Skiing is Less Expensive Than Other Activities
While sitting around last summer waiting for this winter appear, I started thinking about how much people spend on other entertainment and recreational opportunities during the year. These are just a few examples of choices people make and then say that “skiing is too expensive and only for the affluent.” By comparison, skiing is less expensive.
My son in law went to Pocono Raceway for the weekend to drive a high-end racecar on the track. The total experience took maybe 15 minutes zipping around the track five times or so at 120+ MPH. Yes, a thrill. It cost around $500 for this experience, far more than a one-day lift ticket. Of course, it was probably a $1000 weekend with motel, gas, tolls and meals.
What about river rafting trips, skydiving, bungee jumping, and other thrill seeing stuff can you think of?
Another friend went to a professional football game. Seats were $400 each (I am sure there were less expensive ones, but that was his choice). Again, getting there and staying for the weekend, including about four hours tailgating once in the parking lot, which costs as well, then 3 hours 15 minutes in the stadium to watch actual play time of about 18 minutes with lots of down time for penalties, time outs, commercial breaks, hurt players, other stoppages and half time. Not to mention that a hot dog and a beer probably cost about $15. Perhaps each.Basketball and hockey pricing can be similar, and forget Super Bowl tickets, which are in the thousands! Baseball tickets can be inexpensive, especially the bleachers. But if you want to sit behind home plate prices can range from $150 to $20,000 depending on the stadium and the importance of the game. And forget world series tickets!
Tickets to a Broadway show range from $75 to $500 or more for premium seats at a popular show with an all-star cast. A friend told me they went to see Adele in Las Vegas but would not tell me what they spent. Checking online, I saw $1500 for the least expensive tickets and some premium seats in the $15,000 to $20,000 range.
My daughter wanted to go see Dancing with the Stars at Turning Stone. Cheapest tickets were $106, to up to $360 for floor seat. For a two-hour show, not going to happen! It’s free to watch on TV.
What about golf, popular with many senior skiers. A round of golf can range from $50 to $400 plus, again depending on where you play. The actual play time is about 45 minutes while the rest is walking to the ball, finding it, and waiting for other players. The best way to play this game is to play by yourself and to keep pace with the foursome ahead of you is to play 4 balls and score over 100 to get the most practice and more bang for the buck. Not to mention the cost of golf equipment and paraphernalia.
If you wanted to take your family of four to Disney, you can drop from about $6000 to $15,000 plus for the week and stand in line to get on every amusement ride. Compare that to the Ikon pass which is $1500 per adult, $1200 for teens thru 22 and $450 for kids 5-12. That’s for a whole season, not just one weekend. And there are many other passes as well, plus deals at your local ski areas.
I could go on and on, but it’s always a matter of choices and priorities.
Skiing is such a great family activity, including because high speed lifts generally keep lines shorter than at Disney. You can ski the entire season at your local ski area (assuming you are in a state that has skiing available locally) with a season passes with no restrictions on how many days you can ski, and have plenty left to go somewhere.
It’s even better for us seniors with steep discounts as we age, and I look forward to getting my great grandchild out on skis.
I believe skiing can be expensive but it’s relative, especially since there are many inexpensive ways to get to experience skiing, smaller local areas, and used equipment can get you and the family going.
Skiing is a lifelong enjoyable activity, with your friends or with your family. Rather than sitting around complaining about its cost, make your choices. It’s a matter of priority.
Mine is skiing. How about you?
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Our friend was brought up skiing and she is now an outstanding skier , things have changed ,her life revolves around theater and city life so her 3 children cannot live the childhood ski life that she was brought up with. This holiday season they came to ski, the 5 of them stayed with her friends and had no board or food fees. The actual ski life was a budget buster since the children rarely get a chance to ski she had to pay for lessons and she could not avoid high price holiday tickets so with 3 in lessons and herself and husband just buying tickets she spent on each of the 3 days 1400 $ dollars per day for the experience.
agree with you that that approach is expensive, if you don’t live near skiing that’s a problem. going to smaller areas can help and also save some money. its all about choices.
Excellent points, Mike. For some reason we seem to estimate skiing as a package more than many other activities. Actually, this year I have been thinking how much cheaper my ski trips are now that my kids and their families pay for their own share.
when you don’t have the kids to deal with, that’s a plus. living closer to the ski areas is also a plus. Takes staying over a choice not a necessity.
Spot on Mike! Skiing, of course, can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be! I am skiing this season on the Magic Pass… $500 for 90 ski resorts in the Alps, no restrictions. Lodging is $300 a night with breakfast, a spa, and a ski room for storage – nice rooms too! Sure, airfare is $1500, but your analogy of a week at Disney is correct, and your comment on the long lines is too! Today I skied Swiss powder – no lines, no waiting! Happy trails!
enjoy Europe
Paul has the right approach. It is not only the lift ticket to consider although $100 for a day trip is more than just a ticket. You have to consider travel to and back, lodging, food etc. For beginners you add lessons, rentals etc. A family of four on a weekend or vacation period is easily in excess of $2000
Ken, again it is all about choices and where you live. There are plenty of season passes that are manageable.
Forgive me, but these are absurd comparisons that sound as if they were devised in a multi-national corporate boardroom. There are few if any other activities that require the purchase by a family of four of $5,000 worth of non-refundable tickets without the knowledge of whether such tickets will ever be used. For many of us, yes, we will take the risk for the sport we love even considering the uncertainties of other travel costs and weather in a rapidly warming world. But how about a more balanced opinion that takes into consideration the circumstances of the new skier, the curious sports enthusiast, the working class skiers who live hundreds of miles from ski country in your analysis? Those folks are getting crushed and ignored in the current system, Mike, and a person who bills himself as a ski “journalist” needs to point that out. Otherwise, it’s kind of working in public relations.
Agree totally!
Thanks
The article is only true for the top 10%. Most of America, especially young Americans would view this as an entitled perspective. I don’t mean to disparage the author, but it is only one perspective and I would contend it does not represent the majority. When I am giving a student a private lesson, I am well aware that it is costing them at least $500 between the lesson fee, lift and rental costs. And I don’t work at a fancy resort where it would cost even more.
no question there are big expenses and lots to do instead of skiing. I guess since I am 30 minutes from a ski area it is almost always a day trip, season’s pass and there are many smaller areas for the kids to reasonably get lessons. again, its about choices.
Skiing has always been an expensive sport. Probably less expensive now than it was in the 1950’s and 60’s with the mega passes.
not really less but the mega passes help in a way if you can go numerous times, but I have found that the places with the megas are crowded and safety become the big concern, not the cost
“Skiing is Less Expensive Than Other Activities” That’s a joke. Even if you go to the gymn every day at $10 a day that’s still cheaper then a ski vacation. Fishing, Pickle Ball, jogging, walking, treking, Hang gliding, paragliding, Golf, tennis, the list goes on are all cheaper than skiing. USA skiing used to be cheaper than Europe years ago but that’s not the case anymore. I agree with most of the previous posts. Senior Skiing vacations are also cheaper if I book everything myself.
Lift ticket prices have gone up at least 10-fold in the past 40 years. Is anyone making 10 times more than they did 40 years ago? The fact is that lif ticket prices are rising into the stratosphere, making skiing increasingly unaffordable.
I have been planning a road trip through Wyoming for this winter, to ski at all 10 ski areas there. Initially, everything was fine and affordable, with lift ticket prices below $100, and sometimes as low as $50. That is until I got to planning a visit to Jackson Hole, WY. Lift ticket prices there are as high as $256 in the second half of February. And that is with a senior discount!!!
Lodging is also outrageously expensive. Most hotels in Jackson charge more than $200, and many charge more than $300, and even well over $400 a night. Oh, and then add a hotel tax to that.
So, even staying in the low end of the spectrum, with a lift ticket at $256 and lodging at around $250, that’s already more than $500 per day.
On top of that, Jackson Hole charges for parking at all their parking lots, $35 on weekdays and $45 on weekends.
None of this includes food, and you have to stop for at least some soup to rehydrate at lunchtime. I am sure they charge around $25 for just a cheeseburger, like they do at Sun Valley.
When you add it all up, the lift ticket, lodging, food and the parking fee, it adds up to almost $600 per day. And that’s just for one person. This is more expensive than the examples given in this article.
Yes, skiing is a great family activity, but add the expenses for a family of 4 and we are talking probably around $1500 or more per day of skiing.
The only way skiing can be less expensive is if you ski only at less well known ski areas, where you can still ski for as little as $15 or $20 per day. And, in fact, that is exactly what I am doing these days. I avoid “Ski resorts” like the plague, and I ski at “ski areas” and “ski hills”. Luckily, I skied most of the big names when I was younger and when lift ticket prices were still within a more or less normal range.
Interestingly, I am enjoying the smaller ski areas immensely, for a lot of different reasons. They are less crowded. Many of them have no lift lines. There is a great variety of terrain when you visit several such places. The cafeteria prices are often really affordable, with everything on the menu under $10. The atmosphere is more relaxed. And lift ticket prices are still super low. There is even a ski area I found recently where there is no charge for a lift ticket. You are just asked to give a donation. Whatever you can afford.
By contrast, all the major ski areas have priced themselves out of reach for me. Well, actually, I am not that poor. I COULD afford a day or two at expensive places. But why would I? It’s highway robbery. I will not support the artificially high prices whose intent is to force people to buy a season pass.
Indeed it is expensive when you add up all the costs – but have you walked up a slope lately? When younger, I walked up North American at Stratton after the area closed for the season. It took some time and upon reaching the top, I considered the price of riding a lift 6-15 times up the mountain for runs downhill whether thrilling or cautious. Still seems like a good deal to me, even though I Nordic ski 20 times more than Alpine each winter.
The only way I could ever ski was to be a Ski Patroller. Affordability is relative, not just to other pursuits, but to income. In fact, I could not, and would not, go to most of those activities mentioned. We got our daughter skiing early and she is now in instruction which allows for family skiing. By the way, you did not mention the high cost of skiing equipment, travel, etc. Skiing is expensive. I really enjoyed it. But there is so much more to do that costs much less.
yes, plenty to do that are less expensive but also plenty more that costs way more! you as a patroller found your way to make it reasonable. and you probably live close for day trips.
I just got back from 3 week long trip skiing in BC, WA, ID and Alberta. My Indy pass covered all the lifts for $400USD. I skied for 12 days total at 8 different resorts. Aside from the pass, the biggest expense was about $400 USD for gas for my Ram 1500. I slept in my pop-up camper as well as visited and stayed with both of my daughters, who both live near different ski hills. When I needed a shower, a trip to a local municipal pool with hot tub, steam room and sauna was great. I only paid for camping once; $13 CAD for 2 nights in a BC Provincial Park that is open year round. In fact, the largest expense was a brake repair when a caliper seized up! Sure I spent a few bucks on lunches and eating out a bit. But overall, the trip was not expensive. The snow was a bit skinny in places as I went in late March : I didn’t want to camp in really cold weather. My camper has a good furnace but as a pop-up, it is not really intended for the dead of winter. The 26-27 Indy pass sold out so quickly in late March that I missed out and I think for next season I will just concentrate on ski hills with good rates for the 70+…..I turn 70 next month!