We’ve got a pretty big change happening behind the scenes at Mt. Abram this fall, and as we get closer to winter, we’re ready to start sharing more about what that will mean for our season passholders.
For the upcoming season, we’re moving to an entirely new ticketing and reservation system.
This isn’t a change we decided to make overnight. Over the last several months, we’ve spent a lot of time looking at how our current systems work for our guests and our staff, where they fall short, and what we need as Mt. Abram continues to grow.
There are plenty of things around here that we don’t have much interest in changing. We still believe you should be greeted by a real person when you get to the lift. We still want buying a day of skiing to be simple and affordable. And we still think there’s something pretty great about a small ski area where you recognize the people working behind the counter, bumping your chair or checking your ticket in the lift line.
But there are also some things we can make a whole lot easier.
One of the biggest reasons we chose our new system is that it’s simple and user-friendly, both for our guests and the people working here. It will make it easier to manage your season pass, book lessons and rentals, access your passholder benefits and find everything connected to your account in one place. Behind the scenes, it gives our staff better tools to help you without having to work around some of the limitations of our old system.
And it brings one particularly noticeable change with it.
We’re moving to RFID cards
Beginning this winter, season passes and daily lift tickets will use reusable RFID cards instead of the sticky tickets and wickets we’ve used for years.
We know, that’s a big one.
We’ve been pretty patient in making this change. RFID certainly isn’t new to the ski industry, and over the years we’ve had plenty of opportunities to see how it works at other mountains, what makes it useful and, just as importantly, what we don’t think makes sense for Mt. Abram.
We wanted to make sure that if we made the switch, we could keep it simple, make the transition as easy as possible and actually improve the experience without changing the parts of Mt. Abram that don’t need changing.
So, before anyone starts picturing rows of gates at the bottom of the Way Back Machine, we can clear that up right away: there will not be RFID gates at Mt. Abram.
Our lift lines will still be managed by real people. We’ll still check your ticket, say hello and probably ask how your last run was. We’re changing the way your lift ticket works, not the way we want Mt. Abram to feel.
Your new RFID card, which we’re calling the Way Back Card, will become your everyday season pass. It will connect directly to your Mt. Abram account and can stay with you from season to season.
For day tickets, the same card can be reloaded online so guests who want to can purchase ahead of time and head straight to the lift. But the ticket window isn’t going anywhere either. If you’d rather talk to a person and purchase or reload your ticket when you get here, you can still do that.
That’s really the idea behind a lot of this change. There will be more convenient options for the people who want them without taking away the simple, familiar options that already work.
A better Mt. Abram account
The changes go well beyond the card in your pocket.
Your new Mt. Abram account will give you one place to manage much more of your experience at the mountain. Season passholders will have easier access to buddy passes, discounts and vouchers connected to their account. You’ll also be able to put things like lift tickets, lessons and rentals together in the same online cart, rather than navigating separate transactions.
We’re also very happy to say that gift cards are coming back.
Our goal is to make gift cards much more useful across Mt. Abram, rather than limiting where they can be redeemed. We’re also working toward the ability to load money directly onto your account and use your Way Back Card for purchases around the mountain.
Not everyone is going to use every one of these features, and that’s okay. If all you want your Way Back Card to do is get you onto the lift every time you come skiing, it can be that simple.
For those who want to do more online, manage purchases through their account or take advantage of some of the new features, there will be a lot more available to you.
And what about the old season passes?
We know we’re not the only ones who have a stack of old Mt. Abram passes tucked away somewhere.
There’s a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in those little pieces of plastic, so while your new Way Back Card will be what actually gets you onto the lift, season passholders will still have the option to get a commemorative Mt. Abram season pass each winter.
It won’t get you onto the lift, but it’ll still look good hanging next to the last 20 years of them.
And while sticky tickets won’t be part of our everyday operations anymore, we aren’t getting rid of those completely either. We’re sure we can find a few good reasons to bring them back out from time to time.
What happens next?
There will be a little bit of adjustment for all of us, and we’ll make sure you have the information you need along the way.
Beginning October 12, all online purchases will run through our new online storefront. If you already have a 2026/27 Mt. Abram season pass, your new account will be set up using the email address associated with your existing account. We’ll send you instructions for accessing it, setting your new password and making sure the information connected to your account is correct.
We’ll also have plenty of opportunities to pick up your new Way Back Card before the first chair of the season, and we’ll share those dates and details as we get closer.
This is a big change behind the scenes, but we’ve worked hard to make sure it doesn’t have to feel like a big change when you come skiing.
For our staff, it means a system that’s easier to work with and better tools to help our guests. For Mt. Abram, it means more efficient operations and a system that can grow with us instead of holding us back. And for our passholders, it means your day at the mountain can be as simple as it’s always been, with some much better options available when you want them.
We’re making this investment because we want Mt. Abram to be here for a long time. Part of that means knowing what to hold onto, and part of it means recognizing when there’s a better way to do something.
The Way Back Card is new. The way we do things around here isn’t.