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How much money did you spend on ski vacation?

pete

not peace but 2 Beers!
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Moving to ski country to save money skiing probably cost me about $1000 per day of additional skiing. What every money you have to spend to ski is worth it.
I didn't move to ski country to save money on skiing. I moved to ski country to escape reality. (But it ended up saving us money on pretty much everything. Lower taxes, lower utilities, lower commute, everything.)


Unfortunately now Ski Country housing has gone pretty crazy for areas I was interested in for years. but then too, 20 yrs ago places I liked seemed crazy expensive given jobs and every 5 yrs I'd say the same.

geez, should of jumped 20 yrs ago and today I'd been none the wiser, many more days and a way better skier.
 

Goose

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I have to be honest here. This thread and some the responses in it seems much more about a competition to see who can brag about who paid less and got the most value.

Truth is for majority of families who do not live in so called "ski country and maybe looking to making a trip (which may be only a once or minimal few times in a lifetime) is much more expensive than what's being mentioned here.

Because its not normally (for many folks) a common occurrence it becomes something where one desires better accommodations and not somethin so budget friendly. Especially for a family. And especially when not familiar with nor so educated on just how to save a lot of money on such trips.

It took me a couple decades to finally take the fam to the Rockies (from east coast NY,NJ area). Life and timing vs obligations was always in the way and when i finally was able to make it all work I wasnt looking to do a minimal budget ski trip. Being was a once (or maybe only few times a lifetime scenario) I wanted better accommodations and service. I spent a lot of money for my family of 4 stay in telluride a couple seasons ago. It was multiple thousands for only 5 nights. Dining at good places, staying at higher rated place, doing other expensive things (besides skiing) etc..etc,,,.. My rare major ski vacation wasnt meant to be some low budget motor-inn experience. I can save that for my more local and familiar Vermont weekenders but not my rare ski vacation the the Rockies.

Lets drop the whole......who can brag the most about how cheaply they went on a ski vacation thing. I mean c'mon. I wasn't looking for my fam to live out of a suv or stay at some motorlodge and live off of poptarts, slim Jim's, and hard boiled eggs for a week. The true ski vaca imo and based off where Im from is supposed to be a destination experience and not just a budget friendly college trip.

I think a whole lot of families spend a whole lot of money on so called ski vacations in just the same way Im mentioning. Some ignorance involved but mostly just the ideology that its often something that is once or maybe only a few times (at most per lifetime.

On the same note...people can come to NYC (and they do) from all over the world and the country. I (being from NYC) can show you how to do it a lot cheaper. But ignorance and a once (or maybe only few times at most a lifetime) is going to result in many paying a lot of money for what is to be (hopefully) a good and worthy vacation. Its the same principal.

One huge thing is airfare. That i itself can often make or break the expense of a vacation. Often just a matter of lucky (or not) timing.
 
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dovski

Waxing my skis and praying for snow
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I have to be honest here. This thread and some the responses in it seems much more about a competition to see who can brag about who paid less and got the most value.

Truth is for majority of families who do not live in so called "ski country and maybe looking to making a trip (which may be only a once or minimal few times in a lifetime) is much more expensive than what's being mentioned here.

Because its not normally (for many folks) a common occurrence it becomes something where one desires better accommodations and not somethin so budget friendly. Especially for a family. And especially when not familiar with nor so educated on just how to save a lot of money on such trips.

It took me a couple decades to finally take the fam to the Rockies (from east coast NY,NJ area). Life and timing vs obligations was always in the way and when i finally was able to make it all work I wasnt looking to do a minimal budget ski trip. Being was a once (or maybe only few times a lifetime scenario) I wanted better accommodations and service. I spent a lot of money for my family of 4 stay in telluride a couple seasons ago. It was multiple thousands for only 5 nights. Dining at good places, staying at higher rated place, doing other expensive things (besides skiing) etc..etc,,,.. My rare major ski vacation wasnt meant to be some low budget motor-inn experience. I can save that for my more local and familiar Vermont weekenders but not my rare ski vacation the the Rockies.

Lets drop the whole......who can brag the most about how cheaply they went on a ski vacation thing. I mean c'mon. I wasn't looking for my fam to live out of a suv or stay at some motorlodge and live off of poptarts, slim Jim's, and hard boiled eggs for a week. The true ski vaca imo and based off where Im from is supposed to be a destination experience and not just a budget friendly college trip.

I think a whole lot of families spend a whole lot of money on so called ski vacations in just the same way Im mentioning. Some ignorance involved but mostly just the ideology that its often something that is once or maybe only a few times (at most per lifetime.

On the same note...people can come to NYC (and they do) from all over the world and the country. I (being from NYC) can show you how to do it a lot cheaper. But ignorance and a once (or maybe only few times at most a lifetime) is going to result in many paying a lot of money for what is to be (hopefully) a good and worthy vacation. Its the same principal.

One huge thing is airfare. That i itself can often make or break the expense of a vacation. Often just a matter of lucky (or not) timing.

I would not look at this as bragging but rather a way to learn from others on how to maximize the impact of our ski $$. Let's be clear if you are living on a tight budget taking your family on a ski vacation, let alone skiing is likely not in the cards. This is an expensive sport and becoming more expensive every year. At the same time you do not have to be a local to know the difference between smart money and well less smart money :).

For my family our approach starts with planning in advance.
  1. This starts with picking the resorts we want to visit, so we know which multi resort pass to get - for us that is typically a Mountain collective pass as an add on to our local hills pass.
  2. Next comes accommodation, which we book early both to get advanced booking discounts and to ensure we get the properties we want. For us that means ski-in ski-out and a private hot tub plus at least two but ideally 3 bedrooms. As an FYI some places give up to 40% discounts when you book early (this is what we got for our Banff ski vacation in April, and secured 30% discount for Big Sky in Feb)
  3. Airfare is expensive for a family of 5 so we try to drive as much as possible. When we do fly we typically use points and use Costco travel to get a great deal on premium SUV that can fit our luggage and skis
  4. For meals we typically do breakfast and some dinners in our unit, because we like to cook, and lunch on the hill. This saves significant $$ but is also convenient. It also reminds me of the ski trips I took with my family.
For my family ski vacations are not a once in a lifetime thing. In a typical year my family will do 3-4 ski trips and I will usually do another 2 without them and we do not live in ski country. By making smart choices we can afford to do this. At the same time we are also having really great ski vacations and making priceless memories :)
 

Tricia

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It's a ski vacation if my wife comes. That will include a day at the spa, a day of dogsledding, snowmobiling or some other non-ski activity and nice dinners. If it's solo or with my son it's just a ski trip. Ski and pass out. Burgers, bbq and beer.

Last year's gathering to JH was less than $1500. Ski vacation, more like $5-7K for a week.
It's interesting how we can be economical with a ski trip, especially when we ski with a group.
Our May-Day at A-Bay week is super economical and its one of the funnest ski trips of the year.
Our trip to JH was probably about $1000.00 per person between sharing a condo, sharing the grocery shopping and other such things.
I'd have to look at the budgeted amount to be sure but I think that's about right.
 

Jim Kenney

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Very valid point being made by @Goose , but @dovski 's perspective is helpful too. I try to use this thread as a learning tool.

I have taken numerous low budget trips in my day and still do at times (including Motel 6 for 50-something per night last Feb in Jackson, WY, thanks for the suggestion @DanoT ). I also will splurge, especially when my wife or additional family and friends accompany me on trips/travel.

Three or four years ago I was riding a chairlift at Vail with a stranger. I had an EpicPass and used it that winter to great effect, logging lots of ski days at many great resorts. He commented that he was using the walk-up ticket window to buy his lift tickets that week. I thought to myself, what a "ski travel rube" this guy is?! But then he began to share a few more details. He was some sort of high level business executive and nimbly decided to make the trip to Vail at close to the last minute because he knew the snow was good then and an unexpected opening occurred in his packed work schedule. He was using airline mileage and motel points to completely cover his travel and lodging expenses. Suddenly, I was feeling more like the rube. ogsmile
 

Ogg

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I learned long ago to work whatever angles I could to stretch my ski budget. One of the things that drew me back to more frequent skiing after years of only going a day or two a season was the discovery of the relatively cheap multi resort passes.
 

DanoT

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I normally take a 3 -5 week ski trip to the US, traveling in my 4x4 winter capable truck camper and coinciding with the national Gathering at a cost of about $700-$1000 per week.

So this winter with the border closed I figured to just ski my local mountain and save thousands. Nope. The truck is a '91 Dodge diesel that needed lots of repairs: u-joints, ball joints, seals, tires, exhaust (4"dia instead of stock 3" = big uptick in power :D). I am putting the rig to good use though; as a daily driver to the mountain, it serves well as a heated boot change, washroom, lunch room.
 

Jwrags

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Our main family trip has been to Steamboat for the last ~20 yrs.

Missed one year due to a wedding, this year due to Covid. We used to fly when deals were more common but once our youngest started to go, which coincided with increased air fares that changed flying from under $1K for 4 to nearly $2K for 5 and limited bags so we now drive from Iowa.

Typically costs run mostly for 8 nights at the resort, 1 night in either Nebraska or Wyoming:

Travel (driving) $250
1 night hotel: $100
slopeside lodging $2500, 4bdrm 3 bath Condo with pool and hot tub (we use well)
2-4 lessons $268 (handy too as one can often pick up a add on lift for $35)
Lift tickets: Ikons at ~$630 each, I had full pass as I try and hit the boat twice.
Food/Meals: we typically eat in, but do several dinners out and lunches out so this isn't much an adder. Extra lifts add ~$250

(not counting meals nor lessons other than added lift costs of $70)

Avg for 5, 9 nights with 7 days skiing sits around around $1200 each. If I add in extra for meals out .. under $1300 each.

I could cut costs a bit but the unit is 60yds from the lift and large which gives us a lot of flexibility to add a relative from Fort Collins or elsewhere if they wish to stay with us.
I’m curious where you stay in Steamboat for that price? We stayed slopeside 2 years ago there and this year the price has more than tripled. OTOH, airfare in there this year is a relative bargain.
 

dovski

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Very valid point being made by @Goose , but @dovski 's perspective is helpful too. I try to use this thread as a learning tool.

I have taken numerous low budget trips in my day and still do at times (including Motel 6 for 50-something per night last Feb in Jackson, WY, thanks for the suggestion @DanoT ). I also will splurge, especially when my wife or additional family and friends accompany me on trips/travel.

Three or four years ago I was riding a chairlift at Vail with a stranger. I had an EpicPass and used it that winter to great effect, logging lots of ski days at many great resorts. He commented that he was using the walk-up ticket window to buy his lift tickets that week. I thought to myself, what a "ski travel rube" this guy is?! But then he began to share a few more details. He was some sort of high level business executive and nimbly decided to make the trip to Vail at close to the last minute because he knew the snow was good then and an unexpected opening occurred in his packed work schedule. He was using airline mileage and motel points to completely cover his travel and lodging expenses. Suddenly, I was feeling more like the rube. ogsmile
I can relate to your story. A couple years back I had a work trip to Europe that forced me to spend a weekend there in the middle of ski season, so very last minute I changed my flights so that I had a weekend layover in Geneva as opposed to Amsterdam. Thanks to some great advice from @James I made a last minute call to go to Verbier instead of Charmonix (yes I know first world problems) and had an epic two days of skiing. Thanks to the advice and guidance from @James and others on this site I knew where to rent my skis from (SKi Service Verbier at elevation not thin the village) and where to pre-purchase my two day pass at a discount. Accommodation was more challenging as almost everything was sold out except for the Westin at $3500/night and Richard Branson's ski Villa at $60,000/night (this is not a joke, the house manager actually emailed me to see if I wanted to rent it ... I had no idea what this place was until then). I ended up contacting about 30 different local hotels and found a family owned one who had a cancelation and was within my budget.

My point here is that this was a last minute impulse trip organized in the span of 24 hours, so not a lot of time to research or plan. Luckily through Pugski I had a community of friend with first hand knowledge and reaching out to them made all the difference. If you see someone talking about a great deal they got do not hesitate to reach out and ask them for pointers, insider advice like this makes all the difference :)
 

lisamamot

Lisa MA MOT
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One huge thing is airfare. That i itself can often make or break the expense of a vacation. Often just a matter of lucky (or not) timing.

I agree. I can do a solo trip on my time schedule and go on the cheap with shuttle transportation and shared housing/food with ski friends. Family trips have been entirely different and don't have the benefit of flexible timing.

We don't travel often so we do not have considerable airfare/car rental points other than what we earn on our credit card and whatever we have earned on the handful of trips. Since we have not traveled since COVID hit we should have a solid amount of credit card points saved up for when we are comfortable doing so again. Our kids are older now and we are unlikely to take many future family ski trip so my husband and I should have more flexibility going forward.

That said, traveling from east coast to CO/MT as a family of four, air travel and large SUV rental were pretty big hits due to peak travel in February. We bring our own ski equipment so the vehicle needs to be pretty much the largest 4WD available. I plan in advance and spend a considerable amount of time reserving and canceling vehicle reservations, going through Costco and BJs. I stalk airline rates and choose flying days to coincide with the least expensive fares, but I am not into 15 hour travel days where I traipse around with multiple layovers to get the absolute cheapest fare; that opens up too much potential for a missed connection/travel delays that can ruin a trip. We have always chosen IKON destinations so lift tickets were "covered" but obviously not free. Our son skis adaptive so there is a lesson fee for that; since he also only skis a half day we have chosen to stay on mountain (Vrbo) so he can stay in the comfort of the condo after lunch while the rest of us ski. We grocery shop before getting too close to the mountain area and eat all meals at the condo except for one nice, but not high-end, dinner.

We did a week at Winter Park in 2016 and a week at Big Sky in 2017 as a family of four - each trip tallied to around $7K without lift tickets (skied with IKON)....so $1750 per person. If you allocate a portion of the IKON to that perhaps $2000 per person.
 
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techcrium

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I have to be honest here. This thread and some the responses in it seems much more about a competition to see who can brag about who paid less and got the most value.

How is that any different than guys bragging about how they managed to ski 100+ days with their seasons pass or how many miles of vertical in a single day?

If you managed to get your season cost down to $0 because you bummed in your best friends place and "borrowed" his pass then great for you.
 

nhskier69

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I have to be honest here. This thread and some the responses in it seems much more about a competition to see who can brag about who paid less and got the most value.

Truth is for majority of families who do not live in so called "ski country and maybe looking to making a trip (which may be only a once or minimal few times in a lifetime) is much more expensive than what's being mentioned here.

Because its not normally (for many folks) a common occurrence it becomes something where one desires better accommodations and not somethin so budget friendly. Especially for a family. And especially when not familiar with nor so educated on just how to save a lot of money on such trips.

It took me a couple decades to finally take the fam to the Rockies (from east coast NY,NJ area). Life and timing vs obligations was always in the way and when i finally was able to make it all work I wasnt looking to do a minimal budget ski trip. Being was a once (or maybe only few times a lifetime scenario) I wanted better accommodations and service. I spent a lot of money for my family of 4 stay in telluride a couple seasons ago. It was multiple thousands for only 5 nights. Dining at good places, staying at higher rated place, doing other expensive things (besides skiing) etc..etc,,,.. My rare major ski vacation wasnt meant to be some low budget motor-inn experience. I can save that for my more local and familiar Vermont weekenders but not my rare ski vacation the the Rockies.

Lets drop the whole......who can brag the most about how cheaply they went on a ski vacation thing. I mean c'mon. I wasn't looking for my fam to live out of a suv or stay at some motorlodge and live off of poptarts, slim Jim's, and hard boiled eggs for a week. The true ski vaca imo and based off where Im from is supposed to be a destination experience and not just a budget friendly college trip.

I think a whole lot of families spend a whole lot of money on so called ski vacations in just the same way Im mentioning. Some ignorance involved but mostly just the ideology that its often something that is once or maybe only a few times (at most per lifetime.

On the same note...people can come to NYC (and they do) from all over the world and the country. I (being from NYC) can show you how to do it a lot cheaper. But ignorance and a once (or maybe only few times at most a lifetime) is going to result in many paying a lot of money for what is to be (hopefully) a good and worthy vacation. Its the same principal.

One huge thing is airfare. That i itself can often make or break the expense of a vacation. Often just a matter of lucky (or not) timing.

Same boat as you. Back in my late twenties I remember sharing a double room with my wife and another couple at the Jay Peak Village Inn. Before we went on our trip, we use to exchange U.S. to Canadian dollars because Jay would take it on par. Talk about cheap. Now my wife and I have a couple of kids, we ski all across New England and we take an annual trip out west. We use to take skitrips all over, now we stick to Ikon resorts.
Our trip last year, we went to Aspen for a Week. We stayed at the Aspen Square Hotel which is right across the street from the gondola. We had points for our flights, thank god because it was an expensive trip. In my mind it is well worth it. Giving your kids experiences that will last a life time. Several times this year, they have told me Aspen was their favorite trip.
Our trip this year is too Steamboat.
 

Nathanvg

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I have to be honest here. This thread and some the responses in it seems much more about a competition to see who can brag about who paid less and got the most value.
You have a point. There often seems to be a misconception by non-skiers that the only way to go on a ski vaction is to spend $10k or some other large sum. I hope this thread has shown you can go on a vacation for a wide range of prices.
 

Goose

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You have a point. There often seems to be a misconception by non-skiers that the only way to go on a ski vaction is to spend $10k or some other large sum. I hope this thread has shown you can go on a vacation for a wide range of prices.
And that is a fair point as well.
Though I would add that vacationing for many different types of vacations can always be done for a wide range of pricing. I think most folks understand they have choices wherever they go. Especially those on lower budgets who have no choice but to do enough homework to find that happy medium and make it work.

But I didnt really think that was the purpose of the thread.
And i do feel that most families even on moderate budget are not looking for their once or maybe couple times at most in a lifetime major ski destination vacation to be one living on soup cans and staying at the run down motorlodge 38 miles away. And while i may be exaggerating a bit there, I think we have to be more realistic that their is going to be significant cost involved for the fam making that special destination ski vacation. And especially when they are limited on just when they can go which is very often the case.
 
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AlpsSkidad

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Pricing also is dependent on dates. Most families with school aged children are limited to school vacation weeks, which also happen to be the most expensive for lodging and often transportation.
We are a family of 4, and we've spent the whole range of budgets on ski trips. We've determined for us that the budget ski trip is anything under $1000 per night not including transportation and lift tickets. So that's just food and lodging for 4. We've spent a fair amount less than that and far more, but for us, that's what it's going to cost.
 

Goose

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Pricing also is dependent on dates. Most families with school aged children are limited to school vacation weeks, which also happen to be the most expensive for lodging and often transportation.
We are a family of 4, and we've spent the whole range of budgets on ski trips. We've determined for us that the budget ski trip is anything under $1000 per night not including transportation and lift tickets. So that's just food and lodging for 4. We've spent a fair amount less than that and far more, but for us, that's what it's going to cost.
That date limitation does alot more than just stick families with higher pricing. It can result in not even being able to go and plan a trip.

I mean firstly are the kids even old enough where as it (the efforts and expense) needs to be worthy so that in itself probably isnt happening till they are of age where they themselves can enjoy most a major resorts skiing.

then the week off from school (which varies yearly) is not something you want to be too far into the spring but prefer the year it comes earlier for risk of conditions reasons.

Then if you have more than one child and they are in different schools they may not have the same week off.

Then there is sports which is yet another obligation they may have even while school week is off but the sports obs are not. Then even if pulling them out of school the sports obs is even worse during those times. My son had to sit out a game once because he missed practice due to grandpa dying. Ridiculous but thats sports obs these days.

Then there is the extended family and the major family functions and family celebratory events of all and any significant types that may be planned during the same time/week.

Then you do get the week where it all seems to work out but anyone in the fam or all would rather take advantage of that rarer scenario to do a tropical vacation instead.

These are many the exact things (and Im certain there is more Im forgetting) as for why it took me about 20 years to take our major ski vaca as a family.

So the darn time limitations within the ski season (which is school season) can be a real hurtle and just not work out well by pure bad luck.
 

Jersey Skier

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That date limitation does alot more than just stick families with higher pricing. It can result in not even being able to go and plan a trip.

I mean firstly are the kids even old enough where as it (the efforts and expense) needs to be worthy so that in itself probably isnt happening till they are of age where they themselves can enjoy most a major resorts skiing.

then the week off from school (which varies yearly) is not something you want to be too far into the spring but prefer the year it comes earlier for risk of conditions reasons.

Then if you have more than one child and they are in different schools they may not have the same week off.

Then there is sports which is yet another obligation they may have even while school week is off but the sports obs are not. Then even if pulling them out of school the sports obs is even worse during those times. My son had to sit out a game once because he missed practice due to grandpa dying. Ridiculous but thats sports obs these days.

Then there is the extended family and the major family functions and family celebratory events of all and any significant types that may be planned during the same time/week.

Then you do get the week where it all seems to work out but anyone in the fam or all would rather take advantage of that rarer scenario to do a tropical vacation instead.

These are many the exact things (and Im certain there is more Im forgetting) as for why it took me about 20 years to take our major ski vaca as a family.

So the darn time limitations within the ski season (which is school season) can be a real hurtle and just not work out well by pure bad luck.

Your son's coach is a dick. That's what I got here.
 

Ogg

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Your son's coach is a dick. That's what I got here.
Yeah the only legit reason I could imagine would be at higher competition levels where certain plays were drilled during that particular practice and he wasn't up to speed. Otherwise it sounds like the typical youth athletic coach power trip nonsense. My father used to coach my brother's little league team and always made sure it was about the kids first and foremost but so many of the other coaches, league officials and other parents took it way too seriously.
 

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