Ski Areas with Best Value Proposition

[deadheadskier]

, the Hermitage may very well offer the most value of any area in the Northeast

Said no one ever until now. :lol:

A Ferrari 458 Spyder at $260k might be very affordable for some and offer an amazing driving experience. Doesn't mean it's a good value.

I highly doubt those who buy into Hermitage are thinking about value for their dollar.

You want a high speed lift with minimal to no lines accessing better terrain than the Hermitage? You can spend $600 for a pass and ski Burke or Wildcat on the weekends and virtually every single major NE ski area in the East during the middle of the week.

 

[Smellytele]

Said no one ever until now. :lol:

You want a high speed lift with minimal to no lines accessing better terrain than the Hermitage? You can spend $600 for a pass and ski Burke or Wildcat on the weekends and virtually every single major NE ski area in the East during the middle of the week.

His perspective is Mt Snow so...

 

[BenedictGomez]

No matter how you try to spin it....it's still a lousy value proposition

Seriously, that was political strategist quality spin.

I dont know many people with 18th century farming community sized families who ski 60 or so days per season.

 

[drjeff]

Said no one ever until now. :lol:

A Ferrari 458 Spyder at $260k might be very affordable for some and offer an amazing driving experience. Doesn't mean it's a good value.

I highly doubt those who buy into Hermitage are thinking about value for their dollar.

You want a high speed lift with minimal to no lines accessing better terrain than the Hermitage? You can spend $600 for a pass and ski Burke or Wildcat on the weekends and virtually every single major NE ski area in the East during the middle of the week.

Cherry pick part of my quote and yup, your statement applies there DHS.

Take the full quote, about PERSPECTIVE, for a specific demographic, and your quote isn't as true.

Am I a Hermitage Member - Nope

Am I friends with roughly a dozen families who are members - yup

Are they happy with the "value" they get from their membership and annual dues when they look at the whole package (snow quality, lift lines, facilities, etc)? Yup

Have I personally experienced what a different type of ski day it is like at The Hermitage roughly a half dozen times now? Yup

Would my wife and I join now? Nope Do we kind of think back and kick ourselves for not joining 5 or 6 years ago when the initiation fee was 10k vs what it is today? Yup Would we ski exclusively at the Hermitage if we were members? Nope, the terrain is far too boring, even on a powder day or even with the free gates they have set up for members every weekend that interests me...

It's all a relative proposition for what defines "value" to an individual, and for some, paying more so they don't have to wait in liftlines, or have less people on the hill with them, or have a relaxed, non crowded place to have a beer after a day on the slopes is worth the extra $$ they pay for it vs what they could be paying elsewhere, and for them, that can be a huge asset in what defines "value" for them

 

[drjeff]

Seriously, that was political strategist quality spin.

I dont know many people with 18th century farming community sized families who ski 60 or so days per season.

I do know a few families like that, both where I live in rural CT and in the surrounding Deerfield Valley (Mount Snow/Hermitage Club area) - and you are correct, they don't ski 60 days a year, heck most don't even ski at all.

I do know a number of people, who have done very well in their business careers, that have 3,4, 5 kids and some with multiple older kids and grandchildren now, who do ski 30+ days a year, and enjoy the less crowded, hectic time on the slopes with their families. They've tended to gravitate past a "great" ski day being all about the most extreme terrain and moved onto a "great" ski day being more about who their spending their time with and watching people who mean a lot to them enjoy themselves. This is a perspective that I can relate too, since as much as I love skiing trees and powder, and heck, just skiing (there's a reason why I tend to ski 50+ days a season after all ), I find more and more these days, as my kids are really starting to excel at the sport (racing in particular) that come seasons end, I tend to remember more the days where I may have only taken 3 to 5 runs, likely just to get too/from a race course and stood around, often cumulatively for a few hours by days end, watching my kids race runs, rather than an "epic" powder day or tree skiing day, etc.

That's just my current perspective on my ski life, and I know from many conversations with ski friends, with kids, that I have, that I'm not alone in this shifting view...

 

[deadheadskier]

Jeff, that's all fine, but sorry not buying the "most value of any area in the Northeast." That's fluffing the experience they offer to an extreme level.

Glad the owners there are happy with the product they get for their money, but to only look at one subset of buyers doesn't really fit the narrative of this discussion. By that line of reasoning one could also spin an argument that Ward Hill offers the most value in all of New England. :lol:

 

[andrec10]

I would have to say the Peak Pass back in the spring for 599 was a deal. Thats the least I have paid for a season pass at Hunter in at least 20 years! Plus I can sample the other areas for no additional money.

 

[BenedictGomez]

It's all a relative proposition for what defines "value" to an individual, and for some, paying more so they don't have to wait in liftlines, or have less people on the hill with them, or have a relaxed, non crowded place to have a beer after a day on the slopes is worth the extra $$ they pay for it vs what they could be paying elsewhere, and for them, that can be a huge asset in what defines "value" for them

I dont necessarily disagree with much of what you say in this post or the next one, but you have to keep in mind the topic of the thread. I just dont see how, even if/were everything you said about Hermitage is true, it could be labeled a "Best Value" in the east contender.

And FWIW, everything you mention in the bolded above can be found at Plattekill, except you can skip the "paying more" part and keep that $10k initiation fee and $5k per year. Bonus points for the fact the apres-ski bar conversations you'll overhear will likely involve skiing, deer hunting, and football, rather than 1-up'ing stories of East Hamptons summers and folks pretending they know more about wine than they actually do.

 

[Bene288]

I'm a total homer on this, but Gore gives a great value for what you can get their tickets/passes for. If you don't ski enough to buy a pass then the Empire card shaves off something like 15$ off the window. For me, the 20 something pass is a no brainer. Gore, Iceface and Belleayre unrestricted can be had for something in the $600's right now I believe.

However if you want to incorporate snow making capabilities in the equation..

 

[steamboat1]

Also no skiing on Tuesday and Wednesday in non holiday weeks.

Killington Resort 1-day (Tuesday OR Wednesday) Upgrade	All ages	$144
Killington Resort 2-day (Tuesday AND Wednesday) Upgrade	All ages	$229

 

[cdskier]

Killington Resort 1-day (Tuesday OR Wednesday) Upgrade	All ages	$144
Killington Resort 2-day (Tuesday AND Wednesday) Upgrade	All ages	$229

That's an excellent add-on for Pico passholders that want to ski mid-week. Pretty nifty for those that can take advantage of it.

 

[dlague]

We are a family the skis 30+ days per year and we have never leveraged a club. We have almost always been day trippers when we lived in Concord, NH. It was very centralized. That being said, drjeff is right, it has not been about the most extreme skiing - trees, bumps and powder but more about spending time together. Now our kids have pushed my wife and she has improved a lot which has had its benefits as my kids start their own lives. We can go on fairly challenging runs (trees, steeper terrain and lower angle bump runs) and mix in a some nice cruisers resulting in a lot of fun. But that fits my relationship. We have done the deal hunting strategy and did pretty well and did a combo of Season Pass and deal hunting and generally faired the same. Slightly better on the latter. The latter also was a single mountain pass and provided black out coverage. In our case the cluds deals never quite fit in when we considered VT Ski 3 and The Ride and Ski Card.

 

[boston_e]

Killington Resort 1-day (Tuesday OR Wednesday) Upgrade	All ages	$144
Killington Resort 2-day (Tuesday AND Wednesday) Upgrade	All ages	$229

I agree those are nice value upgrades if you are able to regularly ski mid week. Really you only have to do it twice to make it pay off.

 

[steamboat1]

With the tough winter, last year they did make Pico passes valid at Killington over Christmas break when Pico did not open... and did the same in March when Pico closed mid march, but again, no guarantee of anything like that listed when you buy a Pico pass.

I wasn't at K during Christmas break but when they closed Pico early in March to save money I did notice quite a few Pico passholders at Killington. If I remember right they only allowed Pico passholders to ski at K up until the day of what was supposed to be Pico's official closing date. After that they were on there own.

 

[boston_e]

I wasn't at K during Christmas break but when they closed Pico early in March to save money I did notice quite a few Pico passholders at Killington. If I remember right they only allowed Pico passholders to ski at K up until the day of what was supposed to be Pico's official closing date. After that they were on there own.

Correct, they honored the Pico passes at Killington up until what would have been Pico's official close date (usually the last weekend in March). Then they gave an extra "bonus" day for whatever day was the "Passholders appreciation day" with the BBQ.

 

[steamboat1]

Then they gave an extra "bonus" day for whatever day was the "Passholders appreciation day" with the BBQ.

I was there for that, pretty good food & a free non alcoholic drink too. I think that was the first weekend they honored midweek K passes on weekends.