The 2026-27 Aspen Snowmass pass lineup has a new shape. The Valley Pass and Alpine 1-Day Pass are gone. The Flex Pass and Weekday Pass are new. For the first time, the Ikon Base Pass includes one of the four mountains. That mountain is Snowmass. Put the new products next to the posted season calendar and the same thing keeps showing up. Snowmass is where the new rules meet, so the decisions Snowmass Village skiers make before the Oct. 30 Flex deadline count for more here than anywhere else in the valley.
Ikon Base Lands on One Mountain
Alterra and Aspen Snowmass announced on March 5, 2026, that the Ikon Base Pass would include five days at Snowmass for 2026-27. Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk are excluded. Holders of the full Ikon Pass still get seven combined days across all four mountains. No lift reservations are required at any of the four for either Ikon product this winter.
The Aspen Times listed the Snowmass blackout dates for Ikon Base holders:
- Dec. 26 to 30, 2026
- Jan. 16 and 17, 2027
- Feb. 13 and 14, 2027
The list is short. The week after Christmas and two holiday weekends are blacked out. Every other Saturday and Sunday of the season is open to Ikon Base holders at Snowmass, including the opening weekends. Each of those visitors also gets 25% off up to 10 Friends and Family lift tickets, also good only at Snowmass. Their access doesn't extend to any of the other three mountains. So whatever this pass adds to the four-mountain total all lands on Snowmass.
So far nobody has published a count. No Town of Snowmass Village or Snowmass Tourism statement on parking or visitor expectations tied to Ikon Base has come out. Nobody knows yet how many Base holders will pick Snowmass for one of their five days. The setup is the known part.
The Weekday Pass Weekend Calendar Is Mostly a Snowmass Calendar
The new Weekday Pass covers Monday through Friday with no blackout dates. It also includes weekends from opening day through Dec. 13 and again from April 5, 2027, through closing day. Those weekend windows look generous until you compare them with each mountain's scheduled dates. Aspen Mountain and Snowmass are scheduled to open Nov. 26, which is Thanksgiving. Highlands and Buttermilk follow on Dec. 12. Buttermilk is scheduled to close April 4, Highlands and Snowmass April 11, and Aspen Mountain April 18, all as conditions allow.
Here is how the weekends fall:
| Weekend | Weekday Pass weekend access | Mountains scheduled to be open |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 28 to 29 | Yes | Snowmass, Aspen Mountain |
| Dec. 5 to 6 | Yes | Snowmass, Aspen Mountain |
| Dec. 12 to 13 | Yes | All four |
| Dec. 19 through April 4 | No | Weekdays only |
| April 10 to 11 | Yes | Snowmass, Highlands, Aspen Mountain |
| April 17 to 18 | Yes | Aspen Mountain |
April 5, 2027 falls on a Monday, so the late-season weekend window starts with Snowmass's closing weekend. Buttermilk will already be closed. Over the whole season, a Weekday Pass holder gets four weekends at Snowmass on the scheduled calendar: three in the early season and its closing weekend in April. Two of them come before Highlands and Buttermilk open, when Aspen Mountain is the only other choice. Those early-season Saturdays are also open to Ikon Base holders. Early-season weekends also have the least terrain. The Aspen Daily News noted that last season's opening dates were similar, though snow limited how many runs were open on day one at each mountain.
The official Weekday page currently shows an adult and senior price of $2,529, with $178 for insurance listed separately. That table still carries an "Ends Sept. 18" label, while the same page says the best price runs through Dec. 4. Treat $2,529 as the price posted on Sept. 30, and confirm it at checkout. When the lineup launched on April 8, the Weekday Pass started at $2,099.
The Flex Pass Is Where Valley Pass Holders Land
The Flex Pass replaces the Valley Pass. It offers four to seven non-consecutive days across all four mountains with no blackout dates. Additional days cost 25% off the in-resort lift ticket. Current posted adult and senior prices:
| Flex Pass | Adult and senior | Child and teen |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Day | $799 | $639 |
| 5 Day | $879 | $699 |
| 6 Day | $959 | $769 |
| 7 Day | $1,049 | $839 |
The Aspen Times reported Oct. 30 as the deadline to buy a Flex Pass. Aspen Snowmass says quantities are limited and sold while supplies last. It hasn't published how many remain.
Anyone who held a 2025-26 Valley Pass gets a transition discount. It changed once already. At launch it was 20%. In June, Aspen Snowmass raised it to 33%, and the press release explained why:
"In an effort to ensure the transition to Flex Pass feels more like a fair value exchange for loyal local skiers, the discount available to 2025/26 Valley Pass holders on any 2026/27 Flex Pass has been increased from 20% to 33%."
The Aspen Times put the effective price of the Flex 7-Day at $595 for qualifying holders, against last season's Valley Pass at $529. The Flex 4-Day starts at $455 for the same group. Anyone who bought at the old 20% discount gets the difference refunded. Aspen Skiing Co. CEO Geoff Buchheister said the larger discount came from community feedback after the first launch.
Local commentary has gone past the discount. Michael Raab's Sept. 17 column in the Aspen Daily News compared the $529 resident-only seven-day Valley Pass with $949 for the Flex 7-Day at the price he was discussing. He also pointed to the loss of the Alpine 1-Day Chamber Pass, which leaves a $1,499 Flex 15-Day or an $1,899 Alpine 2-Day as the alternatives he cited. The $949 in his column and the $1,049 posted now don't conflict. Prices rose on Sept. 19, two days after the column ran. In a letter published in the Aspen Times on Sept. 7, Aspen resident Tara Land asked for a standing residency-based pass. She wrote that some full-time workers who aren't teachers, students, military or employees of Chamber businesses no longer have a local product that fits them.
Which Local Rates Still Exist
The lineup still has resident pricing, but it now depends on where you work, not just where you live. Chamber pricing for the Sept. 19 to Dec. 4 tier lists:
- Chamber Premier at $2,449
- Weekday and Alpine 2-Day at $2,129
- Flex 15 at $1,629
To qualify, your primary residence must be in the Roaring Fork Valley, you must work for a Chamber-member business, and you must work at least 20 hours a week during the winter season. Eligible Roaring Fork Valley teachers can buy a $1,000 Premier Pass or a $400 Flex 7-Day. Discounted programs continue for valley students and for Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club.
Without one of those affiliations, the full-price adult Premier is listed at $3,699 in a table marked as early pricing through Dec. 4. The senior Premier is $2,959. One Premier benefit is worth a look for anyone who drives to the mountain rather than walking or riding the shuttle: 20% off a full-season transferable parking pass at Two Creeks on the Snowmass side or at the Aspen Highlands Garage.
What Snowmass Is Getting in Return
The March release introducing Ikon Base pitched Snowmass to newcomers with the new Elk Camp and Cirque chairlifts, The Cabin, and the rebuilt Ullrhof. For Snowmass Village residents, those are improvements to their own mountain. Ullrhof began a complete rebuild in summer 2025 and is scheduled to reopen for 2026-27. It will be Aspen Snowmass's first fully electric restaurant, with more than 600 seats. The release calls it part of a multi-year effort to add restaurant seating across Snowmass. The Elk Camp Six-Pack and Cirque T-Bar opened in 2025-26. They aren't new this season, though Ikon Base holders will be riding them for the first time.
Getting to the mountain should look normal again by opening day. The Town of Snowmass Village has closed the Owl Creek through-connection at the Brush Creek and Owl Creek roundabout for Phase 4 work since Sept. 16. Highline Road is the detour through about Oct. 19, and the town is targeting Nov. 15 to finish. RFTA's winter service begins Nov. 23, three days before the lifts start. The Snowmass to Aspen SM route remains free.
Put together, the dates mean this for anyone in the Village. A Flex purchase has to happen by Oct. 30. The roundabout should be done by mid-November. Opening weekend at Snowmass is open to Weekday holders and to Ikon Base holders. And Snowmass's first Ikon Base blackout doesn't start until Dec. 26.
If the new lineup has you rethinking how much time you'll spend in Snowmass this winter, or whether a property near Two Creeks or the Village shuttle routes fits your season better, Jessica Hughes is glad to talk it through privately. Schedule a confidential consultation and we can go over your winter plans before the lifts start turning.
