D-Sub Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Originally posted by dano 2 friends of mine rode killington last wednesday. They said it was cold as hell and the snow was just like a neglected freezer. Lift tickets were a mere $72 ( not including lube.) snow play is headed back towards bein a rich mans sport. oh well. theres always hiking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Originally posted by D-Sub snow play is headed back towards bein a rich mans sport. oh well. theres always hiking Lift ticket prices are headed north but over the past several years it seems season pass prices have fallen at a number of resorts especially if you ware willing to buy early. This year it cost me $549 for a full season pass at HMH *and* a weekday+ pass at Timberline; and that probably sounds like a total ripoff to Colorado residents who get even better deals. D-Sub, how many days on your Bachelor pass thus far? Extrapolate to Memorial Day and calculate your average day on the slopes. A couple years ago I rode "cheaper than a movie ticket" on average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jeremiah Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Season passes are the way to go, especially out west. My wife got me a Stratton non-holiday pass for $700 (early season) which I just upgraded to a full pass, and I'm still going to save a bunch compared to my last couple seasons. Last year I had an instructor in my house, and was getting discount tickets from him almost every day and still spent over $1000 on tix. There are still places where snowsports are affordable. My parents have been buying Bogus Basin/Brundage combo passes (Idaho resorts) for $398, that's passes to 2 different mountains for $199 each, with no restrictions. When I was living in Idaho, 18 years ago, a student pass at Bogus was $199, adult passes were $399, and Brundage was higher. I know that there are similar deals in Colorado, and I suspect other places. As was mentioned here previously, snowmaking is expensive, and ticket prices have to reflect that. Places with cheap passes generally have limited snowmaking, and are in a region where there is enough natural snow to cover. If you're lucky enough to live in an area like that, support the cheap mountains, buy the passes early, and convince them that it's a good idea. I'm unlucky and have to rely on snowmaking, so I have determined that if I'm going to pay for it, I may as well pay for quality, and therefore find myself dodging the boneheads in Bogner at Stratton. Jeremiah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemcse Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 There are still places where snowsports are affordable. My parents have been buying Bogus Basin/Brundage combo passes (Idaho resorts) for $398, that's passes to 2 different mountains for $199 each, with no restrictions. When I was living in Idaho, 18 years ago, a student pass at Bogus was $199, adult passes were $399, and Brundage was higher. Jeremiah [/b] That 400$ deal is still valid and a student pass as I recall was around 200 bucks for bogus. I am actually not too bummed about the lift ticket prices at the mega resorts as it is a fact of life but what really gets me are the weather patterns on the east coast. I am having a hard time adjusting to it from a winter sports perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Originally posted by Mike T Lift ticket prices are headed north but over the past several years it seems season pass prices have fallen at a number of resorts especially if you ware willing to buy early. This year it cost me $549 for a full season pass at HMH *and* a weekday+ pass at Timberline; and that probably sounds like a total ripoff to Colorado residents who get even better deals. D-Sub, how many days on your Bachelor pass thus far? Extrapolate to Memorial Day and calculate your average day on the slopes. A couple years ago I rode "cheaper than a movie ticket" on average. tis true, some places have reasonable pass prices. I dont think bachelor is one of them really. $699 is the discount price the summit county thing is without a doubt an incredible deal. I was talking about lift tickets though...its getting to where if a family wants to do a day on the hill its $400 plus! wtf? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 JT - 5-7" of the fluffy stuff forecasted for Sussex County Wednesday night. Let's keep this thread going. Maybe you are on to something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp1 Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Crave2Carve, A-Basin / Breck / Keystone $229, that's Sick! Hope you guys out there are taking advantage of those prices, thats like 3 days @ Special K. The local mole hill cost me $120 more than that, ands at the rate we're going, I may NOT even get a chance to use it! We (on the ice coast) don't really need to hear about deals like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hangten247 Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Isn't this year an El Nino year? I forget if it is or not. The last bad El Nino year that I remember was when a friend was in Colorado for the season, back in '90-'91. It was a great snow year for him, but the west coast & east coast had HORRIBLE lack of snow that winter, with hardly any snow and very warm temps. Maybe there's a bit of truth to the global warming concept too. I don't think we've had much snow on an average season year long basis since what we Bostonians call the "Blizzard of '78", only a few good snow years in the 90's. Or maybe it because I'm not a snot nosed 6th grader anymore who is only 4 feet tall where the snow always seemed deep when walking to school. Now I'm a snot nosed 6'3" hardbooter craving some fresh corduroy! But as a kid, it seemed there were a million mom and pop ski "areas" around Boston and up north. But they relied heavily on natural snowfall, and most of those places have dissapeared! For a cool website, check out www.nelsap.org. How many of these closed down places do you New Englanders, New Yorkers, and New Jerseyers remember? My friend spent New Years up in the Burlington VT area, we have another friend up there who always rides at Bolton Valley, for sheer economics. Unfortunately, it rained all weekend there too! He lives in the shadow of Stowe / Mt Mansfield but hasn't ridden there in years. I'm considering buying a pass there myself. (Bolton Valley, that is) They have snowmaking, night skiing, no lift lines, and no attitide, and its also not too far from Jay Peak, so they get decent snowfall too, and I get to crash at my friends for free. We go to Jay once in a while as an alternative to Bolton. I think Jay Peak has a combo pass with Burke also? Most of the areas up there offer a season pass deal at the end of the season for the NEXT season at a considerable discount. I think a pass at Bolton was under 300 bucks for this season when purchased last March. As much as I like variety, I think the best thing to do is pick one mountain and buy a pass as early as possible, and ride there as much as possible. If it wasn't for snowmaking, none of these places would be alive, it allows them to extend the season on both ends, but the penalty is high lift ticket prices. Surely snowmaking is a cost factor, but I cant imagine what liability insurance costs for some of thee places, as well as how much $$ is spent on advertising. It's a bit of a Catch 22, I'll buy a lift ticket, but I'll brown bag a lunch. They hit you at the snack bar for sure. I'd love not to have to pack a lunch, but I'm not gonna pay their snack bar prices, but I'm sure that $$ helps to fund snowmaking too. I echo Jack Michaud statements completely. Early season is way to sketchy on the east coast and doesn't get in gear until Mid January. I think we really only have a 8 to 10 week window at best of decent conditions each season. I don't plan on going anywhere until the 2nd or 3rd week in January as the conditions are usually dissapointing early on, unless there had been a great big dump. Once we are in season, some folks seem to forget how long the season can last up there. I'll keep going into March or April as conditions permit, and stop once I think board damage will be evident due to melt-off. Warmer riding days, softer snow, and less lift lines later in the season! Most folks down here on the Cape forget they own ski equipment until there is a big dump down here like last week. When that happens watch out! Everyone comes out of the woodwork wanting to get their skis tuned up overnight. I always ask, why didn't you plan ahead in September? Oh well, I work at a shop part time, and thats the price i pay to get discounted lift tickets. We got 1 to 2 feet down here last week, I think we need a triple chair on the top of the local landfill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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