Lift ticket $ Insanity

[4aprice]

0. I am in no shape to ski a full day, bell to bell. I seriously doubt I'd pay full walkup price to ski half a day. Maybe if there was a half day pass but I doubt I'd drive 200 miles to ski four hours. I don't know how folks come up for a week a year and ski 5 days. I'd be toast after one, maybe two days and the other three would be survival mode.

This is kinda my situation this year, mostly because of our lack of winter in the mid Atlantic. I’ve gotten 3 ski days in, maybe 4. And half days at that.

Though I can be on the hill in an hour, which isn’t bad, the conditions are so crappy that it’s barely worth the drive to get there right now.

If I wasn’t feeling physically well, forget about it. I wouldn’t even try.

So we shall see what transpires for me at the Gathering. Luckily I’m most interested in seeing friends while there. Everything else is bonus.

Wendy, I've taken the exact opposite direction. Yeah it's been crappy, but I going as much as I can with the goal of being ready to ski when I get out west in March. Gotta make lemonade out of lemons but there have been some upsides as well. Lines have been miniscule, trails pretty much wide open. I have been able to yo-yo 15 to 20 runs in a 2-3 hour span 2-4 days a week and really feel the legs rounding into shape. Bell to bell is in the past for me even at the big boys out west my days are typically 4-5 hours and then the lure of après ski becomes to strong to ignore.

 

[UGASkiDawg]

Too late to save Copper, at least on Sat. If you want a crowd free experience then ski during the week. Forget Saturdays or holidays. The only way to help Sat. would be to put a reservation system in place. If you are staying at Copper avoid the lower mountain and Timberline and you won't be in crowds.

You mention Pico but I'm not sure if it's your home mountain. I think he wants it to be more like that. Limit the number of days for Ikon passes. Like Pico, Copper is only a partner but has no restrictions or limitations. Not sure why but if you check other well known Powdr resorts like Snowbird, Mt. Bachelor, or even Killington-Pico they all do.

Winter Park gets mentioned with Copper a lot. Winter Park is a different situation than Copper. They are controlled by Alterra.

Sorry, definitely struggling with the whole skier visits are flat. At least for Copper. I think the combination of people moving here, people bailing on Epic, and Ikon are driving visits up. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see visits up by at least 12% this season.

I can live with the people on the hill as it is now. The lines are basically never to bad for me...it's the #$(@#$ parking. When it takes 82 minutes to go from Frisco to the parking lot (5-6 miles) this is a huge problem.

 

[locknload]

This is pretty much my situation, so the answer is about 60 days. Well, "fat" half days, anyway.

High on our semi-retirement location list was a decent ski area that was not part of Ikon or Epic. Cheefully trade outright size for a smaller, less frantic experience.

I was "broken" during my last guys trip to JH. Sheer insanity if it snows over 4 inches. Just not for me anymore.

You nailed it. "Broken" after your last trip to JH. That's the way all the mega resorts feel on a POW day anymore. Smaller resorts that aren't part of Epic or Ikon is such a great call.

 

[AmyPJ]

You nailed it. "Broken" after your last trip to JH. That's the way all the mega resorts feel on a POW day anymore. Smaller resorts that aren't part of Epic or Ikon is such a great call.

And hence why so many of us are really, really unhappy that Snowbasin first went Epic, and now Ikon. It has changed the whole vibe there so much, especially on powder days. @Tom K. you are so right, the frenzy is just hardly worth it anymore. I leave more frazzled than before I got there. Between traffic on the drive up, then the attitudes on the hill, and the frantic rush by everyone to beat everyone else to the fresh tracks, it's just not that much fun.

 

[Wendy]

Wendy, I've taken the exact opposite direction. Yeah it's been crappy, but I going as much as I can with the goal of being ready to ski when I get out west in March. Gotta make lemonade out of lemons but there have been some upsides as well. Lines have been miniscule, trails pretty much wide open. I have been able to yo-yo 15 to 20 runs in a 2-3 hour span 2-4 days a week and really feel the legs rounding into shape. Bell to bell is in the past for me even at the big boys out west my days are typically 4-5 hours and then the lure of après ski becomes to strong to ignore.

I'm planning on starting to go 2-3x a week next week. I just don't have the excited feeling I used to get, when the weather is this crappy. I do have a short trip up to Sunday River with my SIL planned the following week; hopefully that will help increase my stoke.

 

[Pequenita]

Serious question to all. How many days would you likely IF there was NO MULTI RESPORT PASS OPTION AVAILABLE for any resorts within 200 miles of your front door?

Would you buy the local pass for ONE resort?

If I lived 200 or more miles away from someplace on a multiresort pass (basically my situation from 2004 through 2015), I would get about 15 to 20 days a season, depending on the year, because I am flying to my destinations, for about a week at a time or at least a long weekend. I would ski the other days locally (90 minutes away, mediocre hill) on various types of discount passes or vouchers. No local pass.

 

[givethepigeye]

And hence why so many of us are really, really unhappy that Snowbasin first went Epic, and now Ikon. It has changed the whole vibe there so much, especially on powder days. @Tom K. you are so right, the frenzy is just hardly worth it anymore. I leave more frazzled than before I got there. Between traffic on the drive up, then the attitudes on the hill, and the frantic rush by everyone to beat everyone else to the fresh tracks, it's just not that much fun.

When we would come to UT to ski, usually stayed downtown and on powder days the call was always Snowbasin and you could get almost to lunchtime before that Strawberry gondola line was a mess. I cant fathom what that would be like now. The other call was DV, poach parking at Silverlake, ski untracked on Bald Mtn for a while. Sadly, this wasn’t that long ago…

 

[AmyPJ]

When we would come to UT to ski, usually stayed downtown and on powder days the call was always Snowbasin and you could get almost to lunchtime before that Strawberry gondola line was a mess. I cant fathom what that would be like now. The other call was DV, poach parking at Silverlake, ski untracked on Bald Mtn for a while. Sadly, this wasn’t that long ago…

Yep, 3 seasons ago. Before the mass passes became part of the picture.

 

[hespeler]

If you opt to fly far away to ski, add the price of the plane ticket to the daily cost of the pass. If you ski X days the real cost per day is your pass price + your airfare + lodging + rental car/transportation.

So you saved $50/per day over the walk up or online day ticket price with that multi resort pass.. When all the rest of that gets added in did you really?

Yeah. Living far from the mountains (at least snowy mountains) and loving skiing…sucks.

Every year older and the convenience factor becomes more important.

I’m dealing with it as I type this post. I took the day off tomorrow planning to ski. My closest mountain is 150 miles away. I’ve been trying to get motivated to get the gear ready to go but am just not feeling it. Really early morning followed by Friday rush hour traffic, bridge tolls, gas, etc. all to ski for a few hours.

We get one of the mega resort passes mainly because the one week we spend in Telluride makes us break even.

I’ve stopped the wknd trips to VT, not because they can’t be great, but they aren’t good value anymore. A lot of traffic getting up there, overpriced, dumpy hotels, without even coffee in the room, way overcrowded hills with typical Eastern variable conditions, a long drive home on Sunday, and exhausted for work on Monday.

I will probably do those again at some point solo or with my wife but not with a family of four. It costs a fortune and it could turn out to be a marginal experience for a day and a half of skiing.

Still in all, the 10-12 days I get between 1-2 Western trips and a few day trips is pretty decent value. However, if you take away the long week in Telluride which may not happen next year if my daughter doesn’t want to miss one of her big volleyball tournaments in her senior year, well then next year’s choice becomes much more difficult.

Every year we get the pass I’m always fearful because of the travel involved if we’ll get value out of it or pay thousands for the family to ski a couple of days. So far it’s worked out…

 

[ilovepugs]

I'm planning on starting to go 2-3x a week next week. I just don't have the excited feeling I used to get, when the weather is this crappy. I do have a short trip up to Sunday River with my SIL planned the following week; hopefully that will help increase my stoke.

Woo! Just in time for the snow!

 

[justplanesteve]

I’ve stopped the wknd trips to VT, not because they can’t be great, but they aren’t good value anymore. A lot of traffic getting up there, overpriced, dumpy hotels, without even coffee in the room, way overcrowded hills with typical Eastern variable conditions, a long drive home on Sunday, and exhausted for work on Monday.

There might well be a market if the Snow Trains were revived with more of a family vibe.
Except probably track no longer exists on some of the old routes.

smt

 

[mikel]

Glad to see Copper has joined the walk-up price insanity, at least. $249 for Copper day ticket over the holidays, crazy!

Did you get the email from A Basin yesterday? They have been selling out on Saturdays. So unless you have a pass you might want to purchase the Saturday day ticket well in advance. And even A Basin is charging over $200 for single day Sat tickets. I think Saturdays are $209 right now which I believe is the same as Copper. Copper's best deal is Thu. Saturdays are tough and especially if you are just purchasing single day.

 

[teejaywhy]

$300 lift ticket for Arizona Ski Bowl?!!!!!!! Plus $200 prices are common. Sure you can buy passes that help mitigate the cost but Sheesh. I don't want an Ikon pass because I'm never going to travel to multiple resorts. I live 2 hours from Mt Bachelor. I'm 72 so the pass I bought in April for the following season was only $479. I'm so glad I'm a geezer. It would have been at least twice that much if I was a younger skier. The demographics appear to be changing in that during mid week days it's mostly grey haired. What's going to happen when we're gone? A family of 4 spending $400-500 for a day of skiing? I don't think so. To me it appears to me greed has taken over. Am I an out of touch grumpy old fart?

Late to the party here but...

#1 - Nobody pays $300 for a lift ticket to the AZ Snow Bowl. If they do, well, I don't feel sorry for them. Being clueless can cost you money.

This "demand" pricing is not unique to the ski industry. Try booking a last minute hotel or airline or car rental. Events. Shopping. Golf tee times. etc. Pretty much everything can be more costly if you are not willing to research and plan.

#2 - Look just 10 days away from the $300 ticket. $39. Yes that's right. Flex pricing can provide values if you can plan ahead. So it's not a terrible thing.

 

[fatbob]

Research and plan does tend to butt up against the biggie in skiing : weather.

 

[tball]

Did you get the email from A Basin yesterday? They have been selling out on Saturdays. So unless you have a pass you might want to purchase the Saturday day ticket well in advance. And even A Basin is charging over $200 for single day Sat tickets. I think Saturdays are $209 right now which I believe is the same as Copper. Copper's best deal is Thu. Saturdays are tough and especially if you are just purchasing single day.

Crazy. Whatever happened to January being slow? Here's hoping much of this in CO is due to the fantastic snow conditions. Maybe that means folks will burn through their four packs and burn out early. We'll see...

 

[crgildart]

Imagine if the entire industry colluded to black out Dec 24th-Jan 3rd, MLK Weekend and President's Day Weekend from ALL passes, Multi and local? People without kids and empty nesters would just avoid those dates, they already do.. People with kids they want to become "skiers" would pay full price to ski anyway.. Many already do pay premium rates on those dates because it's the only time they can go due to the school schedules.

Captive customers..

 

[Jersey Skier]

If you opt to fly far away to ski, add the price of the plane ticket to the daily cost of the pass. If you ski X days the real cost per day is your pass price + your airfare + lodging + rental car/transportation.

So you saved $50/per day over the walk up or online day ticket price with that multi resort pass.. When all the rest of that gets added in did you really?

Still cheaper than buying a season pass and a condo at the mountains.

 

[slow-line-fast]

#1 - Nobody pays $300 for a lift ticket to the AZ Snow Bowl. If they do, well, I don't feel sorry for them. Being clueless can cost you money.

Flex pricing can provide values if you can plan ahead. So it's not a terrible thing.

Research and plan does tend to butt up against the biggie in skiing : weather.

We are not clueless, we know that weather and conditions foul the best laid plans. And we have plenty of enjoyable outdoor sports options in the immediate vicinity other than riding lifts.

But we clearly don't matter, relative to those who buy property or book holiday rentals months/years in advance.

 

[Jim Kenney]

This is an interesting thread. I think our member who is a NY Times writer could take it and make something entertaining to read.

Since I'm a happy user of a resort season pass and a mega pass I have no complaints about pricing. In fact, I view the mega passes (I've had Ikon, Epic and MCP at various times over the years) as an incredible and affordable opportunity to explore a bunch of great mountains in the twilight of my skiing career. I figure the crowds are part of the cheap price of admission and since I ski a lot of weekdays I can avoid them to some degree.

I do have sympathy for those who've seen their home mountains become overrun with mega-passers as that's happened to the mountain where I have an individual season pass. I figure it will eventually work out under the laws of supply and demand, but it could take a few years for each individual case/resort.

 

[teejaywhy]

We are not clueless, we know that weather and conditions foul the best laid plans. And we have plenty of enjoyable outdoor sports options in the immediate vicinity other than riding lifts.

But we clearly don't matter, relative to those who buy property or book holiday rentals months/years in advance.

I wasn't intending to infer that you were clueless, unless you actually did pay $300 for a ticket to Snowbowl.

No argument from me, skiing in the USA is expensive. But most of the examples given are the extreme cases. Value can be found.