Telluride, Colorado — For many years, Telluride Ski Resort has offered season pass products to help senior citizens stay active during winter. However, they decided to change their season pass offerings for this upcoming winter, and locals aren’t happy about it.
The Telluride Daily Planet reported earlier this month that the Colorado ski resort got rid of discounted lift tickets and season passes for senior citizens. The Senior Pass, which was a discounted season pass for guests aged 65 to 79, had been eliminated for the 2024-25 season. In addition, the Palmyra Pass (free season pass for seniors eighty and above) and free lift tickets for people eighty and older have also been eliminated. While less frustrating to guests, Telluride has also eliminated three-, six-, and ten-day passes with unrestricted access. Six and ten-day passes still exist but now feature blackout dates.
Yesterday, Telluride announced that it will still give free season passes to local seniors who feel like they are in financial distress. Those who believe that they fit these prerequisites are asked to contact Chad Horning. While this isn’t a complete reversal of their previously announced policies, it does show that they’re listening to their guests regarding their decision.
With these moves, lift ticket and season pass prices for most boomers are now pretty steep. Single-day lift tickets are $245 for most days and $260 for blackout dates. Season passes currently cost $2,100 for adults ages twenty-five and older and $1650 for a season pass with restricted access. Weekday passes are another option, currently going for $999. A $120 season pass is also being offered for military veterans, which includes seniors who served. Seniors could also get a T-Card, which is $145 for one day of skiing, and 20% lift tickets for other days skied. These passes also offer insurance for an additional fee, which covers emergencies and injuries.
Technically, seniors could circumvent these hefty prices by purchasing an Epic Pass, which includes access to Telluride, but the Colorado ski resort requires reservations for those on Epic. It should be noted that Telluride is owned by the Horning family, not Vail Resorts, but it is a partner on the Epic Pass.
In response to this move, a GoFundMe was created to help senior citizens ski at Telluride. Corina Gordon, who started the fundraiser, explained to KDVR as to why she made the GoFundMe:
“People that I spoke to that are in that age group, disappointment that they’ve been here for all of these years, skiing for all of these years and were looking forward to having this pass and this benefit, and they’re disappointed that it was taken away from them…. These are people who help shape Telluride, build Telluride, helped build our community for what it is today. And I just think that it’s really sad that they can’t go up and use this free pass, and so it just kind of got my brain starting of a way to maybe make that happen and my thought was to try to raise some money and buy some lift tickets to get them up.”
However, following yesterday’s announcement of the change, donations for the GoFundMe were disabled. She’ll refund the money to the people who donated.
Telluride Ski Resort officials told the Telluride Daily Planet that these changes are due to every ski resort consistently changing its prices and season pass offerings. This is because operating costs have increased, meaning they need to increase the price of passes. In addition, they also need to raise prices to fund capital investments. For this ski season, these improvements include new snowmaking equipment and the opening of the Grouse Glade Heritage Trail. It should also noted in previous capital projects in previous years, like the Plunge chairlift.
We contacted Telluride Resort for comment regarding the decisions but did not receive a response.
Image/Video Credits: Telluride Ski Resort
