Ski Club?

[playoutside]

The SkiNH pricing this year is quite disappointing. Not only have the prices krept up the last 2 years, but the volume discounts seem to have disappeared this year. I've coordinated buys (for a group of friends) for these tickets in years past, and the more you bought the more that would be discounted (e.g., extra 10% off for $1000 in tickets). It all used to add up nicely that it was worth taking the risk to commit to mountains in the summer.

The most popular mountains (BW, Wildcat, Loon) also used to sell out in the first day or so. Looks like the sales are not going as quickly this year...none of the mountains are listed as sold out and they have been on sale for 2+ weeks.

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Meh. Every one I've seen is, no kids allowed, so they're all totally out for me.

Don't let your experiences with other clubs prejudice you! Both Danbury and Sterling welcome family members of all ages in the lodges. It's actually great socialization for the kids, as they learn how to get along with other people from all walks of life.

Seriously, many of our families belong to the clubs specifically because an overnight ski trip would break the bank for them if they had to stay at a motel and eat out every night. You can save a ton making breakfast, lunch and dinner for the kids at the lodges. And each lodge has a number of bedrooms, so families can get a room to themselves.

 

[riverc0il]

I suspect the NH results depend on the particular ski area. I'll bet the day trip areas with easy access from metro-Boston had a very good year. Loon, Waterville, Cannon, Sunapee, Gunstock, ... The barrier to entry is a tank of gas and enough cash for a day ticket. I'd be surprised if the North Conway-centric places did as well since they're outside of the easy day trip range of Boston. ...and I'd bet many of those places saw people driving up on Saturday mornings to do one hotel night for the weekend rather than two and a lot of people who stepped down a notch on hotel quality. Vermont saw lodging revenue hit way harder than skier visits. I'd think the more remote New Hampshire ski areas saw similar results.

The only remote area in NH in Balsams. Everything else can be reached in less than three hours from Boston (as long as you don't get behind someone slow on Route 16!). Essentially, you can reach any area in NH as fast or quicker than you can reach any VT area with 2k vert from Boston. I really don't see the Route 16 versus I-93 corridors being any more or less day trip versus overnight. They both seem pretty equal in that regard, I think.