The timeline we’re living in has gone batshit haywire, insane. The government is run by pedophile elites, the deep state is staging, faking, and falsifying assassinations, our skies are full of UFOs, and Jim Carrey might have a clone walking around out there somewhere. 

Conspiracies have become a normal part of life in 2026 America. They’re everywhere. With so many wormholes and rabbit holes to fall into, red herrings to chase, and misinformation muddying the water, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by it all. That’s why, once in a while, it’s good to reground yourself with an ol’ fashioned down home country kitchen conspiracy — the kind that has real effects on you. And boy, have we got a juicy one this month, Colorado.

In March, a law firm filed a class action lawsuit against two corporations you might be familiar with: Vail Resorts & Alterra Mountain Company, owners of the Epic and Ikon Passes. The suit alleges that these two corporate behemoths conspired separately (but sort of together) to artificially balloon the price of ski day passes across the country, cajoling customers into buying their over $1,000 season passes instead. 

It’s a classic case of anti-competitive business conspiracy, according to Dicello Levitt, the law firm that filed the suit. This is a very intentional business model designed to gobble up small mountain competition and leave customers — skiers and riders — with almost no alternative options. 

As everyone’s shopping for their 2026/27 ski passes, we figured it was prime time to crack into this very real, very local conspiracy. Clip on those ti-foil helmets, ladies and gents, we’re dropping in. 

The Plight of Ski Prices

Go anywhere in the world, and the price of a day pass at a ski resort is reasonable. Typically, it’s under $100. Often it’s under $75. The U.S. used to be similar, but not anymore. Most day passes are over $100, and at flagship mountains like Steamboat or Vail, day passes can push $300 per day. 

How did it get so bad? And why? 

The lawsuit alleges that this was very intentional. Climate change is already affecting the ski industry (as we saw this season). If people have the ability to buy a few cheap day passes every year based on how much snow there is, the company stands to lose its ass. On a low-tide year, people might only ski one or two times. That’s bad for business. They needed customers to buy into a subscription model (read: season pass) instead. But how to get everyone to switch? 

Enter the Epic Pass. In 2008, Vail launched its collective ski pass, and day pass prices started shooting through the roof. Suddenly, it became a lot more cost-effective to simply buy the full-season Epic Pass instead of one-offs. 

Now, here’s where things get extra diabolical. Because Vail Resorts couldn’t just raise the prices of its own day passes, the suit alleges. Otherwise, people would just go to the mountain next door, where day passes were cheaper. So it started vacuuming up those too, buying mountains, signing partnership deals, adding them to the Epic Pass, and jacking up their day pass prices as well. Alternatives started evaporating.

It only got worse in 2018 when Alterra Mountain Company showed up on the scene. The Ikon Pass was Aspen Ski Company’s answer to Vail’s Epic Pass. When it launched, there was every opportunity to offer a different product, break the mold, undercut Vail’s pricing model and actually compete with its competitor. Instead, as the lawsuit points out, Alterra simply took the playbook from Vail and copied it to the letter. It started jacking up day prices, gobbling up as many smaller mountains as it could, and selling a season pass that continues to rise in price every year. 

Just since the 2021 season, the full Epic and Ikon passes have gone up by around $400. Both full passes now cost over $1,000. 

But hey, if you plan to ski more than four days in a year, it’s cheaper to just send it and buy the full season pass… Right?

Anti-Competition Conspiracy 

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all skiers and riders who have been “victimized” by this alleged anti-competitive, anti-trust business scheme. If it goes anywhere, all customers who have bought season passes from Vail and Alterra could someday receive compensation…

However, I doubt those corporate behemoths will ever cough up a cent. The best outcome we can realistically hope for is that Vail and Alterra are put on notice: We’re onto your games. Your plot has been exposed. And this year, when we reluctantly buy our Epic or Ikon Passes, just know, we’re angrily shaking our fists at you. Which, sadly, amounts to all we can really do about it.