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Season ski pass holders at Whistler Blackcomb can expect to see a dramatic cut in costs after Vail Resorts’ $1.4-billion purchase of the B.C. resort on Monday.

Vail Resorts says it will slash the price of a Whistler season pass starting in 2017 — normally around $2,000 Cdn — to roughly half that, and fold it into Vail’s popular 13-resort Epic Pass, which currently sells for US$809.

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The rewriting of season pass holder fees is one of the more immediate consumer benefits of a friendly cash-and-stock takeover of Whistler Blackcomb, the crown jewel of North America’s ski resorts, by Colorado-based resort giant Vail Resorts. It is the first foray into Canada by Vail, which in recent years has been on a buying spree and now owns nine other mountain resorts and two ski areas in the U.S. and Australia.

In a path away from that taken by other periodic U.S.-based owners of Whistler Blackcomb, Vail said it will significantly invest in the property, expanding its attraction to the Asia-Pacific market ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, as well as attract new visitors from Latin America.