Lift Tickets 2011-12

[billski]

First pass at my annual ski ticket survey. About 95% complete
One day, adult, high/holiday rate, all day, non-discounted rate. (Easiest to compare, 7 years of data).


Average/Median Price increase Yr-Yr 4%

Bosquet took the prize for greatest price increase, $14% followed by Ragged at 11%

Between 5 and 9%
Jay Peak
Mount Sunapee
Cranmore
Bolton Valley
Dartmouth
Heavenly
Mt. Hood Meadows
Deer Valley
McIntyre
Burke
Windham Mountain
Waterville
Crested Butte
Bellayre
Shawnee Peak
Keystone
Mount Snow/Haystack
Ski Ward
Pico
Sugarbush
Hunter NY

Nosebleed section
$105 Vail
$103 Aspen
$100 Deer Valley (up 27%)
$99 J Hole

$92 Stowe
TBA Stratton (always a leader)

Best Price
$5 Powderhouse Hill, Maine

No Change
Bromley
Butternut
Loveland
Magic Mountain
Crotched
Black, NH
Granite Gorge
Cochran's

Not double checked, subject to change.

Areas without posted rates are excluded.

 

[Cannonball]

Best Price
$5 Powderhouse Hill, Maine

That's the lowest price...not necessarily the best price. Also at $5 - Kanc Rec area in Lincoln ($3 evening ticket).

 

[mlkrgr]

That's the lowest price...not necessarily the best price. Also at $5 - Kanc Rec area in Lincoln ($3 evening ticket).

Full priced tickets at Wildcat and Attitash did not change; while there are more and better promos for this year, and the discount card has been restructured to be a better program, and the Sunday afternoon ticket price at Wildcat went down to $30. They are offering 50% off tickets with the $79 discount card (which includes the first ticket when purchased) and the discount extends to a friend on Wednesdays.

 

[MadPadraic]

$105 would feel much more reasonable if Vail didn't charge for parking as well.

Also, ski areas are typically open 7 to 8 hours, so if a place with an $80 lift ticket stops loading at 3:30 they are cheating you out of at least $5. (This brings up a whole other topic which is the stupidity of closing at 4 when there is daylight)...

First pass at my annual ski ticket survey. About 95% complete
One day, adult, high/holiday rate, all day, non-discounted rate. (Easiest to compare, 7 years of data).


Average/Median Price increase Yr-Yr 4%

Bosquet took the prize for greatest price increase, $14% followed by Ragged at 11%

Between 5 and 9%
Jay Peak
Mount Sunapee
Cranmore
Bolton Valley
Dartmouth
Heavenly
Mt. Hood Meadows
Deer Valley
McIntyre
Burke
Windham Mountain
Waterville
Crested Butte
Bellayre
Shawnee Peak
Keystone
Mount Snow/Haystack
Ski Ward
Pico
Sugarbush
Hunter NY

Nosebleed section
$105 Vail
$103 Aspen
$100 Deer Valley (up 27%)
$99 J Hole

$92 Stowe
TBA Stratton (always a leader)

Best Price
$5 Powderhouse Hill, Maine

No Change
Bromley
Butternut
Loveland
Magic Mountain
Crotched
Black, NH
Granite Gorge
Cochran's

Not double checked, subject to change.

Areas without posted rates are excluded.

 

[riverc0il]

Always appreciate the work you put into this, billski! I thought for sure that Stowe or Stratton would have hit $100 by this season (or at least the relative marketing equivalent of $99). Who is actually paying those walk up rates over a Benjamin at those western resorts? I'd have to be seriously rolling in some dough to drop a Benjamin on a lift ticket.

 

[billski]

Always appreciate the work you put into this, billski! I thought for sure that Stowe or Stratton would have hit $100 by this season (or at least the relative marketing equivalent of $99). Who is actually paying those walk up rates over a Benjamin at those western resorts? I'd have to be seriously rolling in some dough to drop a Benjamin on a lift ticket.

Thank you.
I really thing that almost nobody is. They want multi-day customers. you can see that from their rate structure. Those can be turned upside down and shaken until all the money comes out of their pocket. Day trippers, not so much.

Besides, it makes everyone think they are "saving" money. The more you spend, the more you "save" :roll:

I always wait for Stratton to weigh in, they are always last, and always one of the highest. You pay for convenience.

 

[4aprice]

$105 would feel much more reasonable if Vail didn't charge for parking as well.

Also, ski areas are typically open 7 to 8 hours, so if a place with an $80 lift ticket stops loading at 3:30 they are cheating you out of at least $5. (This brings up a whole other topic which is the stupidity of closing at 4 when there is daylight)...

Was just reading in Skiernews that starting in March, (or when the clocks change again) Snowmass is going to offer extended hours skiing to take advantage of the longer days. Thought that was pretty cool.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[Cannonball]

(This brings up a whole other topic which is the stupidity of closing at 4 when there is daylight)...

Agreed. And actually they don't even have to offer 'longer' hours just shift them to later. Spring skiing at 8:30am sucks. So shifting to 10:00 - 5:00 (or 5:30) in late March wouldn't impact operating costs but would significantly improve the ski day.

 

[steamboat1]

Agreed. And actually they don't even have to offer 'longer' hours just shift them to later. Spring skiing at 8:30am sucks. So shifting to 10:00 - 5:00 (or 5:30) in late March wouldn't impact operating costs but would significantly improve the ski day.

Sugarbush has been shifting their operating hours to 10-5 for several years already in the spring. Surprised more areas don't do the same.

 

[Black Phantom]

Most people on this forum do not ski into April.

And most are not willing to pay for it.

 

[steamboat1]

Most people on this forum do not ski into April.

And most are not willing to pay for it.

Now there's an idea for another poll thread. How many people on this forum ski into April?
I'm not a fan of polls so I'll leave it to someone else to start a thread.

 

[Cannonball]

Most people on this forum do not ski into April.

And most are not willing to pay for it.

Huh? What? Come April everyone is bitching about places being closed. Suggesting that they do ski into April and would be happy to pay for it.

 

[WWF-VT]

Most people on this forum do not ski into April.

And most are not willing to pay for it.

I ski as long as the lifts are turning and it's a perk of having a season pass.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Most people on this forum do not ski into April.

How many people on this forum ski into April?

This is the perfect opportunity for me to spring a question that I thought was too selfish of me to create an entire thread for.

I'm looking into possibly doing an early April (Easter) trip to Utah, but I noticed that the resort's stated approximate closings are almost all tentatively April 17 or "mid-April".

So my question is, are conditions still excellent at that time, but the Utah resorts close due to lack of skier interest and incoming revenue? Or are conditions really not in peak form in early April compared to say..... January or February.

 

[billski]

This is the perfect opportunity for me to spring a question that I thought was too selfish of me to create an entire thread for.

I'm looking into possibly doing an early April (Easter) trip to Utah, but I noticed that the resort's stated approximate closings are almost all tentatively April 17 or "mid-April".

So my question is, are conditions still excellent at that time, but the Utah resorts close due to lack of skier interest and incoming revenue? Or are conditions really not in peak form in early April compared to say..... January or February.

In Tahoe they have to close due to elk or something migration.

 

[Black Phantom]

In Tahoe they have to close due to elk or something migration.

I think you have your states mixed up.

 

[Smellytele]

I think you have your states mixed up.

Yes sound more like WY

 

[steamboat1]

This is the perfect opportunity for me to spring a question that I thought was too selfish of me to create an entire thread for.

I'm looking into possibly doing an early April (Easter) trip to Utah, but I noticed that the resort's stated approximate closings are almost all tentatively April 17 or "mid-April".

So my question is, are conditions still excellent at that time, but the Utah resorts close due to lack of skier interest and incoming revenue? Or are conditions really not in peak form in early April compared to say..... January or February.

The higher elevation areas usually still have excellent skiing. I think most of them close because of lack of interest. Last year Snowbird/Alta received over 200" after April 1. If I remember right Alta stayed opened till the beginning of May & Snowbird didn't close till July 4th weekend. I didn't go last year because skiing was still decent here through April but when it get's washed out early here I usually do an April trip somewhere out west. Haven't been disappointed yet. Even had some of my best powder days in April & they weren't all in the West.

 

[BenedictGomez]

The higher elevation areas usually still have excellent skiing. I think most of them close because of lack of interest. Last year Snowbird/Alta received over 200" after April 1. If I remember right Alta stayed opened till the beginning of May & Snowbird didn't close till July 4th weekend. I didn't go last year because skiing was still decent here through April but when it get's washed out early here I usually do an April trip somewhere out west. Haven't been disappointed yet.

Yeah, this is the crux of what I'm wondering. We all know last year was an anomaly, so I'm thinking more on the lines of a typical season.

I'm considering doing the Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City trio on a 7 or 9 day trip, as there are some really stunning late season deals offered (economy?), but I'm wondering what the typical quality of the slopes will be like April 5ish to April 15ish. Good to hear you've never been disappointed.

 

[steamboat1]

Yeah, this is the crux of what I'm wondering. We all know last year was an anomaly, so I'm thinking more on the lines of a typical season.

I'm considering doing the Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City trio on a 7 or 9 day trip, as there are some really stunning late season deals offered (economy?), but I'm wondering what the typical quality of the slopes will be like April 5ish to April 15ish. Good to hear you've never been disappointed.

Last year wasn't an anomaly. The year before I was at Alta/Snowbird from about the 13th till the 20th & had over 2 ft. while I was there. Couple of years previous in Summit County, CO it snowed several inches every night I was there & the day I had to leave was a blizzard all the way into Denver (April 22). They had to cancel the home opener of the Rockies (baseball team) because of snow. Flight was delayed (thankfully) & we sat on the tarmac for at least 45 minutes getting de-iced. I've had good experiences at Big Sky & Lake Louise in April also.

ps: your choice of UT. resorts for April wouldn't be my choices (remember altitude). Just saying.