Season Pass Savings

[highpeaksdrifter]

How much does it cost a person per each day on the snow when using a seasons pass? For uniformity lets use 30 days. I know most of us ski many more days then that, but it seems like a good conservative number for average pass holders.

Also most ski areas offer different pass options, for this thread lets use the least expensive.

I’ll do my favorite; Whiteface. A Non-Holiday Whiteface season pass costs $349 if purchased by June 1st.

It would cost a 30 day user $11.63 each day they ski or ride.

A Non-Holiday day ticket last season cost $64.

 

[drjeff]

Including my now fully cashed in Edge VISA reward certificates I used in the purchasing of my A41 Gold last year, I skied Mt Snow last season for 31 days at a daily average cost of $16.14. Nicely below the $63 Mid week and $72 weekend that Mount Snow charged last year.

 

[mlctvt]

2006-2007 I skied the A41 Silver pass $425.00 34days =$12.50/day 30days would have been $14.16/day

2007-2008 Mount Snow Classic pass $399.00 30days = $13.30/day

 

[ctenidae]

I think a better metric is break even days. How many days do you have to ski before you ski free? That metric is one reason my wife and I haven't bought passes- even at Sunappee, it's 7 or 8 days, and in seasons like this past one, that's the vast majority of our ski days, which we don't want to have to do in the same place. Of course, it would probably have gotten us out more on marginal days, but still...

 

[riverc0il]

$581.94 at Jay last year including tax. I skied at Jay (and Burke mid-week) 25 times for an average per day cost of $23.28. By the time my season is over, half my ski days are going to be non-season pass and I really appreciate that fact. 30 Days would be $19.40.

I think comparing various ski areas per day cost is definitely not the best approach when considering season passes. There are definitely areas like Stowe and Sugarbush that have very expensive passes. Most other ski areas range between cheap to reasonable. Pick the area that meets your needs the best versus the cheapest per day average.

The better measure is break even point. As a Vermont resident, my break even point with Jay was 15 days. Best value for the money is least amount of days for break even point. On the flip side of the argument, often times the lower the break even point, the lower quality of product you are probably skiing.

 

[WWF-VT]

I am a Sugarbush season pass holder and buy two adult passes that each include a pass for our under age 12 kids.

2 - Adult Passes for 2007/8 ( already purchased) = $1898

30 days of skiing = $63.26 per day for a family of four

So I have four people on the mountain for less than the cost of typical adult day ticket!

 

[snoseek]

cannon/bw midweek-249 asc bronze-369= 618$
90 days on these passes brings it to 6.86 per day

not bad, too bad i purchased probably 25+ day passes out west and even a few in the east (never paid full price though)

 

[nycskier]

I did the Bronze ASC A41 pass last year. I got 20 days on it for $365 plus I skied 1 blackout day for $20. Plus I got lots of discounts for tickets for friends with the pass. So it was an awesome deal!

I look at the ski council discount tickets as the bench mark. They usually run about $50 a ticket so I figured 7 days was my break even last year on the bronze pass. With all the terrain available on the A41 pass it was a no brainer.

I looked at the Stratton Okemo pass this year but at $550 ($600 with tax) I figured it would take me 12 days to break even which I thought as a bit much for me to hit at those 2 places with the large number of blackout days the pass had.

 

[rob56789]

I bought a windham college pass for 300 so for 30 days that would be 10 dollars a day which is awesome.

 

[BeanoNYC]

NYC, do you ski with the Diamond Dogs at all? I never actively joined but they have a lot of events for NYers. They meet every Thursday at an Upper East Side bar usually. Summer too. .....pm me if you want some information. Thread hijack over.

On topic,I did a "breakeven" thread in early January. I have a little spreadsheet that I kept tract of my ASC skiing this past season. I took note of each day's ticket price and used that in my "savings" calculation. I ended up a little over 600 dollars ahead of the breakeven point by season's end and I ended my season early this year because of obligations.

 

[skibum9995]

Cannon/Sunapee/Gunstock Pass - $225 - 79 days, $2.85 per day
Burke Student Pass - $199 - 21 days, $9.48 per day

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Isn't this kind of information best kept to ourselves? Nothing like telling the ski area operator " Hey see how little profit you made off of me using your pass" ... :blink:

I think they know.

 

[riverc0il]

I think they know.

Not only that, but most folks on this board are the exception rather than the rule. I would bet a lot of pass holders never come close to getting 30 days on their pass but rather focus on just beating the break even mark.

 

[roark]

Not only that, but most folks on this board are the exception rather than the rule. I would bet a lot of pass holders never come close to getting 30 days on their pass but rather focus on just beating the break even mark.

I have a coworker who skied 2 days on their ASC silver. No injuries. I imagine there are quite a few like them out there, but they certainly don't post here!

 

[SIKSKIER]

Cannon Pass NH resident-$445 at 52 days=$8.55 day
A41 bronze $349 at 5 days=$70 day
Yup,I'm one of those that will post that I lost money on my A41 pass.

 

[hammer]

We always look for the break even point. If we have the pass, it becomes a matter of making a lunch and a tank of gas. Early in the season, we'll be skiing junk we'd never use a ticket for. This year, we'll be buying vouchers, so early skiing is not going to be so much as "Are you ready" as "Is the snow good enough to burn this voucher? "

I've been doing the voucher thing for a few years...the only problem I've seen with vouchers is that if you get picky early on you end up getting desperate later in the season. That's fine for "back-loaded" seasons like this past year, but if you get an early thaw you're skiing late-season junk.

I would guess that a lot of people who buy passes have every intention of using them, but other obligations come up during the season and they end up not making it out as often as planned. I'd also guess that some people don't do a break-even calculation and think that having a pass is still a good deal even if they only use it a few times.

Since you can usually pick up a discounted ticket or two for the same mountain at least a few times during the season, I think you need to go past the break-even point on a pass to really make it worthwhile.

 

[drjeff]

Not only that, but most folks on this board are the exception rather than the rule. I would bet a lot of pass holders never come close to getting 30 days on their pass but rather focus on just beating the break even mark.

If you as an avid pass user really want to help keep the pass prices where they are(in the reasonable range), every now and then(especially if you get your cost per day for the season under $20) spend a little on the food and beverage side instead of brown bagging.

What the resort operators really look at isn't just ticket cost per day on the hill, but revenue generated per visit(i.e. ticket cost + food/beverage revenue + rental/lessons expense + misc items{on mtn ski shop purchases, family photos, NASTAR races, etc} and the grand daddy of them all(if applicable) lodging fees)

Bottom line, everyone likes a bargain, but bills need to be paid inorder for places to not be added to NELSAP

 

[Vortex]

Wow drjeff. Folks won't like that one. lol You could not be more right IMO.

I remember at Loon they counted skiers on the mountain and had a dollar per skier they were trying to make in the lodges and bar. Ski ticket is just a cover charge.

 

[drjeff]

Wow drjeff. Folks won't like that one. lol You could not be more right IMO.

I remember at Loon they counted skiers on the mountain and had a dollar per skier they were trying to make in the lodges and bar. Ski ticket is just a cover charge.

I fully expect a "kill drjeff" thread to follow

Sometimes we tend to forget a little that while the ski industry is a consumer driven one, and yes consumers have choices to make, the ski industry underneath it all a business, and an often tough one to run at that given its weather dependence and seasonal nature. I know the number of headaches I get to endure as a small business owner with a relatively stable year-round "customer base" and only a dozen employees, I have a tough time comprehending the number of headaches associated with running a ski area, especially in seasons like the start of this past one where its heading on 70 degrees in early January, and you've got a large number of seasonal employees on your payroll, etc, etc, etc.

Alot of folks might think it would be a dream job to run a ski area, and I bet it's alot of fun on those few big powder days that tend to happen, but a good deal of the time dealing with the day to day operations of running a ski area and handling of the employees I'd bet would wear folks down quite quickly.

Let my massacre begin! (Just hope it's not as painful as Highway Star's over at K-Zone, epic, TGR, etc )

 

[Vortex]

If they blast you for a good post then so be it. We've seen highwayStars' posts and your no highwaystar. Wannabee maybe.:smash: