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Lift tickets for a single day of skiing now regularly cost $300 at top destinations. It’s all part of the resorts’ plan to nudge skiers into prepaying on passes for multiple days or full seasons.
https://on.wsj.com/3Sav8Ph

What a!!!
Could this be true?
That price is for a season pass in major ski areas over here.

Simple supply and demand. My Mon-Fri season pass at my home resort (Arizona Snowbowl) cost me $199. A day ticket bought last-minute for a high season Saturday will cost over $300.

LOL.

Backcountry is pretty much free. Maybe an annual state park pass for less than the cost of a tank of gas. No lineups, better workout. Not skiing on ice pebbles either. (Do people even know what real snow feels like any more?)

bobbytooslow wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 13, 2023 10:57 am

Simple supply and demand. My Mon-Fri season pass at my home resort (Arizona Snowbowl) cost me $199. A day ticket bought last-minute for a high season Saturday will cost over $300.

I felt a bit better knowing that.
It seems things are getting more complicated, like booking hotels.

Manney wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 13, 2023 1:04 pm

Backcountry is pretty much free. Maybe an annual state park pass for less than the cost of a tank of gas. No lineups, better workout. Not skiing on ice pebbles either. (Do people even know what real snow feels like any more?)

Is backcountry skiing restricted to places like state parks?
I've hardly had any issues skiing in people's private properties over here, and only a few people have ever complained about what we're doing.

No. There’s federal land, municipal land. Even some private land, owners permitting. City and municipal land also exists but these are too small for any kind of practical skiing and the overwhelming majority are free use. Paths are plowed bare or rutted, post holed and icy in the winter.

The benefit of state parks (and some national park access points) is amenities like road access, cleared parking, toilets, cleared and marked trails, online topographic info, and patrols. It’s very consistent on a state by state basis. Anyone skiing in their home state can expect a high degree of consistency.

Another big issue is the safety offered by restricted trails prohibiting snowmobile use. Checking maps and park regulations is a must because trail rules vary.

Humm.
State parks seem to have their act together way better than we do here. So, we can just enjoy ourselves without getting caught up in all those property hassles and small stuff.

Indeed.
Snowmobiles are a big issue and perennial nemesis for me. Noises and smells bug me always.

Whistler is now charging 299 a day for "peak" days if you buy on the mountain. Unreal

It appears as though you are living on a planet that is different than mine.

with a buddy pass on a weekday i still have to pay $200 USD to go to say, Mammoth or Palisades (Ikon resorts). Since my two closest resorts are Heavenly and Kirkwood, I have an Epic Pass. If a friend is an Ikon pass holder, it basically means we will never ski together, because I cannot convince myself that it is worth the cost when I get to ski "for free" at my local resorts all the time.

Contrast that with a local sno-park pass, which works throughout California and Oregon, and costs $40 out the door. You don't even need it, but it does give you access to a great deal of conveniently located parking areas at high elevation (Carson Pass, Echo summit, etc), which are regularly plowed.

I'll never understand this concept that some mega corporation can just "own" an entire mountain. And then to have the audacity to complain that they're losing money every season. When you pay for a day at the resort, what are you actually paying for? Basically access to a lift, and avi control services ("groomed trails"). That certainly has value. But 2-300$ a day value? At those, prices, how do I get a friend into skiing? "Yup so yeah just gimme 200 for the the day pass, then we'll rent you some gear but don't worry that's only $50 a day, and yeah let's get you a lesson, only another $225, oh wait you want a private lesson? No problem just $1210"... so one weekend/2 days of skiing for a newbie is about $725 and that's not even including whatever they spent on clothes so they don't freeze to death on their first ski trip. Meanwhile no where rents Nordic BC gear, sure I have some extra skis but now I'm convincing my friend to just "buy some boots" which by the way, you can't try on any where in the states, so just guess and buy it from REI so you can return them.

aclyon wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 28, 2023 12:13 pm

I'm convincing my friend to just "buy some boots" which by the way, you can't try on any where in the states

Why can’t he just walk into a sports store and try on boots? Maybe not in Florida but in snow country? Or aren’t they stocked in US stores at all? They are broadly available in Canadien sports stores like MEC and La Cordee.