Score a Deal on Discount Lift Tickets for Park City & Salt Lake Resorts: 2019/2020 Season
This guide to Salt Lake and Park City discount lift tickets resorts will help you navigate the confusing tangle of lift pass options to find your best deal.
I learned how to ski at Alta in the mid 1970’s when the lift passes were $8. Fast forward a few decades and the only thing that you can get at a ski resort for eight bucks is a hot chocolate. Full price lift tickets now run $89-$180, making it worth your while to seek out a discount.
The challenge in finding these deals is that there are multiple ways to get discount tickets and each has its pros and cons. Check out these seven ways to leverage a Utah lift pass discount and you’ll soon be on your way to the resorts with enough money left over for that hot chocolate.
Ski lift at Alta. Photo courtesy of Visit Salt Lake.
This guide has updated pricing for the 2019/20 ski season.
(This post contains affiliate links which means that if you choose to purchase, I’ll make a small commission at no extra cost to you)
Get help figuring out where to ski and stay with this local’s guide to the Salt Lake ski resorts.
Getting Park City Discount Lift Tickets
Park City Resort
Full ticket price: $169-179 (sort of) Discounted Park City lift ticket: ~$149
Park City has opaque on-demand pricing which means that on any given day, the walk-up price for a ticket may be about $180. It will likely be more on holidays, weekend and high season and less in the shoulder seasons. When you purchase directly from them online, you can save ~15%. You can save a couple of bucks more if you purchase a 2-day pass, which is then valid over three days.
You can purchase discounted Park City tickets in advance online directly from them for as low as $149.
Deer Valley Resort
Full ticket price: $209 Discounted Deer Valley lift ticket: ~$150
If you purchase in advance from their website, you can bring the ticket cost down to $159. They used to be available on Liftopia, but they don’t seem to be offering it this year. Deer Valley purchasing in advance purchase because they meter visitors on the mountain and can actually sell out during busy days.
Skiing at Brighton. Photo courtesy of Visit Salt Lake.
There are four ways to get discounted lift tickets for Alta, Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton. These include: purchase in advance from the resort online, purchase from Liftopia, purchase from a local retailer or get the Salt Lake City Ski SuperPass.
Alta Lift Prices
Discounted Alta tickets are available from the resort website, Liftopia, Sports Den, See ‘n’ Ski and the SuperPass.
Full price: $125 Discounted Alta lift tickets: $100-109
Snowbird Lift Prices
Discounted Snowbird tickets are available from the resort website, Liftopia, Sports Den, See ‘n’ Ski and the SuperPass.
Full price: $145 Discounted Snowbird lift tickets: $79-110
Solitude Lift Prices
Discounted Solitude tickets are available from the resort website, Liftopia, Sports Den, See ‘n’ Ski and the SuperPass.
Full price: $125 Discounted Solitude lift tickets: $77-$103
Brighton Lift Prices
Discounted Brighton tickets are available from the resort website, Liftopia, Sports Den, See ‘n’ Ski and the SuperPass.
Full price: $99 Discounted Brighton lift tickets: $44-92
How to Score the Best Lift Discount
Scoring a the best lift ticket discount is very tricky. It often depends upon whether you will be moving around to different resorts, doing multiple days at any given resort and whether you are skiing on a holiday or weekend.
Listed below are an explanation for the different ways to get Salt Lake ski discounts and suggestions for which scenario works best for each.
Using Liftopia for Discount Utah Ski Passes
Liftopia is an online ticket purchasing service. It serves primarily the Salt Lake resorts of Alta, Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton. You can also purchase non-discounted Deer Valley passes and equipment rental packages for Park City (which don’t include a ski pass).
Liftopia uses a fluid pricing model which saves you 6%-37% with 25% being the most common discount. The two best ways to maximize discounts on Liftopia are to purchase at least a week in advance and to choose weekday tickets. You can even get decent discounts a day or two out, but don’t expect a big discount the day before you want to ski or for holiday dates.
The Ski City SuperPass. Image courtesy of Visit Salt Lake.
Getting a Salt Lake SuperPass
The Visit Salt Lake tourism organization sells a multi-day SuperPass which is good for all of the Salt Lake resorts (Alta, Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton). You can mix and match at any of the resorts and the pass is good for fourteen days. You purchase the pass in advance, but you don’t need to decide which resort to go to until that very morning. This gives you the option to check the snow report before committing.
They sell three to ten day passes which start at a 24% discount and rises to 31% as you add days. The pass also includes free public transportation to the resorts using TRAX light rail and the ski bus. It also offers 20-40% equipment rental discounts at all four resorts. They have an arrangement with some of the local hotels, so that you can buy the pass along with your hotel stay.
There are three ways to purchase a Superpass and they all cost the same. You can buy it directly from the tourism bureau. You can also purchase it from Liftopia, which makes sense if you are buying discount lift tickets for other Utah resorts. And you can buy it from participating hotels.
3-day SuperPass $340
4-day SuperPass $440
5-day SuperPass $525
6-day SuperPass $630
7-day SuperPass $700
8-day Superpass $800
9-day SuperPass $900
10-day SuperPass $1,000
Get the SuperPass If
You want to do at least three days at the SLC ski resorts.
You are skiing weekends or especially holidays (when Liftopia discounts aren’t as good).
You are staying at a downtown hotel.
If you are going primarily to Snowbird and Alta, because they are more expensive than Solitude and Brighton.
The other discount tickets options are too complicated and now your brain hurts.
Fewer stores are offering discount ski passes than in the past, but there are still a couple doing it. All the stores below are conveniently located on major roads leading to the resorts.
REI sells discount tickets for Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude. They are located on 33rd south near I215.
Brighton: $89.99 Fri-Sun/holiday, $74.99 weekday.
Snowbird: $109.99 off-peak, $101.00 any day
Solitude: $102.99 day
See ‘n’ Ski has tickets for Brighton, Solitude, Alta and Snowbird. They have three locations (downtown, near REI and on Fort Union Blvd)
You are going there anyway to buy or rent equipment.
You forgot to do Liftopia or the Superpass but still want to score Salt Lake lift ticket discounts.
Brighton ski resort. Photo courtesy of Visit Salt Lake.
What About Season Passes and Multi-day Passes?
Generally speaking, annual passes are only a deal if you plan to ski 15-20+ or more days in one place. Resorts like Alta, Snowbird and Park City are part of larger ski conglomerates which offer multi-destination passes like the Epic Pass and the Mountain Collective. However, those passes also require loyalty and work best if you are traveling to at least two different destinations. Many resorts also offer multi-day or “reload card” passes but the discounts are negligible relative to using one of the other options listed above.
Other Ways to Save on Skiing
The Ski Utah site has a page that offers deals on equipment rentals and lodging packages. Visit Salt Lake has a page with lodging packages that include the SuperPass.
Please let me know if you have found other crafty ways to save on SLC and Park City discount ski tickets. Here’s hoping that you get some fluffy powder.
