Is skiing as expensive as we think?

[slow_biscuits]

The answer is YES! Next question.

No really. As a family of four it’s gotten really expensive. More so now that the kids are doing the club/team thing. It’s been a huge commitment to drive the 2.5 hours every Friday, pay for lodging two nights, and drive home Sunday afternoon after team. Forget the team costs and gear. We CHOOSE to do this so I’m not complaining. But the only way we can do it is that we have moderate incomes. Otherwise, no way.

And for those who ski more casually- dynamic pricing has gotten nuts. AZ Snowbowl (ARIZONA!!) has had days with prices around $300. Totally insane.

 

[slow_biscuits]

Oh, and how condescending, if your kid gets hungry stop at Taco Bell?.

Dude clearly hasn’t been to Taco Bell lately. I took my kids last week and it was almost $40

 

[floatingyardsale]

Utah is tough because for good reason, many of the ski resorts are destination resorts, and the rest are scattered around in a way that isn't always convenient. The resorts cater to wealthy vacationers; the little hills cater to beginners and sometimes their lifts don't work for a season.

The day pass increase is the problem. If I want to take my friends' kid to Snowbasin, it's going to run us about $180 with a rental. That's not something done for fun.

 

[floatingyardsale]

This is a funny comparison. I do love going to our local AAA team. But even that is not the same. And if we went to see the Ogden Raptors, A I think?? Anyway sure it's baseball and sure it's still a fun day. But definitely not the same.

At least it's a beer with a great mountain view...

 

[TheGreenOne]

Dude clearly hasn’t been to Taco Bell lately. I took my kids last week and it was almost $40

... ya know. Really glad my 20s included 99 cent tacos from them before catching the last 2am train home.

I love all food, including the occasional franchise. There's nostalgia about the naughty food. My mom before she passed told me how guilty she felt when my parents were too busy to cook and got us fast food. I told her we actually looked forward to it. It's really sad the fun fast food treat dinners are also becoming out of reach for some families.

 

[floatingyardsale]

Oh, and also, my kids started at Snowbasin and while I completely admit they are spoiled and tell them so regularly, a 400 foot hill is going to be outgrown by an athletic five year old in a season.

 

[slow_biscuits]

Is Skiing Too Expensive, Or Are You Just Bad at Shopping?

Breckenridge isn’t, like, the only place to go snowskiing.

www.stormskiing.com

This article uses Colorado and Tahoe as examples - does this ring true for where you ski?

“A little abrasive…” that’s …diplomatic

He makes some valid points. Yes- for beginners hit up the smaller areas. But that only really applies to a very few places in the US that have multiple hills within a short drive.

I grew up skiing southern Appalachia- Beech, Sugar, Appalachian, Wolf Laurel, and the occasional trip up to Snowshoe or Winterplace. We were lucky to have all those options, especially since they all relied heavily on snowmaking and not all were able to be open all the time. We could night ski at Sugar for $19. A season pass at Wolf Laurel was $99 for students. I haven’t checked lately, but I’m certain costs have far outpaced incomes.

 

[leia1979]

He points out how Donner Ski Ranch is so much cheaper, and yeah, it's cheaper than nearby Sugar Bowl ($109 vs I believe $174 for Saturdays now), but over $100 per person for one day's lift ticket is expensive. Then there's rentals unless you're buying someone's 1980s pointy skis on Craigslist, and $50 in gasoline to get there and back. If you don't want to drive 4 hours each way in the same day, lodging has become really expensive. We have been doing more day trips because lodging is expensive.

Yeah, if you can go mid-week, it's all much cheaper, but I can't do that.

I will say the article is right that Sierra-at-Tahoe has some of the best lift ticket deals, though. Their 3-packs are a great if you don't go often, but now they've switched to the rest-of-season pass that's the cost of two weekend days. I also just saw that weekend tickets are $89 at Sports Basement.

 

[Knitjenious]

The article made me very much appreciate what we have here in Western NY. The hills are definitely tiny, but for example within 35-65 min from my house, one can still get an Ultimate White pass for 9 visits to Holiday Valley for under $300 (just leaves out peak season weekend daytimes), school ski clubs abound (priced comparable to any other kids lesson activity -- middle class accessible), most of the local places still do a $25-$50 "learn to ski" first time lesson + gear rental for total newbies. And when there is natural snow, there are two free public ski hills with nice, new magic carpets. So definitely not Vermont or Colorado terrain, but the ability to get a reasonably priced introduction to the sport does still exist for families here. I wish more places had the same!!

 

[Lmk92]

When my kids started, jfbb was still Peak, and belleayre had deep discounts for the kids. We're probably headed back there next week because they're still a good deal, compared to other resorts.