A question for the old-timers: is skiing more expensive now?

[Warp Daddy]

Its all relative and since the sport has a bit of an elitist tinge to it -------------- IMHO the ski industry has been using the champagne marketing /price point strategy technique as of late -- i. e. in the MIND of many consumers ---------- if it costs MORE it MUST be better . Just an opinion :>)

 

[JasonE]

Few comments here:

1) The average ticket price seems to have kept pace with inflation and income but has not kept pace with buying power of the dollar. So while the price paid is relative, what people are earning is not. Two income families struggle while 50 years ago one income families flourished. So it is easier to feel the pinch now even though average lift ticket prices are essentially on par with inflation and income.

2) Even though the average lift ticket price seems consistent with inflation and income adjustments, the upper end of the market is going through the roof. There is a huge discrepancy between $50, $60, $70, and the $80 price points that various mountains are offering for a day ticket (the variance is still there with package and ski & stay to some degree too).

3) Lift tickets can not be the only judge of expense. We also need to analyse food costs, gas, transportation, vehicle cost and maintenance, lodging costs, package pricing, gear, clothing, etc. For a family of four, I think the total package cost, especially when compared to buying power of the dollar instead of just inflation and income adjustments, is definitely more expensive now than before (especially comparing two income vs. one income of 50 years ago).

4) Skiers definitely "get" more now for their money. Better equipment, better lifts, better snow making, etc. But this is true of anything a consumer pays for over time. Technology always improves things so saying you get more than you pay for now vs. then is not really a valid argument, IMO, because this is generally the case. The skiing world is certainly nothing like the electronics world in which you pay less and get more, that is for sure.

So this question is always a mixed bag. The trend answer is "no, it has always been expensive" but I think there is more depth than that. More than ever, ski areas (excuse me, resorts) are catering to upper end crowds. That has been the case previously (Sugarbush, a.k.a. Mascara Mountain), but the point is the market trend is growing rapidly. Ski area owners and management seem to think the dollars are only with the expensive people creating a chicken versus the egg argument. Are they just following market trends or forcing the market to change. Look at all the resort development lately? Burke, Tenney, Haystack, etc.? Not exactly historically higher end top mountains you would consider for fancy resorts.

That's a very impressive analysis. As one of those struggling to get by two income families (and I don't even have kids - I don't know how we'd possibly afford them!), I can attest that things are just ridiculous now. Just 10 years ago I made 2/3 the amount of money I make now, but still managed to pay my rent, buy food, all the utilities, car expenses, etc. I was still dating then (more expensive than being married, as I am now), and although I wasn't skiing at the time, I hit the golf course at least once and usually twice a week from May to September.

Now, with two incomes, we're just barely getting by. I can't figure out what changed, except that money just doesn't go as far as it used to. I haven't golfed more than twice in any of the last three seasons, though I will say that I'm skiing regularly (but, with a $199 bronze century pass to WaWa, that's a third what I used to spend to golf for a year).

Is skiing more expensive than it used to be? I don't think so, no. But I agree wholeheartedly with the above post - money just doesn't go as far as it used to. 10 years ago I was paying somewhere around $1.00 a gallon for gas. Now I'm paying closer to $3. Everything has gone up dramatically while my pay has only gone up about 20%.

Skiing is expensive, but it's still cheaper than golf if you do it right and don't blow money unnecessarily.

Jason

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Bump...

I think it's alot more expensive when you factor in everything that goes along with taking a family skiing like gas/lift tickets/rentals/lessons/lodging/food..compared with disposable income

 

[drjeff]

Definately comparable, if not better on a relative basis to 20 years ago or so(atleast on a season pass basis).

20 years ago in the late 80's when I got my first season pass, the breakeven point was typically in the 18-20 day range, and that was the norm that most areas follow. Then along came ASC and their financial issues and the ridiculously cheap All4One passes, and people got used to seeing a break even point at less than 7 days.

Now this year, my Mount Snow Nor'Easter pass will have a break even at about 12 days. More outright $$, yes, but relatively speaking, cheaper.

 

[deadheadskier]

Skiing has been and always will be an expensive sport in most parts of the country. Certain places like Denver and Salt Lake City, I think it's always been relatively inexpensive in that there are deals to be had within short distances of those population centers where good paying jobs exist. In the northeast, due to distance from economic centers, it's always been pretty expensive.

As a general rule though, I'd say the cost of the sport pretty much tracks with the economy. Right now it seems more expensive because everything else in life is (inflation). When and if incomes catch up in a few years, then it will seem less expensive than today. I expect to see such cycles twenty more times in life...up and down....up and down

 

[Geoff]

I think if you do an apples & apples comparison, pricing hasn't changed much. What has changed over the years is the amount of upscale lodging options. Inflation adjusted, the best hotel at a resort is much more expensive than 20 years ago.

For buying equipment, the internet has actually lowered prices quite a bit.

 

[billski]

Geoff hits an important point. While we get "more value", the essential question is, do we need or want that added value? Some aspects, like faster lifts and better snowmaking are desirable to almost everyone.
Think about the old mom-and-pop NELSAP clientele. The small, back of the field places, slap together whatever you can, begged or borrowed and have a ball for a day in your jeans and woodsman's jacket. While so many of these accommodated a very local market, I'll bet the majority of that demographic is no longer involved in skiing.
While I would agree in general that "skiing has always been expensive", there used to be ways to cheap it out. Those options, other than earning your turns, no longer exists.

Equipment - better value for the money? I don't know. while yes, they are better, how much of better does Joe Average need or want? There are some features and characteristics that frankly are lost on most skiers. binding improvements were of huge value. So many scraper and slider intermediates could get by with some 8x1x4s, figuratively speaking, used one weekend a year, six runs a day on blues.

The percent of green, blue and black trails at most resorts doesn't seem to have changed in 30 years, although trail conditions have. Does this mean that skill level profiles have not changed? If so, the same low end would be clueless. I can agree that better equipment will help improve skiing, there is a point of diminishing return.

Housing - Only a few resorts had on slope lodging,now every surviving resort has slapped condos on the hillside.

The high economic-bracket skiers/boarders will always be impervious to these increast. I will maintain that we have lost a lot more of the bottom end of the economic spectrum.