Posted: 01/12/2024
Back in late 2018, I moved to Canada to work my first ever ski season. As the season ended and I didn't know where to go, I bought an empty cargo van to convert into a camper. The main driving force behind this was so that I would never be without safe shelter, which would keep mum happy. This led to me spending the next 2 years travelling around BC and the Canadian Rockies in the summers, and working ski seasons in the winter. I sold that camper, and have since bought, built, and sold another campervan back in Australia. Over the last 5 years, I've probably spent just as much time living in vans as I have in a house.
During my time in Canada, I learned about the IKON ski pass: up to 7 days skiing at each of 50 ski resorts, most of which are in North America. The idea of one pass giving access to an abundance of resorts sounded perfect to a man with a passion for travel and skiing, especially one who can comfortably live cheaply out of a vehicle. And thus, a dream was born: One day I'd return to Canada, buy an RV, and have my very own IKON road trip.
That idea lived in the back of my mind until sometime in 2023, when I decided that the 24/25 season was the time to do it. It was far enough in the future that I didn't need to worry about it just yet, but have given myself a timeframe/deadline for the trip. Realistically, it didn't need much planning at all; all I needed was confidence and commitment.
The plan was to fly to Canada, buy an RV, and ski. It seemed simple enough, mostly since I'd kind of done it before, but also because I kept telling myself it would be simple. It was the only way I'd keep myself committed to the idea, since it's so simple and easy. I purchased an IKON pass as soon as they went on sale in April 2024, for around $1,700 AUD. It's the "Ikon Base Pass Plus", which meant I got 5 days at each resort as the "Base Pass", but paid a little extra to visit those big name resorts like Aspen, Jackson Hole, and Big Sky. Once the money was spent, the trip was practically locked-in.
After that, I did about 6 hours of planning. Most of it was putting pins on a map and planning a route. I found a map of all Ikon resorts and put together a loosely planned route: Head east from Vancouver to Banff, south to Red Mountain, cross into the States and head to Colorado, make my way back west through Utah to California, then north through Oregon and Washington, back to Vancouver. This put 27 resorts on the map, and not enough days in the season to use the full 5 days at each.
The rest of the planning at this time was getting ideas of dates for the trip (December -> April), approximate flight costs, and any requirements needed to visit Canada & USA. So simple and easy.
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