Ski Areas with Best Value Proposition

dlague · Sep 23, 2016

I started thinking about this too while talking about Smuggs in another thread. Discounts aside, which ski areas offer great terrain/acreage compared to the cost of the lift ticket. I think three that I can think of off the top of my head which are Smuggs, and Burke with pricing in the $60's. The next tier are those in the 70's and 80's with places like MRG, Jay Peak, Cannon, Okemo and WildCats of the world. Then there are the those n the 90's and more than likely some will cross over into the 100's and the one already there this year like Killington, Sugarbush, Sunday River, Sugarloaf and of course Stowe.

Some might argue that Killington or Stowe has more value for the dollar but Smuggs does present a great argument.

Thoughts?

cdskier · Sep 23, 2016

dlague said:
I started thinking about this too while talking about Smuggs in another thread. Discounts aside, which ski areas offer great terrain/acreage compared to the cost of the lift ticket. I think three that I can think of off the top of my head which are Smuggs, and Burke with pricing in the $60's. The next tier are those in the 70's and 80's with places like MRG, Jay Peak, Cannon, Okemo and WildCats of the world. Then there are the those n the 90's and more than likely some will cross over into the 100's and the one already there this year like Killington, Sugarbush, Sunday River, Sugarloaf and of course Stowe.

Some might argue that Killington or Stowe has more value for the dollar but Smuggs does present a great argument.

Thoughts?

Discounts aside means we're comparing window ticket rates? In that case why are you putting Okemo in the 2nd tier category instead of in the same category as K, Sugarbush, Stowe, etc. The weekend ticket rate at Okemo was $97 last season which puts them as one of the highest (Sugarbush was $93 last year and is going up this year although they haven't said how much yet). K's site already lists new pricing ($105!).

I do think you hit on a couple of the good values already but I'll add Gore to the list at $83 walk up rate for quite a bit of terrain (and good terrain at that).

sugarbushskier · Sep 24, 2016

Although it's only for one day each week (Thursdays), Sugarbush North's $30 walk up rate can't be beat. 2600 vert, high speed lifts and some great tree skiing along with uncrowded slopes is a steal.

Smellytele · Sep 24, 2016

sugarbushskier said:
Although it's only for one day each week (Thursdays), Sugarbush North's $30 walk up rate can't be beat. 2600 vert, high speed lifts and some great tree skiing along with uncrowded slopes is a steal.

25 at Cannon on Wednesdays for NH residents for the whole mountain well minus the tram now

ss20 · Sep 24, 2016

Midweek my home mountains are pretty unbeatable. $30 at Mohawk, $25 at Butternut, and $20 at Catamount if you buy online. Catamount for $20 when there's plenty of snow is an amazing deal. No people, most diverse trail network south of VT/NH (imo), and they're not afraid to let things bump up on several trails.

joshua segal · Sep 24, 2016

Hard to beat the undiscounted regular price of $15 for Black Mtn. of ME for over 1K vertical.

sugarbushskier · Sep 24, 2016

ss20 said:
Midweek my home mountains are pretty unbeatable. $30 at Mohawk, $25 at Butternut, and $20 at Catamount if you buy online. Catamount for $20 when there's plenty of snow is an amazing deal. No people, most diverse trail network south of VT/NH (imo), and they're not afraid to let things bump up on several trails.

Amen. Usually my go to for a midweek fix. Ski club discount always nets me $20 lift tix.

Last year was tough, but the one time I did get to go was still fun. You just didn't want to look at the surrounding, non-snowmaking areas as it was depressing due to no natural.

slatham · Sep 24, 2016

Bromley was $73 last season for peak holiday weekends. Magic in the $60's. I wouldn't expect either to change much this winter.

steamboat1 · Sep 24, 2016

Pico at $76 is reasonable for an area with just shy of 2,000 ft. vert.

steamboat1 · Sep 24, 2016

dlague said:
I started thinking about this too while talking about Smuggs in another thread. Discounts aside, which ski areas offer great terrain/acreage compared to the cost of the lift ticket. I think three that I can think of off the top of my head which are Smuggs, and Burke with pricing in the $60's. The next tier are those in the 70's and 80's with places like MRG, Jay Peak, Cannon, Okemo and WildCats of the world. Then there are the those n the 90's and more than likely some will cross over into the 100's and the one already there this year like Killington, Sugarbush, Sunday River, Sugarloaf and of course Stowe.

Some might argue that Killington or Stowe has more value for the dollar but Smuggs does present a great argument.

Thoughts?

Smuggs is $72 non peak $76 peak.

steamboat1 · Sep 24, 2016

sugarbushskier said:
Although it's only for one day each week (Thursdays), Sugarbush North's $30 walk up rate can't be beat. 2600 vert, high speed lifts and some great tree skiing along with uncrowded slopes is a steal.

Agree. I took advantage of it a couple of days last season.

bdfreetuna · Sep 24, 2016

$39 is the most I've paid to ski Bolton Valley in recent years. One of my favorites to ski as well.

Mt Ellen is a good one if you're stuck paying full price.

DoublePlanker · Sep 24, 2016

Pats Peak. Free magic carpets for me and my toddlers. Free skiing!!!

benski · Sep 24, 2016

30 dollars Thursday's at mt Ellen. It's cheeper than night skiing at Greek peak. Green peak is 34 dollars night skiing and 64 all day. They only have 1000 very on 4 fixed grips. 1 has a carpet loader but still a little much.

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steamboat1 · Sep 24, 2016

benski said:
30 dollars Thursday's at mt Ellen. It's cheeper than night skiing at Greek peak. Green peak is 34 dollars night skiing and 64 all day. They only have 1000 very on 4 fixed grips. 1 has a carpet loader but still a little much.

What's even better is even at that price the place is still empty. One of the days I skied there last year they even had a few inches of fresh, still no one there.

cdskier · Sep 24, 2016

steamboat1 said:
What's even better is even at that price the place is still empty. One of the days I skied there last year they even had a few inches of fresh, still no one there.

If only I didn't have to work midweek!

BenedictGomez · Sep 25, 2016

dlague said:
which ski areas offer great terrain/acreage compared to the cost of the lift ticket.

Wow, this is a mathematically interesting question.

I think Smuggler's Notch would be almost impossible to beat in this category.

Jully · Sep 25, 2016

BenedictGomez said:
Wow, this is a mathematically interesting question.

I think Smuggler's Notch would be almost impossible to beat in this category.

The math would get even more interesting if you took lift ride times and or wait times into account. When that happens I think Wildcat would win, but maybe not. Whiteface too maybe.

bdfreetuna · Sep 25, 2016

The easy call is Hermitage Club being the worst value proposition.

Jully · Sep 25, 2016

bdfreetuna said:
The easy call is Hermitage Club being the worst value proposition.

Is it substantially more expensive than the other private hills? Cause though haystack isn't great, it's better than some other places

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