The Continued Decline of the Senior Lift Discount
Credit:ultramarinfoto
Helping seniors stretch their skiing budget is and has always been a pillar of SeniorsSkiing.com We’re sorry to report we recently learned Telluride has discontinued its season pass for seniors and its free season pass for skiers 80 and over.
Purgatory and Sunlight are now the only resorts in Colorado offering free season passes to those 80 and over. * (Lake County-owned Ski Cooper has a $10 season pass for skiers 75 and up, Monarch offers a $29 pass for skiers 69 and up and Powderhorn offers $29 passes for skiers 75 and up.)
We encourage our readers to support the areas that recognize there are benefits to having seniors on their slopes beyond the price of the pass.
One reader told us he has a discounted senior pass to his local ski area. He used it 19 days last season. Each time he bought lunch for around $30. He had his equipment tuned twice. He brought his kids and friends several times who bought day tickets. He says if he had to buy a full priced pass that spending would have been zero because he would no longer be a patron.
For more on how seniors and resorts reached this point, we encourage you to visit The Colorado Sun at www.coloradosun.com to read “And then There Were Two” by Jason Blevins.
https://coloradosun.com/2024/09/26/telluride-free-skiing-seniors/
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Been to Telluride twice and now that I’m 74 and still ski aggressively 25 to 30 days a season, Telluride and Purgatory will never see me there. As a senior who has skied 13 states and 4 countries over 46 years money is tight and there’s plenty of places that value us older citizens.
When you hit 75 Purgatory and other Power Pass areas offer free lift tickets.
So shortsighted on the part of ski resorts to ignore the benefits of encouraging an age group who has the time to ski often and patronize the restaurants, etc.
As someone who took up downhill skiing in my 60’s, I find this demographic to be among the most fun, gracious, generous and entertaining group to be around. I used to frequent Park City until it became too crowded (for me) but now find my joy at Whistler. I always include a lesson on my visits. Wish there were senior discounts.
I so love skiing, and will turn 75 before I am able to return to the slopes(I reside in FL) this season. The last several years I have annually visited a buddy who lives in the SLC area, and skied mostly Big and Little Cottonwood Cyns. Powder Mountain too, was a favorite and I was looking forward to the prospect of heading there this winter and enjoying ‘Super Senior’ status. But before this season began, Powder changed their policy, Super Seniors no longer skiing for free. I was heart-broken when I learned this. So, change of plan; this winter I plan to visit the PNW where Mt Hood Meadows still welcomes Supers to ski free, and the Porland/Vancouver, WA area is where I plan to be spending my remaining winter vacation dollars(saved via the SS discount). UT’s loss will be the PNW’s gain.
Loved powder too, took advantage of the season pass for super senior for $50. Now I think it’s about $1300. Good bye powder , hello snow basin where the senior ( over 75 I think) was about $550. Going for 10 days in February.
Hi All
Ok Made it to 78 with numerous medical derailments.
Was told I would never ski again after EMG test, found no nerves from knee to toes in both legs, a blood flow issue worsened by 2.5 months in a coma like state due to a rare brain virus.
Skied 2 years later and sent those Drs the video and recommended updating those medical journals.
I have also been looking forward to free or near free skiing.
With gods help I will ski this year(had a lamenotomy 11 weeks ago) with our daughter who lives in golden Co and has a room and my gear always waiting for me.
I’m rambling, my message is we all love skiing and it’s my #1 passion bar non.
We have all dealt with the challenge of aging.
This is just another hill to climb in our quest for a sense of skiings freedom and joy.
We won’t let this take away our passion for an activity like none other for the intimate and very personal connection it provides with ourselves in nature.
Love to all skiers.
Hope to see all of you gray and white hairs out there.
As always
Tony Natella
Hey Tony, love the positive attitude in spite of the obstacles. I too had a couple laminectomies along with eight other surgeries in 20 years. Doctors can’t believe I’m still skiing. I tell them I ski better than I walk! Hang there Tony. The result (skiing) is worth it.
Tony and Dave, I’m with you on this. Don’t let the nay sayers bum you out. Ski on!
Not everything has to be free to be a good deal for seniors
Aspen/Snowmass offers a decent discount on lift tix for seniors over 65–and particularly cheap if matched with early season ( before 12/19 or so and late season (usually after April 1)
i AM 76 and have been skiing since age 12. What used to be lift open to lifts closing is now 6-10 runs a day. We have a condo at Killington which raised the age to qualify for a senior pass from 75 to 80. I concur with the comments above. We have a full house when my kids and grandkids join us for our ski weekends.
Now the price increases for seniors have cut back on my days and families are cutting back with the kids as a weekend with lifts, lessons and equipment exceeds $1500 for a family of four. They now can only afford one weekend a season.
I’ve skied at Okemo for more than 40 years. I’m 78. When the Muellers owned the mountain it was very senior friendly. Discount season pass over 65: super senior discount over 70. When Vail bought the mountain, it all went away. It’s only a business to the big conglomerates and I’m sure each “ profit center “ has its goals that result in higher lift ticket prices. We have probably caused the problem by staying in shape too long and skiing to an older age. There are too many of us. I view that as a good thing, I’m not sure they do.
I miss the Muellers. My buddies and I have skied it since 1976. We will go back in 2025 but it is not the same mountain.
Kevin. Epic offers a senior east coast pass around 450
For up to 80, that gives you hunter, okemo, Mt snow and stowe plus others in the east coast associated with epic, 80 and above was $49 early purchase for the season
Epic pass for east coast ski areas last year was around 450, super senior 49 if you buy early, that over 80. You got 2 years to take advantage of it . You can ski okemo, stowe and mount snow, as well as many others in new Hampshire and Maine. That’s a pretty good deal even in the 450 range
Hats off to all of us that continue to ski. My chiropractor says keep on moving and don’t become a couch potato. I’m 80 years old and have been skiing since I was 20 and have skied in eight states and three countries but missed the last two seasons due to some medical issues, and I’m looking forward to this season. I live in Upstate New York and fortunately there are still some smaller areas that provide free skiing or reduced rates for seniors. It will be interesting to see the effects of Killington changing hands and maybe being more user friendly to seniors and families as the resort divests somewhat from the big conglomerates. I too used to ski at Okemo but their rates have pushed me away. Hopefully this will be a great season across the entire United States.
I too am 80 and take advantage of the deal whenever I ski. See my comment above about epic east coat pass for super seniors, buy early 49 dollars
I currently live in Colorado although my family and I are hoping to move back to the northeast in a year or so. Can’t wait. I love to ski and have been skiing al my life, mostly in the east and in Vermont where I lived for many years. I used to ski in Colorado but haven’t for the last couple of years. It’s just too expensive on my fixed income. I miss it and will have to wat untill I get back east and can ski the smaller areas.
Thank You David for bringing this up! And for noting the lack of emphasis on the 70 Plus Group’s part. I think this group would be the perfect place to pressure the areas to live up to their earlier commitment to us. All those years we paid retail, including our kids, bought meals, skis, all the other gear, all the while looking at the bottom of the board at the ticket booth and thinking “At least when I am 65 I will ski free or cheap.” Then they MOVED the GOALPOSTS. Let’s “push ’em back, push ’em back, waaaay back” And boycott the areas that want to gouge us, including not having our annual trips at their resorts.
Whiteface mountain near lake placid, ny offers skiers over 70 a day ticket for $60, normal price $129. I’ve skied there since it opened in the mid 50s.
Jeclute, season pass to the 3 nys owned areas. Early purchase was around $259. Decent when I ski there at least 20 times a season
Glenn Jones, Exactly what we are doing at Powder Mtn this year. After 20+ years of coming to ski for a week, with folks from 3 or 4 states, their new FULL 65+ rate for our crew of (now) 76-85 y.o.’s is chasing us away. Several only ski a couple hours a day, and the hourly rate is unworkable. No more lunch, beer, gear in the shop, lodging, etc. etc. Happy to pay our share of insurance costs, etc., but $140/day is an insult. First paid full adult price there in 1976. Not like haven’t already contributed.
See my comment about snow basin, totally agree with you about powder mtn
This is extremely short-sighted.
1) Seniors will waste money on the grand kids but not on themselves.
2) Seniors crowd the restaurants not the lifts.
Alpental (part of Summit at Snoqualmie) in Washington offers a LTD M – F pass for Super Seniors (70 – 79) for $269. It’s good for any other Summit area all week. Better yet, Stevens Pass Senior Weekday Pass (70+) for $111.
I am 78 and plan to ski my age in days this year as I have in the past several years. It would be nice if we could all ski free at age 75. But have you looked around the lodge on a weekday. The overwhelming majority of skiers are white haired seniors like myself. Remember ski resorts are a business, not a charity. In the past with 75 was above the upper edge for most skiers. Very few skiers were on the slopes. With better equipment and improved health care we are living longer active lives. Yes, it is an expensive sport/activity but worth every penny to me
Writing from Australia. Here Vail Resorts continue to offer senior discounts. No season passes are free. However, the rates for over 70s are very good. There is a crucial point to make. The discounts are for skiing at their Australian resorts only. This ticketing is not run by Vail central. I expect there are things the resort needs to cover like insurance, base facilities, power etc. Like others I only manage two to three hours max on any one day so the discount is like with like. My largest expense on any day is fuel for the car and myself! Turning 80 next year I can only hope my health holds up for any number of seasons ahead. I suspect driving will be the limiting factor one day.
Nb. I ought to have mentioned the cost of the resort providing the all important ski patrollers and instructors. Last season one of the latter got me out of a difficult position. I walked (skied) away as one very grateful and happy little camper. And a big shout out to those who de-ice the lifts and do other invisible work, not to mention grooming the runs (and leaving some untouched).
Happily when I turned 70 I took advantage of Whitefish’s free senior pass. Alas that was the last year (and only 2nd year) it was offered.
I’ve been skiing over 55 years and achieved a long standing ambition to get a free ski lift pass this year at Cardrona, New Zealand. Over 75’s (I’m 76) receive a free Season Pass. I believe that their reasoning is exactly as you say, grandparents bring their grandkids skiing and spend while at the resort. Also seniors can ski during the week and avoid busy weekends. I’m planning a month in Aspen next February and the early bird season pass for over 70s is US $809
Cash cow is a noun and senior citizens who were born 1950 and newer are one in the same. We’ve always paid full price as an adult since becoming a 13 year old teenager who many paid for their own ADULT lift tickets. Children were those 6 to 12, under 6 were babies and were free. As ski areas had only either children or adult rate lift ticket prices, thus having to earn ski money from working after school job earnings, to when college was a major loan to cover our want of a higher level education; if we skied in college we paid full adult prices, even though we were borrowing the money to go to college. We would bum rides to get to the ski area because owning a car meant having a full time job or were on the GI Bill after serving in the military. Everything is upside down in our ski corporate America today. Few teenagers have jobs to have money because their parents put plenty of cash in their pockets weekly and yet the corporate ski companies give these silver spooned young a wicked break in lift ticket prices. 20-29 years of age and they get a tremendous break in lift ticket prices. Growing old? My oldest sibling will be hitting the 75 mark in May and so we are all still paying the full adult prices. My math says 74-13=61. Sixty-one years of being the cash cow is exploitation. The definition of cash cow is: one regarded or exploited as a reliable source of money. My grandchildren are becoming of the age when skiing would be desirable. USA ski area ownership can’t expect me to encourage them into downhill. Not with my lift ticket saga and the future looks bleak regarding lift tickets prices. You can stick your season passes up your aaarm pocket.
Ditto!
I will use three 80+ lift benefits this season. I live in the Washington DC area and bought the (unadvertised) Epic Northeast Value 80+ pass for $50. Will be going west with clubs to Taos, NM and Mammoth, CA. Both of these have free lift passes for over 80.
Some good news. Ski Cooper in Colorado (NOT Copper Mtn) offers free season passes to skiers 75 years old and older. (However, there is a one-time $10 processing fee.) Full price lift tickets are $110 and on Mondays through Thursdays full-day lift tickets are $45 not during peak periods. There are also discounts for military. This small ski area uses natural snow and has 5 lifts and 1200 vertical feet. It is located near Leadville, Colorado and reminds me of how fun skiing was in the 1960’s and 1970’s with Cooper having better grooming. I try to ski there at least one day a season even though I live only 20 minutes from Beaver Creek.
Cheer up, there are still many areas that offer us old farts reduced (or free) rates. In my case – I am 77 and back skiing for 3 years on two knee replacements!- , I bought at pre-season rates – a season pass for Jay Peak, VT at 62.50 Canadian funds (I live in Montreal) and at Whistler BC for 200$ (a son lives in Vancouver)!
For all you Americans , instead of Colorado, look into Whistler. You’ll save 30% right off the top with the exchange. The dollar prices are the same or less.
And a pox on those resorts that think we aren’t worth the discounts.
I went on the Whistler website and for a day pass they are defining an “Adult” as ages 13 through 99. Yikes.
83 in Lk George NY, skiing 60 – 70 days per year, enjoying the 80+ Epic Northeast value pass ($50 or so, preseason rate); Killington super senior pass ($79 IIRC) and Bolton Valley Super Senior ($99 IIRC). I avoid skiing weekends because of crowds, and anyway, I’m often teaching disabled kids @ Double H.
As a healthy super senior, I have nothing to complain about! Life’s good.
I’m 69 and my wife is 67. We buy senior no blackout season passes for Killington/Pico and, compared to $170/day full price tickets they’re still a bargain. The prices have crept up yearly but they’re still much more affordable than other mountains considering the variety and extent of terrain you get access to. The trick is to ski Killington on weekdays and Pico on weekends. I got 42 days on snow last year and consider myself blessed. I agree with the cash cow comments above since I’ve been paying for my own equipment and lift tickets since I got my first pair of wooden Northlands with cable bindings for Christmas 1964. I’m enough of a realist to acknowledge the tremendous investments in snowmaking and grooming that make it possible for many of us to keep on skiing but also think the mountains could be a little more accommodating to seniors.
I spent many years skiing at stratton and I know they had senior discounts because my mother and her friends got them. Now I’m the senior and stratton no longer has any senior discount. I ski closer to home now… Butternut, catamount, bellayre.. All have discounts but I do miss stratton
Why do seniors deserve a handout simply because of age? I read on Social Media how seniors shouldn’t have to pay property tax, shouldn’t be required to pay income tax, and, witness the comments to this article, should be exempt from buying a lift ticket. Somebody needs to pay the bills. At age 85 I can afford my Epic and Powderhorn passes. It was age 18 through 25 when I couldn’t afford a pot or a window (to coin an ancient phrase) that I could have used a pass discount.
And while venting explain to me the dichotomy of social media saying a. ski passes are way to expensive and it’s killing the sport plus b. the overcrowding causing long lift lines is also killing the sport, c’mon whiners make up your mind.
Why? At 76, I’m only in my 3rd season getting back on the slopes (Covid robbed me of 2 seasons since the nearby area canceled its senior program), and with weakened knees. Like many other mid-70s women skiers I’ve met, I only ski an hour and half to 2 hours a day primarily on green slopes and weekdays only. I can’t justify spending over the high rates the nearby Vail-owned area wants.
Judith, you bring up a good point. Many of us, including myself, get in a couple of hours and call it a day. I doubt that’s taken into consideration when resorts set their senior rates, if they even have one. Perhaps a 1/2 day ticket for seniors should be considered. On a recent trip to Colorado I tried to ski Winter Park for one day. They have a reduced senior season pass but no mechanism at all for seniors to visit for just a day. There is no senior ticket. You have to pay the ticket window price which I think was around two hundred for the day! Not happening.
Wow Dick! Whiners? That’s harsh. We’re just used to better. Baby boomers built this sport. Discounts when you were younger? Resorts have student passes these days. To answer question a: The high cost of entry is adversely affecting the sport. Middle class families can no longer foot the bill to ski as mine could. Question b: There’s no doubt what so ever that the corporate passes are creating absurdly long lift lines on peak days. Have you seen the pictures from a couple seasons ago with thousands waiting in lines for hours? It was so bad it lead to the reservation system to get a ticket.
Canadians still love their seniors … in Canadian dollars! (1 Canadian dollar = 72 cents US )
After 30 years at Snowbird, Alta, Targhee, Vail, Aspen and others, my group has decamped to the great snow and people of Canada. Fly into Calgary, rent a car (Budget SUV was 50% of what Budget charged in Salt Lake … same car), get a less expensive hotel room, and ski at these prices (in Canadian $).
It’s like going back in time … no NY Stock Exchange ownership … the people are warm and friendly … and the snow is great.
Although I now live in Australia. I grew up skiing in Colorado, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. I’ve now found what I believe to be the “ sweet spot” for senior skiers based of quality of skiing and price. The Arlberg ski area of Austria is the largest connected ski area in Austria. This year’s season pass for seniors 75 and over cost € 218. For 14 days of skiing that’s € 16 a day or about $US 17 at current exchange rates. Flying from overseas, access to the Arlberg is easy via ski bus or train from Zurich airport. I’ll be going there again next February.
I read with some amusement, and much name calling, like “greed” and “cash cow” referring to ski areas that don’t give away skiing to seniors any more. Sure, I have taken advantage of a free day at Whitefish (they gave it to me the day before I turned 70), and I looked forward to a free pass when I turned 75 this year and was disappointed when Powder Mountain quit the free passes and stopped limiting numbers of passes sold and doubled the price, while removing terrain for non lot owners.
I’ll make two points here. Google “ski area bankruptcy” first. You will see dozens and dozens of articles about small and large ski areas having to default on huge loans by declaring bankruptcy. Bad business practices, maybe, but operating a ski area is grossly expensive. To operate, you need multimillion dollar lifts, lodges, snowmaking, grooming, rentals, with high cost labor in every department. Insurance is through the roof. Just the annual mandatory maintenance and inspection of an aging chairlift involves tens of thousands in labor and parts, and try to find those parts for a 50 year old lift. A new one costs millions. I could go on.
I once met an 85 year old retired Chiropracter on the morning tram at Squaw. I skied a half day with him before he went to meet his wife for lunch. I’ll never forget what he said: “I don’t know why they give us seniors such a deal…we’re the ones with all the money.”
Hello Roger,
You’re absolutely right about the expense and risk involved in running a ski resort today. I disagree about seniors having “all the money”. I recently read where 78% of retirees wished they saved more. The two biggest concerns our reader have had consistently over the years are safety and affordability. In fact, this article has drawn more attention than most others on our site. Our list of area discounts for seniors is eagerly awaited every season. The fact is there are not so many seniors skiing that we drag down a resorts financial viability with a discount. The areas are just scrambling to increase revenue wherever they can because skiers demand the lifts, snowmaking, grooming, etc. that are driving up costs.
Adding my comment to this old thread: Red River NM is free for 70 year olds. It may not be a big fancy resort but they have a nice facility. Quiet on week-days.
The ski industry is under the conception that seniors have plenty of $$. My observation is that seniors 70 and older who have lots of money are afraid to ski because they might get injured which would prevent them from spending. The people in this age group who ski are retired teachers and middle class people who finally have the time to do it.
I ski’ed Vail for the first time in 1972. A lift ticket was $12. I also went often to Winter Park because they had a lodge called “The Sitzmark Inn”, who had a men’s dorm and only charged $8 per night. I don’t remember what lift tickets cost, but it wasn’t much. The Sitzmark is no longer there, sad to say. I can afford the high prices at most ski areas, but I prefer not to spend that kind of money. I also looked forward to free skiing if and when I got to that age. I can understand the costs associated running a ski area, so I am not complaining. I just won’t go to these places anymore. The only place that I now ski (I moved to Colorado 41 yrs ago) has the best snow here and the price to ski and stay overnight is less than a ticket at Winter Park, Breck or Vail. At 76, I still don’t ski free, but the price there is reasonable. I’m going to let you guess where this ski area is because it’s not too crowded, and I want it to stay that way.
Hello Steverino,
I don’t know where you are in Colorado but I lived in Evergreen, CO throughout the 90’s. My first guess would be Loveland. It was my home mountain for the decade where I got in at least 25 days a season on uncrowded trails with very affordable passes. Perhaps A-Basin, maybe even Eldora? Are you going to keep me suspense?