Skiing on the Cheap - 2016-17 Edition

[BenedictGomez]

Not trying to discourage, I'm genuinely curious... still trying to figure out the cheapest way to get our fix!

I'm pretty "meh" on that one. Very easily bested by other options.

 

[Edd]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this one yet.

Vermont Travel Club Card
$69 @ Stowe
$51 @ Jay Peak
$45 @ Bolton Valley
$44 @ Burke
$50 off @ Mount Snow
$33-$40 off @ Sugarbush

Other places have $15 or $10 off.

Card is $49.

https://www.vermonttravelclub.com/

That's a good deal. You nearly break even with one day at Stowe. Thanks for posting!

 

[steamboat1]

That's a good deal. You nearly break even with one day at Stowe. Thanks for posting!

How do you figure? Online tickets at Stowe were $89 last year.

edit: best deals at Stowe are either using a VSA pass (approx. $43 ticket cost) or skiing on one their ski club appreciation days (ticket cost $45).

 

[Jcb890]

Point me towards a ski club that has more/better deals in Vermont, I'd like to know. One of the nice things about cards is not having to order tickets in advance from the club. A lot more convenient and less planning involved. Typically lower price than ski club membership dues as well.

I'll probably renew my Mountain Sports Club membership, as it's cheap and helps me fill in the gaps my other ski season savings strategies leave wanting. On the fence with the Vermont Travel Club Card.

For comparison I think the VT Travel Club Card offers a lot better savings than the Ride and Ski Card especially if VT is your primary destination.

I was mainly thinking of the CSC (Connecticut Ski Council) clubs/memberships. Most places offer memberships between $10 and $30 for each or per couple. This then gives you access to the discounted club/membership pricing and special daily rates. However, these "Appreciation Days" are not every day and that limits you a bit more.

Depends on which ski club discounts you're talking about. Discounted ski club appreciation days are only offered on specific days at various resorts during the season. On the other hand prepurchased discounted bulk lift tickets are good any day. There are no blackouts for holidays or weekends.

Some ski clubs charge as little as $30 to be a member.

I was thinking of the CSC clubs or ones like that. Like you and I said, the discounts for those are best on specific days and have blackouts. I haven't done the pre-purchased ticket route yet. Actually, my wife and I were ski club members last season and didn't wind up using them once... we used our Wachusett Season passes for discounts at Mt. Snow (50% off on Sundays), used 2/3 of our VT Ski 3 Cards and that may have been about it.

I was pretty bummed we didn't get to use all 3 of our Ski VT passes. Used one at Stowe though and that was great. We both really liked it, but no way are we paying full price @ $109 or whatever.

I'm pretty "meh" on that one. Very easily bested by other options.

This is only the 2nd year really of trying to bargain shop for lift tickets and plan to do so ahead of time. So, trying to figure out what the best options are.

We'll probably get Wachusett passes again since it is nice and close and we can go at night after work 1-2 times per week which is great practice for the wife. I think we'll do the VT Ski 3 again too, that seemed like a good deal. Might do a ski club again this year and shoot to try a few new places.

 

[steamboat1]

I was mainly thinking of the CSC (Connecticut Ski Council) clubs/memberships. Most places offer memberships between $10 and $30 for each or per couple. This then gives you access to the discounted club/membership pricing and special daily rates. However, these "Appreciation Days" are not every day and that limits you a bit more.



I was thinking of the CSC clubs or ones like that. Like you and I said, the discounts for those are best on specific days and have blackouts. I haven't done the pre-purchased ticket route yet. Actually, my wife and I were ski club members last season and didn't wind up using them once... we used our Wachusett Season passes for discounts at Mt. Snow (50% off on Sundays), used 2/3 of our VT Ski 3 Cards and that may have been about it.

I was pretty bummed we didn't get to use all 3 of our Ski VT passes. Used one at Stowe though and that was great. We both really liked it, but no way are we paying full price @ $109 or whatever.



This is only the 2nd year really of trying to bargain shop for lift tickets and plan to do so ahead of time. So, trying to figure out what the best options are.

We'll probably get Wachusett passes again since it is nice and close and we can go at night after work 1-2 times per week which is great practice for the wife. I think we'll do the VT Ski 3 again too, that seemed like a good deal. Might do a ski club again this year and shoot to try a few new places.

For me the advantage of belonging to my ski club is not the discount lift tickets. Only ski club lift ticket discounts I use is a few appreciation day discounts per season. I haven't bought any discounted bulk lift tickets in years. The advantage for me is the money I save on lodging costs. From where our lodge is located I can get to most of VT's ski areas in an hour or in many cases less (for example Pico is 15 min.). The only areas more than an hour away are Jay, Smuggs, Stowe & Mt. Snow. Smuggs & Stowe are about an hour 45, Mt Snow less. I realize many who post here are day trippers but that's not the case for me.

 

[dlague]

For me the advantage of belonging to my ski club is not the discount lift tickets. Only ski club lift ticket discounts I use is a few appreciation day discounts per season. I haven't bought any discounted bulk lift tickets in years. The advantage for me is the money I save on lodging costs. From where our lodge is located I can get to most of VT's ski areas in an hour or in many cases less (for example Pico is 15 min.). The only areas more than an hour away are Jay, Smuggs, Stowe & Mt. Snow. Smuggs & Stowe are about an hour 45, Mt Snow less. I realize many who post here are day trippers but that's not the case for me.

That makes sense for those that are coming from far away places. I thought about CSC for the appreciation days but could never quite justify it due to a season pass, VT Ski 3 or 5, Ride and Ski Card and other options we had. Still think it is a valuable resource if one decides not to get a season pass.

 

[Edd]

How do you figure? Online tickets at Stowe were $89 last year.

edit: best deals at Stowe are either using a VSA pass (approx. $43 ticket cost) or skiing on one their ski club appreciation days (ticket cost $45).

I was using the window rate of $103 posted in the link.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Jcb890 how many days you plan on skiing this season and what areas are on your list?

I'm Vermont heavy and have 5 days to ski in Tahoe this early March.. so let's tally

5- Vermont 5-pass
8- Vermont 3-pass
14- Mountain Sports Club (2 cheap days at Magic that I don't have to use VT5/3 pass for, 1 day each Jay and Burke same thing, 2 days at Berkshire East BOGO'd)
16- 2 days at Bolton Valley from coupons I grab at the Boston Ski Show (or purchase of a $100 4 pack and split with wife)
22- 4 days at Killington and 2 days at Pico with Killington Express card
27- Sierra-at-Tahoe, Homewood, Heavenly, Alpine Meadows and Mt Rose (deals TBD, lodging through time share)

This is enough skiing for me in a season and it's possible I'll win / get other really good deals and go to Maine or NH or NY depending what the Boston Ski Show has to offer.

If I wanted to ski more next step would be adding on the Vermont Travel Club Card but it's not looking like I'll be able to use it anyway.

 

[skifree]

My ski club costs $25 for our family of 5. Works very well for us.

 

[prsboogie]

where can you purchase these? don't see them online

Sorry ST been away for a bit and jyst saw this. It was in an email i received from the mountain on the main internet page.

 

[Jcb890]

Jcb890 how many days you plan on skiing this season and what areas are on your list?

I'm Vermont heavy and have 5 days to ski in Tahoe this early March.. so let's tally

5- Vermont 5-pass
8- Vermont 3-pass
14- Mountain Sports Club (2 cheap days at Magic that I don't have to use VT5/3 pass for, 1 day each Jay and Burke same thing, 2 days at Berkshire East BOGO'd)
16- 2 days at Bolton Valley from coupons I grab at the Boston Ski Show (or purchase of a $100 4 pack and split with wife)
22- 4 days at Killington and 2 days at Pico with Killington Express card
27- Sierra-at-Tahoe, Homewood, Heavenly, Alpine Meadows and Mt Rose (deals TBD, lodging through time share)

This is enough skiing for me in a season and it's possible I'll win / get other really good deals and go to Maine or NH or NY depending what the Boston Ski Show has to offer.

If I wanted to ski more next step would be adding on the Vermont Travel Club Card but it's not looking like I'll be able to use it anyway.

That is great! You are far more organized than I am sir. That sounds like a fun season you have planned.

I'm Vermont heavy also normally because that's where the better deals seem to be. For VT, we tend to take day trips to ride on the weekends for the most part. We have been discussing taking a trip somewhere in January-ish, possibly Colorado, but undecided. It would be the first time out West for both of us.

Last season I got in ~24 days, hopefully more this year with better weather. We'll get Wachusett passes again this season, as well as the VT Ski 3. Not sure if we'll do the ski club thing again this year, we didn't use the discount at all last season.

 

[steamboat1]

I sure as hell won't be going to Killington.

It sucks.

 

[steamboat1]

http://raggedmountainresort.com/Season-Passes/

 

[dlague]

I sure as hell won't be going to Killington.

It sucks.

Too small IMO

 

[Smellytele]

I sure as hell won't be going to Killington.

It sucks.

ya ya ya and you ski weekdays and belong to a ski club for cheap lodging yada yada yada. broken record.

 

[dlague]

http://raggedmountainresort.com/Season-Passes/

That is a great deal for those who live within driving distance.

 

[xwhaler]

That is a great deal for those who live within driving distance.

Paid in full for both my wife and I at the 1st pricing ($249 each)
Looking forward to a great season up there---hope the Ravine fills in nice and deep!

 

[Jcb890]

I sure as hell won't be going to Killington.

It sucks.

I'm not really sure why you feel the need to post about how you don't like Killington in any thread where the mountain is mentioned. Sure, their stats may be embellished a bit and a lot of what they do is to feed the PR machine, but they're also great at what they do. On the other side of the coin, there's nothing wrong with you not liking Killington/refusing to go there, etc. however, you really don't need to reiterate every time "Killington" is mentioned.

 

[Smellytele]

I'm not really sure why you feel the need to post about how you don't like Killington in any thread where the mountain is mentioned. Sure, their stats may be embellished a bit and a lot of what they do is to feed the PR machine, but they're also great at what they do. On the other side of the coin, there's nothing wrong with you not liking Killington/refusing to go there, etc. however, you really don't need to reiterate every time "Killington" is mentioned.

He doesn't hate Killington - he is joking in his steamy kind of way to get people not to go there so he can have it to himself which doesn't matter because he skis on weekdays ...

 

[dlague]

Paid in full for both my wife and I at the 1st pricing ($249 each)
Looking forward to a great season up there---hope the Ravine fills in nice and deep!

I wish for a great winter for you and your wife. Great winters are fun at Ragged.