I thought it was interesting a ski magazine article said that price of lift tickets was the last thing people considered when vacationing.
Vacationing vs. home mountain should be emphasized I suppose, because as an east-coaster I look for
1. snowfall
2. terrain
3. accessible
4. lodging costs more so than lift costs.
5. airfare
If the cheapest place is $240/nt then there is a good chance I won't go there. All 5 of those can be deal breakers though too. If anyone of those 5 considerations is too out of whack then the trip is a no go.
For instance
Las Lenas -
1. snowfall - they talk about great snow, and it supposedly does, but it can be wind loaded at times. not bad
2. terrain - IF the marte chair is open the terrain is second to none, that same wind discussed in #1 can close the marte chair for dayysssssss people say (one guy said even the whole month of june (or july) one year it was closed). This becomes a concern
3. Accessible - Not really. I have air miles with United, they fly to Santiago and Buenos Aires sure, but not Mendoza or the airport 1 hour from Las Lenas. Basically they fly no closer than 8 hours drive away. I can hit a connecting flight out of pocket for $103-113 round trip on LAN from Santiago to Mendoza and cut out 4 hours of the 8 hours.
4. lodging costs. You know the marte chair being closed and the accessibility part have me reconsidering, I didn't look too much in to Las Lenas lodging other then to find out that it wasn't any more scary then the fact the marte chair may be closed.
5. paying for this out of pocket would cost over $1900 in airfare alone. This isn't an everyday vacation, this is a one in a lifetime vacation
Las Lenas introduces new problems, cell phones - need to buy a sim card and a smartphone that works in south america. (I have verizon). Supposedly they have cell phone service "everywhere" over there including @ resorts, and not being able to translate or look-up important shit as needed is important. I have to buy ac outlet converters. I hear of all sorts of interesting "3rd world problems" as well. For instance the only ATM was out of service for like 2 weeks in Las Lenas at one time. That may or may not be a 3rd world problem, but that is fucking ridiculous. I have read a bunch of other stories and it just seems like Argentina in particular is something that could be terrible for an ill-prepared person.
this is a long rant
/end
