OMG! Lift Ticket Prices!

[Don Plumley]

So we are going to have a day trip to ski on Christmas Day. Here's the breakdown for a family of four:

Adult lift tickets: 2 x $60
Youth lift tickets: 2 x $50
Equipment Rental: 4 x $38
Breakfast at McD's: 4 x $5
Lunch on the mountain: 4 x $12
Dinner on the road: 4 x $10
Gas: 400 miles / 20mpg x $3.50/gallon

Ready?




$550.

That's for a day trip. Imagine if lodging were involved. Oh, it's worth it. But man, talk about sticker shock.

(aside: Or one day at the track for just me. So seems fair. )

My wife asks, "Were lift tickets relatively that expensive when we were skiing in college?" So I checked it out using this handy-dandy inflation calculator. A day lift ticket in 1985 when I was at Davis was about $20. Actually, you could get a student ticket for $14 at Sierra Ski Ranch, but for sake of argument I seem to remember Squaw and Heavenly tix hit $20 that year. Inflation adjusted, its just under $40 ($37.42). Double yes. Triple? Well, you gotta pay for high speed chairs somehow...

Ouch.

[nostatic]

you're getting lunch on the mountain for $12 ea? What, are you beating up little kids and stealing their sandwiches?

[surflvr911sc]

Fot $50 more you could have bought two dual Summit/Bear Mountain season passes for this season last May.

[the]

Yeah, I remember the days of $17 lift tickets. And if you got a coupon at the ski shop, it was $5 off that!

[TimT]

Adult lift tickets: 2 x $60

thats almost a bargain.

Killington is $79/day weekends-holidays

Stowe is $84/day peak season


I think my skiing days are over....

[9dreizig]

What are you complaining about?? You're getting 20 mpg!! what are you driving that you can get a family of 4 plus luggage in that gets 20 mpg?? LOL
I get a season pass at Kirkwood for $300 and change.. but I'll get 40 days on the snow this season...

[trekkor]

Where are you skiing, Don?

I haven't been on the slopes for about 10 years.


KT

[tdatk]

Skiing is ghey anyhoo...

[Don Plumley]

Originally Posted by nostatic

you're getting lunch on the mountain for $12 ea? What, are you beating up little kids and stealing their sandwiches?

Stop giving away my secrets. The little kids carrying trays can't run fast in their ski boots.

[Don Plumley]

Originally Posted by trekkor

Where are you skiing, Don?

That will be a day trip to Sugar Bowl. Typically we go to Squaw a lot; sometimes Flatstar. One day we'll live up on the North Shore part of the year. We love it there.

[trekkor]

Right there in Norden.

I've been to Donner, Sugar Bowl, Boreal, Squaw and Sierra Ski Ranch.

Maybe this season I'll try again?


KT

[Evans, Marv]

Hey, I remember when all day/all lift tickets were $3.75 to $5.00 at the major ski areas in Cali. Don't remember what it cost at Stowe in '63. I was shocked when they got to $15.00. Course I gave up downhill in the early '80s, when it became so crowded & plastic, and cross country after that when everybody started doing that & wearing those spandex farmer john outfits. That left sky mountaineering which excluded the front country folks. Actually that was the most fun.

[cab83_750]

Be happy. My cost:

1. Lift tickets: Same as yours at Mammoth
2. Lodging: $175.00/night.
3. Food: Well, I stock up from Costco before the trip.
4. Gas: Premium at 10mpg/gallon.

It sucks, but man, it is so much fun with my kids, my adopted daughter, etc. Priceless......until...well you know.

[john70t]

Well, global warming demands artificial snow, the Saudi's control oil prices, and the religeous right scorns abortion............so it really is all Bush's fault
(sorry, it's late and I had to say it)

Pack a lunch and drive the Prius next time. Plenty of room in the back seat. Memories are priceless.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Skiing/snowboarding has really become a racket in the last few years. Truly sad.

Back when I lived on the east coast, I'd literally ski every single weekend at various places around New England. Day trips only. Sometimes with friends, sometimes solo. Very fun. And not terribly expensive. A typical day trip would run maybe $100 a head including lift ticket, gas money, lunch, etc. Now $100 will barely get you a lift ticket. Sad.

About five years ago I took a casual trip up to Snow Summit for a day of carving turns. I stuck a tip in a pile of snow on a relatively routine turn and the binding didn't pop. Blew my knee out. Hurt like nothing I've ever felt before in my life. Took me about 10 hours to get home (trying to drive a manual transmission truck down a mountain in a blizzard with a blown knee - loads of thrills let me tell ya') Took many weeks of hobbling around on crutches before my shredded tendon healed. I've not been back skiing since. The insane prices actually have more to do with it than the fear of another injury though (I can always set the release tension on the bindings lower I suppose, so that's not the issue).

I'd be curious to know how the mountains are doing this year, what with the sudden disappearance of the "easy money" associated with the RE market the last few years. For the last few years, I've seen lots of people who obviously had NO CLUE what they were looking at buying very expensive gear and loading it into humongous shiny new SUVs. I wonder if the other shoe is dropping this year. Or maybe it'll be a good thing and be something of a reality check for the sport. Dunno.

I'm mulling over a trip to Mammoth or Tahoe this year. Might be kind of fun in a way, but OTOH seeing how quickly one could burn through $1,000 or $2,000 on a 2-3 day trip is a huge turn-off. When it's cheaper to go to Hawaii than it is to go to Reno for a few days, I have a bit of a problem with that. . .

[Tim Hancock]

No doubt, skiing is not cheap, but IMO, I think that liability insurance is probably a big contributor to price increases above inflation.

In a way, I guess the fact that skiing has always been a bit pricey has kept it more of a luxury type thing.... kind of like driving a Porsche. Skiing might not seem as neat of a pastime if it only cost the same as a night at the local bowling alley.

[9dreizig]

Hey guys heading to Kirkwood in an hour or so.. I'll let you know how it was!!

[Dave L]

My 5x7 pass was $168. This allows me to ski during the week days (no lift lines) and 7 nights a week. I have been out 4 times this year (to that hill) so the pass has paid for itself already. Lunch normally runs around $6 because I get a discount with my seasons pass. The hill is 35 miles from my house so gas isnt too much of a concern.

When I take my son to our local hill its 13 miles away. He is 5 and still learning so I typically run up and down the magic carpet hill with him. His ticket is $8 but lunch is the killer at around $12 for the 2 of us.

At work we have a promotional deal with one of the ski hills out west and I can get free lodging and tickets during the week. I plan to get out there with one of my coworkers in Feb, so chalk that one up as another cheap ski.

Getting outside is fantastic and worth every penny IMO, of my 3 hobbies Snowboarding is actually the cheapest. AutoX and whitewater kayaking being the other 2.

[gprsh924]

Just got back from a week long trip to Colorado.

4 day lift ticket for Vail, Breckenridge= $230
Condo for 5 nights- $130
Gas- $120
Food/entertainment- $160

$640 for an amazing 7 day, 2300 mile road trip= priceless

[sammyg2]

When I was young, my father would pack up myself and my 3 brothers right after church and we would go skiiing at the local mountains. My mother would pack a bunch of sanwiches and hot chocolate.
We could drive all the way up there (about 20 minutes) ski for a half day (lots of runs, no lift lines), for $20. Total.We did that at least twice a month for 9 months a year from the time I was 5 to my 13th birthday. Of course the ski parks weren't as good as some, they were ALTA, Snowbird, and Brighton
When we moved to Mexifornia we could not believe the prices. 5 times as much to ski a crap hill that is so over-crowded you were lucky to get in 6 or 8 short runs a day. We lost interest in the sport.