Skiing in North America can be ‘extortionate.’ Here’s where to save money while not scrimping on snow and stoke
By Terry Ward, CNN
(CNN) — Anyone who’s skied at a major North American resort in recent years might have experienced as much sticker shock as fresh snow.
Lift ticket prices at many resorts in the United States and Canada are dynamic, which means they adjust in real time according to demand. And price points are often alarming – especially compared with what it costs to ski in Europe.
Peak-day pricing for single-day lift tickets at Colorado’s Beaver Creek over the upcoming holiday period shows more than $300 for same-day lift tickets on December dates leading up to Christmas Day. That’s true at Vail and at Park City in Utah, too.
“If you don’t plan ahead, in the US especially, it becomes prohibitively expensive for families to go skiing. It’s become extortionate,” says Julia Schneemann, senior editor of online ski magazine SnowBrains.
She points to 2008 and the introduction of Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass (an unlimited season pass for use at multiple resorts) as the point in history when daily lift ticket prices at many US resorts “exploded.”
Indeed, season pass holders – who can save substantially on the amount they end up paying per visit – made up 50% of skier and rider visits across the United States during the 2023/2024 season (compared with 31% of visits from standard day or multiday ticket holders), according to National Ski Areas Association statistics.
North America-bound skiers should look to smaller, independently owned resorts in the United States and Canada to get the best prices, Schneemann says.
“Smaller resorts have a lot to offer people who want to go for a spontaneous trip and don’t want to end up spending two or three thousand dollars for a family,” says Schneemann.
Today’s widespread dynamic pricing model on lift tickets takes its lead from the airline industry, says Dan Sherman of ski travel agency Ski.com, which sells ski vacation packages that include lift tickets, lodging and more. The greater the demand, the higher lift ticket prices soar.
“The worst thing people can do is walk up to the ticket window and buy a lift ticket the day that they’re going skiing. And that is intentional,” Sherman says.
But there are many resorts across the United States and Canada where the snow is great and lift ticket prices — even the last-minute walk-up ones — are well below the $300 mark that many of the big-name resorts are commanding.
Many max out at roughly $125 a day for walk-up lift tickets and can often cost quite a bit less.
Here are some stellar mountains to consider.
Brundage Mountain, Idaho
Vertical drop: 1,921 feet
Skiable acres: 1,920 acres lift-accessed terrain
Max ticket window lift ticket price: $125 per day
Just north of the lakeside resort town of McCall in west central Idaho, Brundage Mountain is a favorite among freeride skiers and snowboarders. Guided snowcat trips into 18,000 acres of backcountry terrain within Payette National Forest make untracked bowls and powdery tree-lined glades accessible. The resort’s six lifts access 70 named trails where snowy conditions are standard – the base area averages 320 inches (813 centimeters) of annual snowfall, with steeper and deeper conditions the higher up the mountain you go.
While there’s no lodging at the base of the mountain, you can stay 15 minutes away in McCall at the Shore Lodge on Payette Lake. There are thermal waters to dip into at the hotel, but it’s worth heading out on a snowmobiling tour (the only way there in winter) to reach Burgdorf Hot Springs, where balmy water pumps out from springheads into rustic pools.
Sunlight Mountain Resort, Colorado
Vertical drop: 2,010 feet
Skiable acres: More than 730 acres
Max ticket window lift ticket price: $104 per day
There’s a scant 40 miles (64 kilometers) between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, but the two mountain towns are worlds apart when it comes to who wears their fur on the outside — and who doesn’t wear it at all. For a more affordable ski vacation where you won’t sacrifice any of the stoke, Glenwood Springs’ Sunlight Mountain Resort delivers at about half the price of Colorado’s big-ticket mountains. The run called The Heathen on the resort’s experts-only East Ridge is one of Colorado’s steepest lift-serviced runs, with a pitch of 52 degrees. Plenty of green and blue runs attract families.
If you book the Ski, Swim, Stay package at nearby Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge or Hotel Colorado, kids 12 and younger ski free with each paying adult (and kids 5 and younger always ski free here).
The Summit at Snoqualmie, Washington
Vertical drop: 2,280 feet
Skiable acres: 1,994 acres
Max ticket window lift ticket price: $140
Spanning Summit and Alpental mountains with four base areas, The Summit at Snoqualmie, just an hour east of Seattle, is already stacking up the snow for the season. Magic carpets and plenty of beginner and intermediate runs make Seattle’s “home mountain” a favorite among families.
Two new chair lifts opening for the 2024/2025 season will access even more terrain. Advanced skiers should take note of the new Internationale chairlift in the Alpental area, offering direct access to the resort’s most expert terrain at spots such as the Alpental Back Bowls and Snake Dance. The resort claims to have the most night skiing in the United States, too, on offer from three of the base areas.
Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec
Vertical drop: 2,050 feet
Skiable acres: 547 acres
Max ticket window lift ticket price: $145 CAD (about $100 US)
With the US dollar still holding strong against Canada’s, skiing north of the border can make for a particular bargain right now when you choose the right resort. Less than an hour north of charming Quebec City, the affordable ski resort Mont-Sainte-Anne sees an average of 209 inches of natural snowfall a year, and has 71 trails to ski or snowboard (one is nearly three miles long). Roughly half the terrain here is intermediate, and the resort has a dedicated lift to access the terrain park, where 40 obstacles challenge riders.
Stay nearby in one of the Scandinavian-inspired mini chalets at Le Versant Mont-Sainte-Anne, and you’ll have access to outdoor soaking pools, sauna and steam room facilities.
SkiBig3, Banff, Alberta, Canada
Resorts: Banff Sunshine, Lake Louise Ski Resort and Mt. Norquay
Max ticket window lift ticket prices: SkiBig3 (all three resorts): $189 CAD (about $130 US); Banff Sunshine: $174 CAD (about $120 US); Lake Louise Ski Resort: $169 CAD (about $118 US); and Mt Norquay: $134 CAD (about $93 US)
Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies is a stunner all year round. The area also enjoys one of the longest ski seasons in North America, with slopes that stay open from November until May at the three resorts that make up SkiBig3, a bundled offering with free ski shuttles between them.
Famed for all-natural snow (there’s no snowmaking here, with an average snowfall of up to 30 feet), Banff Sunshine sits atop the Continental Divide. Skiers come for 3,300 acres of skiable terrain across all ability levels, including the famed extreme ski run Delirium Dive.
Four mountain faces make up Lake Louise Ski Resort, a family favorite because from the top of nearly every chairlift there’s a green (beginner) run back to the base area.
And Mt. Norquay, just 10 minutes from the town of Banff, also serves up beginner to advanced terrain and has a tube run with six speedy lanes. You can buy separate lift tickets for each resort, but the SkiBig3 pass only costs a bit more and gets you access to all three as well as night skiing at Mt. Norquay.
Brighton Resort, Utah
Vertical drop: 1,875 feet
Skiable acres: 1,050 acres
Max ticket window lift ticket price: $168
Atop Utah’s Big Cottonwood Canyon, right next to larger Solitude Mountain Resort, Brighton Resort sees an average annual snowfall of 500 inches and has 66 runs and five terrain parks (a snowboarder favorite) for making the most of the white stuff. Thanks to tree-riding options and reliable powder stashes in the unpatrolled backcountry, the resort draws a dedicated free-rider crowd, too. This season, Brighton is expanding its night skiing terrain to Mount Millicent (locals call it Milly).
Powderhorn Mountain Resort, Mesa, Colorado
Vertical drop: 1,650 feet
Skiable acres: 1,600 acres
Max ticket window lift ticket price: $119
In Colorado’s western reaches, more than two hours from the state’s big-name resorts along the I-70 corridor, Powderhorn Mountain Resort has a community mountain feel and an impressive amount of accessible terrain. Just 40 miles east of Grand Junction, the resort sits atop the world’s largest flat-top mountain, Grand Mesa, and gets roughly 250 inches of Colorado’s renowned dry powder snow a year. The magic carpet and Easy Rider lift keep families busy skiing greens at the base while experts make for the West End for more advanced terrain.
“If you want to ski steeps and trees and glades, you can go up top and ski that. If you want to ski some wonderful wide-open blues and greens, they’ve got all of that. I think the only reason that people haven’t heard of it is that it’s just a little bit off the beaten track, which applies to many Colorado resorts,” says Sarah Beatty of Colorado Ski Country USA.
Stay in lively Grand Junction for all the fun vibes (and abundant breweries) of an outdoorsy Colorado city or opt to book one of the resort’s tiny homes that are a short stroll from the mountain’s base area and main chairlift.
Panorama Mountain Resort, Panorama, British Columbia
Vertical drop: 4,265 feet
Skiable acres: 2,975 acres
Max ticket window lift ticket price: $185 CAD (about $130 US)
Skiers and snowboarders looking to cruise wide runs along the fall line and those looking for something far more steep and deep will find their callings at this resort in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia. Half of Panorama Mountain Resort’s runs are suitable for beginner and intermediate skiers while the Taynton Bowl — once only accessible to heli- skiers — lures experts with 750 acres of inbound (patrolled and avalanche controlled) black runs.
Alyeska Resort, Girdwood, Alaska
Vertical drop: 2,500 feet
Skiable acres: 1,610 acres
Max ticket window lift ticket price: $169
Skiing in Alaska comes with next-level bragging rights. And Girdwood’s Alyeska Resort, an hour’s drive from Anchorage, offers heli-skiing to alpine bowls as well as 76 trails that appeal to all levels, making those bragging rights more accessible than you might think.
The real showstopper here is the resort’s average annual snowfall — more than 600 inches at the summit. The resort is also famed for having the longest continuous double black diamond run in North America, Christmas Chute, which plunges down its North Face for 1,000 feet.
New for the 2024/2025 ski season, Alyeska Black Diamond Club, a hotel-within-a-hotel at the base resort, ups the luxury ante with a private concierge and ski valet exclusively for guests, among other amenities.
You don’t have to be staying on property to enjoy a soak in Alyeska Nordic Spa’s outdoor pools and barrel saunas.
Lutsen Mountains, Lutsen, Minnesota
Vertical drop: 800 feet
Skiable acres: 1,000 acres
Max ticket window lift ticket price: $126
Home to the only gondola in the Midwest and the Midwest’s largest ski resort, Lutsen Mountains might be as close as you’ll come to an out-West ski experience in this part of the country. Roughly 90 miles north of Duluth in the far northern reaches of Minnesota, you’re surrounded by wilderness when you ski the resort’s 95 runs (including one that’s two miles long, plus 60 acres of tree skiing runs, too).
Views of Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters are all around, and the region is known for its dark skies, so you might even get lucky and see the Northern Lights. For the full northern experience, stay in one of the resort’s Scandinavian-style cabins, complete with their own private saunas.
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