For anyone in Sula who didn't buy a Lost Trail season pass by September 30, the number of days they plan to ski this winter now decides whether the pass pays for itself. Lost Trail sells the same 2026–27 pass at three prices depending on the date you buy it, and as of November the only price left is the highest one.
Lost Trail is a short drive up US 93 from Sula. That makes it different from a destination trip: you can go for half a day, turn back if the pass road looks bad, and go again on Sunday. Because of that, how many days you ski matters more here than in most ski towns. It's also the variable Lost Trail's pricing is built around.
One pass, three prices
The 2026–27 season pass gives you the same thing whenever you buy it. That means unlimited skiing and riding on any day the area is open, with no blackout days for the pass itself. Only the price changed, depending on the purchase window:
| Age | Mar. 1–15, 2026 | Mar. 16–Sept. 30, 2026 | Oct. 1, 2026 onward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult, 13–64 | $500 | $600 | $700 |
| Child, 6–12 | $300 | $350 | $400 |
| Senior, 65+ | $400 | $500 | $600 |
| Child, 5 and under | Free | Free | Free |
An adult buying today pays $200 more than someone who bought in the first half of March 2026. That's 40 percent more for the same pass. For a household of two adults and one child aged 6 to 12, the spread between the earliest and latest prices is $500. None of those prices include the reloadable RFID card. It's a one-time $5 purchase, and a lost or damaged card costs $10 to replace.
The resort's own sale page puts the logic plainly under the heading "Why Locals Go Early Bird." The pass rewards people who commit in spring, before anyone knows what the snow will do. Buying in November means paying extra for having waited.
How many days pay back $700
The early-bird discount is gone, so a November buyer is comparing the pass against day tickets. Lost Trail hasn't posted its 2026–27 day-ticket prices yet. Its ticket page still shows 2025–26 rates and says those tickets expire at the end of that season. Those figures are the only baseline available, so the math below treats them as last season's prices:
| Age | 2025–26 full day | 2025–26 half day, from 12:45 p.m. |
|---|---|---|
| Adult, 13–64 | $60 to $73 | $55 to $68 |
| Child, 6–12 | $50 to $63 | Same as full day |
| Senior, 65+ | $58 to $63 | $53 to $58 |
Each price is a range because a ticket is good only for the date you choose, so the cost depends on the day you pick. The ticket page doesn't explain which dates cost more. Measured against last season's range, here is roughly where the current pass prices break even:
- Adult pass, $700. About 10 days if every day would have cost the top rate of $73. About 12 days at the low rate of $60.
- Senior pass, $600. About 10 days at either end of the $58 to $63 range.
- Child pass, $400. About 7 days at $63, about 8 at $50.
The child pass pays for itself fastest. A 6-to-12-year-old who skis most weekends from January on would likely pass that mark. An adult who skis two or three times a month needs a fairly full season to get there. If the 2026–27 day rates go up, every number on that list comes down a little. The ticket page will show it once Lost Trail posts the new rates.
The December card built for shared days
Lost Trail also sells a 10-day shareable pass, and the resort says the 2026–27 version will go on sale in December. The card holds 10 discounted tickets. The days don't have to be consecutive, and family and friends can share them. Each person using the card needs their own RFID card. The card is good only in the season it's bought, and it's non-refundable.
Last season's adult 10-day card cost $650, which works out to $65 a day. That price is labeled 2025–26, and the 2026–27 price hasn't been posted. Against a $700 adult season pass, last season's card would have cost $50 less for ten days. A pass holder would need to ski beyond those ten days to come out ahead. The card also works differently from a pass. It's built for a household where two people each ski five days, or for a few days set aside for visiting relatives. A season pass belongs to one person.
So for Sula households, the real question this fall comes down to who is skiing and how often, more than the price of a single pass. One adult who skis every weekend is a season-pass skier. A family with uneven schedules may be waiting on what the December card costs.
Pass perks that start after the holidays
The extras that come with a pass are on their own calendar, and most of them don't start until the new year. The pass page lists these benefits for 2026–27:
- Five Buddy Pass discounts, each $10 off a friend's full-price ticket. They're available starting January 8, 2027, redeemed in person at the ticket window, and blacked out over Presidents' Day weekend, February 12 through 15, 2027.
- 20 percent off rental demos, also starting January 8, 2027.
- 10 percent off private lessons with PSIA/AASI-certified instructors, booked with a current pass.
- 15 percent off purchases over $100 of regular-priced items in the Lost Trail retail shop, with no other discounts applied.
The buddy dates matter for anyone hosting family over Christmas. Guests who arrive for the holidays fall before the January 8 start, so the buddy discount won't apply to their tickets. Out of all five discounts, the useful window is January to March, minus Presidents' Day weekend. Visiting skiers in that window are where the $10 discount does its work.
A Thursday-to-Sunday mountain without a posted calendar
The schedule determines how many chances you get to ski, and that feeds straight into the break-even math. Lost Trail's snow report reads "Open Thursday—Sunday" and warns that openings and closures can change without notice. An overview from the Glacier Country tourism blog, updated August 21, 2026, describes the usual pattern as Thursday through Sunday plus major holidays, with extended operations during the holiday season. A Triple Creek Ranch visitor page published in January 2026 described last season's pattern in more detail: lifts ran daily through the holidays, and Mondays were added in January and February.
The resort hasn't announced a 2026–27 opening day. Its jobs page puts the typical season at late November or early December through the end of March. Hiring for the season is underway, including patrol and snowsports school positions. At four lift days a week across that window, a skier tied to weekends gets Saturdays and Sundays. Anyone with Thursdays or Fridays free gets twice as many chances, often with fewer people on the hill.
Snow is the other factor nobody can schedule. Lost Trail's March 30, 2026 season-wrap report closed out 2025–26 at 199 inches. It described a warm December that packed in a solid base, a dry January of high pressure and bluebird skies, and February powder that carried the rest of the season. A season can start well, go quiet for weeks and still turn out fine. That uncertainty is why the March price is $200 lower than the November price.
The mountain itself stays the same either way. The current trail map page lists 69 trails, five double chairs and three rope tows.
The days the lifts aren't running
Lift days and soaking days fall on the same part of the week. Lost Trail Hot Springs lists winter public hours of noon to 9 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sunday. It notes that hours vary and suggests calling ahead. Both the ski area and the springs usually run Friday through Sunday. That works well for a ski-then-soak day and leaves Monday through Wednesday quiet on the pass.
For hosting relatives who want more than a weekend, Camp Sula is running a skier cabin special from December 30, 2026 through February 28, 2027. It's 10 percent off three nights, 15 percent off four, and 20 percent off five or more. Those dates overlap the January 8 buddy window, so a visiting skier staying in Sula after New Year's could get both the lodging discount and $10 off a full-price lift ticket.
Lost Trail sets its prices by date, and in Sula the mountain is close enough that it's easy to rack up days. Once the new day-ticket prices are posted and the 10-day card comes out in December, those two figures can be set against how many days a household actually plans to ski.
If you own on the upper West Fork or near the pass and want to know how buyers value that winter access right now, Bitterroot Valley Properties can walk the property with you and give you a clear number. Get a Home Valuation, and Wanda will bring her construction eye to everything from the roof that sheds snow to the well that has to make it through February.
