Save on Skiing

Blue Square

For Intermediate Skiers
For Intermediate Skiers
Gadling notes: Despite all these costs, however, savvy skiers and snowboarders can save money on their next ski trip.

There are two themes that recur in the article. They are: ski off-peak and plan ahead.

Interestingly enough, I touched on one of the nine points Gadling makes:

Many ski resorts offer pre-season ski pass sales months prior to opening for the ski season. These can offer significant savings over daily lift tickets. Discounted season passes are often available the last two weeks of the previous ski season — and then offered again in early fall before the season starts. Don’t wait until the lifts start spinning.

The key to obtaining such deals is planning and resorts do offer a lot of deals and there really is little reason anyone should show up at the resort’s main desk and pay full price for a lift ticket. If you know you are going to be going somewhere to ski months in advance then you should start investigating and buy pre-season passes or start inquiring with the local hospitality industry if they offer package deals or other such deals.

Go to your local ski gear shop and pick up The Skier News and you will find package deals aplenty most of them along the lines of ski & stay for N days — get the N+1th day on us or bring along three people and a fourth one goes free. They are rampant, but you have to search them out, be aware, and plan for these offers.

Transportation can be an expensive part of skiing too. The Gadling article suggests taking a Greyhound and another possible alternative can be train. How much transport do you need? When we went out west we drove we had three drivers and we each took about 7 hour driving shifts, yeah the cost was essentially gasoline and two full days. However, if you fly one day is essentially shot flying out and one day back, even if your flight is only a couple of hours.

If you are going on an extended trip you would be wise to make a lot of your own meals. You do not have to eat at the restaurants, but if you do, remember cheap food fuels you as well as expensive food. My father talks of paying an exorbitant amount (like $12.00) for a simple cheeseburger on-mountain at Aspen. That will eat your cash up real quick. Nothing wrong with making sandwiches and stuffing them in the pockets of your jacket or in a cooler.

After all, you are traveling for the skiing right?

Good Stuff!

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