy your pass sooner, save yourself money, and get those sweet new Epic Friend Tickets.
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