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How many sick athletes are we missing out on due to the astronomical costs of skiing/snowboarding
The lift ticket prices in the states are fucking mental. In Finland, which in general is one of the priciest countries to live in the EU, you can get a day pass for around 40 euros in just about every resort, big or small. That's roughly 46 usd. We don't have proper mountains here but skiing is still mainstream.
**This post was edited on Nov 5th 2021 at 12:23:03am
tominiemenmaaThe lift ticket prices in the states are fucking mental. In Finland, which in general is one of the priciest countries to live in the EU, you can get a day pass for around 40 euros in just about every resort, big or small. That's roughly 46 usd. We don't have proper mountains here but skiing is still mainstream.
**This post was edited on Nov 5th 2021 at 12:23:03am
Erie county which encompasses Buffalo. Has two free ski areas when we have snow, with night skiing and a lodge. Chestnut Ridge has a rope tow and one run, and Emery park has a surface lift with three runs. Both have lights for night skiing. I wish one of the local resorts would step up and donate some snowmakers and maybe a groomer cause it’d rly make skiing more accessible for more than a week or two a year. Plus it’d be cool to have a rail park at the rope tow
Skiblade420Let’s all talk about wanting more inclusivity while simultaneously defending fast passes
eheath is like the only person I can recall defending them. Resorts operating on land leased from national forests should be to more limited in their practices as the forest service should be able to tell the ski corps to reform or kick rocks.
WoFlowzErie county which encompasses Buffalo. Has two free ski areas when we have snow, with night skiing and a lodge. Chestnut Ridge has a rope tow and one run, and Emery park has a surface lift with three runs. Both have lights for night skiing. I wish one of the local resorts would step up and donate some snowmakers and maybe a groomer cause it’d rly make skiing more accessible for more than a week or two a year. Plus it’d be cool to have a rail park at the rope tow
If somebody is willing to tow some shit 4 hours from the southern Adirondacks might be able to get a few features for free or dirt cheap.
It's a lot about barrier to entry. There are some absolute deals to be had on ski gear if you know where to look but going to a boot fitter and getting the right gear can be pretty expensive at first. Then there's the whole issue where sure you can go skiing on some park benches without any need for a lift ticket but you'll have a harder time learning to ski there than on a hill with groomed trails and someone who knows what they're doing to give you the right pointers.
Would be cool af if bonezone type hike parks were set up in urban areas, or at least accessible from urban areas with public transit.
Abolish ski resorts. While it would take considerably more effort to learn to ski without them, I'm convinced that a steeper learning curve is a lower barrier to entry than a $300 day of skiing. Plus, I know wealthy people who don't even actually enjoy skiing that much who still get season passes and go up a few times a winter to spend time with friends and take a couple runs and then chill in the lodge the rest of the day. I wouldn't have a problem with this if the existence of this market wasn't justifying the increasing cost of ski resorts and pricing out people who might genuinely enjoy skiing. Kill ski resorts and give skiing back to skiers
BiffbarfSkiing isn't that expensive. Competition, room/board, and traveling is. Same applies with most sports. you simply cannot remove all barriers of entry.
Bullshit it's not expensive.
Unless you live in the midwest or somewhere near a smaller local hill, it's still a big commitment to pay for a ski pass every season. I mean, the Ikon base pass is almost 900 bucks. Even the Epic Local is nearly 700. Before all the room/board, and travel, it's already damn expensive. Even with secondhand gear, you still have to have a reliable car and spend a lot of money and time driving to and from the mountain. It's taxing, man...
and you're doing all that for just 4 months out of the year at most places... 5 if youre lucky.
When you compare it to Basketball or Soccer where you can do it in the dusty lot near your house, It's massively more expensive.
jompcockIt's a lot about barrier to entry. There are some absolute deals to be had on ski gear if you know where to look but going to a boot fitter and getting the right gear can be pretty expensive at first. Then there's the whole issue where sure you can go skiing on some park benches without any need for a lift ticket but you'll have a harder time learning to ski there than on a hill with groomed trails and someone who knows what they're doing to give you the right pointers.
Would be cool af if bonezone type hike parks were set up in urban areas, or at least accessible from urban areas with public transit.
Young adult season passes at Eldora are $479 or $40 a month if you save and make the commitment. I guarantee you most people spend at least $40 a month on bullshit. You just have to rock the local hills and not the big resorts that suck by now anyway.
The issue is not as much money but more willingness to commit to making skiing a lifestyle which many people are not interested in doing.
Coleg55My local mountain bridger bowl charges only 17 for a day pass at the beginner lift, and 69 for full mountain access.
The year before I came to Bozeman this video was posted and the guy was complaining about how expensive the day ticket was and he couldn't even access all of the terrain. I think the day pass price was somewhere around $60 at the time.
Unless you live in the midwest or somewhere near a smaller local hill, it's still a big commitment to pay for a ski pass every season. I mean, the Ikon base pass is almost 900 bucks. Even the Epic Local is nearly 700. Before all the room/board, and travel, it's already damn expensive. Even with secondhand gear, you still have to have a reliable car and spend a lot of money and time driving to and from the mountain. It's taxing, man...
and you're doing all that for just 4 months out of the year at most places... 5 if youre lucky.
When you compare it to Basketball or Soccer where you can do it in the dusty lot near your house, It's massively more expensive.
compared to literally the cheapest sports in the world, yes it's more expensive. But to play those competitively to get recognized isn't cheap either and requires time and money and reliable transportation, etc.
Probably lots. It's way easier to get into a sport like skateboarding, surfing, or even kayaking. It sucks but life isnt fair and, in the grand scheme of things, skiing doesnt add much value to society so I'm not really that concerned with making it more inclusive. The main barrier people face is access to it. If we see more places like big snow pop up then that will help with the issue but just look at how resource intensive a place like that is compared to something like a skate park or a basketball court. Skiing is just expensive by it's very nature. It is what it is...
BiffbarfSkiing isn't that expensive. Competition, room/board, and traveling is. Same applies with most sports. you simply cannot remove all barriers of entry.
That and really how many people want to be a pro skier? On the surface it looks badass but in reality you take a fun activity, shove in hours or training at the tramps, constant injuries, travel, sketchy sponsorship deals and usually by the time your 25 your broken down and depending on how much education etc you sacrificed to get there you dont really have a solid plan B in life.
SuspiciousFishThat and really how many people want to be a pro skier? On the surface it looks badass but in reality you take a fun activity, shove in hours or training at the tramps, constant injuries, travel, sketchy sponsorship deals and usually by the time your 25 your broken down and depending on how much education etc you sacrificed to get there you dont really have a solid plan B in life.
Truth.
Unless you're very poor, in a first world nation you can make skiing happen. Everything else is just an excuse.
jompcockeheath is like the only person I can recall defending them. Resorts operating on land leased from national forests should be to more limited in their practices as the forest service should be able to tell the ski corps to reform or kick rocks.
LOL "defending" I'm simply discussed how it wouldn't affect anyone, I would never use it or promote using it.
Its less the cost and more the location. You can't become great at something without doing it literally all the time and you (mostly) can't ski all the time if you don't essentially live (or really grew up) near a mountain town. I guarantee proximity to skiing is a better predictor for being a "sick skiing athlete" than how rich your parents are. If the world looked different and all the population centers were next to giant mountains and it snowed all year and an ikon pass was still $700 there would be hundreds of millions of talented skiers popping up everywhere. If you just gave every family 200grand or made ikon passes free I suspect the number of talented skiers would not really change.
I'm definitely setting up some jibs this winter in my town. Try and make it a thing when it snows
jompcockIt's a lot about barrier to entry. There are some absolute deals to be had on ski gear if you know where to look but going to a boot fitter and getting the right gear can be pretty expensive at first. Then there's the whole issue where sure you can go skiing on some park benches without any need for a lift ticket but you'll have a harder time learning to ski there than on a hill with groomed trails and someone who knows what they're doing to give you the right pointers.
Would be cool af if bonezone type hike parks were set up in urban areas, or at least accessible from urban areas with public transit.
Biffbarfwork for the resort = get a pass you could've bought when making more money literally anywhere else.
I don’t work at a ski resort to make crazy amounts of money, I work at a ski resort because I get to ski daily, I live on the resort and there are many perks that come along with it. Who cares if I can make more money somewhere else, I get paid to ski yo 🥳
ReturnToMonkeyThis is essentially one of the main ideas of Zero Zone
Holy crap, I didnt realize you can get home snowmakers for pretty cheap. Kind of a lot for a single person but get some buddies together or for a city budget this is really nothing.
KaidenpetersonI don’t work at a ski resort to make crazy amounts of money, I work at a ski resort because I get to ski daily, I live on the resort and there are many perks that come along with it. Who cares if I can make more money somewhere else, I get paid to ski yo 🥳
If you have a job at the resort where you can ski all the time then it could be worth it. A lot of folks work when the lifts are turning and they're not skiin a whole lot
SuspiciousFishHoly crap, I didnt realize you can get home snowmakers for pretty cheap. Kind of a lot for a single person but get some buddies together or for a city budget this is really nothing.
SuspiciousFishHoly crap, I didnt realize you can get home snowmakers for pretty cheap. Kind of a lot for a single person but get some buddies together or for a city budget this is really nothing.
Zac.suremanand then paying the instructor $10.25 a hour. its a joke to them
Bro where are u a instructor I’m a yeti like a junior instructor/instructor in training, we do bunny hill lessons, help weekend programs and group lessons and we get payed 15$ a hour and get a pass, uniform and discount on food, mtn shop products, and some other stuff
I guess thats why Le Relais in Quebec City pushed out so many talented skiers. It was really cheap to ride and the acrobatic team was pretty stacked in talented skiers.
There was a lot of volunteers that truly believed in skiing.
Biffbarfwork for the resort = get a pass you could've bought when making more money literally anywhere else.
while i dont work for a single resort after 13 at sillytude
for the past 13 seasons ive worked 4 hours a week for 40 bucks a week and unlimited skiing in the state of utah
which is a 3000 pass
thats a lot of skiing for not much work
SFBv420.0while i dont work for a single resort after 13 at sillytude
for the past 13 seasons ive worked 4 hours a week for 40 bucks a week and unlimited skiing in the state of utah
which is a 3000 pass
thats a lot of skiing for not much work
Working part time for a pass is a hustle I can respect
jnorrmanOff topic i follow your tiktok, but minimum in my state is 13.50 but instructors make more than that
hell yeah! When I started at Mt. Bachelor (2017) starting wage was 11.25 when I left three years later it went up maybe a dollar. only way to get a raise was getting PISA certs (which are a sham mostly).
WoFlowzBro where are u a instructor I’m a yeti like a junior instructor/instructor in training, we do bunny hill lessons, help weekend programs and group lessons and we get payed 15$ a hour and get a pass, uniform and discount on food, mtn shop products, and some other stuff
It was 11.25 when I started at Mt. Bachelor in 2017. Im mostly just trying to point out the profit margin mountains make off lessons. Say a 2hr lesson costs $100, the instructor has 4 kids in that lesson, the mountain was making $375 off that.. Also the most hours you could get in a day was 4, 6 with a multi week
tominiemenmaaThe lift ticket prices in the states are fucking mental. In Finland, which in general is one of the priciest countries to live in the EU, you can get a day pass for around 40 euros in just about every resort, big or small. That's roughly 46 usd. We don't have proper mountains here but skiing is still mainstream.
**This post was edited on Nov 5th 2021 at 12:23:03am
Bro you’re telling me. I’m American but didn’t learn to ski until I moved to Switzerland. I paid 35 euros if I wanted to ski just about any mountain in France, now I have to budget myself out for a month if I want to spend a day at Killington.
