Family of six looking to replace Max pass options for next season - ideas welcomed!

[jpmorgan78]

Hi! This forum is an incredible resource - thanks to all of you for keeping it so vibrant and helpful!

We are a family of six, (mom, dad, 10, 9, 9 and 5 year olds) in metro Boston. This season we used the Max pass and it worked out really well for us. We aren't going to fly out west to ski with our little people at this point and we like having options for overnight and day trips.

In 17/18 we did three overnight trips with three days each: Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Okemo
We did 9 day trips: Loon (1), Sunapee (4), Wachusett (4)

Our older kids are getting too big for Wachusett so we're happy to let that drop for next year. Sunapee is our next closest.

The middle two are eligible for the SkiNH pass next year ($30, one day at a bunch of NH spots) so that's one option. Just trying to figure out how to manage tickets for the rest of us keeping the new outlay close to the Max Pass (we bought them early last year so adults were $629 and kids were $329). Our five year old should ski free for much of next winter in NH at least beacuse he doesn't turn 6 until March 2019.

Thoughts? Ideas? Thank you in advance!

 

[MommaBear]

If your kids are 5th grade, there is also the Fifth Grade Passport for VT:
https://skivermont.com/fifth-grade-passport

Tough affording this sport with kids (we have 3). After American Ski Company broke up, we ended up landing at Mount Snow with a small condo a few miles away. But we also joined a ski club and pre-purchase tickets to various other mountains at a discount.

Edit: I will also add that this board has been a huge resource for finding less expensive lodging, places to eat and other discounts that have come in incredibly handy!

 

[prsboogie]

Hi! This forum is an incredible resource - thanks to all of you for keeping it so vibrant and helpful!

We are a family of six, (mom, dad, 10, 9, 9 and 5 year olds) in metro Boston. This season we used the Max pass and it worked out really well for us. We aren't going to fly out west to ski with our little people at this point and we like having options for overnight and day trips.

In 17/18 we did three overnight trips with three days each: Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Okemo
We did 9 day trips: Loon (1), Sunapee (4), Wachusett (4)

Our older kids are getting too big for Wachusett so we're happy to let that drop for next year. Sunapee is our next closest.

The middle two are eligible for the SkiNH pass next year ($30, one day at a bunch of NH spots) so that's one option. Just trying to figure out how to manage tickets for the rest of us keeping the new outlay close to the Max Pass (we bought them early last year so adults were $629 and kids were $329). Our five year old should ski free for much of next winter in NH at least beacuse he doesn't turn 6 until March 2019.

Thoughts? Ideas? Thank you in advance!

I would suggest a Peak Pass with a couple Ride and Ski NE or a Connecticut Ski Councel membership for additional discount days. PM for a very cheap option for the CSC

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[machski]

I would say the multi resort passes are probably not a great option for you this year (Epic and Ikon) as you are very limited inside your range and a lot of the areas you listed are split between the two. Would you consider Ragged as a base area? If so, their unlimited pass for $259 would be a great base area and allow for some day trips on NH with the kids passport. Hard to get the selection and days of Max next year in the east unfortunately.

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[elks]

Peak Pass all the way! Buy before April 30 for best pricing. Crotched is Unlimited skiing even with the blackout passes. We’re in metro Boston too and an easy 80 minutes drive.


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[jpmorgan78]

That's what I'm starting to circle around. Ragged season pass plus pay-to-play at some other places for Christmas and February break. Or the Peak Pass - my hesitation with the Peak Pass is that it means no Sugarloaf next year and that makes me sad.

Can anyone speak to the terrain at Crotched and Ragged?

My older kids (9,9,10) ski Wachusset and find it too "easy" for their tastes so they do silly things like taking the glades really fast, messing around in the terrain parks, etc. They are really only challenged on the moguls there. We do better at Sunapee which has some more challenging terrain for them. Where do Crotched and Ragged fall in that continuum?

 

[deadheadskier]

Ragged has substantially more vertical and acreage. Both places have good trees. Crotcheds are a little short, while Ragged has some nice long ones. Southern NH doesn't do well with natural snow many years, so oftentimes the glade season at both is short. Not a lot of challenge at either when the glades aren't skiable.

I like both mountains better than Wachusett. I prefer Ragged to Sunapee, but they don't have as strong of a commitment to snowmaking and terrain expansion early season. Both Crotched and Ragged are significantly less crowded than the other two, especially Crotched.

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[jpmorgan78]

This is helpful - thanks all. It feels weird to consider buying a season pass to some place we have never skied but the Ragged price point would mean we could also do a couple of other trips to places we love like Sugarloaf and/or explore some place new as well.

 

[boston_e]

The multi-resort passes this year are definitely not as good as the Max Pass was, but you could in theory make either Ikon or Epic work.

This is rehashing with you already know, but with Epic you could do your day trips to Sunapee and overnights to Okemon and Stowe. With Ikon day trips would have Loon as the closest and overnights at the others in New England.

Truly though, it seems as if your best value will be to find more of a resort pass and go with it. Someone mentioned Peaks as a good option. Ragged has a good pass value. Pico season passes are very reasonable (399 adult, 199 kids and I think 6 and under ski free, or you can get your 5 year old a pass for 59).

Then if you do a season pass at a more economical place you can pick and choose a couple of other day passes / ski and stay packages etc.

 

[tumbler]

Find a mountain in VT that you like and is challenging and put down roots there. Get passes at that mountain, do a seasonal rental so you are not packing everything each drive. Pass prices are cheap this time of year and kids that young are very cheap if not free.

 

[deadheadskier]

Why VT? There are great places to ski in NH and ME as well.

 

[speden]

I'd suggest the White Mountain Superpass. That gives you Waterville Valley, Cannon, Bretton Woods, and Cranmore. These are all pretty easy to get to from Metro Boston. I went to Cannon yesterday and it only took me 2 hours and 10 minutes to get there by shooting up 93.

You'll find plenty of good terrain at these places to keep the older kids interested. You'll also get much better snow conditions than at the southern NH resorts, and the glades will be open a lot more often. Crowds will also be a little lighter than the carnival you get at places like Sunapee.

VT and ME have some great ski areas, but unless you like long drives they are a hassle to get to.

Ragged gets a lot of freeze thaw cycles, are sub-par on snowmaking, and the glades are rarely open, but if you're on a tight budget, then the price is hard to beat.

 

[tumbler]

Why VT? There are great places to ski in NH and ME as well.

Because I'm biased...

 

[smac75]

Find a mountain in VT that you like and is challenging and put down roots there. Get passes at that mountain, do a seasonal rental so you are not packing everything each drive. Pass prices are cheap this time of year and kids that young are very cheap if not free.

^This is our MO with Sugarbush.

ETA: we do 12-15 weekends at inns in the area. We've run the numbers, cheaper than a seasonal rental. That may change with 3 kids; I only have 2. We have perfected the art of packing each weekend. Not that big of a deal to bring gear up and back each weekend.

 

[deadheadskier]

Superpass is great, especially with 3 of the mountains not being bad day trips from Boston. Lot of $$$$ though

 

[speden]

Yeah Superpass is a little pricey, but you get what you pay for, and they do give discounts for the younger age groups.

 

[elks]

That's what I'm starting to circle around. Ragged season pass plus pay-to-play at some other places for Christmas and February break. Or the Peak Pass - my hesitation with the Peak Pass is that it means no Sugarloaf next year and that makes me sad.

Can anyone speak to the terrain at Crotched and Ragged?

My older kids (9,9,10) ski Wachusset and find it too "easy" for their tastes so they do silly things like taking the glades really fast, messing around in the terrain parks, etc. They are really only challenged on the moguls there. We do better at Sunapee which has some more challenging terrain for them. Where do Crotched and Ragged fall in that continuum?

For what it's worth, we have friends with 3 kids that did Ragged pass last year and are switching to Peak Pass this year mainly because the Peak Pass season is so much longer and they got bored of being limited to one mountain. On our Peak Pass, we typically ski Mt. Snow early season before it gets crowded (we started around November 20 this season) and finish at Wildcat in late April. That's a pretty long season for New England.

Crotched is a nice little mountain, better than Wachusett (both in terrain and ease of parking access), but slightly less interesting than Ragged. They have a great 13-week seasonal ski program for kids.

The kids get an Unlimited ski pass (it's the cheapest pass for kids) and we do the Ranger, which has 11 blackouts, however Crotched is never blacked out.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

^This is our MO with Sugarbush.

ETA: we do 12-15 weekends at inns in the area. We've run the numbers, cheaper than a seasonal rental. That may change with 3 kids; I only have 2. We have perfected the art of packing each weekend. Not that big of a deal to bring gear up and back each weekend.

I agree that it is cheaper to rent a room or condo on a weekend by weekend basis than seasonal rental. also keeps the options so much more flexible. I'm also a guy in my 30s who doesn't care if there are chalk outlines of bodies on the floor of my $50 rutland motel. ymmv.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I'm also a guy in my 30s who doesn't care if there are chalk outlines of bodies on the floor of my $50 rutland motel. ymmv.

I'm gonna' go out on a limb & guess the OP doesn't want to explain to their toddler, "why is that man heating a spoon".

 

[cdskier]

We have perfected the art of packing each weekend. Not that big of a deal to bring gear up and back each weekend.

I absolutely love not having to bring gear back and forth and have grown so used to it. Not sure I could really go back to having to pack and bring everything every weekend. Now I just take home dirty ski clothes, wash them, put them right back in my one bag that goes back and forth with me to VT and I'm good to go.

I agree that it is cheaper to rent a room or condo on a weekend by weekend basis than seasonal rental. also keeps the options so much more flexible. I'm also a guy in my 30s who doesn't care if there are chalk outlines of bodies on the floor of my $50 rutland motel. ymmv.

It only keeps the options more flexible if you can be flexible with where you go skiing. The suggestion in this case was to pick a single mountain for cost effectiveness and stay there for the most part. In that case, a seasonal rental is far more flexible as you can make last minute decisions to go without worrying about finding a place to stay. You can also "cancel" your plans last minute with no worry about losing a deposit or a cancellation fee or anything like that.

Price of seasonal rental vs finding rooms weekly varies on which is cheaper. In your case, sure it can be cheaper to rent a cheap place as needed. If you need a slightly more family friendly place, a seasonal rental may be better if you find the right one. And you have the added benefit of not needing to worry about constantly booking a room somewhere. It also depends how often you go.