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Emma Mains has lived in Revelstoke in central British Columbia for 17 years, and every season she picks up a ski pass from its eponymous mountain resort. But not this year.
“Early-bird pricing was around $1,600, and they’re $2,200 right now,” said Mains. “Even at $1,600 it felt like I might not get my money’s worth since a regular day ticket is $200. I’ll be touring and Nordic skiing [outside the resort] this year.”
It’s not just a Canadian problem. Across North America, locals are quietly opting out from dizzying price increases.
For eight years, Mike Akerman hopped between Provincetown, Mass., in the summer and Park City, Utah., in the winter, working as a snowshoe guide, a bartender and the founder of QueerSki, a gay ski festival. He won’t be returning to the Rockies this year, due to the expense of ski passes and housing.
“When I got my first pass, I paid less than $400, and now it’s over $800,” said Akerman. “My rent went from $900 to over $3,000, and now everything is shared bedrooms and shared bathrooms. There are very few people in the ski industry who live in ski towns anymore.”
At some big mountain resorts, day tickets this winter will soar over $300. Lodging and meals follow suit. A family of four can easily spend $1,200 on a single day of skiing once rentals, food and parking are considered. For a sport once born out of rope tows, tailgates and thermoses of coffee, American skiing has become a luxury endeavor.
And strangely enough, the sport has never been more popular. US skier visits have hit record highs in seven of the last 10 years, according to the National Ski Areas Association.
“Skiing has flipped its business model,” said Stuart James Winchester. “It used to be expensive season passes and cheap day tickets. Now, it’s cheap season passes for frequent skiers and eye-watering prices for anyone who walks up.”
In other words, multi-mountain pass products such as Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass and Alterra Mountain Company’s Ikon Pass reward those who can afford to travel to ski. Meanwhile, the same-day pass at Steamboat, Colo., that used to cost $165 in the 2017-2018 ski season is now $329. If you’re a local who can only sneak in an impromptu ski day when good powder drops, you pay the penalty.
Vail Resorts, which operates over 40 resorts worldwide, appears to have tacitly admitted it overshot the mark with pricy lift tickets. This year it rolled out new Epic Friend Tickets that allow Epic pass holders to share 50%-off vouchers with friends. Rival Alterra followed suit with a similar offer.
“People are really considering Europe more,” said trip designer Meg Nolan, founder of Friend of a Friend Consulting. “The difference in cost is so significant that even with the flights, it makes sense. You can take your family to Les Trois Vallées or Zermatt and spend almost 40% less than you would in the US. I can take my kids to Switzerland, ski into Italy for lunch and still spend less than a week in Aspen.”
Nevertheless, across the U.S., smaller, independent mountains, many of them family-run, are working to keep the sport open to all.
Pleasant Mountain in Maine offers day tickets for around $50 and never more than $91, even during peak weekends. Every Monday night, locals can enjoy illuminated night skiing for $24. In Lebanon, NH, Storrs Hill — established in 1923 — offers free skiing underwritten by a local foundation.
In Idaho, Tamarack Resort has held onto accessible pricing even after a recent $200 million investment in new lifts, trails and a mid-mountain lodge: adult season passes start at $599, kids ski all season for $29 and day tickets are under $200.
For comparison, Aspen’s top-tier season pass will set you back over $3,000. Whitefish Mountain Resort, Mont., is about the size of Breckenridge, Colo. (where a one-day lift ticket costs $289), but keeps its lift tickets around $115.
“Stop going to the same 30 places everyone else is going,” Winchester said. “Stowe, Vail, Aspen, Park City — they’ll always be there. But if you get a little creative, there are still tons of independent operations with reasonable prices and great snow. You might not get the bragging power of posting from Aspen, but you’ll spend less time waiting in line and have a better ski day.”
