Affordable Ski Vacation.....

[Mike Faron]

Hey everyone!

I'm looking to go out west again and am curious how people on this forum travel and stay. Every January we go to the Aspen area with a group and stay about 45 min away. We have a friend that owns a motel there and she only charges us about $35 a night to stay per person. I typically get really good round trip flights from Chicago to Denver, for about $150, and typically I can find a rental van for about $350 to $450 for a week. We go from Saturday to Saturday normally and ski 6 days. Plus the motel owner gets us a hookup for $100 lift ticket per day. I haven't had a season pass because of this. Also, I'm part of a ski club here and there are races out in Keystone in March so we get good hotel deals and really cheap lift tickets ($64 for adults and $37 for kids this year) through the club. That's all great when you have a group but I want to go out west and meet one or two friends and it ends up being a lot more expensive. I'm just curious if there are any ski resorts people know of that have good deals on lift tickets and affordable lodging. I don't need to stay on the mountain. I know this is a vague topic but I'd love to get out to Salt Lake City or somewhere else. The plane tickets end up being pretty expensive. And I wonder if the cost of staying on the mountain offsets the cost of the rental car and lift tickets if you get a package. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[FlyingAce]

Not CO or UT, but if Taos (NM) is on your radar, lift tickets are $67 adults thru Costco ($135 for 2 pack tickets). Someone I know found a slopeside condo thru vrbo for $120/night. Or there are other budget options in town/along the way that is on the free bus route/30 min easy drive to the ski valley. Last time I stayed at a Hampton Inn for $75/night. And there is a hostel for $40/night. You can fly into ABQ or Santa Fe and drive 3/2 hrs to Taos. The drive here is uneventful and quite easy. Of course plane tickets, car rental and lodging will depend on your travel dates. You can find trip reports on Taos on here. The mountain is not big compared to resorts in CO/UT, but it is big enough and almost always empty during the week.

 

[Magi]

You can stay in WP for under $100 a night, don't need a car if you stay in town (take a shuttle or train to the mountain ~$80), and a season pass skied 5 days costs about what your current lift ticket budget is.

 

[Mike Faron]

Sorry but what is WP?

 

[PinnacleJim]

Mike, it sounds like you are doing pretty well. One way to reduce ticket costs if you don't ski enough to make a pass work is to look for 4-packs or similar products. You typically do have to buy before the season starts. For lodging staying off the mountain will save money. And avoid weekends and holidays of course.

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

Lookup Wolf Creek and lodging in Pagosa Springs... Santa Fe can be affordable too mid week

 

[pchewn]

Sorry but what is WP?

Yeah, I hate the abbreviations that only make sense with other clues. In this case the clue is that the poster's location is "Winter Park".

 

[Prosper]

Arapahoe Basin has a 4 day pass for $229 and a 5 day pass for $269. Loveland has a 3 day lift ticket for %190-$216 depending on when you want to ski. Of course, A-basisn and LL are very different from Aspen. You can generally find inexpensive motel rooms in Silverthorne which usually include a continental breakfast but probably not $35 PP/nt cheap. If you have a number of people renting a condo or house through VRBO, AirBnB, etc can be very economical as well.

 

[focker]

Take the Amtrak from Chicago to Whitefish. You'll love it.

 

[focker]

Arapahoe Basin has a 4 day pass for $229 and a 5 day pass for $269. Loveland has a 3 day lift ticket for %190-$216 depending on when you want to ski. Of course, A-basisn and LL are very different from Aspen. You can generally find inexpensive motel rooms in Silverthorne which usually include a continental breakfast but probably not $35 PP/nt cheap. If you have a number of people renting a condo or house through VRBO, AirBnB, etc can be very economical as well.

They are both very fun hills with a ton of great terrain.

 

[Prosper]

They are both very fun hills with a ton of great terrain.

Not saying they aren't but if the OP is accustomed to Aspen the overall experience will be different.

 

[Castle Dave]

If you are with guys fly to Calgary and stay in the Hostel. Read this
https://www.pugski.com/threads/unofficial-guide-castle-mountain-resort-ab.4764/
Remember Canadian $ is cheap.

 

[SSSdave]

Airfare is more all the way to Reno but you won't need to rent a car. If you buy early season well ahead of time, multi-day Epic Day Lift Tickets for Heavenly were about $110 a day that is well below walk up prices. Kirkwood even less ( requires $3 shuttle bus). Mid January through mid March for more consistent snowfall.

From Reno RNO airport to South Lake Tahoe via South Tahoe Airporter $53 roundtrip. You can ski the afternoon on the day you arrive for free. For lodging mid week Sunday through Thursday nights, the California side from Stateline where the big casinos are has much decent lodging for less than $60 a night including all taxes that are more than twice that rate on weekends when large numbers of gamblers come up. So way cheaper than almost anywhere else but one needs to know names of lodging properties else any general web searching will only show the more expensive fancy accommodations. Secret... use Google Maps. From there, the Gondola is easy walking distance. And the big Raleys Supermarket is also walking distance.

 

[Bad Bob]

I drive from my house to Red Mountain , 49° North, Silver Mountain, Mount Spokane, Lookout Pass, or Schweitzer and come home at night. 49° and Silver Mountain are the best deals because I paid $330 for a combined season pass. Red is rare, don't get home till 9 or so.

 

[focker]

Airfare is more all the way to Reno but you won't need to rent a car. If you buy early season well ahead of time, multi-day Epic Day Lift Tickets for Heavenly were about $110 a day that is well below walk up prices. Kirkwood even less ( requires $3 shuttle bus). Mid January through mid March for more consistent snowfall.

From Reno RNO airport to South Lake Tahoe via South Tahoe Airporter $53 roundtrip. You can ski the afternoon on the day you arrive for free. For lodging mid week Sunday through Thursday nights, the California side from Stateline where the big casinos are has much decent lodging for less than $60 a night including all taxes that are more than twice that rate on weekends when large numbers of gamblers come up. So way cheaper than almost anywhere else but one needs to know names of lodging properties else any general web searching will only show the more expensive fancy accommodations. Secret... use Google Maps. From there, the Gondola is easy walking distance. And the big Raleys Supermarket is also walking distance.

I was blown away by how cheap the hotels are in the S Lake Tahoe when looking into this for a trip next year. $70 a night for nice places. I expected it to be way more expensive. You're right that once you get there, things don't cost much. You could also fly in Sacramento and rent a car if the airfare is way cheaper.

 

[Cameron]

I certainly feel your pain as this year will be the first time taking a family ski trip and its costing me as much going to see the giant mouse in Florida during peak season. If you're looking to cut costs and want to go to Utah I'd consider staying in Ogden and skiing Powder Mountain and Snowbasin. It's been a while since I did that but the Hampton Inn downtown would also shuttle skiers up to the mountains if you didn't want to to the driving.

 

[SSSdave]

Not only is staying in the Stateline Gondola area extra cheap midweek, but one is within a dense mountain community with a full range of shops and services where one can walk everywhere. Just look at it all on the Google Maps link below. And that is all due to the many decades of being at the center of the year round attraction of and economic engine of Nevada casinos plus the more recent rise of the impressive, modern Heavenly Village about the Heavenly Mountain Gondola area. So much beyond usual just skiing at US resorts and that is a key reason why there are so many foreigners now.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Around Town | Heavenly Ski Resort

Explore some of South Lake Tahoe's favorite hot spots! From first chair to last call, South Lake Tahoe will have your days packed from start to finish!

www.skiheavenly.com

 

[Mike Rogers]

Airfare to Canada can be a bit expensive, but once you are here, you can enjoy the benefits of a weak Canadian dollar. Using the RCR discount card, you can get 7 days of skiing at Kicking Horse and Fernie for 375 USD per person. I stay at a motel in golden that costs 56 usd/night for one bed or 75 usd for 2 beds.

Gas and beer a bit pricey.

Castle, as mentioned above is cheaper. There are a bunch of cheap motels in pincher creek as well.

 

[Nathanvg]

The best way to do SLC cheap is:

• Ground transport: get a cheap rental car and drie to ski area unless snowing. If snowing, plan on taking ski bus.
• Lodging: stay in a cheap Air b&b in Sandy or similar. You can save by cooking in.
• Lift tickets: you can buy tickets day of at places like skinsee. Another option is "ski city super pass" which includes the bus pass. Both are around $105/day

Staying slopeside almost never is cheaper than staying offsite but it is a much nicer experience.

It's hard to beat cheap flights to Denver. The major ski areas have few in season discounts. One exception is discounts in April, sometimes including lodging. There can be killer deals but it varies year to year. April is still a good time to ski.

Another cheap option is to ski the smaller ski areas like Loveland, Monarch, Cooper (not copper), etc.

 

[frontfive]

When I went in 2017 we did the ski city super pass deal- it was free with select hotels. We chose the lowest cost hotel in Sandy for under $100 per night & gained 2 adult tickets per night with stay. We had an awesome time at Alta, Snowbird, & Solitude for under $500 total