# And the most expensive lift ticket for 2012-2013 goes to........



## skiNEwhere (Nov 13, 2012)

...........................................(Drumroll).................................


(U.S Only)


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## drjeff (Nov 13, 2012)

I'm guessing Vail

50th anniversary season and their new 10 passeneger wi-fi equipped heated gondola that i'm guessing had easily an 8 figure price tag


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## skiNEwhere (Nov 13, 2012)

You are correct. They are actually charging more during the Christmas Break $109. Ridiculous, especially seeing as it's impossible to ski even half the mountain in one day


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## drjeff (Nov 13, 2012)

skiNEwhere said:


> You are correct. They are actually charging more during the Christmas Break $109. Ridiculous, especially seeing as it's impossible to ski even half the mountain in one day



That being said, there are plenty of ways to avoid paying anywhere near that walk up rate.  I know that my family is going out there the week after Presidents week, and we picked up the 7 day Epic Pass at early season pricing that get us access to Vail, Beavercreek, Breckenridge and Keystone (all on our agenda) and even A-basin if we wanted too. About $75 a day for adults and under $40 a day for the kids


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## skiNEwhere (Nov 13, 2012)

The Epic pass is the best way to go if you are skiing just 4 days or more in Colorado.


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## Gnarcissaro (Nov 13, 2012)

And isn't it true at Vail that there's a fee for parking, as well?


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## skiNEwhere (Nov 13, 2012)

Gnarcissaro said:


> And isn't it true at Vail that there's a fee for parking, as well?



If you park in the parking garage, yes  (I'm not sure if you can park anywhere else though)


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## Polarizor (Nov 13, 2012)

Ahem. If we go about this the right way, and take expensive at it's Merriam-Webster definitive value, Deer Valley at $106 is far more than Vail at $109.


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## skiNEwhere (Nov 13, 2012)

And if we go about this by every elses definition of expensive, you're wrong


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## Puck it (Nov 13, 2012)

I think I paid more then that last year.  $115 in March and paid for parking.   There was a crap load of Bogner walking around!!!


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## skiNEwhere (Nov 13, 2012)

Puck it said:


> I think I paid more then that last year.  $115 in March and paid for parking.   There was a crap load of Bogner walking around!!!



At Vail?


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## Nick (Nov 13, 2012)

Ouch that hurts

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2


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## Puck it (Nov 13, 2012)

skiNEwhere said:


> At Vail?


 Yes.  I think it was was that much. I bought two too.They do not have discounts at the local shops. So you have to buy at the ticket window.


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## Puck it (Nov 13, 2012)

Just check my credit card statement from last year.  I was wrong. it was $116 per ticket and $35 for parking( I think that was the garage).


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## wtcobb (Nov 13, 2012)

I had a 3-day Epic Pass last year for $97/day. If I remember correctly we had to pay for the lot at Vail (not just the garage), but it was about $15/day.


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## skiNEwhere (Nov 13, 2012)

Vail is a good resort, but I don't think it's all it's cracked out to be. I'd take A-basin or Copper over it any day


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## AdironRider (Nov 13, 2012)

You didnt, unless your counting parking in that 115 figure. 

Jackson is 105 a day this year I believe. Not that many deals out there for my hill, but Id argue its worth it without having to deal with everything Vail. 

Also there is free parking in Vail but not a lot, so good luck getting the info you need on that one.


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## Puck it (Nov 13, 2012)

AdironRider said:


> You didnt, unless your counting parking in that 115 figure.
> 
> Jackson is 105 a day this year I believe. Not that many deals out there for my hill, but Id argue its worth it without having to deal with everything Vail.
> 
> Also there is free parking in Vail but not a lot, so good luck getting the info you need on that one.




I checked the cc statement and the statment was $232 from the Vail Ticket Kiosk. I know for sure the ticket charge was separate.


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## drjeff (Nov 13, 2012)

I'm torn on the pay to park thing.  In one instance, when I go to say a Patriots game ($40 to park in the lot I usually park in) or a Red Sox game (between $30 and $50 if I drive in depending on where I can find a lot), Six Flags New England - would of been $10 each time had I not gotten the season parking option with my season pass there, recently Disney/Universal Orlando and Legoland Florida (all about $20 to park), let alone most hotels in a city where you pay to park, the basic concept of it doesn't phase me too much anymore.

Then again, I'm paying a bit for the "privilege" to pay them even more to then use the facility I'm at that day! WTF?? :smash: 

The businessman side of me gets it.  The acreage that the parking lot sits on is costing someone $$.  More than likely there both a captive "audience" and demand for that acreage (that demand could be from a guest wanting to park there close to the venue or it could be from a developer looking to building some housing or retail units on that acreage or even from the owners of the venue who might want to expand onto that acreage).  The consumer side of me, while getting more and more conditioned to it, still has some issues with the pay to park before you pay to play concept!


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## drjeff (Nov 13, 2012)

Puck it said:


> I checked the cc statement and the statment was $232 from the Vail Ticket Kiosk. I know for sure the ticket charge was separate.



You sure that the receipt wasn't say $100 in lift tickets AND $132 in bar bills    :beer:


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## Puck it (Nov 13, 2012)

Found it!

EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado — The Vail and Beaver Creek single-day lift ticket price has gone up to $116 this week, one of the busiest weeks of the ski season.

The price is up from $108 during the same week in 2010, although Vail Resorts says its guests are increasingly buying season passes and advance purchase passes rather than single-day tickets.


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## JimG. (Nov 13, 2012)

skiNEwhere said:


> Vail is a good resort, but I don't think it's all it's cracked out to be. I'd take A-basin or Copper over it any day



Agreed...I'd throw Breck into that group too.


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## AdironRider (Nov 13, 2012)

Puck it said:


> I checked the cc statement and the statment was $232 from the Vail Ticket Kiosk. I know for sure the ticket charge was separate.




Not sure if they do a similar deal to Jay/Stowe and charge you for RFID.


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## bobbutts (Nov 13, 2012)

What an awkward pricing structure.  I mean their multi-resort season's pass prices are far cheaper than you can find for any large resort out here and their day tickets are far more expensive.

Epic Pass no blackout is $699 adult, $359 child
At $116 per holiday the payoff is in ~6 days for an adult.

Contrast with Stowe, I'll use the expired early season rate: $1,653
​At $92 per holiday the payoff is in ~18 days for an adult.

As someone who is happy to buy a pass, I find myself jealous.  Epic pass is a no-brainer.


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## Polarizor (Nov 13, 2012)

Puck it said:


> Found it!
> 
> EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado — The Vail and Beaver Creek single-day lift ticket price has gone up to $116 this week, one of the busiest weeks of the ski season.
> 
> The price is up from $108 during the same week in 2010, although Vail Resorts says its guests are increasingly buying season passes and advance purchase passes rather than single-day tickets.



President's week?


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## snoseek (Nov 13, 2012)

If you get there early and know where to go there is free parking at vail. The epic pass is a great deal and vail is definitely a fun mountain,but at those walk up prices I can think of plenty of places in Colorado I'd rather be. For that money I'd rather be at aspen, tride, copper, crested butte ect......


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## Puck it (Nov 13, 2012)

Polarizor said:


> President's week?



No, it was beginning of March. It was considered a holiday week though.  I think it was vacation for Texas.


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## 4aprice (Nov 13, 2012)

bobbutts said:


> What an awkward pricing structure.  I mean their multi-resort season's pass prices are far cheaper than you can find for any large resort out here and their day tickets are far more expensive.
> 
> Epic Pass no blackout is $699 adult, $359 child
> At $116 per holiday the payoff is in ~6 days for an adult.
> ...



No brainer for the hard core skier and those lucky enough to be in the Denver area for sure.  Shows how much they rely on the out of town market.  Most people come in on a 6 day trip and many of those take days off.  Utah has not followed suit with a similar pass and as your Stowe example illustrates it ain't happening here in the east. 

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ


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## Polarizor (Nov 13, 2012)

Puck it said:


> I think it was vacation for Texas.



Ha ha...OIL week. The Texans can afford to pay thru the nose...so let's charge em thru the nose week. lol


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## ScottySkis (Nov 13, 2012)

Polarizor said:


> Ha ha...OIL week. The Texans can afford to pay thru the nose...so let's charge em thru the nose week. lol





Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2

When I skiied Utah several years ago I saw a lot of people from Texas.


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## Polarizor (Nov 13, 2012)

My sis is now "from" Texas and skis Deer Valley. I think most of the people "from" Texas who ski Utah are likely from other parts....not actual Texans.


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## RISkier (Nov 14, 2012)

We bought the Epic pass a couple of years ago and did two trips. Spent a week in Vail and then 8 nights in Frisco. Got about 15 days of skiing on the pass. Don't know the numbers but I'd guess there is a completely different distribution of day skiers and vacation skiers in the East. My guess is a much larger proportion of day trippers in the East and a much higher proportion of 4+ day vacationers in many parts of the West. They kind of keep the price of the Epic pass at a point where it doesn't make sense unless folks are planning to ski at least 7 days. But yes, the Epic pass is a real deal. We liked skiing at Vail but didn't like the town much. Though we didn't stay in Breck we enjoyed the village when we were there and we really liked staying in downtown Frisco.


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## UVSHTSTRM (Nov 14, 2012)

How does it go?  "Texas the most $40,000 a year millionaires in the country".


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## NotEasyBeingGreen (Nov 16, 2012)

Truly being from TX, my purely unscientific assertion is that real Texans generally ski New Mexico or Durango.


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## fbrissette (Nov 18, 2012)

skiNEwhere said:


> You are correct. They are actually charging more during the Christmas Break $109. Ridiculous, especially seeing as it's impossible to ski even half the mountain in one day



How about most expensive in the east ?  I got Stowe at 92$.  Tremblant used to be just as high, but they have brought down the price to just 76$ this year.


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## deadheadskier (Nov 18, 2012)

fbrissette said:


> How about most expensive in the east ?  I got Stowe at 92$.  Tremblant used to be just as high, but they have brought down the price to just 76$ this year.



Do you think that's in response to Jay lowering their price?


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## BenedictGomez (Nov 18, 2012)

deadheadskier said:


> Do you think that's in response to Jay lowering their price?



That's a safe bet.   It's not a secret that Jay Peak is heavily targeting the Montreal market, and Mont Tremblant is in the crosshairs of that move.


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## riverc0il (Nov 18, 2012)

fbrissette said:


> How about most expensive in the east ?  I got Stowe at 92$.  Tremblant used to be just as high, but they have brought down the price to just 76$ this year.


Stratton (also Intrawest) also lowered their price considerably. 

I can't imagine either was in response to Jay targeting day trippers.


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## ScottySkis (Nov 18, 2012)

riverc0il said:


> Stratton (also Intrawest) also lowered their price considerably.
> 
> I can't imagine either was in response to Jay targeting day trippers.





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As a day skiers I as much as I know about the snow fall amount at Jay and glades and lack of steepness and lack of natural snow at Stratton, in the last five years I been to Stratton 5 times and Jay 0. Mostly because of commute from where I live, not how much it cost for a lift ticket.


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## fbrissette (Nov 18, 2012)

deadheadskier said:


> Do you think that's in response to Jay lowering their price?



I don't think so.  I have not skied Tremblant since we moved the second home to Jay Peak, so, for all I know, they could have lowered their prices last year.  I think that the past five years have been tough at Tremblant who relies a lot on visitors from the USA and abroad (incredibly enough, they get a lot of Europeans and Japanese skiers).   With the world wide crisis and high dollar value, I think that the price decrease outlines the fact that they need the local skiers a lot more than they used to.  

As mentioned below this might be an Intrawest strategy.  In any event, I have not seen any Jay winter publicity for Montreal yet, so I would think that very few people actually know that daily prices have gone down. Jay seems to mostly market their waterpark to the Montreal crowd.   

Last time I rented a cottage in Tremblant (that was 11 years ago), the regular price for a daily ticket was 85$.   The 76$ ticket is nearly10$ below the 2001 rate !


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## steamboat1 (Nov 18, 2012)

riverc0il said:


> Stratton (also Intrawest) also lowered their price considerably.
> 
> I can't imagine either was in response to Jay targeting day trippers.


Strattons weekend/holiday rate is $87. I don't think that's lower than last year. Maybe the weekday rate is lower at $76.

Other mountains I looked at all raised their weekend/holiday rates. Sugarbush, Killington & Okemo all raised their weekend/holiday rates to $88.

Weekday rates went up as well with Sugarbush at $84. Killington & Okemo weekday rates are $80.

Of course these are walk up window rates. They all have other deals.


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## riverc0il (Nov 18, 2012)

I stand corrected on the Stratton rate. I did review their web site recently and thought for sure it was in the 70s. Maybe they had not posted their weekend/holiday rate when I looked or perhaps I was looking at their X2 rate.


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## mlkrgr (Nov 18, 2012)

riverc0il said:


> Stratton (also Intrawest) also lowered their price considerably.
> 
> I can't imagine either was in response to Jay targeting day trippers.



I think $76 midweek and $87 weekend/holiday is what it was last year at Stratton. They have been fairly aggressive on deals this year so far and found it striking that the mountain was just slightly more busy than a normal midweek day when they were giving free tickets out on Facebook Friday. Ski bus pricing is going up for all resorts in general, so it is tempting for me to buy into them. Looks like the best deals would be BSSC's midwinter day trips to Mt Snow or K at $63 a pop plus $4 parking.


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## midd (Nov 19, 2012)

I keep needing to remind myself to juxtapose lift ticket prices with greens fees. Not only with skiing are you granted access to all of the best areas, it's remarkably more affordable than golf.  

Pebble $495
Bandon/Pac Dunes: $210-280
St. Andrews: $140-$200 (ballpark w/exchange)


Even "good" local courses like Pinehills and Granite Links bang you for more than the most expensive lift ticket in the country.  Plus the resorts don't force you off the mountain after a certain number of runs or charge you more to go back out.


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## kingslug (Nov 19, 2012)

Its a shame that soon it will become so expensive it will knock a lot of people out of the game. Mention skiing to anyone and the first thing they say is how expensive it is...$38.00 Alta tix..those where the days...


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## steamboat1 (Nov 19, 2012)

kingslug said:


> Its a shame that soon it will become so expensive it will knock a lot of people out of the game. Mention skiing to anyone and the first thing they say is how expensive it is...$38.00 Alta tix..those where the days...



Lol, first time I was at Alta tickets were $7. Snowbird next door was $18 with the tram.


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## BenedictGomez (Nov 19, 2012)

The most expensive places are outrageous = agreed.

But if you look at the average ski resort's lift ticket pricing over time and adjust them for inflation over time, they're fairly reasonably consistent over the last 20'ish years, especially if you take account of increases in insurance costs and electricity etc...

What hurts is the fact that overall cost of living in America is increasing while the rate of our pay is decreasing.  That, and the fact that the value of the US dollar is crumbling.  And it's only going to get worse.  

HAPPY MONDAY!!!


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## ScottySkis (Nov 19, 2012)

steamboat1 said:


> Lol, first time I was at Alta tickets were $7. Snowbird next door was $18 with the tram.





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My dad Camero in 1970? Was 3000$.


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## riverc0il (Nov 19, 2012)

midd said:


> I keep needing to remind myself to juxtapose lift ticket prices with greens fees. Not only with skiing are you granted access to all of the best areas, it's remarkably more affordable than golf.
> 
> Pebble $495
> Bandon/Pac Dunes: $210-280
> ...


On the flip side, when I golfed, I played a lot of nice courses for $15-30 using mid-week, evening, and early/late season pricing. I don't really think you can compare skiing to golf on pricing, though. The best private golf courses can charge as much as the market will bear... their business model is creating a premium product that they can charge top dollar for yet still pack the course because people will pay for it. Ski areas have the luxury of not having a maximum capacity. With golf, you can only have 8 players per hole minus par 3s. At ski areas, the line just gets longer as more people are added to the mountain. Ski areas don't limit their guest numbers to keep the price high... because it wouldn't work, top ski resorts don't have the same cachet that top golf courses have.


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## ScottySkis (Nov 19, 2012)

riverc0il said:


> On the flip side, when I golfed, I played a lot of nice courses for $15-30 using mid-week, evening, and early/late season pricing. I don't really think you can compare skiing to golf on pricing, though. The best private golf courses can charge as much as the market will bear... their business model is creating a premium product that they can charge top dollar for yet still pack the course because people will pay for it. Ski areas have the luxury of not having a maximum capacity. With golf, you can only have 8 players per hole minus par 3s. At ski areas, the line just gets longer as more people are added to the mountain. Ski areas don't limit their guest numbers to keep the price high... because it wouldn't work, top ski resorts don't have the same cachet that top golf courses have.



I'm pretty sure Deer Valley in Utah has a limit of people, I think its 10,000.

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## Polarizor (Nov 19, 2012)

Scotty said:


> I'm pretty sure Deer Valley in Utah has a limit of people, I think its 10,000.
> 
> Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2



Yes...they do. I think it's that or maybe even less. They encourage you to buy your tickets online in advance to avoid meeting with a closed ticket window.


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## Polarizor (Nov 20, 2012)

4aprice said:


> No brainer for the hard core skier and those lucky enough to be in the Denver area for sure.  Shows how much they rely on the out of town market.  Most people come in on a 6 day trip and many of those take days off.  Utah has not followed suit with a similar pass and as your Stowe example illustrates it ain't happening here in the east.
> 
> Alex
> 
> Lake Hopatcong, NJ



Vail has very openly stated they want to derrive 75% or more of their skier visit's from pass holders as they insure them from miserable winters like the one they had last year in Colorado. They were bragging about the same when they saw almost no effect on their gross revenues as a result of this strategy last year.


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## drjeff (Nov 20, 2012)

Scotty said:


> I'm pretty sure Deer Valley in Utah has a limit of people, I think its 10,000.
> 
> Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2





Polarizor said:


> Yes...they do. I think it's that or maybe even less. They encourage you to buy your tickets online in advance to avoid meeting with a closed ticket window.



And with the exception of the "big 3" times (Christmas week, MLK weekend, and Pres week) you don't need to buy ahead at DV and risk them being "sold out" - and even when they're "crowded" they still have so much uphill capacity that you're not waiting more than a couple of minutes at the major intermediate pod lifts.

The one thing about DV that kind of shows how good an actual skier's mountain (not meant as a snowboarder dig, just referring to layout and cutting of the trails and how it makes the mountain ski) it is, is that how many times have we all read reports about somehow going to DV for their 1st time, and expecting it to be just a mountain of wall to wall corduroy covered with Bogner clad beginners, and came away from the day talking about far more than just how good the food is and how fancy the bathrooms are


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## swampwiz (Dec 13, 2012)

When I lived in Arvada, CO (Denver area), for the winters in the late 00's, I got the Copper Mountain season pass for $229.  One year I headed out there 37 times, for about $6/day average.


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## Blizzard of Wahhs (Dec 13, 2012)

drjeff said:


> And with the exception of the "big 3" times (Christmas week, MLK weekend, and Pres week) you don't need to buy ahead at DV and risk them being "sold out" - and even when they're "crowded" they still have so much uphill capacity that you're not waiting more than a couple of minutes at the major intermediate pod lifts.
> 
> The one thing about DV that kind of shows how good an actual skier's mountain (not meant as a snowboarder dig, just referring to layout and cutting of the trails and how it makes the mountain ski) it is, is that how many times have we all read reports about somehow going to DV for their 1st time, and expecting it to be just a mountain of wall to wall corduroy covered with Bogner clad beginners, and came away from the day talking about far more than just how good the food is and how fancy the bathrooms are



granted they have decent meadow skipping, but how is that not amenable to single plankers? I really don't get how a mountain can be a "skier's mountain" on a geographic basis. Culturally sure, but are some mtns really designed for ski traffic and not board traffic? 

I call bullshit and submit evidence A.

evidence A: preseason traffic in UT is concentrated around Alta in bounds terrain as it has a lot of low rock/high snowfall runs. Magically, once the runs fill in they become "skier only" runs and are no longer fit for use by single plankers. Geographic reality or manmade farce?


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## skiNEwhere (Dec 14, 2012)

swampwiz said:


> When I lived in Arvada, CO (Denver area), for the winters in the late 00's, I got the Copper Mountain season pass for $229.  One year I headed out there 37 times, for about $6/day average.



You still in CO?


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## swampwiz (Dec 14, 2012)

skiNEwhere said:


> You still in CO?


  No, I was only there because I got flooded out from Hurricane Katrina.  Since I had to live away for a while, what better place than somewhere within commuting distance to ski?


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## thetrailboss (Dec 14, 2012)

I went Deer hunting yesterday and snagged some discount Deer Valley tickets...the only blackouts are Christmas and President's Weekend...

$62.50 per day. I like that better than $102.

You have to be pampered at least once in a while. I was surprised that I like the place and the change of pace from other places.


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