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onstar1

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I always thought Jackson or Whistler were the most expensive until i started looking into Aspen/Snowmass. Lodging is around 300 a night.
 

Pumba

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I always thought Jackson or Whistler were the most expensive until i started looking into Aspen/Snowmass. Lodging is around 300 a night.

You can def get better than those prices. If you are ok with basic accommodations , I’ve booked places btwn 100-200 a night.

My trips to Utah have actually been more expensive than the few times I’ve been to aspen/Snowmass.
 

Mike King

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I always thought Jackson or Whistler were the most expensive until i started looking into Aspen/Snowmass. Lodging is around 300 a night.
If you want expensive, look at Vail, Beaver Creek, or Breckenridge. Aspen has less expensive options(Pokolodi and Wildwood at Snowmass, St. Moritz, Inn at Aspen, Tyrolean in Aspen) and it's not only the lodging that runs the bill up. Food is a big one as well. On mountain food at Aspen is expensive but good, and it's cheaper than Vail. Over Christmas, our lift ticket walkup rate was $179 and Vail's was $209. Our lessons are about 15% less than Vail's.

BTW, Whistler is about $300 a night for almost all lodging.

Mike
 

Philpug

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Do you know what is expensive? Ignorance. If you are going to a resort, do your research, spend some time educating yourself on what your options are. Plan ahead. Look at a pass like the Ikon or Epic pass, you will pay as much for a seasons worth of skiing at dozens of resorts as a 5 day pass at some of the resorts mentioned. With options like AirBnB and VBRO you are not limited to going through the main switchboard.
 

AngryAnalyst

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I am surprised you thought of Whistler and Jackson as most expensive before. Aspen is a bit cheaper than Vail in my limited experience and both cost meaningfully more than Whistler or Jackson most of the time.

The one thing I would say is that the cost of accommodation at base areas is highly variable. If you want ski in/ski out 4 or 5 star you pay one set of prices, off hill Air BnB is another. I'm not sure there is a useful way of attempting to rank ski areas by lodging cost for visitors.

Just for context, my wife and I are DINKs. I can tell you the prices you mention for all of those places are rather below what I have tended to pay to stay at them, but I was not devoting much effort to saving money on lodging. I might well need to make different choices if/when I have children.

Lift tickets and travel costs are the biggest "constant" across people components of resort expense, but even lift tickets are decreasingly relevant for the (I suspect) large fraction of this board that purchased an either the Epic or Ikon passes.

All of that said, I actually believe and agree Vail's consolidation of the ski industry is raising some of the costs of skiing materially. In also believe that on net it has some benefits for consumers at present though that could easily change in 10 years if they take large price increases on Epic passes to increase margins without re-investing in resort maintenance.
 

Coach13

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Do you know what is expensive? Ignorance. If you are going to a resort, do your research, spend some time educating yourself on what your options are. Plan ahead. Look at a pass like the Ikon or Epic pass, you will pay as much for a seasons worth of skiing at dozens of resorts as a 5 day pass at some of the resorts mentioned. With options like AirBnB and VBRO you are not limited to going through the main switchboard.

Exactly, we vacation at Vail as inexpensively as we vacation anywhere else.
 

tch

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I see things slightly differently in regard to cost. In my book, "expensive" is often determined by the clientele. While it is true that some mountains charge more for essentials (tix, food, etc), the definition for me as a middle-class guy is more about the ancillary tone at a mountain. For ex., Brighton is not all that much cheaper for essentials (tix, food) than Deer Valley (and one might well argue that DV food is objectively worth more). But what makes DV and "expensive" mountain in my view is the clientele: often made up of wealthy folks who don't really care about or register cost in their mind.

I agree w/Phil and others that you can ski "expensive" areas relatively cheaply; I skied Aspen last year on the MC pass and stayed at an AirBnB for $100/night. But I doubt I will ever go back -- the ritz and glitz and general tone at the mountain and in town was of rich, privileged, self-absorbed folks. In my book, that's an "expensive" area -- in order to really fit in, you have to have lots 'o $$$.
 

Pdub

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Our Aspen/Snowmass vacations have been cheaper than many competitors because there is no need to rent a car. Aspen area public transportation and airport shuttles are superb (and free). We recently paid over $1k for a 5 day SUV rental in SLC. This, plus the benefits of an Ikon pass, take the sting out of $15+ on-mountain burgers at Snowmass.
 

trailtrimmer

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BTW, Whistler is about $300 a night for almost all lodging.

The borg controls most all hotel booking during the ski season, it is indeed hard to get cheaper once you factor in taxes and fees. However, I booked this year when exchange rate was 32% in my favor. Lift ticket rate is $100 a day USD to ski pre-booked in advance, my flights will be $150 with baggage due to airline points. Shuttles will be $130 to get there an back. No rental car, no paying $25 a day to park what I will never use most of the time I'm there.

Whistler sounds really expensive on the surface, but it's not that bad with the given exchange rate and no need for a rental car which is easily another $75-90 a day by the time you pay to park it. If CAD bounces back to parity, I'll likely stay in the US, otherwise I'll be in BC for may annual vacation.
 

Jilly

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Well to go along with trailtrimmer's post.....anywhere in the USA!! With the exchange rate, not in my favour, everything is 37% more today.

But I have spent just over $7,000 for the complete season at Tremblant. Come and go as I want. Ikon pass, seasonal rental on the hill, free parking and make/bring my own food and beverages. So only extra is on hill eating. Then I get discount with the Ikon privileges pass. Yeah, we have those $ 15 burgers too. But the soup is phenomenal and much better for you at $6!
 

mcpowell

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Interesting that you mentioned Whistler as your lead in to expensive resorts. I have slugged my way from GA to Whistler for the last 3 years because I feel like it's a relatively good deal when comparing to USA resorts. Granted I have to devote a day to travel, each direction. But, with the exchange rate being favorable to the US Dollar, I like it.

I shop around almost a year in advance and have gotten good deals on AirBNB's (~150 USD/night). If you wait until the last minute, the deals will be gone, and then your stuck with the expensive rentals.
 

Bill Miles

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Sun Valley has about the most expensiver season pass in the country. $1899 at early season prices (pay before May 31), $2300 or so later, no senior discount. Other costs are on the expensive side, but I don't think they rival Aspen or Vail. Christmas season walk up pass was $155 adults, $105 seniors. At least parking is free.
 

Coach13

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We have 7-10 weeks per year of Marriott timeshare weeks/points (depending on how I use them) which costs me about $6k a year in fees so that helps with our lodging a lot of places. Some years I’ll rent them out 1 or 2 weeks to cover the fees. We also usually do an Epic Pass which takes some of the sting out of lift tickets and then we just shop airline deals. Nothing is cheap these days so we factor in the enjoyment we get out of the trips. That usually makes it money well spent. We aren’t hurting for money and as my dad always says, he ain’t never seen a hearse with a trailer hitch (ie. you’re not taking anything with you when you go).
 

Mike King

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I see things slightly differently in regard to cost. In my book, "expensive" is often determined by the clientele. While it is true that some mountains charge more for essentials (tix, food, etc), the definition for me as a middle-class guy is more about the ancillary tone at a mountain. For ex., Brighton is not all that much cheaper for essentials (tix, food) than Deer Valley (and one might well argue that DV food is objectively worth more). But what makes DV and "expensive" mountain in my view is the clientele: often made up of wealthy folks who don't really care about or register cost in their mind.

I agree w/Phil and others that you can ski "expensive" areas relatively cheaply; I skied Aspen last year on the MC pass and stayed at an AirBnB for $100/night. But I doubt I will ever go back -- the ritz and glitz and general tone at the mountain and in town was of rich, privileged, self-absorbed folks. In my book, that's an "expensive" area -- in order to really fit in, you have to have lots 'o $$$.
Well, we have 4 mountains. Aspen is glitzy. Highlands is not. Snowmass is in-between. I don't find much difference in the "vibe" of Snowmass from Breckenridge, but it sure skis better with far fewer people.

Mike
 
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onstar1

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You can def get better than those prices. If you are ok with basic accommodations , I’ve booked places btwn 100-200 a night.

My trips to Utah have actually been more expensive than the few times I’ve been to aspen/Snowmass.

Where did you find lodging? I looked at Airbnb/VBRO and most cheap places are an hour away.
 

dbostedo

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A couple of seasons ago when the Gathering was at Whistler, I had a slopeside 1 bedroom condo for $1100 USD for the whole week. Of course I booked it in, I think, October so maybe that made a difference. I'd check VRBO, Homeaway, Flipkey.

As for Aspen/Snowmass, try looking near the Snowmass mall... or see if @kitchener can chime in. He's "thrifty" and just planned an Aspen trip. @Slim has been planning too I think. And check this thread :

https://www.pugski.com/threads/school-me-on-a-little-place-called-aspen.6768/
 

aveski

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I use Airbnb for most of my accommodations. I do my ski trips solo so that helps. For my upcoming three week Ikon Pass tour, I'll be starting out at Steamboat. The cost for three nights for a place on the town bus line is $275. I'm staying with friends in Glenwood Springs for a couple of nights and then spending a couple of more nights in a dorm room at the St. Moritz in Aspen for $194, which includes breakfast, an afternoon snack and parking. Granted, a dorm room is not for everyone. I'll stay with friends in Golden for a few more nights to ski Cooper and Winter Park. I have a one bedroom condo in the town of Taos for a total cost of around $455 for seven nights and picked up a roommate to help reduce the cost. I'm driving out so won't have to pay for airfare or a rental car. Needless to say, not everyone has friends to stay with and if you travel with a family the costs will be higher.
 

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