I know....what I have found is that skiing is becoming/maintaining affordability(ish) for the people that go a lot. They have their own equipment, they know to pack their own lunch, they don't need lessons, they know where to get deals (e.g. liftopia or online from the resort ahead of time) or it makes sense for them to get a pass. If you go enough having a pass is totally worth it, I paid $450 for my Max pass last spring, and had basically "paid for it" skiing 6 times in December.
In addition, there are a lot of deals out there for the rank beginners (lift, lesson, rentals for under $100 for the day, some places (e.g. Ragged Mountain) have FREE beginner packages).
Where I see the biggest hit is for the family that goes skiing say under 5 times a season. If they are renting equipment each day, putting the kids in lessons, buying lunch from the cafeteria and paying the window rate on lift tickets, its easy to see how quickly it adds up to a ridiculous amount. Although my BF and I get out to ski a lot right now, I do wonder what will happen once we have kids and other priorities.
The other solution: work for the mountain! I teach 2 nights a week and in exchange get free skiing at my home hill, "letters" to take to other mountains to get usually at least 50% off, deals on equipment through PSIA, 50% off food in the cafeteria (I often skip lunch on the days I know I'm teaching because I know I can get a chicken wrap and soda for under $5 when I get to the hill). Plus I figure any money I make pads out my wallet a bit so when I'm skiing on the weekends it pays for gas to get to the mountain and a waffle at the end of the day.