For skiers in New England, now is the time to look for money-saving deals

Deals are available for those wanting to ski Sugarbush this winter. (Jeb Wallace-Brodeur)

With the summer solstice occurring a few weeks ago, it means that days are getting shorter and this unbearable hot and humid weather will — soon enough — be a thing of the past.

What the summer does allow for is planning where to hit the slopes over the winter. While many of us have either an Ikon or Epic Pass, others resist passes in the interest of going wherever they want.

The trend in skiing has not been kind to these nomads who refuse to be tied to one of the two major passes for the entire season with walk-up rates regularly surpassing $150 and even $200.

But far more reasonable rates are available for those who are willing to put the money down now and get a transferable multi-day pack of passes or a nontransferable pass with no blackout dates. Those details and rates have slowly been getting released.

A couple weeks ago, Jay Peak and Ragged Mountain – both managed by Pacific Group Resorts – announced an initiative to freeze or cut the price of many of their offerings, including the popular four-pack of transferable lift tickets at each place.

Last week, Sugarbush released its TBD ticket. For $99, the user gets a single-day lift ticket – no blackout dates – and a free ticket valid after April 1.

AT SUGARBUSH: Why it’s such a perfect fit for New England skiers seeking a challenge

The Boyne triumvirate of Loon, Sunday River and Sugarloaf has the blackout-free, nontransferable NE Day ticket, which can be between two and five days and redeemed throughout the season at any of the three resorts.

Sunday River and Sugarloaf each have nontransferable Threedom Packs. Sugarloaf’s does not have blackout dates and is $249 for adults, while Sunday River offers one without blackout dates – $249 for adults – and one that is blackout during weekends and holiday periods for $189. Time is limited to get these offers, as the price will go up on Aug. 1.

At Killington, the K-Ticket is already available for next season and nontransferable for up to four days without any blackout dates – a single day is $139 while four days are $419. If you are looking to bring a group there at some point this winter but want to wait until a snowstorm comes through, the K-Ticket vouchers are the way to go with $139 tickets that do not have blackout dates.

Other offers are bound to pop up as the summer moves along.  They are one way to take a bit of the sting out of dealing with wild window rates without locking yourself into a specific date months in advance.

– Indy Pass sales were halted less than a week after reopening at the start of the month. After three days of sales restricted to those on the waiting list or season pass holders to Indy Pass-affiliated resorts, the general public got a second chance to purchase the pass on July 4 until reaching the company’s self-imposed limit over the long weekend.

The extra passes were made available when Indy Pass added 10 new resorts, including Camden Snow Bowl, Mount Abram, Middlebury Snowbowl and Ragged Mountain. There are now 21 downhill ski areas in New England that accept Indy Pass.