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Most expensive lift tickets

gmcunni

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My non-skiing wife is amazed at how expensive this sport can be.

Top 10 Most Expensive Lift Tickets In The USA [2019]:
1. Vail/Beaver Creek – $209
2. Breckenridge — $189
3. Deer Valley — $180
4. Steamboat | Aspen | Park City| Mammoth — $179
5. Copper Mountain | Whistler Blackcomb — $178
6. Winter Park | Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows | Keystone — $169
7. Heavenly — $164
8. Jackson Hole — $162
9. Northstar — $150
10. Sun Valley — $149


compared to 2016:
1. Vail/Beaver Creek- $175
2. Breckenridge- $164
3. Steamboat- $159
4. Aspen- $149
5. Winter Park/Copper Mountain- $144
6. Northstar at Tahoe- $140
7. Squaw/Alpine- $139
8. Keystone/Heavenly- $135
9. Jackson Hole- $130
10. Deer Valley- $126



https://unofficialnetworks.com/2019/01/02/vail-pass-200-top-10-expensive-lift-ticket/
 

abc

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People don’t care.

They’ve spent more on flights and hotels just to be there. So what? They’re not going to ski? Or ski a different area for $20 less?

The smart ones got their tickets through their lodging. Really day rates are for “tourists”, by which I mean people who only “try” to ski once in 10years!
 

JimG.

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Looks like all the most expensive places are out west.

Over $200 for a lift ticket? I'm not a skiing on the cheap guy but that's outrageous.
 

Edd

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Recently spent $91 on a Killington lift ticket. I had not been in maybe 5 years because K is just not on my radar. It hurt to spend it but I had a good day.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone
 

crazy

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Looks like all the most expensive places are out west.

Over $200 for a lift ticket? I'm not a skiing on the cheap guy but that's outrageous.

But is it?

Maintaining a ski resort is very expensive, especially for large Western resorts that have considerable infrastructure and have to deal with avalanche mitigation. People constantly complain about crowds ... but also complain about costs. Aspen costs what it does because they consciously are limiting uphill capacity and limiting crowds to make the guest experience better for the people who are willing to pay up. Should Aspen lower its prices and become more crowded? Then there's Vail at $209/ticket. Despite that, Vail is one of the busiest resorts in the country that experiences incredible crowds on weekends, holidays, and powder days. Obviously there is demand for what they offer at that price point.

The interaction between multiresort passes and day ticket prices is interesting. Having a multiresort pass encourages a resort to hike up day ticket rates, which makes the multiresort pass more and more valuable. As someone who skis a lot, what's bad about this? Even if Vail charged half of what they do for walk up tickets, I would be getting a huge amount of value out of the Epic Pass if Vail was where I skied. High day ticket prices help soak the tourists, or people who have enough money that they don't care about costs, and enable people like me to ski a ton for a very fair price. Given shorter winters and a more variable climate as time goes on, multiresort and season passes enable resorts to mitigate risk.
 
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kingslug

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Most expensive single day i ever had was when Denver airport closed..took a bus to Breck..150 lift..100 bus..and had a damn good day..
Thonk thats the only time ive paid full day rate
 

urungus

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Having a multiresort pass encourages a resort to hike up day ticket rates, which makes the multiresort pass more and more valuable. As someone who skis a lot, what's bad about this?

As someone who skis a lot, I get bored by skiing the same places repeatedly. But with sky-high single day rates, I am forced to ski only at the resorts on my pass. And since the demise of the Max Pass, there is no pass that covers more than a handful of eastern resorts.
 

JimG.

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But is it?

Maintaining a ski resort is very expensive, especially for large Western resorts that have considerable infrastructure and have to deal with avalanche mitigation. People constantly complain about crowds ... but also complain about costs. Aspen costs what it does because they consciously are limiting uphill capacity and limiting crowds to make the guest experience better for the people who are willing to pay up. Should Aspen lower its prices and become more crowded? Then there's Vail at $209/ticket. Despite that, Vail is one of the busiest resorts in the country that experiences incredible crowds on weekends, holidays, and powder days. Obviously there is demand for what they offer at that price point.

The interaction between multiresort passes and day ticket prices is interesting. Having a multiresort pass encourages a resort to hike up day ticket rates, which makes the multiresort pass more and more valuable. As someone who skis a lot, what's bad about this? Even if Vail charged half of what they do for walk up tickets, I would be getting a huge amount of value out of the Epic Pass if Vail was where I skied. High day ticket prices help soak the tourists, or people who have enough money that they don't care about costs, and enable people like me to ski a ton for a very fair price. Given shorter winters and a more variable climate as time goes on, multiresort and season passes enable resorts to mitigate risk.

Yes, over $200 for a 1 day lift ticket is utterly outrageous.

Perhaps you are correct that rich tourists don't care. I doubt that because most rich people I know got that way being very cheap. And the multi-resort ski passes main purpose is to get less wealthy skiers to spend on resort services, airlines and hotels, not to save them money.

I think eastern skiers clamor to ski out west because they have this mistaken notion that if they go out there they are guaranteed powder days and great conditions. Weather doesn't work that way...you don't get snow storms because you have a reservation to ski a week in Vail. It's great marketing though!

I'm lucky, I'm retired. I've been able to ski every eastern storm this season. I have plenty of powder days under my belt already. Ski gear ready at the door for the next storm (this coming Tues Wed?). Maybe I'm a bad example here because of that. For me, going out west is just an added expense and aggravation.

So I don't go for those east/west passes. Nor would I even consider a trip to Vail or anywhere else out west if they have a "let's soak the day pass buyer" attitude to make up for lost revenue from cheap multi-passes.
 

gregnye

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But is it?

Maintaining a ski resort is very expensive, especially for large Western resorts that have considerable infrastructure and have to deal with avalanche mitigation.

I have always been curious about the financial breakdown for West Coast vs East Coast Ski Resorts. Because I would argue that East Coast Resorts have higher operating costs simply because of snowmaking.

Yes we don't have avalanche control but snowmaking really is an ongoing thing that not only requires expertise but also lots of infrastructure (not just trained people to throw an explosive at snow).

Now obviously I am oversimplifying the Avi Patrol's job. I am sure it requires a lot of skill and bravery. But I just don't see how that could cost more than miles of snowmaking pipe, equipment, water, electricity, pump renting etc.

So from my logic (which once again I wish I had more facts to base this off of), It would seem like the prices should be higher on the east coast which isn't true. Can someone explain? I'm curious
 

crazy

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Yes, over $200 for a 1 day lift ticket is utterly outrageous.
I think eastern skiers clamor to ski out west because they have this mistaken notion that if they go out there they are guaranteed powder days and great conditions. Weather doesn't work that way...you don't get snow storms because you have a reservation to ski a week in Vail. It's great marketing though!

I'm lucky, I'm retired. I've been able to ski every eastern storm this season. I have plenty of powder days under my belt already. Ski gear ready at the door for the next storm (this coming Tues Wed?). Maybe I'm a bad example here because of that. For me, going out west is just an added expense and aggravation.

It sounds like you are in a really great position with your ability to take off whenever the weather is good here. People have this mistaken impression that there aren't powder days in the East when that couldn't be further from the truth. Jay, Smuggs, and Stowe are as good or better for powder than many West resorts.

I will say though that I can generally only ski weekends, which makes things much tougher. I miss out on a lot of great powder days on the East. And given how variable conditions here are, I might miss a weekday powder day, and then get rain or high winds before the weekend that makes surfaces icy and hard.

Resorts on the West are much less variable for conditions. Colorado in particular does not get much more snow than the East (in fact, some Front Range resorts get less), but conditions are much more consistent due to rain being a rarity and insane snowpack preservation at altitude. While I agree that people get duped into thinking that they are going to get powder on the West because they keep seeing it on Vail's Instagram page, I have found conditions to be consistently better on the West Coast for vacations than on the East. Even without powder, the skiing is usually very good.

Booking a full week family vacation on the East is a big gamble. If I were in your position I honestly might mostly ski in the East. If you can time the storms and conditions, you can get some extremely good skiing in here. The only thing I would miss still from the West Coast are some terrain features like chutes and open bowls that you can only get in the backcountry here, and the crazy views. Especially in the Banff area. The snow water content is also lower in places like Colorado and Utah which makes for more enjoyable powder skiing when you do get powder.
 
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speden

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One benefit with the Ikon pass is you get up to eight discounted tickets if someone you're going skiing with needs to buy a ticket at the window. It's a 25% off discount, which softens the blow of the high prices a little. I think the Epic pass has something similar too. It's handy to use when you ski with someone that only skis a couple times a year.
 

urungus

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Resorts on the West Coast are much less variable for conditions. Colorado in particular does not get much more snow than the East Coast

Colorado is not on the West Coast. If traveling from the east, it is barely past the geographic center of the 48 contiguous states.
 

crazy

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Colorado is not on the West Coast. If traveling from the east, it is barely past the geographic center of the 48 contiguous states.

My bad. I just edited my post and took out the word "coast" wherever I could find it. Total brain malfunction on my part. The point of my post still stands.
 
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