Is skiing elitist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With few exceptions, people who ski come from families with some disposable income and parents who are free on the weekends.

Skiing (like a lot of activities) seems to attract a special class of people who try their hardest to make it elite. See: anyone on the East Coast who yammers ad nauseam about shitty East Coast skiing conditions and how much better it is to ski out west every.damn.time the topic of skiing comes up. Oh my gaaaassssh, you just don't even know what good skiing is until you've been out west! Poor thing.

Have you ever been out west? IT IS way better just due to topography and snow conditions. Just like North (VT, ME etc) is way better then the mid-atlantic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My brother lives in Maine. Skiing is the after school activity. The mountain is one of the school bus stops. At the mountain, the kids receive a snack and homework help. And then they go skiing with their friends for the afternoon. It costs $80 per child for Jan-March. Their local mountain is not Sugarbush. They laugh at me when I talk about skiing there. It’s expensive and crowded. They like their local mountain more.

Skiing can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be.

That's AMAZING!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With few exceptions, people who ski come from families with some disposable income and parents who are free on the weekends.

Skiing (like a lot of activities) seems to attract a special class of people who try their hardest to make it elite. See: anyone on the East Coast who yammers ad nauseam about shitty East Coast skiing conditions and how much better it is to ski out west every.damn.time the topic of skiing comes up. Oh my gaaaassssh, you just don't even know what good skiing is until you've been out west! Poor thing.

Have you ever been out west? IT IS way better just due to topography and snow conditions. Just like North (VT, ME etc) is way better then the mid-atlantic.

More to the point, its the need to continuously point out to the local poors that they don't have access to good skiing and ask people things like, "Have you ever been out west?"
Thanks, it is a pretty well established fact that skiing out west is better, but I am happy to know that you've experienced the creme de la creme personally and remind people every time they mention taking their kids to snowshoe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's become the blanket lazy response for anything you can't afford.

Thank you! I don't think people even know what "elitist" means anymore or maybe they never did

The lady doth protest too much!

No, maybe take the time to look in a dictionary instead of using some dumb, glib quote that doesn't fit here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With few exceptions, people who ski come from families with some disposable income and parents who are free on the weekends.

Skiing (like a lot of activities) seems to attract a special class of people who try their hardest to make it elite. See: anyone on the East Coast who yammers ad nauseam about shitty East Coast skiing conditions and how much better it is to ski out west every.damn.time the topic of skiing comes up. Oh my gaaaassssh, you just don't even know what good skiing is until you've been out west! Poor thing.

Have you ever been out west? IT IS way better just due to topography and snow conditions. Just like North (VT, ME etc) is way better then the mid-atlantic.

I have (we go to Park City the week after Christmas every year).

But we also ski in NY most weekends (Holiday Valley near Buffalo is our home resort) and go up to Vermont over MLK. We usually do Stowe or Okemo.

I’ve had great skiing experiences in the NE.

My favorite was actually one year at Whiteface often called “Iceface” but due to a confluence of things, conditions were wonderful and I had the best time ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well I think the PP is a jerk but I also agree that if you only go once a year, you're not really a skiier. Skiiers are people who have season passes and go most weekends in the winter to their local resort plus travel to do it somewhere new on vacations.

If you only rode a horse once a year, would you call yourself an equestrian?

As between Person 1, who spends a week skiing in Colorado or Utah every year, or Person 2, who has season passes at Liberty/Whitetail and goes every weekend, Person 1 is far more of a skier.

Granted but still not much of a skier.

Skiers live close to a mountain. Colorado, Utah, CA, NM, ID, WY, VT, NH, NY, even PA

They go every weekend and travel to bigger mountains when they can

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's become the blanket lazy response for anything you can't afford.

Thank you! I don't think people even know what "elitist" means anymore or maybe they never did

The lady doth protest too much!

No, maybe take the time to look in a dictionary instead of using some dumb, glib quote that doesn't fit here.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have older kids than yours & live in New England but here’s an estimate based on new gear. Of course you can get used stuff more cheaply if you know what you’re looking for.

Seasons pass $500-$1200
Weekend race program Dec - Mar $1800
New race skis $500-$1000 each, need at least 2 pair, GS & slalom
New poles $100-$150 each, need 2 (GS & slalom)
Race boots $300-$500
Race helmet $200-$250
Chin guard for slalom $60
Shin guards for slalom $100-$150
Pole guards for slalom $50-$100
Goggles $50-$200
New race suit $300-$600
Jacket, ski pants, mittens
Race entry fees $25-150/race
US ski & snowboard membership $150
State ski association membership

Plus travel costs. Hotel and lift tickets if it’s a mountain your pass doesn’t cover. And if you want to watch your kid and it’s a mountain where you can’t hike to the course it’s usually $50-$150 a day for parent/spectator passes.

My daughter is a U14 racer and the race skis at that level are under $500 (I think I paid about $350). Race skis are good for about 2 seasons and then you should replace.

Would love to know what your kid is skiing on. New Rossi Hero GS skis are well over $500 w/o bindings... Same with Volkl Race Tigers.

I bought her new Atomic Redster GS JR skis this season from Alpine in Fairfax. I think I spent about $350.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah it costs at least $60 bucks per person for a lift ticket. Only the ultra rich can go.

ULTRA rich??!! are you kidding me?! You are being ridiculous you know. People do NOT go skiing every weekend.

Where do lift tickets cost $60 per person? I pay over $133 per person in low season.

+ 1

$60 a person would be super cheap!

Ski Liberty is about that cost. It's still approx $100/day per kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As somebody who grew up living with a single mom and paycheck to paycheck, skiing is very much for rich people.

But OP asked if it were elitist.

[Anonymous]

This thread has by now been driven way off the road. Running out of gas as well.

[Anonymous]

If skiing was elitist, there wouldn’t be ski bums.

There are definitely skiers who are elitist, but you can avoid them by carefully choosing where are you ski.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ice hockey is super expensive to pursue as a sport/hobby. So, hockey players are elites too. And figure skaters. But we already know that because of their fancy outfits.

You clearly don't know the definition of elitist.

Ice hockey is about as far from being an elitist sport as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well I think the PP is a jerk but I also agree that if you only go once a year, you're not really a skiier. Skiiers are people who have season passes and go most weekends in the winter to their local resort plus travel to do it somewhere new on vacations.

If you only rode a horse once a year, would you call yourself an equestrian?

As between Person 1, who spends a week skiing in Colorado or Utah every year, or Person 2, who has season passes at Liberty/Whitetail and goes every weekend, Person 1 is far more of a skier.

Granted but still not much of a skier.

Skiers live close to a mountain. Colorado, Utah, CA, NM, ID, WY, VT, NH, NY, even PA

They go every weekend and travel to bigger mountains when they can

Maybe it is true that a "ski bum" must live close to a mountain, but a skier can live anywhere. Even here in DC area. I spend most weekends at Liberty and have seen some great skiing (see, e.g., https://www.facebook.com/LibertyMountainRaceTeam/).

If you knew much about the sport you would know that some of the USA's best skiers spent their formative years skiing little mountains. Examples, Lindsey Vonn who grew up in the midwest and skied Buck Hill which has whopping 252 foot vertical (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Hill); Diane Roff who learned to ski at tiny Brantling Ski Center near Rochester, New York (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diann_Roffe); and the Cochrane family (350 vertical).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ice hockey is super expensive to pursue as a sport/hobby. So, hockey players are elites too. And figure skaters. But we already know that because of their fancy outfits.

You clearly don't know the definition of elitist.

Ice hockey is about as far from being an elitist sport as possible.

Yep, the same as skiing.