Most Affordable Resorts

BarringtonLevy

Ill be the first to say that Jackson Hole DOES NOT in fact have the cheapest lunch in America. I feel like they didnt quite use common sense when creating this list.

And can someone tell me where you can pull $48.00 lodging at Marmont Basin? Ill buy the flight right now!

Cannonball

NewEnglandSkier13;c-38218 wroteThose definitely aren't the most affordable places to ski in the US.

No kidding right! The thread title is misleading. In fact it's a list of the "top 50 resorts" sorted by price.

TomWhite

ropeways.net | Home | 2019-10-23
HomeToGo has ranked most affordable ski resorts in North America

HomeToGo has ranked the 50 best ski resorts in North America based on affordability for the upcoming 2019-20 season.
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That's the top of the article (that I didn't paste) before clicking "details".

NELSAP

It'd be hard to argue that a vacation of more than a few days at any of these resorts could be considered affordable, unless you either go to extreme measures (like sleeping 8 to a room in a hostel), or if you have a large income so that a multi thousand dollar trip is a drop in the bucket, or if you are staying at a friend's house. Add up airfare, food, car rental or transportation, and even if your tickets were part of a multi pass you've already bought (also not cheap, though a good value if you ski all the time), and it's going to be expensive.

It's a luxury experience, one that a lot of us participate in, but a vacation at any of these resorts won't be cheap.

joshua_segal

In the late 60s, I went for 7 days (each at a different area), 6-nights (usually at a BB or a ski dorm), plus food, plus gas for about $120. If we scale for inflation, a factor of close to 20, that comes to about $2K to $2400 per person for a similar adventure. I think the above numbers are pretty close to that.

rickbolger

Well $120 in 1965 actually translates to $966 in 2018. There are ways to still make it happen for less than a grand. I'll guess you were in your early 20s? If someone bought a Peaks Drifter Pass or a TV station punch card and shared low budget rooms and did hostels you could definitely still do something very similar. But not at Vail or Beaver Creek ;)

riverc0il

Hard to believe Stowe and Sugarbush would make even an idiots list of affordable resorts in the East. They should be on the most expensive lists, both for tickets and food, hands down no argument. I'm sure lodging isn't cheap either but I have not first hand experience with that.

BarringtonLevy;c-38224 wroteIll be the first to say that Jackson Hole DOES NOT in fact have the cheapest lunch in America. I feel like they didnt quite use common sense when creating this list.

I was shocked at how cheap a meal is at the Mangy Moose. Not sure about elsewhere on the mountain, I had almost all of my on mountain meals at the Moose when I was out there. Shockingly cheap for an establishment right on the mountain. There was an affordable breakfast and pizza place in the Village, too. Definitely the cheapest I've ever eaten at a resort. Walk up lift rate is stupid, though.

joshua_segal

rickbolger;c-38242 wroteWell $120 in 1965 actually translates to $966 in 2018. There are ways to still make it happen for less than a grand. I'll guess you were in your early 20s? If someone bought a Peaks Drifter Pass or a TV station punch card and shared low budget rooms and did hostels you could definitely still do something very similar. But not at Vail or Beaver Creek ;)

You are correct about being in my (low) 20s: The food we ate was from super markets (at least we were not reduced to the free ketchup packets) and the places we stayed in were places you couldn't pay me to stay at today.

ciscokid

Couldn't ever beat again $365 included Rt air from Chicago Ohare , 3 nights at Snow King in JH,( free night ski) 2 days at JHMR and shuttle
Disclosure 1996 and '99

Cannonball

There are still ways to travel cheap if you want. Last May the wife and I rode 3 days at Squaw Valley:
- Airfare: Free with Delta miles
- Lodging: Off-season rate for in-village AirBnB was <$100/night
- Car: Almost free with National points
- Lift Tickets: Bonus use of Ikon 19/20 for extended late season 19 at Squaw. So free in my mind since I bought the passes for the following season.
- Food: Stopped at grocery store to stock the fridge at the condo.

On the other hand, if you just go when and where you want you are going to pay for it! For March we've already book a trip to Steamboat with my 3 nephews and one girlfriend:
- Airfare: Free with points for wife and I. About $1,200 for the kids
- Lodging: ~$500/night so we can have our own privacy while accommodating the right mix for the boys and a girlfriend.
- Lift tickets: Ikon pass for us. Discounted passes with Ikon for the kids ~$750
- Food: God only knows!! four kids 18-20 can eat a phenomenal amount of food!

Take home lessons:
- Have jobs that allow you to accrue airfare and travel points
- Go off season
- Don't get your kids into skiing!!

sugarloaf

Disagree with the don't get your kids into skiing. Many discounts for kids lift tickets. Now that my son is 19 and in college, he gets even more discounts. One of the reasons we skied Saddleback so much was cheap kids tickets. I also did a few kids weeks at Sugarloaf, where my son got free lift tickets and group lessons.

I doubt I would have gotten in as many ski days as I did the last 17 years without my son.

rickbolger

Cannonball;c-38269 wrote For March we've already book a trip to Steamboat with my 3 nephews and one girlfriend

Looking forward to a take home lesson on how you manage wife and girlfriend on the same trip

;)