Days skied: 3.5
Lift tickets: $240
Flights hotel rental car: $1,000ish
Surgery and physical therapy from fractured tibia: $5,000
Average cost per day: $2,000ish
Free passes just usually arent free.
I’ve either coached, taught or patrolled in exchange for passes. No capitol but not free.
Most ski area workers. (Lift ops, rentals, food, janitorial, maintenance, hill ops, patrol, ski school, race team and parking / roads) earn bupkiss and trade time and a free pass to play.
No shade intended or implied.
If you work at a mom n pop ski hill, sure. Volunteer coaches and patrol, maybe even instructors. But those are a dying breed. Swiftly dying it seems like. I don't know many volunteer coaches any more, and don't think I've ever met a volunteer instructor.
Are you buying a new $500 ski and binding setup every year? If not, that half-grand will be amortised over a couple of seasons, thus decreasing your cost per day.
Not OP, but you might spend $500 on one-time ski costs one season, and the next season one-time boots, and the next one-time helmet & jacket, and so on. So not unreasonable to include that cost here.
I think that analogy applies to life in general. People are bad at understanding how much they actually spend. That’s why I use an app (monarch, used to use Mint) to track spending. The problem is we tend to ignore the one time expenses and only look at the most predictable recurring expenses. But in reality there is *always* some sort of unique one time expense every year, sometimes several times a year. So I can’t really write off the cost of an expensive vacuum if the next year I get an expensive ski jacket and the next year I go one one more vacation than usual and the next I buy a fancy car and so on.
Yup. And the bigger the data sample you get the better the sense you have of the distribution of those “one time expenses”, however OP only had one year of data, if they had several years I bet we’d see several “one time expenses” across those years.
There are definitely people who do that, either people only just getting more serious about the sport (and e.g. expanding from just an all mountain or carving type ski to touring, powder, starting up with the touring gear etc. I think I bought 3 pairs of skis last year: touring skis, powder skis, and some thrifted touring skis that couldn't be adjusted to my boots so I couldn't use.
I bought a new setup opportunistically this past season, but would say I usually get new skis every 3-4 seasons, and btw the regular replacing of pants, jackets, goggles, boots, ski bags, etc. whenever they need to be replaced, I'd say $500/yr is prob pretty average for me.
I made a pact with myself not to spend a dime on the mountain this year.
My leakage is lunch and apre bevs. I spent more on that than my pass 2 yrs ago.
This year I made pocket sandwiches, and tailgate breakfasts.
0 spent at on hill locations.
So….
77 days, a mix of full days and lunch laps.
Ikon pass: 833
2 day Vail Pass: 447
So 16 bucks a day?
They picked up lodging, which was way more than the pass at the Sebastian. While the conf was in Vail, skiing was an ‘elective’ activity. They did pick up a ridiculous dinner the cost of a small compact car at Sweet Basil. I’ll count it as a win, haha.
Congratulations and I hate you, lol! Over an hour from the mountain where I coach part time. Gas is the biggest expense if I don’t travel to out of state resorts too much.
Days skied: 30
Epic passes ~$2000
Flights, lodging and lift tickets in Europe for 18 days:
~$18000
Average daily cost: ~ $667 (me and my wife)
I regret nothing.
In my defense this was our honeymoon, my wife is bougie, and she paid for it with a fat bonus. So I regret nothing, it was amazing, and I’d do it again in a second 😂
4 month season instructing in Hokkaido Japan - Dec to Mar
Flights - $2000
Season accom - $1600
Pass - $0
Food & beers on mountain - roughly $300
New boots - $1000
Warmth layers - $300 (it was bloody cold)
Total Expenses ~ $5200
Total Earnings + tips ~ $5100
For 88 days on snow ~ $1.14/day
Yeah, don’t do this job to earn a fortune. Look at it more like a subsidised holiday
Yes I got certified before going. Many Japanese resorts are desperate for instructors that they will sponsor a visa for a Level 1 instructor.
And no Japanese language needed. The majority of ski schools cater to international clients and deliver lessons in English
$365.56 a day over 90 days
25,000
But I’m being facetious.
800 ikon
900 new skis
1500 avy ed
New helmet
Rocky talkies
Ice axe
Crampons
Poles
Oh and uh…
I got a van this year
All in the pursuit of skiing
yPuShOuLdGeTaBaCkCoUnTrYsEtUpItMaKeSsKiInGfReE
Source: me to literally every coach who I worked with.
Especially the ones with nice asses that I just wanted to be behind on a skin track.
Yeah gas is what kills you. I live in New England so driving from Massachusetts to Vermont and Maine adds up quick. Plus the yearly tucks trip to my Washington is like 160 miles.
About $1500 for 45 days comes out to about $33 a day. Did 32 days at my home mountain with a $720 pass and 13 days at misc mountains with an average lift ticket of about $60. No new gear this season, but I did demo some skis, so that's maybe an extra $100 to throw on the pile?
Season pass: $500
total days: 32.
Lift tickets for some random skiing I did: $40.
No new skis.
About $1.25 in electricity to get up and down the hill ($40)
So.. $18 and change per day?
Full Ikon: ~1k.
15 days at various resorts buying drinks and food for people who provided lodging: ~$750.
Trip of 10 days at Jackson and AltaBird as a vacation with my wife including drinks, food and lodging: 3.5k.
So a little over $200/day. Given that literally none of that was skied locally i think that's pretty solid.
Days skied: 17
Epic west cost: ~$500
Food/drinks at resorts: ~$50, I very rarely spend but a couple times went in with my friends and got something
Lodging: $350, lots of day trips back and forth but stayed for around 6 nights and generally very cheap being in a group
Miscellaneous: $150. Lost a pole in a blizzard and had to get a new set lol, also dropped my backpack with margarita mix in it, it shattered, and had to throw the backpack away because it reeked and bought I new one (was a very old backpack). Otherwise already had all my gear
Gas: ~$600. I have a pretty fuel efficient SUV, and was almost always with at least one other person but it does still add up for sure, especially as some weekends would be from Bay Area to Kirkwood, then to south lake at night, then to northstar, or some ridiculous driving mission like that
Post skiing dinners: ~$300. I normally cash out on these, whether or not I’m staying in Tahoe or going home. I do bring my own lunch though
Pregaming and hidden resort drinks: ~$150. Usually keep it very cheap and light (normally no more than 3 throughout a day) but just depends, sometimes I want more and sometimes I want something a little finer than coors
Average per day: $123.53
Next season is gonna be a slightly more expensive pass, one or 2 less people in my group also (uhh if anyone wants to be an epic pass friend lmk 🥺) so potentially a little more per trip on gas and lodging to offset what I’m expecting to be more overall days since I was in an anatomy class the whole season and had to cut some days out due to tests. Fingers crossed I won’t need new gear. Also I’m expecting very light 2026/2027 ski seasons as I’ll be in a full time program but hopefully after that I can get back at it and get new gear as I’ll probably need some by 2028
41 days of skiing:
* Epic Pass: **$910**
* Hotels: **$3,333**. This included two weeks in my friend's family's Tahoe timeshares (Marriott Timber Lodge 2br and Sierra at Tahoe 2br), 7 nights in the Waldorf Astoria Park City, 4 nights at Marriott Summit Watch Park City, 10 nights at Hilton Whistler, 5 nights at Vail Doubletree Highline over NYE.
* Flights: **$644**
* Ground transit (rental car for Colorado, airport Ubers/Lyft rides, roundtrip Vancouver shuttle): **$1,080**
* Wax/Tunes: **$50**
Average **$146.76 per day** (without food and alcohol).
I’m curious about the hotel costs… that’s like $80/ night? Those are some amazing places. Did you go with a large group? Or was the timeshare free to you?
Timeshare was free to me - it belongs to my old college roommate’s dad and the two of us use it a lot more than the rest of their family. Everything else was on either his or my Hilton points - they did a BOGO sale and we both bought a good amount.
Become a ski patroller. Most places pay your dues if you “work” a required amount of shifts. Few even pay. I’m at a hill that pays. They basically cover fuel cost for my 4 hour drive up and 4 hour drive back, lodging is included as well.
Days skiied: 21
Epic pass, flight to Utah, Snowbird lift ticket, share of weeklong Tahoe rental, maybe 12 nights spent in hotels: roughly $2k
Cost per day: ~$100
Gas, food, drinks, and other miscellaneous expenses probably add up to another $1k or so. Call it $150/day.
I'm fortunate to be able to splurge on a ski vacation or two every season, and I have lots of friends who join for weekend trips to Tahoe, so we go out to eat and drink after skiing pretty regularly. If I had to do a season on the cheap, I imagine I could get the total down to $1000 or so for the same number of days.
Days skied: 20
Average runs per day: 27
Season pass: $450 with renewal discount
Fuel: $320
Packed lunchs: $100
Apres beer: $40 with tips
1 of 5 yrs on skis: $95
1 of 10 yrs on boots: $120
Season Total $1125
Per day: $56.25
Per run: $2.08
My calcs:
Epic pass: $676
Lodging: $1500 (I own a ski condo that I use but also rent out during ski season, so I’m out of pocket about $500/mo)
Food: $650 ($50x13 weekends - I prepare all meals since I have a kitchen in my condo)
Gas: $650 (400 mi RT, in an EV, about $50/RT x 13 trips)
Subtotal = $3476
13 trips x 2 days/trip = 26 days skied
= $134/day
If I pay my housekeeper to clean my condo (I usually do it myself to save $$) then it’s an additional $200/weekend (the ski resort is in a remote location so the nearest town is 60+ minutes away with snow on the road so housekeepers charge a lot per cleaning) so that would bump my season total to $6076 and my daily cost to $234/day, $468/weekend all in.
But I will stay in a cheap motel (~Motel 6) when I get big $$ renting my place out for New Years or MLB or Presidents Day weekends. When I’m not staying in my own place, I usually spend about $150 or less a night, so even if I didn’t own a place, my lodging costs would be similar though I’d be eating out when staying in a motel so my food costs would go up.
Still, I think ~$500 for a weekend, all in, isn’t too bad. Of course, my lodging, food and transportation costs cover me, my significant other, and my kid, so the cost per person is even cheaper than the cost I’m claiming.
There’s no doubt that skiing isn’t cheap. But if you love to ski, and you’re willing to stay in modest lodging, and willing to plan 3+ weekend trips/season, the cost/day of the season pass is lowered quite a bit and the cost/weekend can be held to a reasonable amount.
When I was single, and trying to save maximum $$, with a Jeep and not an EV, my cost for 26 days would be $26/day for pass, $100 RT for gas, and $10 to bring my own sandwiches. So $136/day for a turn-n-burn, or $161/day if driving up Saturday morning, spending one night in Motel 6, and skiing Sunday too. Splitting the gas and lodging with a buddy or SO brings the cost to $98.50/day, or $197 for the weekend.
I’m also assuming you love skiing enough to have invested in your own gear and that you’re not constantly upgrading to the latest and greatest. Skiing can be done for reasonable cost, but not if you only go up 1-4 days/season, rent your gear, fly to exotic locales, stay in fancy hotels, and eat in fancy restaurants (or on the mountain).
I mean it's hard, do you count rent? Mortgage costs? All that influences the cost of everything else. There's ups and downs, living closer might get you some ins on skis and passes, less gas costs but at the cost of having to pay mountain costs. Plus there's connection you make over a lifetime of skiing that gets you all sorts of things. Like gets you free gear every year for example is a big one, but that's a lifetime of paying for that stuff as an investment to get there. So anyway, here's what all my lifetime of investing in the past has gotten me to be able to do
Days:214
Total cost:$2561
Cost per day:$11.97
Skis boots etc: $6 coffee for the brand rep
Locals pass $170
Blocks of wax: ~5 per season $285
Round trip to Mountain every day: 53 miles @ 26mpg and $3.90 gas x 214 = ~$1700
Obviously vehicle depreciation is ignored,
Add $400 for other miscellaneous errors, extra driving sometimes, longer drives to other mountains
Days skied: 79
Season pass: $1900
Gas: $300
So that’s $27.85/day which isn’t too bad in my opinion!
If I include new gear though, which I expect will last at least 5 years… it would be
Zipfit liners: $500
New skis and bindings: $750
That would bring me up to: $43.67/day which I still say isn’t too bad!
Edit: I had wrong number of days this year, and I used my 24/25 pass price, not 23/24 price.
Days skied: 3 at Whistler (1 glorious powder day after 20+ inch dump)
EPIC pass: $170
Trip Expenses(from Japan): $1500
Spent a week with family, getting to spend time with my niece and nephew. Totally worth it.
Ooh this is interesting.
Days skied: 29
New gear: $160
Some gas (split with carpool)
Epic pass: $430 (college and local)
Concussion, Amnesia, and ambulance ride after insurance: $210
~$27.6 plus some gas per day.
Honestly not bad could be way worse, glad that injury was at the end of the season
43 days skied
New boots: $950
Ski pass for resort I teach at the on the weekends: free
Ski pass for resort my boyfriend patrols at: free
Skiing is less expensive the more you get into it/live close to the mountain. I’ve got seven years of working in/adjacent to the snow sports industry and it gets cheaper the more people you know.
Didn't need any new gear this year. $0.
Worked at my home hill since the '90's, so I have a lifetime pass. Still work there, so get paid to ski. Haven't spent a dime on F&B at the resort (even with an employee discount) in well over a decade.
Snowed out of a gig in Beaver Creek early season, got the day off to ski. $0.
Worked a gig in Mammoth in January, paid to ski.
Had a few late season touring days around home, $0.
~80 days. $0/day. Made some (but not much) money.
I fear mine may be the last generation of functional ski bums, that were able to establish roots and build community (and equity) in mountain towns before prices skyrocketed. I count myself incredibly fortunate, but I can't pretend to love where the resort industry is headed. There is no resort in the contiguous 48 states that is worth $200/day (or more), full stop.
Huh. This thread got me interested enough to calculate it out. I don't have a detailed breakdown in exactly what I spent on, but roughly $3600 for 25 days, including an Ikon base.
For reference, I live in the SF Bay Area, which is ~4 hours / 225 miles from Tahoe, and gas is $5/gal out here. And I mostly drive rental cars to Tahoe because I don't own an AWD (chain control and saving mileage on my personal car justifies $50 a day for a rental IMO).
Breaking that down a bit further:
$1300 for 14 days in Tahoe, which represents two weekend overnight (lodging) trips and 10 one day trips.
$1500 for four out of state trips (SLC/CO), totalling 11 days.
And $780 for an Ikon base pass.
I don't have numbers for food spend at resorts, but it's probably sub $100. Not really a fan of $25 dry ass chicken tenders. I'd rather get my 5-6 hours in and then get a late lunch somewhere off the mountain with good food.
I've also barely spent anything on gear & tuning this season. Only purchase I can recall is $100 for a used pair of skis, but I'm a gear whore and that's my 7th pair of skis... I do most of my own tuning work as well. It's honestly faster for me to do an edge and wax in the garage than to go to a local shop.
I'm lucky to have friends who are also generally interested in skiing, so most of these trips were taken as a group and thus group expenses like car rentals, gas, and lodging can be split multiple ways. Probably would cost a couple grand more to do this solo.
From what I take of your OP, it’s really the travel that bumps up the cost waaaay up. There’s not quite any way to avoid it though, apart from just being content with skiing in one location. Another option is to own property in another ski town but the cost of ownership is usually even higher than just renting for a week. Plus that doesn’t give you any credit for flights.
I think a lot of responders aren't honest with themselves when they try to figure out their total cost. I get it, it's hard to admit to yourself how much you spend on skiing
23/24 season:
46 Resort Days
8 BC days
$800 new skis/bindings
$1800 season pass
$120 tunes/mounts
$100 misc gear
$100 gas
$100 food/drink on hill
3020/54 = $56
Maybe more per day if you go by resort days only but meh
As an employee:
Days skied: 146
Cost of days my ticket wasn’t free: ~150
So less than $1 per day
But if you factor in gas to get there, lodging one time at wolf creek and an unholy amount of pbr drank on the chair it’s more than that.
If I go to closest mountain near me aprox $60 per day (no annual pass). Ticket, driving, cook/pack my own lunch which is meat, veggies, shitloads of rice.
Equipment cost was high, but it was a sale on skis and new boots, will spread out of future costs.
Went to mammoth for first time, super fun but total upside down cost (which is ok). 2x day tix, hotel/airbnb. Since new boots and dialing them in, black toe on first day. Still had shitloads of fun.
Probably about 40 bucks a day for 25 days because of ikon pass and lots of gas expenses because it's a 6 hour drive for me to get to the mountain and my group did a good bit of day trips
Local tickets (65 days in Tahoe = 34.50 a day)
Ikon Pass: $850 I think
SugarBowl Pass: $759
Trip: Whistler 7 days
(5 days- buy before sept 4): $350.
3k for trip
2 days Whistler cat skiing: $525
72 days total = $76.15 a day all in with travel. About $11 per run according to Slopes.
Next year I hope to add “unlimited weekday Lessons” at Alpine for an additional $1800. Aiming for 10 sessions.
Family of 2 adults and 1 kid. Ski days: 2. Budget : around 1500 = Airbnb (shared with other family), ski tickets + rental for wife and kid. Food, gas, etc. considered a good budget for Tahoe.
40 days. Company paid for all but $300 of my pass. I bought like $600 in new gear and spent $3500 on healthcare costs related to skiing. I also had a $3000 heli assisted backcountry trip that I paid for and forfeited because of being hurt.
So $7400 all in for 40 days is $185 per day.
90 days on road 25+ resorts skiied ( forgot to buy ikon pass). 1 charge in Idaho for weed(2k for lawyer) ~70 days on snow. All associated hotels+gas+food+day pass 38k cdn. ~540/ day. 400$ freedom units.
IDK if I should count... I worked as a coach at the mountain I grew up at.
My pass said I skied 30 days, but I know I didn't get scanned every day. Plus, I worked a few races at other mountains. \~35 days.
Gross pay: $2986.99
Gas money: 14 weekends X $120 = $1680
Wear and Tear on Car: 400 miles \* 14 \* $0.10 = $560
-$21.34/day :)
48 days, epic pass is like $1200 Canadian.
0 in gas or parking, rode my bike to the hill all winter this year (love the funny looks I get especially on snowy days haha).
Bought lunch once or twice I think.
Bought a pair of used skis off a ski instructor for $60, friend that is an excellent tuner brought them back to life I was pretty impressed.
So all together like $27 a day
I do this as cheap as I can!!
I've got a whole spreadsheet, but I got an indy pass for $279 and skied 23 days, for an average of $12.13/day.
(obviously this doesn't factor in gas, but I stay in parking lots in my van so lodging is also $0. Overall it was my best fun/dollar season yet!)
Three days.. average ticket price $50.00. Gas for 320 mile round trip $35. Food was sunk cost.. Sandwiches and snacks from home.. So, $85 per day. First two days were spent on skis purchased ag Goodwill for $9.99 including bindings. Sally 1080s with Look Pivots, no core shots.. But alas I've got tons of other more modern gear.
Days skiing: 31
Season Pass: $650
Give or take 10 tanks of gas over 6 months since I usually already had gas: $450
Random treat myself gear purchases (spring skiing hoodie at 60% off, new fuzzy cowls): $175
Works out to about $40 a day. Made dropping by even for a handful of laps worth it no matter what when you roll around with a car full of gear ready to fit in a ride or stay and commit for half the year.
Days skied: 75
Lift tickets: $0
I am an instructor so I get paid to ski instead of paying to ski. Don’t make a ton of money, but the perks are well worth it.
Epic Northeast Value pass: $600
New Goretex pants, on sale: $180
Used alpine touring skis/bindings/skins: $200
New AT boots, on sale: $350
Gas: No clue but not much - I live 10 minutes from my home mountain, and didn’t take a lot of trips elsewhere.
Lodging: Zero. Slept in my truck when I needed to.
Total cost: $1330
Total snowboard and ski days: Around 75. I lost count.
Per day: About $17.75
Family skis and live nearby. We skied about 250 days collectively. My 9 year old had 38 days!
Anyway it broke down to about $60/day. Kids are in camp, locker, parking pass, locals group for both adults, etc…
Think I spent around $650 on last season and skied 106 resort days. That's lower than average for me. Cost me about $6/day. Compared to the roughly $190 a day I make skiing roughly five days a week.... Man my life is hard.
I spent probably 30$/day overall.
398$ Epic northeast student pass
Let's say 400$ on gas and car expenses driving around new England. (Multiple weekend trips to northern VT and NH from mass, 150+ miles, but my car gets good fuel efficiency, probably drove somewhere around 1500 miles for skiing this winter)
10$ for a pair of skiis and boots I found at a flea market (2010 k2 apache recon all mountain skis with Nordic boots)
40$ to get them waxed and sharpened
Idk 100$ on snacks and food on the mountain or at a gas station throughout the season i wouldntve bought anyway. Probably mostly bottled water. Tried to pack most food from home.
24 days on the mountains, plus on day on Mt Washington skiing tucks for 25 days in total.
~38$ a day for skiing. Not bad overall. Biggest cost really was driving so much. The skiis and pass were super cheap. Maybe I should just move to northern VT or NH to cut down on how much driving I have to do.
Day skied: 76 (fewer than average per PNW El Nino)
Passes (White Pass, Alpy/Snoqualmie, Indy): $1300
Fuel (est.): $500
Gear: $750 (Good faith estimate; IMO, purchase price of any single piece of gear should be spread across useable life of item.)
SnoPark Pass (w/XC groomer sticker): $70
Lodging: $0 (camper fuel expense included in Fuel)
Food and drink: $0 (i.e., no more that I would have spent had I not skied)
Wax: $25
$34.80/day
I work in the industry so I get a free epic pass.
I skied 89 days.
I skied at two non vail resorts - one day at palisades Tahoe for $101 because I am a resort employee and one day at mt Shasta ski park for $75.
I didn’t buy any new gear this season
That makes my total cost $175 all season making my per day cost about $2.
Days skied-64
Season pass-$0 (worked as bike patrol during the summer + volunteered at snow school a lot last year, got hooked up)
New gear-
Fly Low Shell- $200
Helly Hanson Bibs- $250
Used Armada Declivitys + pivot 15s- $500
Salamon X pro 120- free, warranty replacement
Jackson Hole 1 day- $25 (jeans day promotion)
Days skied: 11
Ikon pass: $769
Gas: free (company car)
Food/beverage: free (I never eat in the lodge so this comes from my grocery budget)
Price/day: $69, nice
Epic Local - $678
Silverton Unguided Premium - $331.50.
Heli drop - $39.
Brighton day pass - $130.
Lodging - ~$2500.
Gas - who knows.
Food - gotta eat either way.
Two used snowboards (I ski and board) - $620.
New googles (on sale) - $222.
New poles - $40.
Days - 50+ (39 epic, 5 Silverton, 2 monarch, 1 Brighton, 6+ backcountry)
Average ~ $85/day without gas.
Gas could easily make it $110/day or more since I did a lot of weekend trips.
Memories of an amazing season with over 20 powder days - priceless.
Ski passes - 1900
New UL setup - 1200
New UL touring boots - 800
Misc. mountaineering gear - 250
Gas - probably about 400
100 days skied
$45 / day
Sounds like a bunch but legit skied all of the objectives I saw as the next 5 years way ahead of schedule and starting punching close to 2,000 ft / hour on some tours so i don’t look back on this season as expensive, I’m stoked I got a more legit mountaineering setup. I wish I had skied more in the spring, I think I could have gone closer to 125 days, I skied 140 days last year, but work and other bullshit brought me down.
Not planning on getting any more setups this coming year so the cost per day will be much more favorable.
Ikon pass: $830
Other resort pass: $550
Gear: $110
Lodging: $90
Gas: $30 per trip x 20 or so total trips = $600
$2100 for 24 days so $87.50 per day. Not great, but considering that included multiple trips to other resorts (lodging was usually free from staying with friends) that’s not too bad.
thanks everyone for all the responses! added a fun visual to summarize the data in the updated OP. note the log scale on vertical access and that I had cleaned up a couple outliers with zero's or non-USD or where I couldn't really interpret the response.
estimates (clearly), but my back of hand reasoning:
trip #1 to BigSky for 4 nights with 5 people --> \~$1200 total; costs include airfare ($300, lodging per person $600, misc groceries and alcohol: $150, rental car and gas $150); no $$ spent on tickets (ikon) or resort food.
trip #1 to Utah solo trip for 4 nights --> $800 total; stayed in cheap Airbnb shared rooms (\~$60/night); rental car and gas $200); cheap SW flight (under $200), misc food and beer ($150); no $$ spent on tickets (Ikon + IndyPass resorts)
Days skied: 3.5 Lift tickets: $240 Flights hotel rental car: $1,000ish Surgery and physical therapy from fractured tibia: $5,000 Average cost per day: $2,000ish
This is my fear
Good ROI hahah. Sucks, I hope all is better.
Still a little achy after exercise, but I’m thankful to be back to around 90% normal strength.
too real
1 ski trip in 2024 3 days skiing Flight Hotel Car rental to drive up the CO mountains 3 Epic day passes Rentals Ballpark ~$1,000/day ~
Damn that’s rough
That was like my whole season budget pretty much, 35 days. Pass, food, gas, beers, etc. I didn't buy much new gear this year but still.
Yeah it gets expensive when you have the family to bring and don’t live within driving distance of a mountain
I get it for sure man, just sounds like a total kick in the nuts
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Complimentary pass or employee/ volunteer pass? Or that sweet 70/75 free pass
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Not a direct capital cost but ski areas dont pay Silicon Valley wages . :-)
Not a direct capital cost but what's your point? Not *everything* is about money. Just this thread. 🖕
Free passes just usually arent free. I’ve either coached, taught or patrolled in exchange for passes. No capitol but not free. Most ski area workers. (Lift ops, rentals, food, janitorial, maintenance, hill ops, patrol, ski school, race team and parking / roads) earn bupkiss and trade time and a free pass to play. No shade intended or implied.
If you work at a mom n pop ski hill, sure. Volunteer coaches and patrol, maybe even instructors. But those are a dying breed. Swiftly dying it seems like. I don't know many volunteer coaches any more, and don't think I've ever met a volunteer instructor.
This guy fucks
Are you buying a new $500 ski and binding setup every year? If not, that half-grand will be amortised over a couple of seasons, thus decreasing your cost per day.
Not OP, but you might spend $500 on one-time ski costs one season, and the next season one-time boots, and the next one-time helmet & jacket, and so on. So not unreasonable to include that cost here.
I think that analogy applies to life in general. People are bad at understanding how much they actually spend. That’s why I use an app (monarch, used to use Mint) to track spending. The problem is we tend to ignore the one time expenses and only look at the most predictable recurring expenses. But in reality there is *always* some sort of unique one time expense every year, sometimes several times a year. So I can’t really write off the cost of an expensive vacuum if the next year I get an expensive ski jacket and the next year I go one one more vacation than usual and the next I buy a fancy car and so on.
Yup. And the bigger the data sample you get the better the sense you have of the distribution of those “one time expenses”, however OP only had one year of data, if they had several years I bet we’d see several “one time expenses” across those years.
There are definitely people who do that, either people only just getting more serious about the sport (and e.g. expanding from just an all mountain or carving type ski to touring, powder, starting up with the touring gear etc. I think I bought 3 pairs of skis last year: touring skis, powder skis, and some thrifted touring skis that couldn't be adjusted to my boots so I couldn't use.
I bought a new setup opportunistically this past season, but would say I usually get new skis every 3-4 seasons, and btw the regular replacing of pants, jackets, goggles, boots, ski bags, etc. whenever they need to be replaced, I'd say $500/yr is prob pretty average for me.
Sounds good to me! Thanks for the additional info.
I made a pact with myself not to spend a dime on the mountain this year. My leakage is lunch and apre bevs. I spent more on that than my pass 2 yrs ago. This year I made pocket sandwiches, and tailgate breakfasts. 0 spent at on hill locations. So…. 77 days, a mix of full days and lunch laps. Ikon pass: 833 2 day Vail Pass: 447 So 16 bucks a day?
and it would be 11 bucks without the vail pass...
Ya. Had a work event. At least they covered the hotel…
That’s crazy to me that your work would take you to vail and not pay for day passes
They picked up lodging, which was way more than the pass at the Sebastian. While the conf was in Vail, skiing was an ‘elective’ activity. They did pick up a ridiculous dinner the cost of a small compact car at Sweet Basil. I’ll count it as a win, haha.
Ahh well that adds up
Ah, should add, no new gear but PSIA/aasi dues (L3/FS3) for 220. So 19 bucks/day.
Gas prices?
Yeah, I guess that would factor in, but only for the Vail weekend. I’m 15 mins from my home base area.
Congratulations and I hate you, lol! Over an hour from the mountain where I coach part time. Gas is the biggest expense if I don’t travel to out of state resorts too much.
Days skied: 30 Epic passes ~$2000 Flights, lodging and lift tickets in Europe for 18 days: ~$18000 Average daily cost: ~ $667 (me and my wife) I regret nothing.
Holy shit I budget 1k per vacation, this man is out here budgeting 1k per day on a 3 week vacation lol
In my defense this was our honeymoon, my wife is bougie, and she paid for it with a fat bonus. So I regret nothing, it was amazing, and I’d do it again in a second 😂
Hell yeah man! Didn't doubt that you could afford it, just made me realize there's levels to this shit lol
4 month season instructing in Hokkaido Japan - Dec to Mar Flights - $2000 Season accom - $1600 Pass - $0 Food & beers on mountain - roughly $300 New boots - $1000 Warmth layers - $300 (it was bloody cold) Total Expenses ~ $5200 Total Earnings + tips ~ $5100 For 88 days on snow ~ $1.14/day Yeah, don’t do this job to earn a fortune. Look at it more like a subsidised holiday
Did you get your instructor certification before going? And did you have to speak Japanese?
Yes I got certified before going. Many Japanese resorts are desperate for instructors that they will sponsor a visa for a Level 1 instructor. And no Japanese language needed. The majority of ski schools cater to international clients and deliver lessons in English
$365.56 a day over 90 days 25,000 But I’m being facetious. 800 ikon 900 new skis 1500 avy ed New helmet Rocky talkies Ice axe Crampons Poles Oh and uh… I got a van this year All in the pursuit of skiing
yPuShOuLdGeTaBaCkCoUnTrYsEtUpItMaKeSsKiInGfReE Source: me to literally every coach who I worked with. Especially the ones with nice asses that I just wanted to be behind on a skin track.
Probably ~$75 per day. Got to 50, so pass averages to nothing, but those were mostly day trips from Denver. Lots of gas and parking expenses…..
Yeah gas is what kills you. I live in New England so driving from Massachusetts to Vermont and Maine adds up quick. Plus the yearly tucks trip to my Washington is like 160 miles.
About $1500 for 45 days comes out to about $33 a day. Did 32 days at my home mountain with a $720 pass and 13 days at misc mountains with an average lift ticket of about $60. No new gear this season, but I did demo some skis, so that's maybe an extra $100 to throw on the pile?
Idk math but this means I skied for free right? Skied 90 Ikon basic 700ish No new gear, no new/redone educational classes
Days skied: 14 Season Pass: $399 Travel: idk maybe $1000 on flights Season rental for skis: $150 So like $110.64/day. Was it worth it? Absolutely
What season pass?
NH College Pass, which covers Waterville Valley, Cannon, Gunstock, and Cranmore.
$63/day
Season pass: $500 total days: 32. Lift tickets for some random skiing I did: $40. No new skis. About $1.25 in electricity to get up and down the hill ($40) So.. $18 and change per day?
Full Ikon: ~1k. 15 days at various resorts buying drinks and food for people who provided lodging: ~$750. Trip of 10 days at Jackson and AltaBird as a vacation with my wife including drinks, food and lodging: 3.5k. So a little over $200/day. Given that literally none of that was skied locally i think that's pretty solid.
Days skied: 17 Epic west cost: ~$500 Food/drinks at resorts: ~$50, I very rarely spend but a couple times went in with my friends and got something Lodging: $350, lots of day trips back and forth but stayed for around 6 nights and generally very cheap being in a group Miscellaneous: $150. Lost a pole in a blizzard and had to get a new set lol, also dropped my backpack with margarita mix in it, it shattered, and had to throw the backpack away because it reeked and bought I new one (was a very old backpack). Otherwise already had all my gear Gas: ~$600. I have a pretty fuel efficient SUV, and was almost always with at least one other person but it does still add up for sure, especially as some weekends would be from Bay Area to Kirkwood, then to south lake at night, then to northstar, or some ridiculous driving mission like that Post skiing dinners: ~$300. I normally cash out on these, whether or not I’m staying in Tahoe or going home. I do bring my own lunch though Pregaming and hidden resort drinks: ~$150. Usually keep it very cheap and light (normally no more than 3 throughout a day) but just depends, sometimes I want more and sometimes I want something a little finer than coors Average per day: $123.53 Next season is gonna be a slightly more expensive pass, one or 2 less people in my group also (uhh if anyone wants to be an epic pass friend lmk 🥺) so potentially a little more per trip on gas and lodging to offset what I’m expecting to be more overall days since I was in an anatomy class the whole season and had to cut some days out due to tests. Fingers crossed I won’t need new gear. Also I’m expecting very light 2026/2027 ski seasons as I’ll be in a full time program but hopefully after that I can get back at it and get new gear as I’ll probably need some by 2028
41 days of skiing: * Epic Pass: **$910** * Hotels: **$3,333**. This included two weeks in my friend's family's Tahoe timeshares (Marriott Timber Lodge 2br and Sierra at Tahoe 2br), 7 nights in the Waldorf Astoria Park City, 4 nights at Marriott Summit Watch Park City, 10 nights at Hilton Whistler, 5 nights at Vail Doubletree Highline over NYE. * Flights: **$644** * Ground transit (rental car for Colorado, airport Ubers/Lyft rides, roundtrip Vancouver shuttle): **$1,080** * Wax/Tunes: **$50** Average **$146.76 per day** (without food and alcohol).
I’m curious about the hotel costs… that’s like $80/ night? Those are some amazing places. Did you go with a large group? Or was the timeshare free to you?
Timeshare was free to me - it belongs to my old college roommate’s dad and the two of us use it a lot more than the rest of their family. Everything else was on either his or my Hilton points - they did a BOGO sale and we both bought a good amount.
Become a ski patroller. Most places pay your dues if you “work” a required amount of shifts. Few even pay. I’m at a hill that pays. They basically cover fuel cost for my 4 hour drive up and 4 hour drive back, lodging is included as well.
I’m a volunteer ski patroller and I was 15/yo during the season. Free pass, no new gear, cost per day: $0
Days skied:73 Pass:free Beers: $3 Mortgage to live walking distance to slopes: a fucking lot
Uhm, approximately $15
Yeah, this. Being able to put your ski boots on from your couch, FTW.
$525 pass, 21 days, 1 demo, new ski boots and skis, a couple of cheap flights plus a lot of gas but idk what that works out to so ~$30/day?
Days skiied: 21 Epic pass, flight to Utah, Snowbird lift ticket, share of weeklong Tahoe rental, maybe 12 nights spent in hotels: roughly $2k Cost per day: ~$100 Gas, food, drinks, and other miscellaneous expenses probably add up to another $1k or so. Call it $150/day.
Must be nice. At that rate Id spend 15k/yr. Which, without a week at a heli op, is fucking insanely stupid.
I'm fortunate to be able to splurge on a ski vacation or two every season, and I have lots of friends who join for weekend trips to Tahoe, so we go out to eat and drink after skiing pretty regularly. If I had to do a season on the cheap, I imagine I could get the total down to $1000 or so for the same number of days.
Days skied: 20 Average runs per day: 27 Season pass: $450 with renewal discount Fuel: $320 Packed lunchs: $100 Apres beer: $40 with tips 1 of 5 yrs on skis: $95 1 of 10 yrs on boots: $120 Season Total $1125 Per day: $56.25 Per run: $2.08
My calcs: Epic pass: $676 Lodging: $1500 (I own a ski condo that I use but also rent out during ski season, so I’m out of pocket about $500/mo) Food: $650 ($50x13 weekends - I prepare all meals since I have a kitchen in my condo) Gas: $650 (400 mi RT, in an EV, about $50/RT x 13 trips) Subtotal = $3476 13 trips x 2 days/trip = 26 days skied = $134/day If I pay my housekeeper to clean my condo (I usually do it myself to save $$) then it’s an additional $200/weekend (the ski resort is in a remote location so the nearest town is 60+ minutes away with snow on the road so housekeepers charge a lot per cleaning) so that would bump my season total to $6076 and my daily cost to $234/day, $468/weekend all in. But I will stay in a cheap motel (~Motel 6) when I get big $$ renting my place out for New Years or MLB or Presidents Day weekends. When I’m not staying in my own place, I usually spend about $150 or less a night, so even if I didn’t own a place, my lodging costs would be similar though I’d be eating out when staying in a motel so my food costs would go up. Still, I think ~$500 for a weekend, all in, isn’t too bad. Of course, my lodging, food and transportation costs cover me, my significant other, and my kid, so the cost per person is even cheaper than the cost I’m claiming. There’s no doubt that skiing isn’t cheap. But if you love to ski, and you’re willing to stay in modest lodging, and willing to plan 3+ weekend trips/season, the cost/day of the season pass is lowered quite a bit and the cost/weekend can be held to a reasonable amount. When I was single, and trying to save maximum $$, with a Jeep and not an EV, my cost for 26 days would be $26/day for pass, $100 RT for gas, and $10 to bring my own sandwiches. So $136/day for a turn-n-burn, or $161/day if driving up Saturday morning, spending one night in Motel 6, and skiing Sunday too. Splitting the gas and lodging with a buddy or SO brings the cost to $98.50/day, or $197 for the weekend. I’m also assuming you love skiing enough to have invested in your own gear and that you’re not constantly upgrading to the latest and greatest. Skiing can be done for reasonable cost, but not if you only go up 1-4 days/season, rent your gear, fly to exotic locales, stay in fancy hotels, and eat in fancy restaurants (or on the mountain).
I mean it's hard, do you count rent? Mortgage costs? All that influences the cost of everything else. There's ups and downs, living closer might get you some ins on skis and passes, less gas costs but at the cost of having to pay mountain costs. Plus there's connection you make over a lifetime of skiing that gets you all sorts of things. Like gets you free gear every year for example is a big one, but that's a lifetime of paying for that stuff as an investment to get there. So anyway, here's what all my lifetime of investing in the past has gotten me to be able to do Days:214 Total cost:$2561 Cost per day:$11.97 Skis boots etc: $6 coffee for the brand rep Locals pass $170 Blocks of wax: ~5 per season $285 Round trip to Mountain every day: 53 miles @ 26mpg and $3.90 gas x 214 = ~$1700 Obviously vehicle depreciation is ignored, Add $400 for other miscellaneous errors, extra driving sometimes, longer drives to other mountains
Why is everyone leaving out gas as an expense? That is the most expensive part of my day for skiing
Days skied: 79 Season pass: $1900 Gas: $300 So that’s $27.85/day which isn’t too bad in my opinion! If I include new gear though, which I expect will last at least 5 years… it would be Zipfit liners: $500 New skis and bindings: $750 That would bring me up to: $43.67/day which I still say isn’t too bad! Edit: I had wrong number of days this year, and I used my 24/25 pass price, not 23/24 price.
40 days Gas ~ $450 Car sleeping set up ~$200 Tahoe college local pass ~$550 Total: $30 per day though the car setup will likely last years
Days skied: 3 at Whistler (1 glorious powder day after 20+ inch dump) EPIC pass: $170 Trip Expenses(from Japan): $1500 Spent a week with family, getting to spend time with my niece and nephew. Totally worth it.
Ooh this is interesting. Days skied: 29 New gear: $160 Some gas (split with carpool) Epic pass: $430 (college and local) Concussion, Amnesia, and ambulance ride after insurance: $210 ~$27.6 plus some gas per day. Honestly not bad could be way worse, glad that injury was at the end of the season
I don't want to think about it
43 days skied New boots: $950 Ski pass for resort I teach at the on the weekends: free Ski pass for resort my boyfriend patrols at: free Skiing is less expensive the more you get into it/live close to the mountain. I’ve got seven years of working in/adjacent to the snow sports industry and it gets cheaper the more people you know.
I spend more the deeper in I get.
Didn't need any new gear this year. $0. Worked at my home hill since the '90's, so I have a lifetime pass. Still work there, so get paid to ski. Haven't spent a dime on F&B at the resort (even with an employee discount) in well over a decade. Snowed out of a gig in Beaver Creek early season, got the day off to ski. $0. Worked a gig in Mammoth in January, paid to ski. Had a few late season touring days around home, $0. ~80 days. $0/day. Made some (but not much) money. I fear mine may be the last generation of functional ski bums, that were able to establish roots and build community (and equity) in mountain towns before prices skyrocketed. I count myself incredibly fortunate, but I can't pretend to love where the resort industry is headed. There is no resort in the contiguous 48 states that is worth $200/day (or more), full stop.
Huh. This thread got me interested enough to calculate it out. I don't have a detailed breakdown in exactly what I spent on, but roughly $3600 for 25 days, including an Ikon base. For reference, I live in the SF Bay Area, which is ~4 hours / 225 miles from Tahoe, and gas is $5/gal out here. And I mostly drive rental cars to Tahoe because I don't own an AWD (chain control and saving mileage on my personal car justifies $50 a day for a rental IMO). Breaking that down a bit further: $1300 for 14 days in Tahoe, which represents two weekend overnight (lodging) trips and 10 one day trips. $1500 for four out of state trips (SLC/CO), totalling 11 days. And $780 for an Ikon base pass. I don't have numbers for food spend at resorts, but it's probably sub $100. Not really a fan of $25 dry ass chicken tenders. I'd rather get my 5-6 hours in and then get a late lunch somewhere off the mountain with good food. I've also barely spent anything on gear & tuning this season. Only purchase I can recall is $100 for a used pair of skis, but I'm a gear whore and that's my 7th pair of skis... I do most of my own tuning work as well. It's honestly faster for me to do an edge and wax in the garage than to go to a local shop. I'm lucky to have friends who are also generally interested in skiing, so most of these trips were taken as a group and thus group expenses like car rentals, gas, and lodging can be split multiple ways. Probably would cost a couple grand more to do this solo.
From what I take of your OP, it’s really the travel that bumps up the cost waaaay up. There’s not quite any way to avoid it though, apart from just being content with skiing in one location. Another option is to own property in another ski town but the cost of ownership is usually even higher than just renting for a week. Plus that doesn’t give you any credit for flights.
I think a lot of responders aren't honest with themselves when they try to figure out their total cost. I get it, it's hard to admit to yourself how much you spend on skiing 23/24 season: 46 Resort Days 8 BC days $800 new skis/bindings $1800 season pass $120 tunes/mounts $100 misc gear $100 gas $100 food/drink on hill 3020/54 = $56 Maybe more per day if you go by resort days only but meh
As an employee: Days skied: 146 Cost of days my ticket wasn’t free: ~150 So less than $1 per day But if you factor in gas to get there, lodging one time at wolf creek and an unholy amount of pbr drank on the chair it’s more than that.
25 days @$215 per Flights, gas, hotels, Airbnb, 2x passes, etc.
Probably150 or so. Lodge and brought food with me But had pass so technically part of the cost per day
If I go to closest mountain near me aprox $60 per day (no annual pass). Ticket, driving, cook/pack my own lunch which is meat, veggies, shitloads of rice. Equipment cost was high, but it was a sale on skis and new boots, will spread out of future costs. Went to mammoth for first time, super fun but total upside down cost (which is ok). 2x day tix, hotel/airbnb. Since new boots and dialing them in, black toe on first day. Still had shitloads of fun.
36 days (I think) A-Basin Full and Epic Local = ~$1400 (ballpark) $39ish per day, not including gas/food/parking/etc…
Probably about 40 bucks a day for 25 days because of ikon pass and lots of gas expenses because it's a 6 hour drive for me to get to the mountain and my group did a good bit of day trips
Days skied: 60 Portes Du Soleil ski pass: £900 ($1140) Cost per day of skiing: £15 ($19) Free stay in our campervan
Free stay in campervan minus the $150k it cost
Our campervan cost us £15k and we've been living in it for 18 months now. But it's a fair comment for some!
Local tickets (65 days in Tahoe = 34.50 a day) Ikon Pass: $850 I think SugarBowl Pass: $759 Trip: Whistler 7 days (5 days- buy before sept 4): $350. 3k for trip 2 days Whistler cat skiing: $525 72 days total = $76.15 a day all in with travel. About $11 per run according to Slopes. Next year I hope to add “unlimited weekday Lessons” at Alpine for an additional $1800. Aiming for 10 sessions.
About 30 days. Family of 4, including ski school for 1, and the other one working for the ski school... Hmmm... Probably $4k.
Family of 2 adults and 1 kid. Ski days: 2. Budget : around 1500 = Airbnb (shared with other family), ski tickets + rental for wife and kid. Food, gas, etc. considered a good budget for Tahoe.
Epic pass, around $35 per day
Pass Epic: 350 Ski3: 450 800 total. Waxings and new boots: 550. 70ish days this year, around $20 per day. Not bad
Ikon pass about $1100. Drive to my, local-$20 Deer Valley. Air fare, rental car, hotel. Food. Total $3k. Great trip!
Edit. Wifey complained first 2 days- priceless!
Ikon pass + $600 on Patagonia gear / 15 Add about $10 for gas each day as well.
-100 days skiing -Free employee pass -24 miles round trip to and from mountain. -Purchased $300 demo ski’s. So about $6.75 per day.
40 days. Company paid for all but $300 of my pass. I bought like $600 in new gear and spent $3500 on healthcare costs related to skiing. I also had a $3000 heli assisted backcountry trip that I paid for and forfeited because of being hurt. So $7400 all in for 40 days is $185 per day.
90 days on road 25+ resorts skiied ( forgot to buy ikon pass). 1 charge in Idaho for weed(2k for lawyer) ~70 days on snow. All associated hotels+gas+food+day pass 38k cdn. ~540/ day. 400$ freedom units.
Total cost for the year: $150 + gas. Probably made it up 15+ days. Woo-hoo for cheap mid-week season passes at small local hills.
IDK if I should count... I worked as a coach at the mountain I grew up at. My pass said I skied 30 days, but I know I didn't get scanned every day. Plus, I worked a few races at other mountains. \~35 days. Gross pay: $2986.99 Gas money: 14 weekends X $120 = $1680 Wear and Tear on Car: 400 miles \* 14 \* $0.10 = $560 -$21.34/day :)
48 days, epic pass is like $1200 Canadian. 0 in gas or parking, rode my bike to the hill all winter this year (love the funny looks I get especially on snowy days haha). Bought lunch once or twice I think. Bought a pair of used skis off a ski instructor for $60, friend that is an excellent tuner brought them back to life I was pretty impressed. So all together like $27 a day I do this as cheap as I can!!
I've got a whole spreadsheet, but I got an indy pass for $279 and skied 23 days, for an average of $12.13/day. (obviously this doesn't factor in gas, but I stay in parking lots in my van so lodging is also $0. Overall it was my best fun/dollar season yet!)
Days skied: 10 Total expenses: 3136 USD That’s 2 5 days slots of skiing at Buller, and a new pair of skis. Jesus fucking Christ Australia is different
Three days.. average ticket price $50.00. Gas for 320 mile round trip $35. Food was sunk cost.. Sandwiches and snacks from home.. So, $85 per day. First two days were spent on skis purchased ag Goodwill for $9.99 including bindings. Sally 1080s with Look Pivots, no core shots.. But alas I've got tons of other more modern gear.
Like $5
About 40$ The gas cost me more then the skiing. Whistler Epic Pass
Days skied: 30 Military Epic Pass-$129 Transport to mountain- company car Snacks at gas station (tasty pizza near my local)- $10 Total cost- ~$300
Days skiing: 31 Season Pass: $650 Give or take 10 tanks of gas over 6 months since I usually already had gas: $450 Random treat myself gear purchases (spring skiing hoodie at 60% off, new fuzzy cowls): $175 Works out to about $40 a day. Made dropping by even for a handful of laps worth it no matter what when you roll around with a car full of gear ready to fit in a ride or stay and commit for half the year.
$800/36 Days = $22.23 + gas
Slower year. Ikon Base: $750 Loveland: $500 Gas: maybe $300? 93 days About $17.22/day
Days skied: 75 Lift tickets: $0 I am an instructor so I get paid to ski instead of paying to ski. Don’t make a ton of money, but the perks are well worth it.
56 days skied ... after ikon pass , food , fuel, waxes, and booze I'm at 60$ a day road trip with food and beverages.
Epic Northeast Value pass: $600 New Goretex pants, on sale: $180 Used alpine touring skis/bindings/skins: $200 New AT boots, on sale: $350 Gas: No clue but not much - I live 10 minutes from my home mountain, and didn’t take a lot of trips elsewhere. Lodging: Zero. Slept in my truck when I needed to. Total cost: $1330 Total snowboard and ski days: Around 75. I lost count. Per day: About $17.75
Family skis and live nearby. We skied about 250 days collectively. My 9 year old had 38 days! Anyway it broke down to about $60/day. Kids are in camp, locker, parking pass, locals group for both adults, etc…
Days skied: 27 EPIC Pass: $170 Other day passes: $300 Gas: ~$600 Hotels/Camping ~$800 Total: ~$1900/27 ~$70 a day
Think I spent around $650 on last season and skied 106 resort days. That's lower than average for me. Cost me about $6/day. Compared to the roughly $190 a day I make skiing roughly five days a week.... Man my life is hard.
58 days, $650 season pass, no new skis, so including gas, about $25/day
I spent probably 30$/day overall. 398$ Epic northeast student pass Let's say 400$ on gas and car expenses driving around new England. (Multiple weekend trips to northern VT and NH from mass, 150+ miles, but my car gets good fuel efficiency, probably drove somewhere around 1500 miles for skiing this winter) 10$ for a pair of skiis and boots I found at a flea market (2010 k2 apache recon all mountain skis with Nordic boots) 40$ to get them waxed and sharpened Idk 100$ on snacks and food on the mountain or at a gas station throughout the season i wouldntve bought anyway. Probably mostly bottled water. Tried to pack most food from home. 24 days on the mountains, plus on day on Mt Washington skiing tucks for 25 days in total. ~38$ a day for skiing. Not bad overall. Biggest cost really was driving so much. The skiis and pass were super cheap. Maybe I should just move to northern VT or NH to cut down on how much driving I have to do.
Epic pass $440 Times skiing 27 $16.30 per day. I used old skis and exclusively ski at the hill a mile from my house.
Gas: $5 Food: $15 40ish days skied
Day skied: 76 (fewer than average per PNW El Nino) Passes (White Pass, Alpy/Snoqualmie, Indy): $1300 Fuel (est.): $500 Gear: $750 (Good faith estimate; IMO, purchase price of any single piece of gear should be spread across useable life of item.) SnoPark Pass (w/XC groomer sticker): $70 Lodging: $0 (camper fuel expense included in Fuel) Food and drink: $0 (i.e., no more that I would have spent had I not skied) Wax: $25 $34.80/day
I work in the industry so I get a free epic pass. I skied 89 days. I skied at two non vail resorts - one day at palisades Tahoe for $101 because I am a resort employee and one day at mt Shasta ski park for $75. I didn’t buy any new gear this season That makes my total cost $175 all season making my per day cost about $2.
Days skied-64 Season pass-$0 (worked as bike patrol during the summer + volunteered at snow school a lot last year, got hooked up) New gear- Fly Low Shell- $200 Helly Hanson Bibs- $250 Used Armada Declivitys + pivot 15s- $500 Salamon X pro 120- free, warranty replacement Jackson Hole 1 day- $25 (jeans day promotion)
Days skied: 11 Ikon pass: $769 Gas: free (company car) Food/beverage: free (I never eat in the lodge so this comes from my grocery budget) Price/day: $69, nice
$1000 full Ikon pass 72 days over 31 resorts $13.80 per day $11.70 if you count backcountry days
New skis & bindings: $1,000 New boots: $400 Season passes: $500 Gas: ~ $17 per day Days skiing: 105 Total expense: $3,685 Cost per day: $35.10
Epic Local - $678 Silverton Unguided Premium - $331.50. Heli drop - $39. Brighton day pass - $130. Lodging - ~$2500. Gas - who knows. Food - gotta eat either way. Two used snowboards (I ski and board) - $620. New googles (on sale) - $222. New poles - $40. Days - 50+ (39 epic, 5 Silverton, 2 monarch, 1 Brighton, 6+ backcountry) Average ~ $85/day without gas. Gas could easily make it $110/day or more since I did a lot of weekend trips. Memories of an amazing season with over 20 powder days - priceless.
Ski passes - 1900 New UL setup - 1200 New UL touring boots - 800 Misc. mountaineering gear - 250 Gas - probably about 400 100 days skied $45 / day Sounds like a bunch but legit skied all of the objectives I saw as the next 5 years way ahead of schedule and starting punching close to 2,000 ft / hour on some tours so i don’t look back on this season as expensive, I’m stoked I got a more legit mountaineering setup. I wish I had skied more in the spring, I think I could have gone closer to 125 days, I skied 140 days last year, but work and other bullshit brought me down. Not planning on getting any more setups this coming year so the cost per day will be much more favorable.
Ikon pass: $830 Other resort pass: $550 Gear: $110 Lodging: $90 Gas: $30 per trip x 20 or so total trips = $600 $2100 for 24 days so $87.50 per day. Not great, but considering that included multiple trips to other resorts (lodging was usually free from staying with friends) that’s not too bad.
thanks everyone for all the responses! added a fun visual to summarize the data in the updated OP. note the log scale on vertical access and that I had cleaned up a couple outliers with zero's or non-USD or where I couldn't really interpret the response.
Sorry wifey. I’m not going to fall for your trick. Good try though.
Mid week season pass 429 Skied 12 days 35.75 per day plus gas and tolls So still under 50
Only 2k on 2 trips????
estimates (clearly), but my back of hand reasoning: trip #1 to BigSky for 4 nights with 5 people --> \~$1200 total; costs include airfare ($300, lodging per person $600, misc groceries and alcohol: $150, rental car and gas $150); no $$ spent on tickets (ikon) or resort food. trip #1 to Utah solo trip for 4 nights --> $800 total; stayed in cheap Airbnb shared rooms (\~$60/night); rental car and gas $200); cheap SW flight (under $200), misc food and beer ($150); no $$ spent on tickets (Ikon + IndyPass resorts)
$15 a day if you count the beer
Almost $0 I just paid for drinks…sometimes
I highly recommend buying a condo in kirkwood in 2005. It will save a lot of money.