I Just Dropped $1000 for my Girls to Ski and they Lasted 2hrs

$10K for a family of four in Breckenridge for one week.

Of course, for families who do that, $10K is chump change.

https://www.outtherecolorado.com/adventures/the-shocking-cost-of-a-week-long-family-ski-trip-to-colorado-in-2020/article_6c417e4c-3b1e-11eb-8bd0-2fee49d4e8b9.html

Or you could spend a fraction of that cost by skiing at Loveland and staying in Georgetown. Anyone who drops $10k at Breckenridge was trading cash for social status.

OH...TX wrote:

Or you could spend a fraction of that cost by skiing at Loveland and staying in Georgetown. Anyone who drops $10k at Breckenridge was trading cash for social status.

Yep. Exactly. We have a winner.

It’s with anything. People who don’t know enough about any hobby/sport/industry/area go by name branding. Breck, Vail, etc are super expensive and are expected to be “better” because of brand name. Often they’re just crowded, pricey and filled with Jerry’s.

An air bnb in Georgetown will be less than resort lodging at any Vail resort. Day passes at Abasin, Loveland will be cheaper than the rest of summit county too.

Hell, go to BV or Salida dip in the hot springs and ski Monarch... will be cheaper too.

Point is, it doesn’t have to be as expensive. Avoid resort “packages” stay in towns and ski independent mountains.

Growing up in TX, the only town in CO I ever heard of besides Denver was Breckenridge. That's because one of my classmates was a girl from a rich family (banker daddy) who took a ski vacation to Breckenridge and of course came back wearing apparel with "Breckenridge" all over it. Nobody else I knew in all my years did that.

OH...TX wrote:

Or you could spend a fraction of that cost by skiing at Loveland and staying in Georgetown. Anyone who drops $10k at Breckenridge was trading cash for social status.

Breckenridge is on the bottom of social status.

Vail, Aspen, Telluride, if you want to climb up that ladder. ( in that order)

LRC VIP BFD wrote:

Growing up in TX, the only town in CO I ever heard of besides Denver was Breckenridge. That's because one of my classmates was a girl from a rich family (banker daddy) who took a ski vacation to Breckenridge and of course came back wearing apparel with "Breckenridge" all over it. Nobody else I knew in all my years did that.

Sounds about right. Half of Texas mingles in Breck in summer.

But you get what you pay for.

High speed lifts, a lot of grooming and endless terrain to ski on is the huge advantage of the big players in the ski industry.

Former ski bum wrote:

But you get what you pay for.

High speed lifts, a lot of grooming and endless terrain to ski on is the huge advantage of the big players in the ski industry.

I dunno man. I'll take few/no people on East Wall at A-Basin or Pali Lift, Mirkwood Forest in Monarch any day of the week. Fresher tracks for longer with steeps and trees are way better than groomers and high-speed quads for me anyway...

interesting... wrote:

I dunno man. I'll take few/no people on East Wall at A-Basin or Pali Lift, Mirkwood Forest in Monarch any day of the week. Fresher tracks for longer with steeps and trees are way better than groomers and high-speed quads for me anyway...

But most people are not on your level of skiing. People forget that. Especially when you come with a whole family.

Former ski bum wrote:

interesting... wrote:

I dunno man. I'll take few/no people on East Wall at A-Basin or Pali Lift, Mirkwood Forest in Monarch any day of the week. Fresher tracks for longer with steeps and trees are way better than groomers and high-speed quads for me anyway...

But most people are not on your level of skiing. People forget that. Especially when you come with a whole family.

Most people dicking around with their family on groomers would be better off going to a small New England mountain for 1/4 of the price.

Former ski bum wrote:

interesting... wrote:

I dunno man. I'll take few/no people on East Wall at A-Basin or Pali Lift, Mirkwood Forest in Monarch any day of the week. Fresher tracks for longer with steeps and trees are way better than groomers and high-speed quads for me anyway...

But most people are not on your level of skiing. People forget that. Especially when you come with a whole family.

The smaller resorts still do have terrain that is suited for beginners / intermediates, as that is the financial bread and butter for sure. I think that a lot of it is marketing, though.

Those families see X acres of Terrain Y number of trails and beer a brand name and are like yep! That’s the one.

But the average family skiing for 3-4 days probably wouldn’t hit every trail in their ability level at a big resort just logistically speaking. Shuttling kids or beginners/intermediates around it’s hard to reach all parts of a huge mountain. They’d probably be just as well served with a smaller mountain with 20-40 green/blue runs as opposed to like 60-80 and paying less as they won’t get to “experience” what they’re paying for At a Vail or Ikon mountain simply ski wise.

BUT you are absolutely 100% correct that if they want their hand held and treated to a vacation I get why they ski those spots as they are I fit let better at providing an experience. Agreed hands down - no question.

I think you and I are saying the same thing from the other side of the coin.

Former ski bum wrote:

OH...TX wrote:

Or you could spend a fraction of that cost by skiing at Loveland and staying in Georgetown. Anyone who drops $10k at Breckenridge was trading cash for social status.

Breckenridge is on the bottom of social status.

Vail, Aspen, Telluride, if you want to climb up that ladder. ( in that order)

I’d put Whistler and Beaver Creek above Telluride and Steamboat. But , frankly it’s splitting hairs. And you haven’t thrown in some of the Utah swank

Jerzy Chores wrote:

I’d put Whistler and Beaver Creek above Telluride and Steamboat. But , frankly it’s splitting hairs. And you haven’t thrown in some of the Utah swank

Can't speak for Whistler but Beaver Creek, how could I forget that one?

That's where I skied 95% of the time.

interesting... wrote:

Former ski bum wrote:

But you get what you pay for.

High speed lifts, a lot of grooming and endless terrain to ski on is the huge advantage of the big players in the ski industry.

I dunno man. I'll take few/no people on East Wall at A-Basin or Pali Lift, Mirkwood Forest in Monarch any day of the week. Fresher tracks for longer with steeps and trees are way better than groomers and high-speed quads for me anyway...

Heh... say what you will about Vail and everything else accessible to the Front Range, but we're not waiting in lines or complaining about crowds in Aspen. And we've got plenty of groomed, fast lifts and space for people to spread out; well worth my discounted $1000 season pass ($2200 normally this year).

Even with CoVid protocols I haven't really waited more then 2-3min to get on a lift - and that's longer then normal for here. It's unfortunate that the industry is pricing itself out of the future, but for now it's still reasonable accessible to those who want to be part of it. As interesting... said: if you can line up $300-500/yr (plus some/most of the gas you'd use to do something else on the weekend) you're in play.

I had an all-time morning on Tuesday with 10-20" in places and skied 40° leftover pow at 12,000' yesterday.

First mistake is going night skiing. It is really hard to stay warm when night skiing unless you are somewhere like NC where it never really gets that cold. Also, young kids generally do not last very long. My son is a green/blue skier and almost always is asking to go back to the condo/hotel after about 2 hours. It is a lot more work for little kids than you think, especially if you are up at altitude. It isn't until they get to be pre-teens that you can really expect them to spend all day on the mountain. And having a lot of fresh snow can be more of a challenge for little kids who may not be very good at powder skiing.

Skiing is never cheap with kids. I go to the ski shop in July to buy new jackets/pants for my kids and get the "kids ski free" deals. But I can only ski during Xmas vacation or spring break when lodging is crazy expensive. And with kids it is always worth it to pay more to be on the mountain rather than trying to deal with driving up and back from an off slope rental that is cheaper.

Also, Copper Mountain is a relatively good value for Summit County. The back bowl area is a lot of fun and never crowded. Much more laid back compared to Breck, etc. Not always the best snow due to its odd configuration and a fair amount of shady slopes.

Former ski bum wrote:

DanM wrote:

Cross Country skiing is a far cheaper alternative.

Not really. You have still exactly the same outrageous lodging costs as the skiers.

Buy XC ski's/boots/poles.. wear your running gear and find snowmoblie/ATV trails to ski on.. costs is 0 after the ski's boots and poles...

You guys are being kind of mean. For a normal dad who just wants to take his family on a ski trip, sometimes it is hard to figure out where to go. At least when you go to Breckenridge or Vail you know that you at least have a decent resort.

I tried to take my family before this COVID mess and had such a hard time figuring out if I was being ripped off. Honestly, some of you should consider consulting with families for $100 or something. Like a travel agent but you just give them good intel and maybe suggest some places to stay/eat/rent.

More important wrote:

You guys are being kind of mean. For a normal dad who just wants to take his family on a ski trip, sometimes it is hard to figure out where to go. At least when you go to Breckenridge or Vail you know that you at least have a decent resort.

I tried to take my family before this COVID mess and had such a hard time figuring out if I was being ripped off. Honestly, some of you should consider consulting with families for $100 or something. Like a travel agent but you just give them good intel and maybe suggest some places to stay/eat/rent.

Yeah, unfortunately skiing's no longer a "show up and participate" sport at most major ski areas, unless you have $$$. Sure, the major resorts give you a nice finished product, but does the average dad feel like dropping $209 per ticket (Vail's current rate) or $189 (Breckenridge) for some busiest runs and longest lines in the country?

I don't think the question is if you're getting ripped off, but rather if the experience combined with your ability level adds up to satisfaction.

An average family here in Aspen for Christmas, lets say staying in a hotel in town ($1000/night), skiing on rented gear ($70 per person), paying for private lessons ($900per person), eating out ($100 per person per day), who flew here is easily in for $10-20,000 for the week. A similar number is being spent at the other 10 marquee areas in the country and to a lesser extent at 20-30 other major players.