No, Skiing Doesn’t Have to Be (That) Expensive

Back when I was a kid in the late 80s, skiing was a fairly cheap activity. A day pass for skiing cost around $15-$20. However, over the decades, skiing has gone from a fringe activity enjoyed by small group of outdoorsy people to a popular activity. There are now over 11.6 active skiers in the USA. During the 2022/2023 ski season, 18.46 million Americans went skiing for a record-breaking 65 million skier visits.

As the demand for skiing has increased, resorts have upped their prices. A day pass at a resort on a weekend can easily go for $150-$200—a 10x increase from when I was a kid. The prices as luxury resorts is even higher.

What does that mean for low-income people who want to go skiing? Is it even possible to go skiing anymore if you aren’t rich?

No matter how well you plan it, skiing is going to be an expensive activity. But, no, it doesn’t have to be that expensive. I’ll go over some ways to get the costs down.

Keeping Ski Pass Costs Down

There’s almost no getting around the high cost of ski passes. Even resorts which used to be considered cheap now have pricy lift tickets and passes.

Committed Skiers

If you go skiing often, then a season pass is the best way to keep costs down. A lot of ski resorts purposely make their day pass prices high to encourage skiers to get the season pass, thus guaranteeing them revenue for the season.

For example, here are the costs of a season vs. day ski ticket (at Alta):

Season Pass (2024): $1,648
Day Pass (2024): $189

Based on these prices, you’d need to go skiing 9 times for the season pass to pay off. If you go skiing 30 times in the season, it ends up costing $55 per day.

New and Uncommitted Skiers

If you are new to skiing or not that committed, there’s no reason to learn to ski on impressive slopes like Vail, Aspen, Jackson Hole, or Deer Valley Resort (some of the most expensive ski resorts in the USA!).

You probably won’t appreciate these slopes until you get more experience, so budget-friendly resorts are the way to go. Brighton Ski Resort, for example, is just a short drive away from Alta. It’s not as impressive, but day passes are usually half the cost.

Just Get the Carpet Only Pass for Kids

If your kid has never skied before or is just learning, there’s no reason to pay for the full ski pass. Just get a carpet pass instead. The prices are much cheaper and your kids will still have fun.

Make ALL Your Own Food

It’s no secret that food at the resort lodge is expensive. You’ll save an insane amount of money simply by bringing all your own snacks for the day.

On multi-day ski trips, don’t stop with just snacks. Bring all your meals too so you don’t have to eat meals. To do this, I typically bring my camping stove with me so I can cook instant meals (including DIY gourmet dehydrated meals) in the room.

Note: If you are flying, that gas canisters can’t go in your luggage or carry-on. However, you can pack an alcohol stove.

Lodging Costs

If you are lucky enough to live near a ski resort, then you can get around the high cost of lodging. However, I’m hesitant to recommend skiing as a day trip—especially if you must go on a weekend. The mountain roads to ski resorts are often narrow and have just one lane, so traffic jams occur. Sadly, long traffic jams to and from the slopes are now a common thing.

Is it really worth saving the cost of lodging if you will waste HOURS in traffic going there, and waste more time in traffic on the way back (when you are exhausted).

By paying for lodging, you can hit the slopes early before the day trippers arrive, and get more out of your ski pass.

Know Your Priorities Before Renting Gear

You can save a lot of money by renting gear from shops off the resort. As a bonus, you’ll also probably save time standing in the gear line at the resort—meaning you get more out of your ski day pass.

But this can also backfire.

If something happens with the rental gear, such as a malfunction, you won’t be able to swap it at the resort. Plus, most resort rental shops allow you to swap out your gear throughout the day, such as if you want to test out different skis to see how you like them.

To minimize this risk:

Only rent gear off-resort from quality companies with good reviews.
Make sure you thoroughly check gear before leaving with your rentals.
Especially make sure the boots fit well!

And, if you do go with the costlier option of renting gear from the resort, ask for a multi-day rental. That saves you time standing in line each day.

Buy the Boots, But Rent Skis

If you are a semi-committed skier, then buy yourself a good set of boots but keep renting the skis. Why? Not only are buying skis expensive, but owning them can be pricy too. You’ve got to pay for things like getting them tuned, wax, and transporting them.

By contrast, ski boots require little in terms of maintenance and are easier to store and transport. Plus, it can be kind of gross to wear stinky rental boots. 🙂

Don’t Pay for a Locker

Renting a locker for storing your items will cost you ~$15 per day at a standard ski resort. It is not worth the cost.

Just wear a small backpack with all of your items in it. Or, if you have more things you need, just use your car as a locker and walk to it when you need things.

Make Use of Whatever Clothes You Have

Yes, expensive ski clothes tend to be much warmer and more comfortable than generic items. However, that doesn’t mean you need them (especially before you are committed). Before you invest in ski clothes, see what you already have.

All of these items will work well enough for skiing.

Base Layer:

Synthetic leggings
Yoga pants
Long-sleeve workout tops
Snug wool pajamas

Mid Layer:

Your grandma’s wool sweater
A cheap fleece
Fleece pajama bottoms
Puffy jacket

Shell Layer:

Hiking-style softshell jacket
Rain jacket
Rain pants
Snow pants

Know Where to Invest in Clothing

When it is time to buy ski clothing, know where to invest your money. Here’s the order of importance for gear:

Gloves and mittens. Ideally ones with a liner.
Base Layers. As I talk about here, wool really is better.
Wicking socks. Your boots will have insulation, but you need good socks with wicking properties to avoid sweaty, wet feet.
Snow pants. You can get by with a rain jacket or softshell, but proper ski pants are useful because they allow better movement and will hold up better if you fall on your butt a lot.