After 50 years of offering an unlimited pass valid on "every lift, every hour, every day of operation," Mt. Hood Meadows has decided to stop offering that type of pass.

Next year, the mountain will replace the unlimited pass with something called "a Value Season Pass." That pass will exclude many peak days and pass holders who want to ski on those days before 3 p.m. will have to pay extra.

"Ultimately what we are trying to do is to shift demand to different time frames," Mt. Hood Meadows spokesperson Dave Tragethon said over the phone Monday.

"Winter sports are becoming actually more popular," Tragethon said, and the resort is experiencing "capacity issues."

On peak days, he said, Meadows can get 7,000 to 8,000 visitors. "Our main and Hood River Meadows parking lots can reach capacity by 9:30 a.m. on our busiest peak days," he added.

With the new pass structure, the resort is hoping to encourage visitors to come at different times of day and on different days altogether. That means, on 37 peak days during the season, pass holders will not have access to the mountain.

But they can purchase it, "in daily increments, or for the whole season," according to a blog post from Mt. Hood Meadows.

The new pass will not work in the turnstiles between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. from December 15 to January 2, Saturdays and Sundays during January and February and Presidents Day and Martin Luther King Monday holidays.

Before anyone gets too upset, Tragethon points out that has really changed is the way the resort is talking about passes it already sells.

"To a certain extent," he said, "this is semantics."

The total cost of the equivalent to an unlimited season pass for the 2018 to 2019 ski season will be $399 plus $200 for all peak access, if you purchase it before May 31. Tragethon said that is just $50 more than an unlimited pass cost this year.

Extra days purchased individually will initially cost $50.

And there is one loophole. If you've had any pass for both of the last two seasons, you can purchase an unlimited pass for next season for $549.

But next year will be the last year that option is available. After that, all season passes will be built on the value pass.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker