Originally Published on February 18, 2025 in The New York Times. Author: Elaine Glusac.
In January, my family and I arrived at Pomerelle Mountain Resort in southern Idaho to find fresh powder, inexpensive lift tickets, no lines and bargain burgers grilling at the base. What more could a skier ask for?
Perhaps a faster chair, but we chalked that up to vintage charm.
Last fall when I purchased the Indy Pass — the small-resort answer to the Epic and Ikon passes — I’d never heard of Pomerelle, one of the resorts I now had access to.
But the Indy Pass, established in 2019 with 34 members, exists to introduce skiers to the independent, often family-owned resorts — now more than 230 of them — that individually lack the marketing power to compete with Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Company, issuers of Epic and Ikon.
Photo: Brundage Mountain Resort, in Idaho, is one of more than 230 independent resorts that accept the Indy Pass. Source: Brundage.