On our drive to our first family ski outing of the season a couple of weekends ago, my husband shared a funny quip he’d seen on social media: satirically, the person posting suggested that the infamous FAFSA form be relegated to one simple question: does your family ski?
Heh.
Our family skis. And my oh my, do I hope my children qualify for financial aid when the time comes. Actually, I hope the financial aspect of higher education has been reformed by the time my boys cross that bridge, but that’s another discussion for another day. For today….
How do we ski as a family of four without having to take out a personal loan each winter? We follow these seven budget-friendly family skiing tips:
Buy Your Passes In Advance
FAR in advance, if possible. While buying online on the day of your trip will save you some money at some resorts ($5 per adult lift ticket at our go-to mountain), we saved $40.50 per adult lift ticket, and $25.50 per youth ticket this season by purchasing our tickets in August, and buying four passes per person at once. This was a limited time deal, and we wouldn’t have known about it if we didn’t….
Follow, Like, and Subscribe
My husband and I follow our favorite local ski resort on all of their social media outlets, and have subscribed to their emails. It was through one of those platforms, (and we honestly don’t even remember which at this point), that we were alerted to the stellar deal on four day pass packages.
Locate ski resorts within driving distance of you, or a mountain near friends or family you may visit during the winter, follow them on social media platforms, and subscribe to their email lists if possible. Following, liking, and subscribing will ensure that you never miss a great deal when offered.
Rent Skis, Boots, and Poles for the Season
Not only are ski rentals an added cost to every ski outing, it also requires you to give up valuable time being fitted for boots and having bindings adjusted. And nothing turns a young skier off to the sport more quickly than starting their ski day by sweating inside of snow pants and a coat in a rental shop for thirty minutes. Trust me.
My husband and I own our skis and boots – a worthwhile investment for adults who love the sport. I just invested in new this year, my last set of skis and boots having served me for fifteen years of winter fun. We don’t believe, however, that buying skis and boots for our 6 and 9 year old sons who will grow out of them from one season to the next is a financially sound decision.
One way we enjoy budget-friendly family skiing each year is by saving money on rentals. The savings begin for us on our fourth trip of the season based on our local mountain’s rental rates. By renting for a full season from our local ski shop. Again, this is something that needs to be done early. Ski shops carry a finite number of rental skis, and rent on a first come, first serve basis. We have been fitted and paid in full by the end of August for the last two seasons to guarantee a full year youth rental.
Contact your local ski shop, ask if they offer a full year rental, and schedule a fitting as early as they allow for optimal success.
Check for Lift Ticket Deals Based on Age
We have yet to pay for a lift ticket for our youngest. At 6 years old, it is hard to tell who is enjoying his last free lift ticket season more – him, or his parents.
Many ski resorts offer free lift tickets to young children with the purchase of an adult lift ticket, as well as reduced lift ticket prices for senior citizens. If our family was to travel the same distance in the opposite direction from our home, we would be buying an additional youth lift ticket as their free lift ticket cut off is age 5. It’s definitely worth your time to consider the ages of everyone in your ski party and comparing prices and deals across resorts.
Consider Weekday, Night, and Half Day Ski Passes
We spent seven hours on the slopes during our first ski outing this season – a wildly impressive record for our young family. For our first two ski seasons with young kids (we began skiing with our kids when they were 4 and 7), we were a four hour family. And those four hours always included at least one lengthy hot cocoa break.
If you’re just starting out with a young family, paying for a full day pass is likely unnecessary. Most ski resorts offer deals for weekday skiing, night skiing, and half day (typically 4 hour) lift tickets. I’m a big fan of breaking down how much a unit of something is costing me based on the full price. How much did each class throughout a semester of college cost (doing that math as an 18 year old undergrad left me incredulous that anyone would ever skip a class – did they know how much they were paying for that 40 minute session?!). If registering for a 5K is $30, and a marathon $100, I will always choose the marathon; $3.85 per mile is, clearly, a far better deal per unit than $10 per mile.
Likewise, and possibly more universally logical, spending $100 for a full day lift ticket to ski for four hours, means paying $25 per hour to ski. If the mountain will sell you a 4 hour pass for $60, you’ve just reduced your price per unit to $15 an hour.
Set realistic goals of how much time your family will spend on the mountain, and don’t pay for more time than you’ll use.
Check Out Beginner Bundles and Beginner Lift Tickets
My husband and I were so excited to get our boys on the slopes that first season, that on our first ski outing with a 4 and 7 year old, we bought a beginner bundle ticket (includes a beginner lift ticket, ski rental, and a beginner ski lesson) for our 7 year old, got a free lift pass for our 4 year old, and got two full day lift passes for ourselves.
Big mistake.
Not on the beginner bundle – that was fantastic! We bought the beginner bundle for our older son each time we skied that year, and he was expertly riding a chair lift and confidently cruising down beginner trails by the end of the season thanks to the lessons.
The mistake was the adult lift tickets that went largely unused. My husband and I spent the bulk of our full mountain adult lift ticket day riding an escalator up the bunny slope and coming back down with our 4 year hanging on to our poles beside us. We did each take a little “me” time to hit a couple of slopes on our own, but we weren’t there to ski alone. I was excited to ski as a family, and I was more than happy to ride the bunny slope escalator ad nauseam in exchange for the look of pure joy on my youngest son’s face as we skied back down together.
As it turned out, that first season never required more than a beginner lift ticket for anyone in our family. Don’t make the same costly mistake as us; set realistic goals for where your family will be spending their ski day on the mountain, and don’t buy more pass than you’ll need.
And last, but not least:
Pack Your Own Food
Our kids claim that our favorite ski resort has THE. BEST. HOT. CHOCOLATE. EVER. High praise, too, because my kids know hot chocolate. And so, I know when we go skiing, we’ll definitely be buying our hot cocoa from the lodge.
Everything else we could need throughout the day, we pack and take along. Sandwiches, thermoses of soup or mac and cheese, drinks, cheese and crackers, chips, fruit, homemade cookies and granola bars. Skiing leaves us ravenous, and what we don’t eat during our breaks from the slopes is always devoured on the drive home. If we were buying all of our food on site, and also having to stop for fast food on the way home to appease appetites, I think there is a real possibility that we could exceed the price of our lift tickets in food purchases. I don’t plan to ever find out. Packing our own food is something we regularly do whenever we travel. It is healthier; for our diet, and our budget. And it just may be the gold star money saver for us in our quest for budget-friendly family skiing.
Winters in our neck of the woods are long, dark, and cold. Our family loves to be outside, and skiing offers us a chance to spend time together in the great outdoors during the harshest of winter months. If you’re just getting started with your family, I hope you’ll consider these tips, determine a budget, do a little pre-planning, and get out there and enjoy the season. See you on the slopes!