What a lift pass covers: often less than the number on it

A lift pass lets you ride the lifts of a named area for a set number of days, and that is all it does. Which area is the whole question: a pass can cover one resort's own lifts, a whole linked ski area, or several areas that are not joined at all.

What it means when you book a week

Local or linked. In a big linked area you usually choose. In the Three Valleys you can buy a pass for one valley or for all three; in Paradiski, for La Plagne or Les Arcs on its own, or for both. A local pass suits a beginner, who will not reach the far end anyway, and you can often add a day on the bigger pass later in the week.

Borders and small print. Zermatt and Cervinia are joined by lift over the border, but the standard pass on each side covers only its own side; skiing across needs the International pass. At Villars, Glacier 3000 comes with passes of three days or more, not with shorter ones. Read what your pass names.

Not skiing. A pedestrian pass covers a named list of lifts, usually gondolas, cable cars and some chairlifts, so a non skier can ride up and meet the group for lunch. Some lifts on it only go up, and you walk down by a marked path. It does not cover the pistes.

Children and beginners. In many resorts the youngest ski free, often under five, and children and older skiers usually pay less. The age lines differ from resort to resort, so take proof of age. Some French resorts have free lifts on the nursery slopes, and a complete beginner's first days may need no pass at all.

What it leaves out. Ski school and hire, for a start. In France a rescue from the piste is usually charged to you, and the ticket office usually offers insurance with the pass. Check what your travel insurance already covers first.

The thing people get wrong

Reading the figure on a pass as the skiing from your door. A pass total adds up every kilometre the pass opens, joined or not.

Adelboden's pass covers 188 kilometres across five areas that are not all joined. From the village you can ski 85 of them without transport, Lenk included. Grindelwald's pass covers 211 kilometres, and 150 are reachable from its own lifts; Mürren is on the same pass but not joined by lift.

Then there is Dolomiti Superski: 1,200 kilometres on one pass, across twelve areas, only four of them joined by lift. From a base on the Sellaronda, around 500 kilometres is reachable without a bus. That is a great deal of skiing, and less than half the number on the pass.

So when you see a big figure, ask whether it is the pass or the linked area, and plan the week on the second.

Where to go next

For big areas that really are joined up, our shortlist of linked ski areas for a mixed ability group compares them. If half your group will not ski, best resorts when half the group does not ski looks at the ways up the mountain on foot. And drag lifts explained covers the kind of lift that takes the most technique.