Picture this: it’s a bluebird day after a deep storm cycle. You’re on the lift with a few of your favorite people, the air crisp and clean. As the chair hums upward, you feel that swell of anticipation, the kind that hits right before you drop into fresh corduroy and hunt down whatever pockets of powder the storm left behind. It’s simple and pure, and honestly, it’s the whole reason we keep coming back.
For most of us, that feeling alone is enough. To be outside, moving through the mountains, sharing winter with the people we love.
The resorts know that. Which is why this season, a few of them decided to make things even sweeter. Real incentives to ski more, explore more, and enjoy the mountains that define winter in Utah.
From Snowbird’s February Scan Challenge, to Deer Valley’s run-count-priced lift tickets, to Solitude’s Solidaze reward system, and now a new Ikon passholder credit perk rolling out at both Deer Valley and Solitude, there’s a lot happening up the canyon and across the Wasatch right now.
Here’s the full breakdown of what’s worth knowing about, and why this might just be one of the most rewarding Februaries we’ve had in a long time.
Snowbird: The February Scan Challenge
Snowbird rolled out a challenge that turns your season pass into a punch card to score some sweet perks. It’s the February Scan Challenge, and it runs the entire month of February. The idea is simple: show up, ski, scan, repeat. Each day that you scan your eligible pass at a lift gate counts toward rewards.
For this challenge, “eligible” means adult passes, so anyone over the age of 18 years old. But don’t worry, because those 17 and under can look into the Groms Scan Challenge.
Back to the February Scan Challenge, here’s what your scans unlock:
- 2 Days Scanned: A limited-edition Snowbird sticker, perfect to place on a helmet, waterbottle, laptop, you name it!
- 4 Days Scanned: A voucher for 50% off a Snowbird transferable full-day lift ticket.
- 5 Days Scanned: A Woodward Park City all-access day ticket and $50 in-resort credit at Snowbird (Good for everything except alcohol).
Snowbird will email you within two days of hitting each milestone, and from there, you just go pick up your prizes. If you’re under 18, you can still claim most rewards as long as a parent or guardian is physically with you, the $50 credit is adults-only.
This challenge is Snowbird's way of rewarding the skiers who commit, who show up for the love of the craft, be it a bluebird day or a whiteout.
Deer Valley Resort: Record Runs, Record Rates
Deer Valley Resort is making history, and they want you to play a part in it. Their new Record Rates for Record Runs program is built around a simple idea: as their Expanded Excellence terrain opens and the mountain creeps closer to its full 202-run vision, every new run becomes a reason to celebrate!
The number of runs open becomes the price you pay for a half-day lift ticket. So let’s do some math. If Deer Valley hits 136 runs, your ticket is $136. If they hit the full 202 runs, your half-day ticket tops out at $202.
It’s a strangely fun system. It’s a little unpredictable, a little historic, and very much one of those “what’s the number today?” situations. And the best part is how simple it is to take advantage of. All you gotta do is show up after 12:30 p.m., walk up to the ticket office, and ask for the day’s deal. That’s it!
And if you’re a passholder? You get an extra perk that is focused on their famous Turkey Chili, priced to match the run count. Again, more math, but trust me on this, it’s the fun kind. If there are 136 runs open, your chili is only $1.36! If they reach 202, it’s still just $2.02…which is a steal of a deal if I ever saw one. Note: The Turkey Chili deal is redeemable only at The East Village Lodge.
Speaking of passholder perks, Deer Valley is also participating in a new Ikon pass incentive running through February 25. Eligible Ikon passholders can earn $20 in credits for each day they ski at a U.S. Ikon destination, capped at three days for a maximum of $60. These credits can be used at on-mountain restaurants, retail shops, and rental locations at both Deer Valley and Solitude.
Deer Valley’s expansion is one of those rare moments where you can ski the progress as it happens, watching the map fill in, exploring new pieces of the mountain, and snagging a genuine deal along the way. It’s resort history unfolding one run at a time.
Deer Valley's promotion will end on February 14, 2026.
Solitude Mountain Resort: Solidaze & The Season of Stacking Rewards
In case you thought the greatest snow on earth was the only reason to ski in Utah, well, you thought wrong! Solitude is here to up the ante with what they call Solidaze. It’s part of the JOY MORE Ikon Pass rewards challenge.
Their Solidaze program is all about the more days you ski, the more the mountain gives back. Simply scan your icon pass, ski your laps, and watch the perks stack up higher than the Wasatch peaks.
Here are a few highlights of what you can get, just by hitting the slopes time and time again:
- 4 days: 50% off All-Mountain Tickets + free quick wax
- 5 days: Free parking reservation + 5 entries into next season’s Ikon Pass giveaway
- 8 days: Free appetizer at Honeycomb Grill or St. Bernard’s
- 10 days: $25 retail voucher + the coveted “10 Day” sticker
- 20 days: $50 retail voucher + “20 Day” sticker + 20 Ikon entries
- 25 days: Free Solitude Reserve upgrade or full tune + a night at the Inn at Solitude
- 75 days: One free night at the Inn and half-off Yurt Dinner for two
- 100 days: A celebratory belt buckle, design to be revealed soon.
Bonus: First seven people to ski one day every week in February earn a free night at the Inn!
Solitude is also part of the new Ikon passholder credit offer running through Feb. 25. Eligible Ikon passholders earn $20 in credits for each day they ski, up to three days and up to $60 total. Which can be used at participating on-mountain dining, retail, and rental locations at both Solitude and Deer Valley.
All in all, Solidaze is exactly the kind of thing you’d expect from Solitude Mountain Resort: a mountain that quietly makes your life better simply for showing up.
What It All Means for Skiers This Season
Utah resorts get it. They know that even as the days stretch longer, we are still very much in the heartbeat of winter. The snow is still stacking, the mornings are still bitingly cold, and the mountains are pulsing with a life that only those who show up can truly witness.
These incentives are genuine invitations for us to step into the wild with the people who make it better. Whether you’re grabbing a few laps with friends, pushing through a full Saturday on the hill with your family, or just sharing a bowl of $1.36 chili with strangers you met that day, the mountain is rewarding that effort.
See you out there.
