Arapahoe Basin Ski Area to offer full access to 2025-26 Ikon Pass members, starting this spring

Editor’s note: This is a developing story that will be updated with more information as it’s received.

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area has announced that the 2025-26 Ikon Pass will offer unlimited access to its slopes starting this spring.

Anyone who buys next season’s full Ikon Pass when it goes on sale March 13 will gain access to spring skiing at the resort starting March 31. People who have a 2024-25 Ikon Pass will not gain full access.

The 2025-26 Ikon Base Pass will remain at five-day access to A-Basin with no blackout dates. The full access for Ikon passholders comes as A-Basin looks toward its second season under the ownership of Alterra Mountain Co.

The full Ikon Pass starts at $1,329 while the Ikon Base Pass starts at $909. An A-Basin only season pass with additional benefits will also be available starting at $659, as well as a midweek A-Basin pass starting at $499.

“Essentially, for the 25/26 season, Ikon Pass will function as an A-Basin season pass,” A-Basin Chief Operating Officer Alan Henceroth wrote in his blog post announcing the change. “And with that comes access to some of the best destinations in ski country including neighbors Winter Park, Copper Mountain, and Steamboat (Resort).”

During the 2024-25 season, A-Basin’s first season with Alterra, there were no changes to the Ikon Pass, with seven days of access for full passholders and five days for base passholders.

A-Basin’s biggest change during the 2024-25 season was the implementation of a parking reservation system on weekends and holidays through the height of the season, from Dec. 21 to May 4. A general parking reservation cost $20 in all of A-Basin’s main lots during the 2024-25 season, unless a driver carpooled with four or more people in their vehicles, in which case parking was free but still required a reservation.

During the 2025-26 season, the parking reservations will continue to run from mid December through early May, with more specifics on parking to be released in coming weeks, according to A-Basin.

“So far the first season of parking reservations and Alterra ownership has gone very well,” Henceroth said.

The past and future of A-Basin

Founded in 1946, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area hosts the longest ski and ride season in Colorado most years, often starting in late October or early November and running through June or even July.

Located on the Continental Divide, A-Basin is known as “The Legend” for its steep, off-piste terrain like Pallavicini and hike-to terrain including the East Wall and Steep Gullies. It offers 1,400 acres of inbound terrain and lift-adjacent parking known as The Beach.

Prior to being purchased by Alterra, A-Basin had partnered with the Ikon Pass since the 2019-20 season to offer limited seven-day access to Ikon passholders and five-day access to Ikon Base passholders.

Before that, A-Basin had offered unlimited access to holders of the Epic Pass owned by Vail Resorts, which the ski area had partnered with for more than 20 years. But in 2019, A-Basin ended that partnership, citing overcrowding — specifically a “pinch on parking and facility space.”

After its breakup with Vail Resorts, A-Basin focused on reducing skier numbers on its busiest days, an unusual move in the ski industry, in favor preserving its “culture and vibe” by offering a better guest experience with limited days for Ikon passholders.

Once again offering unlimited access on a major multi-mountain pass, Henceroth wrote in his blog post about the full Ikon Pass access that parking would be key to maintaining the feel of the mountain.

“At any given moment, we are working on dozens of issues to help make A-Basin a better place to ski and ride,” Henceroth wrote in the blog post. He said that the two major issues at A-Basin that “stood out the most” are managing peak days to keep the quality of the ski experience very high and managing quiet days that are “a little too quiet.”

So far during the 2024-25 season there have been no days that A-Basin contributed to unsafe conditions on U.S. Highway 6 on Loveland Pass and no days when people had to be turned away due to parking reaching capacity or highway problems, Henceroth said. 

That is in contrast to past years when parking would sometimes reach capacity, resulting in skiers being turned away or illegally parking on Loveland Pass, occasionally resulting in vehicles being towed from the mountain pass.

Also, during the 2024-25 season, there has been an average of three riders per vehicle on Saturdays and Sundays, up from 1.8 during the 2022-23 season, and 42% of all skiers and riders have arrived “sustainably” on Saturdays and Sundays via carpool, electric vehicle, the Summit Stage or Snowstang, according to the ski area.

“Implementing Parking Reservations has been the most effective way to control the number of people arriving to ski,” Henceroth wrote in his blog. “By controlling the number of vehicles that arrive on peak days, we have been able to keep and foster the incredible A-Basin ski experience we all know and love.”

Looking to the future, Henceroth said at the Summit Chamber’s Ski Area COO Summit for the 2023-24 season that a yet-to-be-released master plan includes adding more parking — potentially up to 350 additional cars. He also noted the potential for a pedestrian bridge crossing U.S. Highway 6 and a gondola that would take people from the parking lot to the base area.

A-Basin did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the status of that master plan.

“In our wild, crazy and changing world, we remain committed to preserving the A-Basin experience,” Henceroth said. “By adding parking reservations and offering unlimited access to A-Basin on Ikon Pass, we will preserve that experience, manage the peak days, boost the soft days and continue to be steadfast and reliable for our employees, our guests and our community.”

What else does the Ikon Pass offer?

In addition to now offering unlimited access to A-Basin, the Ikon Pass also offers access to over 60 ski areas across the U.S., South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, among other benefits, according to a news release from Alterra.

Henceroth noted that the Ikon Pass offers access to various Colorado mountains as well as “iconic mountains” like Mammoth Mountain, Palisades Tahoe, Aspen-Snowmass, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Big Sky, Taos and Alta, as well as global names such as Zermatt, Chamonix, Niseko, Valle Nevado and more.

“I think the 25-26 Ikon Pass is the greatest season pass ever made,” Henceroth said.