Vail Resorts' industry-shifting Epic Pass turns 10 this month and, as part of a series of upcoming deals to celebrate the anniversary, the resort operator is offering $99 passes to all active and retired military and expects to funnel $1.5 million in donations to veteran organizations.

As Vail Resorts chief Rob Katz and his team pondered the last decade of growth, they thought about the founders of Vail Mountain, 10th Mountain Division veteran Pete Seibert and Army engineer Earl Eaton who returned from World War II to establish what would become one of the world's most recognized ski areas.

"Pete and Earl were about making the mountains more accessible. That was one of their primary drivers. For us, the Epic Pass is about making the mountains more accessible and we feel the right way to pull this all together was to make the mountains more accessible to the military," Katz said. "It's the right thing to do to make sure we honor our beginnings."

The $99 2018-19 Military Epic Pass is for active and retired members of the U.S., Canadian and Australian military and their dependents.

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