Why is it so expensive to ski?

Question

Why is it so unreasonably expensive to go skiing now?

I live in WA state and it’s ridiculous.

I would love people’s thoughts or reasoning on this

Answer 1

I ski there and work there. We have one of the strongest economies in the country and this year we had one of the longest seasons in recent years. It's expensive because it's all the traffic will bare.  You can still ski for nothing if you own your own equipment and are willing to climb in undeveloped areas and not buy a lunch at the resort. There are many areas in the National Forest where you can ski for nothing. Just do not expect the Ski Patrol to come get you if something happens. Also you take the risk of a snow slide, unknown hidden dangers and ungroomed slopes.  If you want a groomed area in the remote slopes, that do not endanger the highways, you will need to pack them yourself. Try ski packing a run for 4 hours every day, you will then appreciate a grooming machine that can cost more than $100 K.  When I started skiing we ski packed a run from 0900 to 1200 to earn a $3 lift ticket.

  Do you now understand what has happened to the economics of the ski industry?  It's economics, we want something and we are willing to pay for it. If you won't pay for a lift ticket, do not use the ski area and the lifts, climb.

Answer 2

Do you have any idea how expensive it is to own and operate a MOUNTAIN?  We're not talking about a nice flat piece of real estate, we're talking about a mountain.

Answer 3

It depends on how you do it.  Look at early bird season passes, and off mountain accommodation and the cost falls a lot.

Answer 4

Ok...here's the answer to your quandary...ready?

DON'T waste your money  on alpine/downhill skiing. Try nordic/cross-country skiing instead.

Most cross country ski areas aren't lift serviced. They don't have to be, because the costs associated with running the nordic center mostly involve the grooming machines to groom and trackset the trails for classic and skate skiing out in the woods.

Cross country is FAR less expensive. Case in point: my nephew took his 3 daughters to ski out in Winter Park CO in March. After paying for lift tickets, rentals and lessons for the kids, after 3 days he spent almost $ 1100. Insane. The lift tickets alone were $600 of that cost.

Meanwhile, I skied over at Devil's Thumb Nordic just outside of town and paid $ 15 for a trail pass to ski all day. (I had my own equipment and didn't need instruction). Ditto for the next day, and the third day I drove over to Frisco and skied there for $15, so, I spent $45 for three days.

Your state has great cross-country trails--try the Methow Valley area on SR 20. Sun Mountain Nordic runs the trail system there, I believe. It is pretty widespread.

Another advantage of xc is...no crowds to hassle with. I can't believe why anyone would want to line up butt to gut and wait in line for a lift, when you can just snap into your bindings and hit the trail.

Don't believe that nonsense that nordic skiing is too hard and demanding. Take some good lessons from a qualified instructor (probably about $30-$35 for an hour) and get out there and just ski as many kilometers as you'd like. XC skiing is the best aerobic exercise there is, but it is important to learn the right techiques. You will classic ski first, then as you get better, move onto skate skiing. Rentals are cheaper and you can demo whatever equipment you like before you decide to buy later on.

You'll find that if your technique is good, you will ski more efficiently and it will be easier. Focus on your weight shift to get the proper weight transfer to maximize your kick and glide.

I have been skiing for nearly 20 years now, and I wish I had started a lot earlier. You are very fortunate that in your state you are only a few hours away from consistent snow. Count yourself lucky.

Answer 5

Skiing can be expensive for several reasons.

Let's look at the cost to run a typical resort: First you have capital expenses, things like snowmaking equipment, grooming machines, ski lifts, lodge facilities, rental equipment, and everything like computers, printers, etc. etc. None of this stuff is cheap to buy, but at least the cost can be spread out over several years, but we're still talking about hundreds-of-thousands of dollars worth of equipment even for a modest sized resort.

Now let's look at the operating costs of a resort every season. This is stuff like payroll, electric bills, repacement parts and upkeep of the lifts, snowmaking equipment, and groomers. Payroll is the biggest chunk. To get one skier up and down a mountain takes a minimum of six people. A bottom lift attendant, a top lift attendant, usually a lift supervisior is involved, at least two snowmakers were responsible for the snow, you have to account that a base manager or some other guy is watching over the operations, a ticket counter person, maybe a rental shop clerk, and if needed a ski instructor. Let's say you were to ONLY person skiing one day. You had the whole place to yourself and you could ride only one ski lift all day...but you had to pay the wages for everyone working that day. You'd shell out about $144 just to pay the lift attendants.

I forget the exact figure, but someone told me that it costs the tiny little mountain I work at somewhere around $8000 a night to make snow. Now it takes us about 6 nights of good solid snowmaking to get down a skiable base. That's $48,000 just to start. It takes another 4-5 nights to get enough snow in the terrain park to get that open...so let's say $42,000. We're at $90,000 already. Let's say we make snow once a week for the entire season. There's 12 more nights...another $96,000. I'm up to $186,000 for just snowmaking. Let's look at the cost of diesel fuel or gasoline for the snowcats and grooming machines...$4.00/gallon now. A Pisten Bully 600 groomer burns about 6 gallons of fuel an hour. If it runs for 6 hours, there's 36 gallons of gas. 36 x $4 = $144. So to run one grooming machine every night for a 120 day ski season it would cost $17,280.

I think I'm making my point on this segment.

Now let's look at the cost of gear. That too is expensive. Ski boots are mostly plastic. Plastic is mostly oil. Oil is getting more expensive by the day. Built into the MSRP for your ski boots is also the cost of research and development as well as the cost to design the molds and machines to produce the goods. You also have to pay the workers, plant owners, company executives, the bootseller gets a cut through the mark-up and you have to pay for the transportation costs to get the materials from the ground, to the factory, to the store. What's true about the boots is also true about the skis and the bindings, and the clothing. The key thing to remember is that EVRYTHING is marked-up by at least 100%. If the boots cost $800 chances are they cost the ski-shop $400. This is intentional. It allows the retailer the opportunity to put stuff "On Sale" and it allows the companies the opportunity to sell thier goods to ski profesionals and other select individuals at a cut-rate and still turn a profit. If I had purchased my last pair of boots new with no discounts I would have paid about $650. Instead I bought a slighty used pair for $150 and save a boat load of cabbage.

I buy clearance gear and used gear and gear I can use for multiple outdoor sports to save money and spread my overall costs through out my other nasty expensive hobbies (climbing, backpacking, kayaking.) Likewise, I work for a resort and am a volunteer ski patroller. So I get additional discounts on lift tickets as well as discounts through the NSP on skis, gear, and other stuff. I'm also a professional outdoor recreation manager, so I get even more discounts on clothing, boots, and gear that I can use at the mountain. So if you really love skiing and don't want to pay a lot to do it, get a job at a resort or a ski shop. You won't ever get rich, but you'll save a lot of money on skiing related expenses.

Lastly, I own climbing skins and telemark skis. Provided there is enough snow in backcountry and I'm not feeling lazy, I can ski any mountain I want to for free simply by climbing the darned thing and skiing down it. Few people have the aptitude or desire to do this. I'm not knocking those who don't, I'm just saying that there always is a way to ski for free provided one has the will to do it.