Ticket Rates 11-12, New England

[billski]

The usual suspects rank almost identical to last season. The first 14 are identical.
Reference price is full day, high/holiday season, adult, all-area ticket price. No discounting. Criteria selected as the most consistent and readily accessible data. Nobody said you have to pay these prices. This list is for fun and games only

Ticket Price Ranking, Highest to lowest

Stowe ($92)
Killington
Sugarbush
Stratton
Whiteface
Okemo
Mount Snow/Haystack
Sunday River $80
Gore
Sugarloaf
Bretton Woods
Loon
Mount Sunapee
Jay Peak
Waterville
Gunstock
Windham Mountain
Ragged
Attitash
Wildcat
Mad River
Smugglers
Burke $70
Bromley
Bolton Valley
Cannon
Hunter NY
Jiminy Peak
Pico
Suicide Six $64
Cranmore
Butternut
Magic Mountain
Shawnee Peak
Saddleback $59
Wachusett
Pats Peak
Berkshire East $52

Year to Year Increase

Ragged 11%
Jay Peak 9%
Mount Sunapee 9%
Cranmore 8%
Bolton Valley
Dartmouth
Suicide Six 7%
McIntyre 6%
Burke
Windham Mountain
Waterville
Bellayre
Shawnee Peak 5%
Mount Snow/Haystack
Ski Ward
Pico
Sugarbush
Hunter NY
Middlebury
King Pine 4%
Gunstock
Okemo
Stratton
Wachusett
Pats Peak
Stowe 3%
Jiminy Peak
Smugglers
Bretton Woods
Gore
Sugarloaf
Whiteface 2%
Killington
Cannon 1%
Attitash
Mad River
Sunday River 1%

All others, no change.

Have fun!

 

[thetrailboss]

Why is Stowe not on the list? They are tied with K-mart at $92. http://www.stowe.com/ski-ride/lift/

Suicide Six is expensive! $64?!

 

[mlkrgr]

Why is Stowe not on the list? They are tied with K-mart at $92. http://www.stowe.com/ski-ride/lift/

Suicide Six is expensive! $64?!

Full price weekend KMart ticket is $86; which is the 3rd most expensive (Stratton is charging $87 weekends/holidays) and I guess they can since people can at least perceive their 6 person chairs are a big people mover. True it's an intermediate mountain, but it's one of the few places that all terrain is served by all high speed chairs (it is possible to access all regular terrain that is not intended for someone taking their first turns without getting on a fixed grip chairlift). I think it's a travesty that the full price Mt Snow weekend ticket is now $83 but hopefully the Bluebird Express cuts down on the lines a lot that have been typically at Grand Summit.

 

[watchoutbelow]

A lift ticket is most definitely a "luxury item".

 

[riverc0il]

A lift ticket is most definitely a "luxury item".

About as much as it always has been. And increases over and above inflation can be accounted for by features that almost all skiers want: snow making and grooming. Check out the deals thread. I'll ski over 30 days at ski areas this year and I won't pay much more than forty bucks per day and my average per day cost will probably be closer to $35/day when all is said and done.

 

[billski]

Why is Stowe not on the list? They are tied with K-mart at $92.

Ahhh! thetra got :uzi:me! I could blame it on copy paste, but I'll take the arrow. BTW Kmart is 88. Collating error.

Suicide Six is expensive! $64?!

Yeah, I saw that too. I had to go back and triple-check it. If you look at their price trend, it is consistent, annually: 50 52 52 55 57 59 60 64. S6 always makes it clear that visitors to the inn ski for free. Well, since they own the place.... Then again, I've always found a way to ski S6 for a small fraction of the posted rate.

Regarding discount cards, et. al. I begin with two sentences to effectively obviate any calculations due any sort of discount. In fact, I can think of a discount card that you can get for FREE, is good for life, and always gives you a price break not counting blackout periods. The rules are spun differently for each mountain. Consequently there is no apples-to-apples comparison. Besides,I'm in the for sport. Normalization would be too much like work! :smile:

 

[billski]

Full price weekend KMart ticket is $86; which is the 3rd most expensive (Stratton is charging $87 weekends/holidays) and I guess they can since people can at least perceive their 6 person chairs are a big people mover. True it's an intermediate mountain, but it's one of the few places that all terrain is served by all high speed chairs (it is possible to access all regular terrain that is not intended for someone taking their first turns without getting on a fixed grip chairlift). I think it's a travesty that the full price Mt Snow weekend ticket is now $83 but hopefully the Bluebird Express cuts down on the lines a lot that have been typically at Grand Summit.

That's interesting how mountains tweak their prices. KMart posted $88 two months ago. Stratton's 87 stands firm.

 

[billski]

About as much as it always has been. And increases over and above inflation can be accounted for by features that almost all skiers want: snow making and grooming. Check out the deals thread. I'll ski over 30 days at ski areas this year and I won't pay much more than forty bucks per day and my average per day cost will probably be closer to $35/day when all is said and done.

ding! ding! ding! That's why I started trolling deals. Wicked expensive for a family of five. Much more so on lifts than on equipment. In some demented sort of way, I don't want to promulgate the list, for fear of losing the deals. Steve made good points on a separate thread about why that's not a problem. Separate issue.

Look at the facts. Those that troll the discount threads are bottom-feeders. To me, that's a compliment. I know that mountains do not market to me, and that's ok. I'm happy to have a cranky old lift that limits capacity, hoof up hills to get to the less traveled (thank you not Stowe) and an old drafty lodge with limited seating and menu. But odd I am.

But it does take a bit of effort to find and organize these things. I keep all this stuff organized and suited to my personal use. I'd offer that over 80% of the deals I find are of no use/interest to me. I just "stumble" upon them and are happy to share. I may never get to Hunter, but you may never get to Balsams. We all help each other. I'd never have uncovered Price Chopper, or even RSNE for a long time. True dat!

 

[billski]

"The Aspen Skiing Co. raised its lift ticket price on Friday, back to its highest in history.

Today’s walk-up, single-day ticket is $104 to ride any of SkiCo’s four mountains. That’s slightly lower than Vail, which is charging $105 for the last-minute purchase. Vail appears to be the winner of ski resorts in charging the most for one day of skiing. Whistler/Blackcomb’s single-day lift ticket for Friday was $96; Telluride was charging $84 (that may rise today if new prices are announced); Deer Valley, Utah, commanded $75 for Dec. 16, and Park City, Utah, had an $80 ticket. Other resorts like Snowbird, Alta and Tahoe were charging less than those prices for walk-up, single-day tickets on Friday.

Any one of those resorts may elect to go higher during the holiday weeks, and oftentimes, they won’t announce the price hike.

It’s unknown whether SkiCo will raise the price of its single-day ticket again during the upcoming weeks. "

Source

 

[Nick]

Wow... Who wants to place bets on the first over $100 ticket in new england?

 

[mlkrgr]

ding! ding! ding! That's why I started trolling deals. Wicked expensive for a family of five. Much more so on lifts than on equipment. In some demented sort of way, I don't want to promulgate the list, for fear of losing the deals. Steve made good points on a separate thread about why that's not a problem. Separate issue.

Look at the facts. Those that troll the discount threads are bottom-feeders. To me, that's a compliment. I know that mountains do not market to me, and that's ok. I'm happy to have a cranky old lift that limits capacity, hoof up hills to get to the less traveled (thank you not Stowe) and an old drafty lodge with limited seating and menu. But odd I am.

But it does take a bit of effort to find and organize these things. I keep all this stuff organized and suited to my personal use. I'd offer that over 80% of the deals I find are of no use/interest to me. I just "stumble" upon them and are happy to share. I may never get to Hunter, but you may never get to Balsams. We all help each other. I'd never have uncovered Price Chopper, or even RSNE for a long time. True dat!

Well, the interesting thing is that I have studied pricing, etc. and that these deals can have a few variables to them. Some of it is how much people are willing to pay full price vs group price vs deal price. Of course, I think groups are offered a much better price that varies more in that they can really get in front of some people so that they can experience the mountain for themselves, which is true. I've never thought much of going to Jay until I came across Nacski, which goes there a good 4 times or so each year. And the hope is that allowing people to discover mountains that way, the mountain is hoping that they'll come back to ski and stay or possibly become a passholder. I think that most mountains, especially Boyne strive to maximize the ticket yield on people who walk up and try to use groups to create demand during off peak times. And then of course you have a few super cheap deals like St Patty's Day that is created to get the really price sensitive out to be still connected with the sport.

 

[snowmonster]

^ Stowe within the next five years.

 

[ScottySkis]

Wow... Who wants to place bets on the first over $100 ticket in new england?

I be willing to bet some great nyc pizza that Stowe is the first to go over $100

 

[thetrailboss]

Wow... Who wants to place bets on the first over $100 ticket in new england?

It will be Stowe. No doubt.

 

[steamboat1]

I'll ski over 30 days at ski areas this year and I won't pay much more than forty bucks per day and my average per day cost will probably be closer to $35/day when all is said and done.

You're over paying...:grin:

 

[riverc0il]

General thoughts on the full value rates:

Surprised to see Whiteface at #5.

Billski... you need to remove Haystack from Mount Snow.

Hard to believe that the cheapest skiing at a "great" area (as I define it) is $60 (rounding up Saddleback a buck).

Cannon really stands out as a super deal compared to other areas in NH. Ragged and Gunstock more expensive than Cannon?

Tough seeing Burke hit $70. Welcome to the big time, Burke. :-x Gotta pay for those new high speed quads somehow, I guess.

I'd be interested to see season pass rates over time. Billski, any thoughts on tracking those numbers? I bet season passes as a percent of full value walk up weekend rates is actually declining over time due to minor increases in pass prices and bigger percentage increases in full value. It would also be interesting to see # of days to break even at full rates. I bet the most expensive day ticket areas probably have some of the lowest break even rates excepting the most expensive passes such as Sugarbush and Stowe.

^ Stowe within the next five years.

I thought that five years ago. As expensive as Stowe is, they don't seem to have a very large season to season increase as a percent. Though a small part of a large number is still a large number.

 

[riverc0il]

You're over paying...:grin:

Only cheaper way to go is a season pass... if you don't mind being locked into a single mountain. Been there, done that, will probably do it again. But my game right now is to explore.

 

[steamboat1]

Only cheaper way to go is a season pass... if you don't mind being locked into a single mountain. Been there, done that, will probably do it again. But my game right now is to explore.

Yes but that's only part of the equation. I usually ski 40+ days a year with only 1/2 being where I have a pass. Skiing those 20 some odd days where I have a pass definitely brings down my average price however. Without the pass I'd say my average would be about the same as yours. I also like to explore & have never been locked into one area but purchase the pass because it's the closest area to my digs in VT. VSA passes, ski club appreciation days, 2 for days & being able to get employee discount tix for Sugarbush is how I keep my cost's down. I was only kidding when I said you were over paying. If I had to pay regular freight I wouldn't be able to afford to ski 1/2 as much as I do. Most people can't get away during the week to take advantage of some of these deals.

 

[Cannonball]

Yes but that's only part of the equation. I usually ski 40+ days a year with only 1/2 being where I have a pass. Skiing those 20 some odd days where I have a pass definitely brings down my average price however. Without the pass I'd say my average would be about the same as yours. I also like to explore & have never been locked into one area but purchase the pass because it's the closest area to my digs in VT. VSA passes, ski club appreciation days, 2 for days & being able to get employee discount tix for Sugarbush is how I keep my cost's down. I was only kidding when I said you were over paying. If I had to pay regular freight I wouldn't be able to afford to ski 1/2 as much as I do. Most people can't get away during the week to take advantage of some of these deals.

Yup, this. Last season I skied 53 resort days spread over 6 resorts. Average price/day was $15.

 

[BenedictGomez]

^ Stowe within the next five years.

I be willing to bet some great nyc pizza that Stowe is the first to go over $100

It will be Stowe. No doubt.

+ 4

Also, while not as high as $100, I think you're going to see Jay Peak aggressively increase prices over the next 5 or 6 years to pay for their obviously increased labor and other costs.

I still wonder how they're going to get all these people to their resort to justify all this 4-season expansion (location, location, location), but, it should be noted I have been wrong before.