Season pass advice needed!

[tradygirl]

So I'm having a dilemma...

I'm starting school this fall and one of the perks of being back in school is the student season pass. I can get an Alta pass for $500! Before you all say I'm crazy for even considering NOT getting one, here's my issues.

Time:
I will be working full time and going to class twice a week from 6 to 10PM. I have every other Friday off of work, which will always be ski days. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to ski on the weekends because of homework and projects. The beauty of the season pass, however, is being able to ski a quick couple hours in the morning before getting down to homework. BUT....I'm also an avid backcountry skier, and I usually tour at least one weekend day a week and occasionally on my Fridays off. Honestly, I'll probably be touring rather than resorting any day the conditions aren't really dangerous. So, realistically I'm looking at about 10-20 resort days this season, max.

Money:
My husband is starting school this winter and will move to working part-time. The combo of tuition and less income means things will be tight. Both of us need boot work on our AT gear (I need new liners, he needs a boot punch-out), and my husband needs new AT bindings. So, I'm thinking it's either AT boot fixes/bindings (~$500-700) or season passes ($500 each), not both.

So, WWDD? Alta passes or backcountry gear? BTW...I have about 8 or 9 Solitude day passes carrying over from last year too.

 

[Sheena]

If it were me, I would skip the pass, and use the money to buy the gear. Reason being, you enjoy back country skiing, and your time available for resort skiing is limited, and you don't want to have to comprise on the type of skiing you enjoy because you have money invested in a resort pass. Plus, you already have 8-9 days coved

 

[SnowHot]

The main question is...............What do your friends do?

I will ski alone but am more likely to do it if I have companions. Therefore, If your circle of friends are BC, then you're more likely to get BC Skiing in.

I really think Gear is the way to go on this one. You can still buy a day ticket and find other deals when its time to do the lift served skiing.

 

[Jilly]

Something else to think about, do any of the areas offer a student day ticket? Or is there an outlet on campus or locally for discounted day tickets? (Costco here in Canada offers day tickets to some areas) I can understand your dilemma and hope some or all of these posts are helpfull. Gear is important and as said you need to look at the resort verus backcountry usage. Also what is the break even number of days on the resort pass? Good luck and happy number crunching!

 

[altagirl]

We've had bad BC conditions in the past few years, with stretches where it's just too dangerous to go out touring. So I'd go with a pass, just in case. But I'm the one who is chicken about touring because of my knees, so I'm biased! ;)

Does J actually need new bindings (like he has none now) or just really want new bindings? Or does he have old ones to sell and trade up?

 

[Ski Spirit]

Speaking as a financial person, I would look at what Jilly mentioned...the break even # days you have to ski to justify buying the pass. If the pass is $500 and your normal cost/day for the type of lift ticket you could get would be $50/day, then you have to ski at least 10 days to justify the cost. Since you already have 9 days covered at Solitude, that means you would have to ski at Alta/Solitude, a total of at least 19 days to justify the cost of the pass. If you think you could/would want to ski at least that many days (in addition to the backcountry time), then does that amount of time seem more valuable than the equipment....Hope that is of some help.............

 

[tradygirl]

Thanks for the input, everybody! You've brought up some good points to consider.

We've had bad BC conditions in the past few years, with stretches where it's just too dangerous to go out touring. So I'd go with a pass, just in case. But I'm the one who is chicken about touring because of my knees, so I'm biased! ;)

Does J actually need new bindings (like he has none now) or just really want new bindings? Or does he have old ones to sell and trade up?

Knowing my luck though, I'll buy the pass and we'll get another '05-'06 winter. And J and I tend to rather ski 15 degree benign choss in the backcountry than go to the resort on a Saturday. :p

Josh has his Januk/Dynafit set-up, but he bought a pair of Bros last year that he wants to get mounted up. So, no, he doesn't absolutely need bindings, but he's got a pair of sick nekkid skis in the basement crying for Comforts. He's already decided that he won't buy a pass because he just doesn't enjoy resort skiing very much.

But considering Snowhot's comment about friends....it would be nice to be able to ski with the Alta crew this year. Plus, lots of other friends will be skiing at Alta and Soli a lot. That's the one drawback to touring....I have yet to find a group of girls to tour with (any girls, actually!), so I'm always with the psychos like Trackhead, Powstash, and my husband. Don't get me wrong - I love touring with those guys because they push me, and I absolutely love touring with my husband, but a little more mellowness would be nice. Plus, I like skiing with my non-touring friends!

Geez, I'm so torn. I just started thinking about my shiny new tele set-up in the basement too. That stuff won't get used at all if I'm touring. Anybody know what an Alta day pass is going for this year? I'm guessing like $58 or so? That means nine days of skiing will pay off a season pass. Hmmmm.

 

[skigirl]

An all day lift ticket at Alta is $59 according to the website. The best way to decide is to do the math.

 

[tradygirl]

Well, a conversation yesterday made my decision for me!

My parents are both going to be working at Deer Valley this season and as part of their benefits, they get a certain number of passes they can give me every week. So, I will effectively have a DV season pass this year! It's no Alta, but it's free and they have better food. :p