GREAT FALLS — If you think more snow is coming at the end of this ski season or are looking ahead to next year, you may be interested in Showdown Montana’s ski pass sale taking place on March 1st. Showdown, located about 65 miles southeast of Great Falls, opened for the season on December 23, 2023 - later than usual due to a lack of early-season snow.
“Every year on March 1st, we have a season pass sale. It's a season pass at a really reduced rate,” said Katie Boedecker, owner of Showdown Montana. “For a lot of years, it was $299, last year we raised it to $349 and you get a season pass that’s good for the rest of this year and all of next.”
Due to the lack of snowfall and poor ski conditions from this year, Showdown decided to bring the prices back down for this year’s sale.
“We wanted to honor… how supportive everybody's been,” Boedecker said, “And so we rolled our price back to the $299 for this year.”
Showdown Montana wants to foster a community before anything else, and that includes getting people to ski. It is more about advancing the sport and growing interest than anything else.
“We want people to get exposure to skiing,” Boedecker said, “Typically, skiing is perceived to be a rich person sport and something that the point of entry is hard to get into. And we do everything we can to turn that around and give people access to trying skiing.”
The conditions thus far into the season have been less than ideal, and Showdown is hoping that more snow comes before the end of season, and will consider staying open longer if conditions and demand are high enough.
“Our snowpack at this time last year was 176 inches. And I think this morning it was 87 inches or 86 inches,” Boedecker said, “We are significantly behind our snowpack.”
Above all, Boedecker is incredibly thankful for the community who has supported Showdown through thick and thin.
“I think it would be normal when the snowpack is suffering the way it is for guests to be frustrated,” Boedecker said, “And I don't know what it is about the Showdown guests, but they could not be more supportive and excited for us when we got open. Even though the conditions were still pretty marginal, people were just so happy to be back on the mountain.”
To buy a pass on March 1st, you can arrive at Showdown in person, call 406-235-5522, or click here to visit the Showdown website.
