I like taking a lesson at least once a year when I'm out at a decent mountain. It definitely smarts when I book it, but in the vast majority of my experiences the instructors have been wonderful, the care for me learning as a student is evident, and I come away with at least one thing that actually brings meaningful change to my skiing. It's pretty hard to get past absurd markups in most facets of skiing it seems, it's just something I have to swallow as a fan of the sport. So I'm relatively (and thankfully financially able to be) at peace with it. IMO having a great day learning, hanging out with passionate skiers, and experiencing at least one change in my skiing means it's worth the money. As the customer 100% of my resentment is directed towards the resorts/conglomerates for gouging the prices and yet returning so little of the fee to the instructors themselves. I'd offer the perspective that, if you and other skilled instructors who care drop out, I'll still want to improve my skiing and end up spending more money/time to see the same results while having a worse time while doing it.