Anonymous
Post 01/15/2022 03:09     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
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?


By this logic, do you also think veterans aren’t allowed to call themselves soldiers? Is a retired gymnast no longer a gymnast? Is a former Olympic swimmer no longer a swimmer? Is a recovering alcoholic no longer an alcoholic? Get some frame of reference.

Aside from that, it depends on how you’re defining equestrianism. Technically, it’s a broad term than encompasses all forms of horseback riding. If you’re trying to define it as vaulting or sport riding, then you’d be incorrectly applying a narrow definition. And if one doesn’t partake in those things, then no they wouldn’t call themselves that if they were using the narrow and incorrect definition. However, if someone rode horses yearly but not daily or even weekly, then, yes, they could accurately call themselves a horseback rider (or equestrian, if you were to apply the term correctly). If there’s a pattern, it’s safe to assume they fit the definition enough to qualify. If they rode a horse one time their entire life, then no. But we’re talking repeated events here — the time line is irrelevant.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2022 02:33     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
The only thing elitist here are the posters trying to be the unofficial arbiters of what defines a skier. This is true of any sport or activity. There will always be an a$$hole who thinks they’re better than everyone else and feels entitled enough to think their opinion is one of importance. Generally speaking, people avoid them like the plague because they make everyone around them miserable. This alone makes them unqualified to be an adjudicator on the matter.

So sure, if you give any weight to these haughtily contrived and misguided over-inflated egos, then anything can be considered elitist. Strip the wannabe gatekeepers of their self-appointed powers, though, and the illusion of ‘elite’ is defeated. It’s all about perspective.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2022 02:06     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Skiing is definitely for rich people.


This is such BS! We are not rich, we save a portion of our paycheck for a vacation each year, and yes it is skiing. We cannot afford ski in/ski out, brown paper bag our lunches (as we do everyday for work and school, which is how we save money) and we buy used equipment at ski swaps when we need something. Most of the time we drive to our destinations, especially if the kids school vacation is between two weekends giving us ten days of vacation. We are not rich, probably never will be, but it's how we choose to spend our vacations with our children. And we are certainly not elitists.


You are not a skier.


Really? Skied telluride before it had a ritz, skied purgatory with my new husband, have good friends who own a property near squaw and skied there often before kids. But that was when DH and I lived out west and were childless, not rich but just jumped on any day ski junket we could. Pizza junctioin in tuckeewas the best, no longer there sadly. I am a skier, a damn good one at that even skied China bowl as a child after school. You are the definition of an elitist skier op is talking about, and obviously quite the snot. Lol


You were a skier, you are not now, nor are you kids. if you go to Teluride a few weekends every winter, you are a skier, or go up to vermont or have a cabin you go to on the weekends.

You save your pennies to take your kids to ski every blue moon.

You are not a skier and you are not raising skiers.


DP you sound unnecessarily angry with the PP. She’s clearly a skier raising skiers. You’re an idiot.


They ski once a year. It's like playing tennis once a year and claiming you are a tennis player.

She clearly understands skiing is very expensive because she has to save alllll year to do it and can rarely afford to do it.


So? I only boat ~3 months a year because I live in a 4-season climate and everything’s frozen over right now. Does this mean I’m less of a boater/owner than those who are able to do it year round? No. Some families can’t afford X,Y,Z for their kids whereas other families can. Does this make the family who can’t afford it less than parents? NO.

Give it a rest, Karen. You sound like an insufferable hag.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2022 01:51     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Skiing is definitely for rich people.


This is such BS! We are not rich, we save a portion of our paycheck for a vacation each year, and yes it is skiing. We cannot afford ski in/ski out, brown paper bag our lunches (as we do everyday for work and school, which is how we save money) and we buy used equipment at ski swaps when we need something. Most of the time we drive to our destinations, especially if the kids school vacation is between two weekends giving us ten days of vacation. We are not rich, probably never will be, but it's how we choose to spend our vacations with our children. And we are certainly not elitists.


You are not a skier.


Really? Skied telluride before it had a ritz, skied purgatory with my new husband, have good friends who own a property near squaw and skied there often before kids. But that was when DH and I lived out west and were childless, not rich but just jumped on any day ski junket we could. Pizza junctioin in tuckeewas the best, no longer there sadly. I am a skier, a damn good one at that even skied China bowl as a child after school. You are the definition of an elitist skier op is talking about, and obviously quite the snot. Lol


You were a skier, you are not now, nor are you kids. if you go to Teluride a few weekends every winter, you are a skier, or go up to vermont or have a cabin you go to on the weekends.

You save your pennies to take your kids to ski every blue moon.

You are not a skier and you are not raising skiers.


DP. Omg who tf cares. Why are you so insecure? And yes, that’s exactly what you come across like when you attempt to show your misconceived superiority by belittling someone else because they partake in an activity as often as you do. If it’s all a competition, someone is always going to better than someone else. That said, you’re not a skier either…at least not compared to anyone who’s better at skiing than you are; which, if I had to guess, would be most based on your compulsion to turn this into some sort of weird and endless pissing match. God you’re awful. Stop trying to gatekeep skiing, loser.
Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 23:07     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Skiing became more expensive in Switzerland too. Everyone used to go skiing as a family several times a year when I grew up. Schools also have a ski camp built into the school programme, where kids and teachers go spend 1 week in the mountains. We always had a dance on the last night and that was best part
Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 22:51     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:My dad grew up dirt poor and managed to ski, but he wasn't doing it in Aspen.


Skiing at the closest place (Liberty) is minimum $$125-150 PER PERSON PER DAY just for lift ticket and rentals. To say nothing of food or lodging if you wanted to stay over, or lessons. When we go to Disney and I see those dads wearing the t-shirt that says “Most Expensive Day Ever” I always think “ha! That family clearly hasn’t been skiing.”


I am European and we ski in Austria and Italy for much less.


Ok and? This board is for people who live in the DC area. It’s pretty expensive to fly to Austria or Italy from here, genius.


NP here:
The point is that skiing in the US was accessible to the middle class only 20 years ago. Now? The barrier to entry is way too high. Prices in Switzerland are cheap compared to going to the nice resorts in CO, UT, or Tahoe.

It's honestly cheaper for me to go to Geneva and ski in the French Alps for 4-5 days than it is for me to go Jackson Hole, Aspen, Vail, Telluride, etc.

Here's an example - I'm actually going to the French Alps in a couple weeks and staying 7 days:
Lift ticket: 51 euros per day
Airline ticket (roundtrip): $500 USD
Lodging: 215 euros/night and includes breakfast and dinner
Ski rental: 160 euros for 6 days (and that's the upgraded gear package)
I can take a train to the resort from the Geneva airport, so no need for a car.

For 20 euros, I can get a delicious lunch on the slopes that includes a hot meal and a beer. The quality of food is 5x better than the garbage they serve at US ski resorts.

Doing this trip at Vail, JH, or any other famous US resort would easily cost me 2-3x more. It's dumb. American skiing is for suckers.


I'll add that my ticket to Geneva is just $50 more than I'm paying to fly to SLC non-stop in March to go skiing with a buddy. Flying to Montana, Utah, or Colorado in the winter from DC is going to cost you at least $400-500 RT per person.


Honestly there is nothing more elitist than saying Vail is beneath you and you will only ski in Switzerland! Have you budgeted for a 10 day quarantine when you test positive and can't get back on your scheduled flight?


Did you read what PP said? Not that Vail was beneath her but that it is more expensive to ski there and so might as well go to Switzerland, where it is cheaper.


She also criticized the food and said US skiing was for suckers. She has also posted about this one $500 fare a zillion times.

I ski in Europe regularly but don’t kid myself that skiing anywhere is cheap. Plus I use miles for most trips and it’s way fewer miles domestically than internationally. I stay at nice hotels but with epic/ikon and free airfare US skiing is not more expensive than France/Switzerland. And the food at a lot of areas is great. Jackson Hole is fantastic.
Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 22:32     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Anonymous wrote:
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.


My kid goes to school in New England. His private school has skiing and their own ski lifts. It’s a winter activity that’s like any other sport like ice hockey, squash, swimming, etc


This is a troll right?
Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 20:14     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is horseback riding elitist?

Golf?

Tennis?

Sailing?

Same thing.

Tennis is not really elitist anymore. Lots of public courts and equipment isn’t too bad cost wise. Agree with everything else though.


It takes a lot of time to learn to play tennis reasonably well - much longer than skiing, for example.
Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 20:00     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Anonymous wrote:Is horseback riding elitist?

Golf?

Tennis?

Sailing?

Same thing.

Tennis is not really elitist anymore. Lots of public courts and equipment isn’t too bad cost wise. Agree with everything else though.
Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 19:55     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
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.


My kid goes to school in New England. His private school has skiing and their own ski lifts. It’s a winter activity that’s like any other sport like ice hockey, squash, swimming, etc
Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 19:38     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Anonymous wrote:Skiing is definitely for rich people.


Yup like all the other stuff listed above.

I grew up dirt poor holiday was going to visit grandparents a few hours away in the country and birthdays were McDonald’s and Pizza Hut playgrounds / events.

I still have not put skis on or rode a horse or went golfing or went sailing.
Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 18:37     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
I grew up in Canada with multiple ski hills under an hour away- not good ones although we did live less than two hours from Tremblant. It was definitely middle class accessible. We got discounted passes through the military (my father was a civilian but worked for national defense) and used equipment (very common for schools and ski clubs to have used winter sports gear sales). We also had ski club through school where we would be bussed to different local ski hills one night a week.



Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 18:17     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My dad grew up dirt poor and managed to ski, but he wasn't doing it in Aspen.


Skiing at the closest place (Liberty) is minimum $$125-150 PER PERSON PER DAY just for lift ticket and rentals. To say nothing of food or lodging if you wanted to stay over, or lessons. When we go to Disney and I see those dads wearing the t-shirt that says “Most Expensive Day Ever” I always think “ha! That family clearly hasn’t been skiing.”


I am European and we ski in Austria and Italy for much less.


Ok and? This board is for people who live in the DC area. It’s pretty expensive to fly to Austria or Italy from here, genius.


NP here:
The point is that skiing in the US was accessible to the middle class only 20 years ago. Now? The barrier to entry is way too high. Prices in Switzerland are cheap compared to going to the nice resorts in CO, UT, or Tahoe.

It's honestly cheaper for me to go to Geneva and ski in the French Alps for 4-5 days than it is for me to go Jackson Hole, Aspen, Vail, Telluride, etc.

Here's an example - I'm actually going to the French Alps in a couple weeks and staying 7 days:
Lift ticket: 51 euros per day
Airline ticket (roundtrip): $500 USD
Lodging: 215 euros/night and includes breakfast and dinner
Ski rental: 160 euros for 6 days (and that's the upgraded gear package)
I can take a train to the resort from the Geneva airport, so no need for a car.

For 20 euros, I can get a delicious lunch on the slopes that includes a hot meal and a beer. The quality of food is 5x better than the garbage they serve at US ski resorts.

Doing this trip at Vail, JH, or any other famous US resort would easily cost me 2-3x more. It's dumb. American skiing is for suckers.


I'll add that my ticket to Geneva is just $50 more than I'm paying to fly to SLC non-stop in March to go skiing with a buddy. Flying to Montana, Utah, or Colorado in the winter from DC is going to cost you at least $400-500 RT per person.


Honestly there is nothing more elitist than saying Vail is beneath you and you will only ski in Switzerland! Have you budgeted for a 10 day quarantine when you test positive and can't get back on your scheduled flight?


Did you read what PP said? Not that Vail was beneath her but that it is more expensive to ski there and so might as well go to Switzerland, where it is cheaper.
Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 18:09     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Just paid $175 for a daily lift ticket at Snowbird.

Mid 90’s it was $46.
Anonymous
Post 01/14/2022 18:01     Subject: Is skiing elitist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My dad grew up dirt poor and managed to ski, but he wasn't doing it in Aspen.


Skiing at the closest place (Liberty) is minimum $$125-150 PER PERSON PER DAY just for lift ticket and rentals. To say nothing of food or lodging if you wanted to stay over, or lessons. When we go to Disney and I see those dads wearing the t-shirt that says “Most Expensive Day Ever” I always think “ha! That family clearly hasn’t been skiing.”


I am European and we ski in Austria and Italy for much less.


Ok and? This board is for people who live in the DC area. It’s pretty expensive to fly to Austria or Italy from here, genius.


NP here:
The point is that skiing in the US was accessible to the middle class only 20 years ago. Now? The barrier to entry is way too high. Prices in Switzerland are cheap compared to going to the nice resorts in CO, UT, or Tahoe.

It's honestly cheaper for me to go to Geneva and ski in the French Alps for 4-5 days than it is for me to go Jackson Hole, Aspen, Vail, Telluride, etc.

Here's an example - I'm actually going to the French Alps in a couple weeks and staying 7 days:
Lift ticket: 51 euros per day
Airline ticket (roundtrip): $500 USD
Lodging: 215 euros/night and includes breakfast and dinner
Ski rental: 160 euros for 6 days (and that's the upgraded gear package)
I can take a train to the resort from the Geneva airport, so no need for a car.

For 20 euros, I can get a delicious lunch on the slopes that includes a hot meal and a beer. The quality of food is 5x better than the garbage they serve at US ski resorts.

Doing this trip at Vail, JH, or any other famous US resort would easily cost me 2-3x more. It's dumb. American skiing is for suckers.


I'll add that my ticket to Geneva is just $50 more than I'm paying to fly to SLC non-stop in March to go skiing with a buddy. Flying to Montana, Utah, or Colorado in the winter from DC is going to cost you at least $400-500 RT per person.


Honestly there is nothing more elitist than saying Vail is beneath you and you will only ski in Switzerland! Have you budgeted for a 10 day quarantine when you test positive and can't get back on your scheduled flight?

True. I am impressed that this person's flight was only $500, though. As long as PP doesn't test "+," this is a better deal. I did this even more cheaply in my 20s by staying in a hostel, btw.