Of course, they are expensive

That seems cheap

Anonymous wrote:There are 5 of us and I would like to take a 5 day or so trip to Utah or Colorado this winter with lessons for 3 younger kids, nice family friendly accommodations, lift tickets, etc. I used to go a lot when I was younger, but this will be the first time for the kids. Preliminary research indicates I will spend close to 7.5k, which seems insane. What am I doing wrong?

So you want to go this winter and have nothing booked. No airfare, no epic pass, no place to stay yet??

You do realize that lift tickets will be average $200 a day per person? 5 days and thats 1k per person. 5 people that is 5k.
You can still get epic pass but that is $1200 for adult and $600 kid so that there is already $4200.

We have not even covered airfare, lodging, ski rentals, car rental, food.

There is just no way with above. And I haven’t even mentioned lessons yet.

You can’t ski out west from DC during school break weeks for a family of 5 for under $10k absolutely bare minimum. I bet once you add everything up (gear rental, food, etc) it’ll be closer to $15k. Skiing — especially when you need to fly to top resorts during school holidays — has become so, so expensive.

I'm one of the PPs. The only way afford this is timeshare Marriott hotels that my grandparents bought long ago and military epic passes which are $200 per person for the season.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.