Are ski/snowboard family vacations crazy expensive?

[Anonymous]

Ha. There is literally no way to do that trip for less than 10K. If you need lessons, that blows the budget. For our 3 kids, we waited to go out west until they could ski. Didn't make sense to go before.
I'd start local - Timberline/Canaan Valley is great. Get them skiing and then do the west thing when all can enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

Also you need to buy ski passes in April when they are at the lowest rates. Don't wait until the Fall.
Copper has a great 4 pack with no black outs that you might still be able to get.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I missed the part about “younger kids.” If they’re younger than, say, tweens, and are truly beginner skiers, I wouldn’t spend your money on a ski vacation out west. Lessons out there are astronomically expensive, and the kids likely won’t have the stamina to ski all day, especially given the altitude change at some of the resorts out west.

A better bet would be to go someplace closer and enroll the kids in a few days of ski school so they can learn the basics. My son, now 12, has been on skis since he was 4 years old, but we didn’t take a vacation out west until he was 7 and could pretty confidently ski on intermediate East Coast terrain. Even now when we ski out west, I still enroll him in one day of ski school so he can get his confidence and “ski legs” back, then he skis with the adults for the rest of the trip.

I love skiing and am so glad I introduced my kid to it because he loves it too, but it’s definitely not a cheap pastime! Good luck.

[Anonymous]

To echo everyone else, there's no way that's $7500, all in. We used to spend 5 days skiing at Solitude in Utah, which is great for beginners and cheaper than PC, DV, etc. (The one downside is that there are limited restaurants, so you may want to buy groceries for breakfast and some dinners.)

Flights for 5 - $2500 at least.
Lift tickets for 5 - ~$2500, probably more.
Lodging - 2 BR condo will be ~$3000, at least.

You are already at $8k, and that's before transportation,m ski9o school, ski rentals, and food. And this is at the less expensive place. If you go to Park City, these amounts will increase significantly. You shouldn't even bother looking at Deer Valley. My experience is only with the Utah resorts, but I'm sure Colorado, Wyoming, etc. are comparable prices and the snow isn't as good as it is in Utah (ducks).

[Anonymous]

That sounds inexpensive. Last year we spent $6000 for 4 nights in Snowshoe for a family of 4, Dec. 26-30, and we all have our own skis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lessons for 3 kids are going to be $600/day, maybe more depending on lesson chosen. If you are military you can get an epic pass for $200/pp for season. That gives you 20% off food on mountain, rentals and lessons. DH is retired military and that is how we can make skiing “affordable”. We get a condo and only eat for a couple of meals. Rest is heat and eat at condo. Car rental through Costco. We have our own gear and until last year flew SW for the free bags.

The *only* reason we have the Amex Delta card is because it allows free checked bags. Even at only one ski trip per year, it pays for itself and then some.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Skiing in the U.S. is astronomical and as PPs have said, I’d be very surprised if you could do what you’re describing for $7500 all in.

I learned to ski as an adult and went to France for a week of private lessons because it was significantly cheaper than going out west. I don’t know if this would be possible for your family, especially if your kids are young, but the Geneva airport is within about an hour of a number of French alpine resorts. Some of the smaller ones are very family friendly, boutique hotels are probably cheaper than what you would pay for lodging in CO or UT, and most importantly, lift tickets and lessons are WAY cheaper. Rentals are easy to get.

If you can take a full week and go in February, the French do staggered public school holidays to accommodate skiing, so the resorts run very good and very reasonable weeklong ski schools for kids. Again, I did this as a single adult with friends, so very different than going as a family with kids, but if you are used to international travel it might be worth looking into.

[Anonymous]

I think that 7.5k is probably on the low end for a ski vacation for a family of that size. Lift tickets alone are expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That sounds inexpensive. Last year we spent $6000 for 4 nights in Snowshoe for a family of 4, Dec. 26-30, and we all have our own skis.

If I spent that much for Snowshoe I'd kill myself.

[Anonymous]

If you are catering to beginners, why not just drive to someplace in Pennsylvania. Little kids don't care.

[Anonymous]

It depends on your planning... like a lot of vacations.

If you're already buying a season pass, like Epic or Ikon, things seem a lot cheaper. And they kind of are: discounts on food, lessons, and hotels.

I buy two season passes every year... Disney World, and Epic Pass, and I get a lot of value out of them.

Lodging outside of Vail, Beaver Creek, and Aspen actually isn't that terrible. For example, Crested Butte even the lodging near the slopes is pretty reasonable, like $300-$400 a night with Epic Pass. Breckenridge I regularly stay at Mountain Thunder Lodge in a condo with the Epic discount. Last year I was able to get the Doubletree in Vail in February for $200 a night. It depends how flexible you are.

[Anonymous]

You can all go to Europe and ski for less all-in.
Enjoyed this place as a family. It’s right on the slopes and caters to parents/children. The family rooms are awesome. I have never found the same here. There’s a little room with a bunk bed and you can close the door. Adult bedroom has a door too! Loved it!
https://www.falkensteiner.com/en/hotel-cristallo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. That seems low actually. Lift tix are $100 per person per day at least and lessons are what like $400 min per kid per day. And flights and hotel. We paid $4500 for flights for 5 to park city in Feb (non stop and convenient times) and then the hotel etc. we don't eat out though and cook breakfast and dinner at our kitchen in the hotel.

Lift tickets at Vail are more like $350 - per day, per person.

There are discounts. If you have anyone in the military, use that. Or if you are committed to skiing, get an Epic Pass.

Otherwise, for a family of five, go to Europe. It'll be cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds inexpensive. Last year we spent $6000 for 4 nights in Snowshoe for a family of 4, Dec. 26-30, and we all have our own skis.

If I spent that much for Snowshoe I'd kill myself.

For real.

The US Ski industry is destroying itself with these prices. In a few years, all that will be left are a handful of rich kids and some legacy Gen X skiers who will be gravitating toward the blues. Even upper middle class folks can't get a skiing habit going at these prices. East Coast skiing isn't remotely worth this kind of investment. And the opportunity cost of a West Coast trip is enormous and not worth it unless you are already very good and are skiing the black diamonds.

[Anonymous]

We’ve done 2 weeklong ski trips pretty regularly. Either out west or in Europe. It’s about the same either way. Total is about $30k for both trips, passes, airfare, rentals, lodging, food.