Why Ski Resorts Are Dying - Cheddar Explains
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- Опубліковано 15 січ 2020
- Skiing is the quintessential winter pastime. But recently, the multi-billion dollar industry is in decline. The number of skiers is falling fast and the industry is scrambling to make up the difference. Is this going to be the end of the ski resort?
Further reading:
1: Skiing History
www.skiinghistory.org/news/im...
2: The Atlantic www.theatlantic.com/entertain...
3: AARP
www.aarp.org/home-family/frie...
4: Explore Magazine
www.explore-mag.com/Special-R...
5: Unofficial Networks
unofficialnetworks.com/2019/0...
6: Powder Magazine
www.powder.com/stories/climat...
7: CNBC
www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/clima...
8: 5280
www.5280.com/2016/12/rob-katz...
9: Bloomberg
www.bloomberg.com/news/featur...
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Old people with money are dying and millenials with no money can't afford it. There saved you 9 minutes, you're welcome.
What about that locals only mentality? Many areas I know of have this issue. Not understanding that they are resort town and tourism is their bread and butter. 😷
Thanks bro
🤔The baby boomers spent 50+ years sucking up all the money and resources, while enjoying cheap housing costs early on, now they've run up the costs of EVERYTHING! The "greatest generation" gave birth to the "me, me, me" generation. This is the result!🥴
Thank you ^u^ :D
The guy that spends 3000 hrs a year playing
Fortnite , and has the muscle tone and stamina of a 60 year old man, isn't going to spend 4 days skiing.
As a twenty year ski patroller, it’s all about the money. They have raised lift ticket prices out of range many people can afford. Shorter hours, old lodges, barely sanitary facilities and overpriced cafeterias.
Fr 15 bucks for a burger and fries
Viscous cycle.
So true. Resorts are so gross! How are they so gross?!
@Agent J Most of that has to do with the federal reserve policies that intentionally devalue the purchasing power of the dollar by several percent per year. Most people just don't know that in order to maintain their standard of living, they absolutely must demand a raise of at least a few percent each year. The end result is that everyone's standard of living slowly drops over the years and decades, like a frog slowly boiling in a pot of water. Then you get riots in the streets, because very many people have very little to lose. They know that something isn't right, but they just can pinpoint what it is. Very insidious.
When I started skiing in 2000, lift tickets were $49 and if you went in to town you could get a cheap meal. The slopes were understood to be the place for rich people who had Condominiums there and there was a luxury hotel.
Food on the hill was expensive, about $10 for chile and about the same for a mixed drink.
Today the same Resort is $180 for one day lift ticket. 3 day and 5 day lift tickets are proportionally more expensive.
Every restaurant has gotten super expensive. One of them didn't even have a menu and required you to use your smartphone to place orders. The burger was $22. Prices in town we're almost as expensive.
As the manager of Hotel said, it was billionaires forcing out millionaires.
And pricing everything out of the reach of ordinary people. But you know what, the billionaire can only buy so many hamburgers, or so many Condominiums.
If people can't ski on a regular basis, they're not going to enjoy this as much and they're going to drop it as an entertainment option.
It’s not the lack of passion for the sport. It’s the high cost, over crowding, long lift lines and price gouging at every corner.
the hard truth is that if there is overcrowding then prices aren't high enough.
@@vincent21212 nah bro, lack of employees and only having a quarter of the lifts open
Not to mention traffic to and fro
@@connorkubilus8044 low wages?
Yep brought my own equipment so did my uncle and his 2 kids ya $240 like wow and it was mostly ice do to all the heat and melt in day the freezes at night.
I love the video we need to learn how to teach.
No you need to figure out your on a mountain and those hills are steep level it a little i mean you cleared a forest for people why not level the ground a little so new people don't leave for good.
Also there names for what level ya.
Milk beginer but trainer what sounds like a trainer will help you no its pro hardest level you mess up you need hospital like fix the names at lest like wtf is milk.
I'm with the rest, the cost is the largest barrier. I started skiing in the 70s, and was an avid skier into the early 2000s. The price has gone up exponentially, and is no longer affordable as a family play day. It's sad really.
Exactly this. I skied all through the late 80's into the early 2000's. Season and multi-passes every year. I stopped when I just simply could not afford it. Single day pass is almost what a season pass was back then. I know double it for inflation and all that still not close.
Same here. I am a third generation ski bum, skied in the 80s up until the last few years. Way too expensive. I am burned out on what skiing has become.
Main Reason: Younger Generations are having less and less disposable income. Ski trips have always been tied with higher income groups due to the high costs, People just can't afford it anymore
Can you go on a mountain that's not a ski resort near you (if there's one near you obviously) as a younger working generation?
@@doaa7941 The nearest mountain range near me are the Catskills and to my knowledge it is mostly used for camping and hiking which are far cheaper than partaking in a ski adventure, so in theory yes if you were to go camping or outdooring with friends on a budget you could
Incomes are higher idiot
@@Wattywattybangbang Not if you account for inflation. Try looking it up.
Martin Brandom lmao what the fuck boomer
If skiing weren't so darned expensive I'd go more often.
Literally.
Darrrrnnn it
Buy a seasons pass, it becomes very affordable to ski frequently.
If it's too expensive you aren't good at finding deals. Don't go to Colorado. Michigan has a great mountain, Mt. Bohemia, and the season pass is 100 dollars. It also gets you 3 days at a few other places. Whitefish and Loveland alone make it worth it. Buy used gear at thrift stores in ski towns. Way cheaper and usually high quality. Tyrol basin in Wisconsin has great park features and is 12 dollars on Tuesdays. Howelson hill in steamboat is owned by the city and is super cheap. There's AWAYS a way
If more people we t skiing if wouldn’t be so darned expensive
My father skied until he died at age 74 from brain cancer. I’m 54 and plan to ski until I die. Skiing is an expensive hobby, I wish lift tickets were cheaper. I started when I was 10. I got one run lesson, here’s who to snowplow. That was it. My brother and I basically taught ourselves to ski.
Skiing is the most interesting type of holiday imo. it's one where you actively do something. Beach holidays = doing literally nothing. City trips = just looking at a few buildings(big whoop). Skiing is the only type of holiday where you can push yourself to the limit. Take a bit of a risk, get an adrenaline rush and actually feel alive for a change.
It is true that whenever I go away, I need to have a few days off when I get home to recover enough to go to work XD
@@Alastair_ Man litteraly me a 2 weeks ago
Yeah Nope, I totally agree, but bicycling in a unique area is also pretty fun, provided the place has the infrastructure and some place to go. It further helps if it saves you the cost of renting a car. I stayed between Naha and Nago on the island of Okinawa once, and rode from 50 to 100 km per day. There was a rest stop to die for, a ancient Okinawan village, a Mr. Donut, plenty of Lawsons, lots of beaches, and a 5 star resort. Theft is low so no big worry about getting my bike lock cut off and my bike stolen. I do not recomend t he island during typhoon season, the monsoon season, or summer either. I stayed at a weekly "pension." Which is cheaper and has a kitchen plus a shower near the entrance so as to avoid sand from getting inside. In your spare time try kayaking and snorkeling. Use a ship to check out Ishigaki Island or Iriomote. It is OK to bring a bike aboard.
I 100% agree with this comment! I have been skiing almost every year since the early 80s and it is still by far my favorite type of vacation.
I invite you to almost anywhere in México, you’re going to be feeling all of that and we don’t charge that much🤣
Resort: "Say kid, you wanna slide downhill?"
Guy: "Sure, that sounds neat."
Resort: "That'll be $185 for the ticket, $70 for the skis, $800 for the flight, $200 for the rental car, $150 for the hotel, $200 for the clothes you'll have to buy, $20 for a cheeseburger at the lodge."
Guy: "That's...more than I make in a month, for one day of fun."
Next up: Millennials "killing" wedding industry; rich people dumbfounded
I live near Vail, and 2 days of skiing goes for about $600, tickets only
@@specialopsdave Why is that? What expensive costs are the resorts having to maintain to make them have to do a 600 dollar tickets?
@@ericengvall8619 Well, I think it has more to do with the high-income tourists around here than anything else, but they do take good care of the place.
My parents used to take me skiing about 20 years ago. My dad once said, besides loving skiing, if he got me and my brother hooked on an expensive habit, we'd need good incomes, therefore good jobs, to afford the habit.
It worked as far as careers go, but neither me nor my brother ski any more because we can't afford to take our families.
We don't really have money to go skiing, although I used to compete downhill as a kid. My kids and husband don't know how to ski. On the occasions I've spent money paying to go skiing for us as a family, I didn't get to go on any runs. I spend the entire time trying to keep the kids vertical and racing after my husband when he loses control and doesn't seem to think to sit down (????). I don't get to enjoy skiing. I spend a lot of money to babysit beginners.
It couldn’t be the $200 lift tickets, paid parking, $20 hamburgers now, could it?
So true. In 2001 I was having lunch in the lodge up the mountain in Utah somewhere. 1 cup black coffee, 1 slice of blueberry pie and one hamburger, total? $18.00. Beautiful view though. Can't (and won't) afford it now.
@@paulbradford6475 average lift ticket prices are $130 in Utah now! As a Utah local, I can’t afford it anymore.
@@bryceweaver8211 season pass is always the way
@@bryceweaver8211 I was at this tiny hill yesterday and they literally raised the lift ticket prices
was looking on line some independent ski area out west 35-40 a day........ yep there out there no many or a few run as non profit.... I believe cooper is like that....
I'm an older millenial who started skiing when I was 5. I went every year for probably 15 years. Now, in the last 20 years, I've gone twice. The fact I moved from New England to the Midwest is a big part of that, but also, it is CRAZY expensive.
Skiing in the midwest is rly cheap-lift tickets less than 40 and rentals 30 in some spots
I am 52 and started skiing when I was 2. Raced my entire youth at a pretty high level. Lived in Aspen for most of the 90's as a ski bum. Aspen is a completely different town now than the 90's. Not a good vibe anymore, which I think the vibe of skiing has diminished as well. Sad really. I miss what skiing was in the 80's and 90's.
I can say the same about Whistler.
Aspen, where the women flock like the salmon of Capistrano 😅
@@andyscott5277 Good pull! Made me laugh.
Same as Mammoth. My season ticket in 1978 was $125.
Same here... I was a Ski bum in Vail during the 90's as I'm the same age as you
I was stationed in Germany for years, skiing is dirt cheap in Europe compared to the USA. Resorts need to stop gouging people
Completely agree. Here in the USA the resorts basically have monopolized the industry, but back in Germany/Austria there’s a hundred different locations for comparably little, and all fairly close to each other...
This here is the real reason.
I've been skiing for 15 years now and every time I wanna go to Colorado, I look at the prices and I kid you not, I get a headache.
For the price is going to Colorado to ski for 4 days, I can go to Europe for 2 weeks, plane and all and still come back with money in my pocket.
The USA needs to cut down the costs. They charge a ton of money to ski and they expect people to keep coming.
While in EU, people go without question, every year.
That's exactly what I said, it s an american thing, skiing in europe is HUGE and there is no way it s dying...
@@CP-fz4sr I was just saying to a friend, to bring my family to a northeast resort for a weekend will cost me at least 1000.00
Our trip last year to puerto rico for a week, airfare and hotel.....$900.00
Whistler used to be locally owned but was then bought out by a wall street private equity fund. First thing they did was double ticket prices (and removed discounts for locals). Used to be a great resort but no one goes there any more.
I love skiing, but I didn’t realize how expensive it all is until my parents stopped paying for it💀
lol me too
Felt this. I love snowboarding and I bought an ikon pass this year but between that and a trip to big sky on me, its tough to even go.
Same! Lol I waited 10 years to buy new equipment because I couldn't afford it 🙃
Same lol
Haven't gone since I stopped going with my parents.
1- We cant afford a $100+ lift ticket per day
2- Climate change
3- We dont have health insurance lol
If you really think about $100 isn't that much, people will complain about that but will blow more than that on a casino night
@@cgmason7568 That's *just* for the lift ticket. My outfit to go snowboarding is $800, Snowpants, Jacket, hoodie, knee pads, crash pants, googles, helmet. That's BEFORE my board, bindings and boots. I could easily drop $250 a month at a casino and still come out ahead compared to snowboarding.
Make health care free like Canada and Switzerland and I would ski but I’ve broken both wrists 6 times combined and two reconstructed knees
Lmfao, you guys also don't have the vacation time for right? X)
During this time France.
I pay 280$ CAD for a night season pass that get me access to two mountains, one at 25 min drive and the other at ~40 min. And they are pretty big mountains, even at night.
The no health insurance thing is a good reason though (that is if you live in the US).
I have not been skiing since the early 1990's. I used to love to go night skiing. Yes, for me, it got expensive and time consuming.
However, as an experience, it was incomparable. Nothing beats becoming one with the mountain. Kayaking is close, hiking is rough but fun, skiing is divine.
Snowboarding in deep powder iis divine but skiing comes close!
No vacations, no time off, and no money= no skiing. It is as simple as that.
At least millennials have mountains - of debt!
@@jakobraahauge7299 Gnarly, dude.
@@jakobraahauge7299 that's your choice. I have zero debt but still make more money than a college grad.
@@Xachremos no mortgage?
No kidding
They really gloss over the fact that ski ticket prices have almost tripled in some places. I used to ski Mt. Rose in 2008-2012 for like $25-30 a day. Checked last year, they're charging over $100!!!
Vail's day pass is over $200 !! All other ski resorts are hovering around $150 -$200.
*Laughs with 400€ yearly ticket in austria
To be fair, we have season passes as well. They vary between $399 to $599. We also have passes that allow us to visit multiple ski resorts (Ikon Pass, Epic Pass, Mountain Collectives)
@kuro neko NIGGAH RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!?! I CAN LIVE IN MAH CAR AT HOME FUCK DIS SHIT
They also gloss over the fact that Boomers ruined the ski industry as a trickle-down effect in the US. Europe is BOOMIN right now in terms of skiing
I'm an avid skier, in my late 40s and a late to the game skier. I have been skiing for 6 years. I have done between 20 and 30 days on Mtn for the last 4 years , but this year moved to the south and the logistics make it so much more expensive.
The Epic and iKon passes only do so much. These resorts need to open this up to a much wider socioeconomic range.
Every resort should offer rental equipment and a lift ticket for a price the average consumer can afford. Particularly families, this way you get younger gens into the sport earlier and they become life long skiers.
1. A free lift ticket and rentals for under 16 should come with an adult lift ticket, on specified days, including some Sundays. Families cannot afford 6 and 8 hundred dollar ski days.
2. Ski and stay packages are obscenely overpriced at most resorts. 350 dollar per night hotel rooms is not doable for 80% of the population. Build hotels that offer reasonable accommodations and charge 150 per night. Most of us don't want spas and all the other high end stuff.
3. Buddy passes should offer free or deeply discounted days, not some silly 20% off window price. Brecks window is 200 bucks on a weekend, so chances are never skied before aren't going to jump at 160 plus rentals to try it out.
4. Options are key to selling. Indy pass is a great value if you live within a reasonable distance of say 4 or 5 of the mountains. Instead of 2 days at 40 destinations, how about pick 5 resorts and get 4 days at each of your 5 choices. Epic and iKon could also do this. An unlimited pass could be 20 days to use at the 5 mtns of your choice. Much more attractive to a huge majority of skiers. Unlimited days to 13 resorts you live 2000 miles from isn't super enticing or a value of any kind. It's a gimmick with a shallow cover.
5. Stop charging 12 bucks for a hamburger and 8 for fries. If the industry wants long term sustainability, the have to offer sustainable pricing to the masses.
Sun Valley , 23 dollars for a bowl of chili and a Gatorade, it's not even good chili. I bring food that isn't gross for a few bucks and they make zero off of me because I resent being screwed.
6. The gear- it's an investment, and if researched and chosen wisely it's not really that expensive. Most people are skiing on equipment they don't need or realize the ability of. They are oversold and sometimes not at the level of ability for their gear. 80% of us are intermediate skiers for life. But we are on kestle and the top end Nordica or Volkl gear. I've learned when and where to buy my gear over the years. 1000 bucks can outfit a skier well with solid equipment that will last many years for most of us. A set of golf clubs costs that now.
I’m going to be 68 and I can still ski, but I’ve been priced out.
Problem is , downhill ski resorts have high fixed costs and they depend on volume of ticket sales to make their profit. Weather or other uncontrollable factors can make the season traffic volume unpredictable, and risky for the bottom line. Furthermore there is a huge travel element involved to get the city folk out to the mountains, either a longish drive, or, worse, flying. Flying pretty much requires you go for at least a weekend and hence now also have to pay for overnight accommodation. On the other hand, I can cross country ski as much as I want within a 10 minute drive of the suburb I live in for at most $10 for parking. TIP: Shop for skis and boots late in the season when the prices are slashed. Or even consider buying used, ski equipment depreciation is brutal.
The problem is that lift ticket prices are skyrocketing. They've priced everyone but the very rich out of the sport.
YEP and a decline in the sport ...... 25% less participants yet other winter sport and activities growing...... not working so good isn't it......
I've skied for eight years, but I can't ski this season because I can't afford new equipment or the $450 season pass.
@@wagilini9723 sorry to here that but lil by lil you'll be back it starts with today save a little bit every week . As far as equipment goes sometimes with the season as it is there might be alot of left over or discounted products either local shop or on line new. Keep a eye out many of my friends do that so they can ski. I'm off this season first time in 30 yrs of being a ski instructor so I feel you pain of not being on the hill. Be optimistic things will come around and will be both on the snow next season. Take care
Cross country ski is far cheaper, better workout(constantly active, no waiting in line), and less likely to get impaled by a tree at 70 mph.
yep! many more going back country too.....unfortunately leading to more deaths......
Skiing requires excess income and time off from work.
ppl spend $1k++ on an iPhone tho
People are stupid, plus spending obscene amounts of money on an overpriced phone or its apps doesn't take much time off from work
@@Curling_Rack An iPhone/cellphone is a necessity, Jeff? And can be used every day Jeff? 1k on a mattress or cell phone is not the same as 1k on a skii trip, Jeff.
@@unocualqu1era its good to be in shape to enjoy skiing/boarding or any recreational sport. Going to suck if youre a fat fuck that's out of shape that cant enjoy life
@@whatistheirface but you don't have to spend 1k on a phone, there are other options.......
I was talking to a staff member from my nearest resort - prefect north slopes. They said covid was a huge boost in business for them last year. It was considered a covid safe outdoor activity so they had tons of newbies who'd spent a year indoors eager to spend money even if that meant trying something new. Many of last years first timers have become annual members.
I’m one of those people. I just got back into skiing after 12 years out. Got a season pass. It’s a hobby for me now
I work at a ski resort in the winter just because I love skiing and for us covid has been a nightmare.
Hell yeah, I’m from Cincinnati, and perfect north is great. $180 for a weekly season pass, free parking, open all night. Can’t argue with that
@@tornut24 i have the one a week pass too. They do allow night skiing but aren't open all night, fyi.
@@125conman 9:30 on weekdays, midnight on weekends. Compared to closing at 5pm out west, it's basically all night
I have been skiing since I was a kid, growing up in SoCal. Now I am in my late 30s, living on the East Coast, and still ski. I have the Epic Pass, which is mentioned in the video, and I love the resorts and adventures of skiing with friends as well as meeting new people. Unfortunately, I find it harder and harder to find people that are willing to go with me every year. Most people I know, do not have the time, money, or interest to ski/snow board. The few people I know, it is a one or two day a year vacation.
After having skied every year as a kid and teen with my parents, I practically stopped once I reached adulthood cos I just couldn't justify the cost
indeed
See, for me it’s the other way around. I save money all year round so I can spend it all during the winter haha
Makes sense to me
If you buy the season passes it’s really not that expensive. I went 32 days last year, and only paid $729 for my pass.
I traded skiing over for horseback riding, so I'm spending more on horses than skiing XD
We’d ski more if they let us park overnight like our parents did. The business plan of wanting to fill hotel rooms doesn’t really work if no one’s buying them.
Yes let us use parking lot. we stayed in a Yertbthis weekend for $80.00 the Best Western wanted 240 bucks,when we drove by the B.West they only had 3 cars in there parking lot. Lol.
Many places do this already
The hotel my lodge has is always full in the winter and spring
if we are paying 150 already for a full day lift ticket we should at least be able to park overnight
The cost of hotel rooms is definitely the reason I never ski back to back days. Only day trips
Just got back from taking the family for their first ski trip, I grew up going and learned previously. The resort gouging is certainly a major factor for us to return.
Cost is definitely the largest factor and if these resorts keep it up they're going to lose more and more skiers/snowboarders. Charging anywhere from $70-200 a day for a lift ticket is just crazy, and Vail's Epic pass isn't that great either.
exactly. the more people they lose, the more pressure to raise prices, the more raise prices the more people they'll lose. the last person will be paying $10,000,0000 for 1 "lift ticket" lol
Season pass 600-1400$
Boots bindings and board 1400$
Outerwear helmet goggles 200-600$
Weed in the trees priceless
Hilarious! Thx!! 😂😂😆😆🤣🤣
Nail on the head
My season pass to an awesome north idaho resort was $150 you can easily by used gear or just cheaper gear for way less than $1400. Skis + bindings 400 boots $300. For a beginner you shouldn’t spend anymore than that. You can ski for cheap just find the right place and buy the right gear
Hotels 150 a night. My month is shot.
50 for my used burton custom. 50 for my bindings and 40 for my boots. 250 for my season pass to 3 mountains!! You only pay for what your willing to pay
I have skied most of my life.
And the prices have gone up so much that my income can't keep up with my lifelong habit.
I just simply cannot afford it anymore.
that makes no sense yo. im a struggling bartender and i find a way to get up on the slopes a couple times a week. prices going up is no excuse to not go ski. its not that much. if you cant afford skiing, you dont love the sport enough to make it work.
You can if you work for the resort like I did, free season pass, and you can possibly get housing
Get a season pass it's a better deal. I ski every year and I am a stinking house painter. Save your money and stay away from starbucks.
Ditto. I have skied most of my life but now that I am retired, and have more time, I can't afford the extreme prices.
Same, I make a good (some would say great) living - but the ROI of $185/day is not good enough. Makes me sad as a former ski patrol.
I'm a boomer who would still be skiing, but it has become unaffordable. I also didn't care much for the big corporate-owned ski areas. Too expensive, too crowded, and WAY too snooty. I always preferred the smaller, "mom & pop" areas such as Dodge Ridge, Donner Ski Ranch, Homewood, and Alpine Meadows before super-snooty Squaw Valley bought it and the two became Palisades. The smaller areas may have fewer amenities, but who needs that, as long as you have snacks in your backpack, and the bathroom is at least functional. At the non-Vail-or-Squaw-owned areas, I felt like I was experiencing skiing as it was meant to be.
I’m one of those baby boom types. Skiing was always fun. Gravity is still as cheap as ever. Winter cold is becoming more elusive. Snowflakes still contain excitement, wet wool and the winter sweat still have their own delights. But humanities “necessary embellishments” have smothered the joy of winter. In transition I ski-camped and cross-country skied. Now I’m happy to just exist outside during a snowfall.as an organism we have enjoyed nature too much on our own terms. We have overwhelmed that which we used to love with the “improvements”. More growth, more people, more demands, more costs, less simple enjoyment.
Failing middle class is the real reason.
couldn't agree more. It not that millennial's are not getting out (Im a GenXer), its that the middle class has less disposable income now vs the Baby Boomers of a few decades ago. Its affecting Golf, Boating and other sports that rely on large amount of disposable income. Younger generations with less money, still get, but just do things like day hiking, something that has low entry costs.
@@TimRiordan1 skiing ist that expensive in europe. u can get a 4 day ski trip for around 300-400e in the most expensive resort in slovakia but u can go much lower in smaller resorts. prices are also similar . or if u live near resort u can get a season pas for 300-600e witch ll pay off if u go there 10+ times
@@filippetrula1234 Filip, what would it cost in Sweden, Germany or any of the western European countries? We don't have a lower cost country nearby with snow in the US. You may have an advantage there.
@@court2379 for skipas its similar in europe, in slovakia its 40-60e per day in biggest resorts and thats the same as austria or italy. food is around 6-10 avg, in austria we had lunch for 10 so not a big difference, and idk about hotels but i think that there is also not a big difference
Or rather, our COUNTRY failing the middle class.
“But there are some big hurdles that the ski industry is going to need to jump over to keep from going downhill”
😭😭😭
Whomp-Whomp
With the perfect clip in the background 😭
People complain about ski ticket prices, but high speed detachable lifts are expensive compared to the double chairs, Poma lifts and rope tows that we used in the past. Grooming is expected which was done only rarely 30 years ago. Insurance is also a huge expense for area in this litigious society. It is about 25% of the ticket price.
This is why is appreciate my local slopes. The track is just 10 km but for 15 bucks for half a day I go whenever I can. Also fixing old broken equipment like skiboots is surprisingly easy and can save a ton of money.
Let children under 16 ski free -that’s when you learn the most and you’ll keep them for life
Underrated comment
Brilliant idea, I’d love to take my niece and nephew skiing but it would be a shed load of money!
Here in Italy some ski resorts already do that!
@@elbeppi which ones? I’ve skied at Courmayeur which was super nice and half the price of Chamonix. Nothing to do with this article but the food was great too!
@@skygodley As long as I remember, most of the resorts in Trentino and South Tyrol, since I had the opportunity to ski for free, or at a very low price, when I was younger. And yeah the food is always good on the mountains!
Breaking news: people with no money and no free time can't go on expensive vacations 🤔🤔
Not all ski vakes are expensive. Skiing can be done with a reasonable expense. Take your commie bullshit elsewhere.
Buy used equipment I make minimum wage and I snowboard all the time, manage your money
I live in the Scranton area so I have a ski resort 20 minutes north and 20 minutes south of me. Include the ski areas in the Catskills and Poconos I have over ten within a 2 1/2 hour drive. I’m middle class and ski every weekend. Not everyone needs to go on vacation to ski.
@@joelp5093 do you know how lucky you are though, a lot of people are lucky to be within an hour’s drive, good for you to be able to afford going every weekend anyway, I’m just looking forward to student loan debts crippling any chance at enjoying my entire life
And Some old rich people wonder why, because back when they were young they bought a house on minimum wage
Pretty easy answers: Too expensive and not enough snow.
I think the cost for beginners is a huge issue, but one thing I always thought they should do is offer tickets only good on some beginner lifts, that way they aren't stuck paying full price at a large resort when they wont even touch 50% of it. My local resorts have been plenty crowded so far this season though.
As a person born and brought up in the Swiss mountains, I have watched skiing become far too expensive.
The prices of skis, ski boots, ski clothes, ski passes, accommodation and food in resorts have continuously increased out of all proportion.
A friend of mine in Switzerland posted an advert for a pair of skis from Stockli: CHF1500 a pair! Nuts.
My wife and I then worked out how much a single week would cost if you equipped a family of 4.
This came to a staggering $15 000 just for 1 week and pricing this with very basic accommodation.
With the average European wage at $2050 a month (according to EU 2020 stats) very few families can afford this.
I am sure that the same can be said in North America.
This is why rentals
Exactly. Speaking from the U.S., it's not just the lift tickets. It's the gas driving a considerable distance that to be frank can be a pain in the rear in winter time, deal with bad roads, and you go that far you're really better off staying all night at the resort because gets dark so early, then you've got meals, etc. Add it all up it's a huge amount of money for just one weekend! lol It has really been unaffordable for vast majority of American people for a long time now, if it ever was affordable
@@tw8464 it used to be affordable. Skiing was big in the '60's, when I was a teen. But now the cost of everything is up, and has been going up for a long time. Things that the middle class used to be able to afford are now the domain of the rich. The skiing industry is a mirror of what has been going on in society in the US generally.
@@kevinrussell6530 thanks it's been enlightening for me to learn how affordable skiing used to be. I didn't know that & it sheds some light on what's happening today, hear what you're saying.
@@kevinrussell6530 thinking about what you're saying, I'm starting to feel like maybe skiing is an easy target but actually if think about it, I see similar going on with other of the kind of more business oriented recreational activities. Like bowling used to be relatively inexpensive but seems like even that has gone up considerably. It's similar situation if a breadwinner & taking whole family for the activity, overall cost can be relatively hefty.
only reason I quit: Too expensive! Tickets are around $100 for a daily pass. Skiing isn't the sort of thing where you go once or twice a season. You need to go often to stay in shape and to keep up your game. So total money spent is just too much.
What the fuck I pay like 40-60€ MAX over here.
That's why I stopped trying to learn
@@justsamoo3480 dont forget the best part. 20 bucks for a mcdonalds tier burger
@@justsamoo3480 yeah, I feel sorry for these American people, prices are outrageous...I pay 32€ for a day's pass and lunch costs like 10€, parking about 5€ but we split the cost. Knock on wood but it's affordable enough to make 15-20 ski days a season.
Season passes are like 600-800 dollars. If you buy your own equipment (used setups cost like 200 for high end racing skis and 400 for boots) you can ski every day of the week
It’s costs about $10,000 all expenses included to take a family of four to Colorado for a ski trip. Fuck that.
I'm going on a ski instructor course in January, its probably the only way i'll get to go skiing as an independent adult due to the cost of holidays
Old people: *yells at millennials for spending money*
Also old people: *yells at millennials for making expensive industries die*
Nobody is yelling at you. Millenials have an inferiority complex
Yeah, bloody dumb fuck Millies have fucked everything up, even the climate. Good luck dealing with post singularity AI, when it's hot-pokering your arse-hole😁
@@Cj-nd3nv do you realize that Millennials are in their upper 20s and early 30s? Do you realize that it's your generation's kids? Do you realize it's your fault? Do you realize that you f*** the economy and the industries and the environment? Yeah I didn't think so otherwise you wouldn't be yelling at millennials. Millennials, which I'm not because I'm 10 years too young, have inherited your f***** up world. So think about that honey it's your fault
Literally. I just want to point out but Millennials are the children and grandchildren of the people who yell at them. So maybe they should take a look in the mirror and wonder how they raised people that they obviously don't like
@@DongWork4Yuda Ok Boomer
You know there is a Continent called Europe where people ski and they take their kids with them and the industry is booming and the ski culture is strong, right?
Europe is quite mountainous. Most of USA is flat.
Europeans have much more vacation time and are not saddled with student debt.
I go to europe for snowboarding once a year and I go to vail once a year. It's cheaper to fly to europe and ski than going to vail. In europe we usually get a B&B for $60 an night and the skips is about $50 a day and covers about 8 very large austrian ski areas and a glacier, food is excellent and cheap. Vail ticket is $200 a day (or $900 for the season pass), $250 a night, food is unaffordable. If you have a family it's cheaper to fly all the way to europe than to vail and you get a better experience and ski vacation out of it.
@@endoalley680, well that doesn't matter, we have the huge rocky mountains
i grew up in sweden and ive been skiing since i was 6 but i wouldn ski if i couldnt ride park or powder
As a lifelong expert skier I can add some perspective. The poster below has it nailed: price. The strategy of moving to mega passes was coupled with massive increases in daily rates. I think this has backfired on the resorts. Essentially they want the money six months in advance. The multi-resort aspect is not a big draw, most of us aren't going to jet around to all these areas. So that's a big fat zero. The explosion of the day pass rates have gone well over the hump on the price elasticity curve, but in their greed they refuse to see this. However the data shows that quite clearly.
As an aging boomer I can say that I'd ski more of the cost/day were half what it is. The current $200+ rate means I've just moved to different winter sports, like snow shoeing, that cost much less or nothing at all. Everyone I know who sucked in on passes found that they didn't pay out, they didn't use them as much as they planned. So we've cottoned to that scam. It also cuts out middle class families who mostly aren't going to buy say four passes to go for a few days of skiing.
As to climate change. Well in the Sierra where I ski we're quite used to very variable winters so you can't claim any trends anyway. The 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics almost had to be moved for lack of snowfall, sound familiar? We went through the late 1970's with little snow. This year there's an abundance but at $200/day I'm not going to be skiing...just not worth it.
The solution is right in front of the resorts but they don't like it. Cut the day rates by 50% for at least 5 years. I'd bet real money they'd see more customers. Promotions are nice but a band aid. Yes you'll have to cut costs - a lot. Start by firing the MBA's who came up with your current pricing strategies.
No discussion of how ski resorts got hooked on foreign seasonal help on special visas that they treat like indentured servants. This broke the economics of ski towns.
"Lastly" Cost should have been brought up first.
Nice profile picture! Chinook right?
They know that if they brought that up first we’d immediately stop the video there as there’s no further explanation needed.
Babyboomers are the only people who have disposable income to go skiing. Which is pretty expensive as well.
Most people are happy they can go away a bit in summer. A seccond holliday is only possible for few nowdays...
Baron von Limbourgh I get that, but also in my town we live really close to great ski hills, and every Saturday I take a free bus to the ski hill where my season pass cost $600 (I usually get up at least 20 times, and I think most people in my town are similar) and you can rent equipment for a day for $20 or easily get a great deal on a used set on eBay. So I guess what I’m saying is that maybe skiing for tourists is dying because it’s too expensive but for regular skiers it’s really not that bad
@@quinn5109 while $50 a trip is certainly not prohibitively expensive, having to spend that 20 times per year just to get to that price definitely is.
Why do millenials come off so whiny? Not a Boomer, an gen X'er.
@@quinn5109 yeah, if you live next door. How many people live within an hour and a half of a ski resort?
For normal people this is a holliday.
@@sauer8726 one calls it whining, someone else calls it reaching out and warning people about the fact that there is something fundamentally wrong with how the economy works at the moment.
I guess people hear what they wanna hear. And people loooooove to hear everything is just dandy and they should not pay attention.
Costs have gone up WAY more than inflation since I started in 1975. Charging for parking, terrible food at gourmet prices, insane lodging costs! It's not just that people simply can't afford it, its that they are pissed off by the greed and don't want to feed it.
Everything that doesn’t include sitting on your phone , while scrolling through social media is dying..
malls, bowling alleys, movie theaters, public pools.
Ski tickets are insanely high that’s why.
hawkbabby exactly!
hawkbabby most places at minimum are $100 it’s crazy.
It is not that high, I usually only have to pay 150 euro's wich is 200 dollars for an entire week. And then I have a ski resort wich has 300 kilomiters/200 miles of ski runs
hawkbabby yeah I want what they smoking
The closest hill to Rochester NY isn't even a mountain and charges $80 for daylight, $65 for 4 hours. This is the first weekend all trails are open, and i can't find anyone to go to snag their friends deal- bring 3 dudes, it's $30/person. My college hill was $100 a season pass or $12 a day pass, I went three times a week or more there.
This is weird to see as a non-American, I literally went on a one week long skiing trip with my whole grade in 6th grade as a school trip, and i was among only 6 or 7 people who had never gone skiing before. Skiing is still doing well here in Europe
Exactly. Even with me being Portuguese, a country with only one (terrible) resort, I'm going on a ski trip with a lot of friends to Andorra.
@rorschachh jup
Hawaii 5O im portuguese too and last i have been going skiing in spain since 2010 its my favorit tipe of vacation
You guys in the EU get way, way more vacation time the most Americans. You have to be pretty far into your career to earn a considerable amount of vacation time here. (Like, in most fields it takes at least ten years with a company to get a similar number of vacation days to most EU countries.) It's also cheaper for you guys to get to a resort. You can take a train or super budget airline for well under $100. You can't do that in the US. If you don't live relatively close you have to fly. It's a very different story here.
@@Bunny-ch2ul yeah, with an average of 4-5 weeks in almost every job (plus another 2 parcial ones in Christmas and easter) and good transportation it's no wonder here it's doing OK, I heard that Americans only get 2 weeks of holidays for the whole year
This comment section is sooo divided, OMG!
I'm not going to say much, but I own my own skis, tuning kit, and winter clothes. And, I live about a 2-3 hour drive from a ski resort (southern California) and I ski often enough that a season pass is more affordable than a single-day lift ticket...
I am skier.
My point is:
Expensive hobbies require serious dedication!
Started skiing in the 70's. When I moved to N CA in the late 80's I used to hit Tahoe 20+ days a season. I've been away from the sport for a few years now and thought about getting back into it this year. $1200 for a custom boot fitting (problem feet) plus another $1200 for skis and bindings. And that's before the $150 to $250 daily lift ticket, lodging, food, gas... And it's just me. Cannot imagine how a family of 4 can afford this sport anymore. They can talk about passion all they want, but when the price gets too high... people will just walk away.
"For every Boomer that retires, 2 millennials are needed to replace that income"
... that's a really ass-backwards way of saying that millennials don't make as much money as previous generations.
Hello Korean Adventure well the other thing is we aren’t retired either. We just haven’t had a lifetime to make up a majority of market assets.
@@mrs_radrod even with time it would not matter. Boomer had on average more assets at the same age. They had cheaper school, cheaper rent, cheaper everything compared to their wage. Time to amass wealth isn't going to help.
www.google.com/amp/s/fortune.com/2017/01/13/millennial-boomer-worth-income-study/amp/
Thats not what the statistic is saying tho...
@@Jontonzoup bruh, are you a known economic profesor? No. Then stop being a lazy ass and look up a source and link it. 30 seconds.
Mike HdzWazowski lmao what? There were other variables involved, they literally say some of the other variables in the video.
"Millenials ski less" yes... that happens when a day ticket costs over $100.
I have an idea: Why don't these Millenials go to smaller, more local ski hills where the day passes cost more like $20-40...
@@jasontroy4521 we could but its still expensive for a day or weekend trip, and there are much more cost effective ways of entertaining yourself. And for me personally id rather save up for a long holiday in a dirt cheap country than blow everything sliding down a hill for one week!
In Italy, you can go to a fairly large ski resort for about €15 a day, up to 10,000 feet etc. That’s why skiing is alive and well in Europe and not in america
@@jasontroy4521 Where are those mountains? In the West, a good deal is $90 a day. Some resorts are $170 to 190 a day and in Colorado, some are in the $200's . It's just to expensive as a family to ski!
thats crazy, in Switzerland its mostly even just 60 a day
I skiied from 1985 to 2008. Had a lot of fun. Was a ski instructor at the Villa Roma in the early 90,s. Have to say it was a great sport. But it does take a toll on your knees and body. The coldest I skiied was 28 below zero. I came off the slope and back into the chalet and SNAP.My boot cracked right in half.Glad I had the oppertunity to do this sport in my younger years.Also ice skated from1989 till 2017.Be safe on the slopes............
It seems like everyone in the comments is focused on the lift ticket prices and the overall prices on the mountain (food, gear, parking, etc). I make decent money, and I can afford all of that, but my #1 reason I stopped going was because of the traffic to get to the mountain and how crowded the ski areas were. If I didn't want to get stuck in traffic I'd have to come up and get a hotel the night before, which is even more cost. Then the drive home is horrible traffic too. If I went to one of the luxury resorts, I spent about 2x more time waiting in lift lines than actually snowboarding.
The way I alleviated most of my pain was that I'd leave home LONG after the early morning rush. Yeah, I'd get horrible parking (if there was even room in the lot), but I was generally on the slope maybe 30 minutes after the lifts started. Then I'd ride until mid-afternoon and head home before the lifts stopped and the rush hit.Combine that with having an annual pass and going to a "locals" ski area that wasn't really a resort meant that when I went, none of my friends wanted to go with me, so I ended up riding by myself most of the day. Luckily I'm more introverted, so it was cool. I got to spend time working on my skills so that on the occasions when I did go to the larger resorts with them, they weren't waiting for me.
I'd go more often if there were a ski train that ran all day (Colorado ski areas). There was one ski train from Denver, but it only ran once in the morning at 5 or 6am (nope) and once in the afternoon, and from what I understand it was usually packed. Just make a light rail or equivalent that just runs on a schedule. The resorts are touristy anyway, so I'm sure more people would use them than just skiers. But funding for that train has always been voted down because the majority of people think it would only benefit the ski areas... and yeah, that's basically true, but the ski areas wouldn't even put in the investment when they were making boatloads of money. Which is one more example of corporations with enough money to do it (looking at you, Vail resorts) not wanting to because the interstate is basically free to them.
"The Millenials killed the skiing industry: too poor to participate"
LOL omg so true...and so rude. Haha
Just one more thing to add to the super long list of how they sully the universe with their very existence.
And too lazy. One has to put a phone down to ski.
@@jimmyday656 boy they work more hours then your lazy ass.
@@danchiersjddm2974 LOL, no. And by "work", you mean "show up", right? I ran a small mfg business for 26 years, and in all that time I had FIVE decent employees. All were Boomers. The other 45-50 who worked for me didn't "work" and never lasted. Soooo happy to be retired now. Good Luck running the World with the Slackers...
Gee, It's almost like disposable income for younger people isn't equivalent to that of previous generations.
Hey, I'm one of the first "baby busters," and I knew this before I was a teenager.
Just different priorities. When I was in my 20s tickets were cheaper but minimum wage was $4. But we’d get a cheap cabin and sleep 4 friends. Bring food. And we didn’t buy $10 coffees and avocado toast
No, it's just millennials spend money on different things.
@@WickedZZzY yeah, like student loans and rent.
I don’t think the previous generations bought $800+ cell phones.
I retired , moved to Denver , and have all the equipment , skis on Craig's List $40. Icon pass $700 . I ski 25 days a year , that's $28 plus gas a day , not too shabby.
Like most other comments here, I can vouch its simply too expensive now. I was a ski industry employee all over the country from the 80's through about 2000. Ski industry bums were everywhere back then. All you needed was swap meet gear, a reliable van and the willingness to work , and you could travel and ski your ass off from season to season.
As operating costs and insurance soared for ski areas, the ticket prices soared along with them. It steadily made the budget ski bum leave the picture. All thats left now is wealthy guests and trustafarians.
Its sad to see this having been from the haydays of the working ski bums. Its gone, and its never coming back.
Can’t afford it anymore. $150-$200 day to ski is a joke.
get a season pass
@@kdooptimize194 1k for an epic pass? for people who live in midwest that might use 3-4 days tops?
@@potato2941 sucks to live in the mid west 😬🤷♂️
@@potato2941 I live in Oregon and a mtn hood season pass is 400$ that’s the worth it for me
@@Daniel19998 just wait until the mega ski companies buy them out and jacks up the prices like Epic does.
I remember skiing back around 1980-86 in the Lake Tahoe area. Snow was plentiful, ticket prices were affordable. Probably went 10-20 times a year. Typically paid $15-20/day. I recall the resorts were packed on weekends back then.
A day pass at a resort in Colorado is now $285 a day !! 3 hour private lesson is $800 ! And for that at Steamboat there is not even a base lodge !!
I was skiing at A-basin and decided to drive to Steamboat for a night session only to find out when I got there they have night skiing on Mondays!!!
Hahahaha!! Arapahoe Basin was awesome though. Skied Winter Park the next day. Wow!! Never seen so many moguls.
I'm 55 year old Scot, skied for over 50 years. When I started skiing it was at the local ski hills where the weather was lowsy and snow was bulletproof. I have skied extensively over Europe and North America.
My favourite 2 places to Ski are Jackson Hole and Whistler, but I simply cannot afford to go there anymore. The lift ticket prices are toxic, for a overseas visitor it will be the most expensive component of their trip.
Yes they have installed some new Gondolas but at a huge hike to the lift ticket.
Whistler and JH, are small- medium sized resorts with mid range lifts (quads mainly) once you get off the Gondola/ Tram.
Most European resorts dwarf anything in North America, and have amazing high speed 6&8 per chairs, fantastic restaurants.
Mayerhofen in the Zillertal, has 6ski areas under 1 pass, with free train and bus travel for skiers....lift price 300 euros. 4-5 euros for a beer on the mountain and around 12euro for lunch.
I paid $850 for a 6 day pass at Jackson Hole, and still had to pay $2 each way to get to Teton.
Austrians, love their skiing, it's their national sport and a sport for the people, unlike USA/Canada where skiing is now a sport for CPA's, Dentists and Trust fund kids.
Every small hardcore ski town has been bought over and turned into a place to park X5s, G Wagons and Porsche SUVs.
As energy prices get higher, and the need for snow making becomes more extensive, lift prices will continue to rise till normal families stop going.
Book ahead and get a season pass.
You can get them for $600.
Id rather go to Austria anyday anyway, miles better as a package than US.
I switched to backcountry skiing long ago. A few hundred bucks for equipment, and you're good for years.
A weekend at a ski resort with lift tickets costs as much as a used car.
It's not climate change, it's price change.
I think that you should add "in North America" to the title.
Because afaik, ski in Europe is booming
Same opinion
I'm not sure Canada is declining as much either. It's pretty accessible.
I would not say they are booming. A few weeks before, I saw a similar docu on TV. The Ski resort there had the problem, that too many people were just coming for a day, And not staying in the hotels or eating in the resturants. That resulted in an increasing amount of vehicles, wich annoyed the staying ones with noise and exhausts. As a result, less people stay, looping the problem.
One of the ways the companies tired to combat this was to add more variety, more ways down the mountain. They want to remove some part of the rocks make an area accesible. Now there is a discussion happening, whether this change is acceptable, as it is changing the landscape, for ecological reasons and so on.
This is why I don't think they are booming, as nobody would tear up a part of a mountain if they could help it.
Why would an American channel that makes programming based on and geared towards Americans have to specify that it's referring to America?
It's BOOMING in North America this is a misleading as fuck video.
Skiing is insanely expensive. And the resulting injuries are even more financially damaging (in the US).
The decline in skiing is a result of the higher prices for lift tickets. I use to ski a lot during the 1980's and 90's, because it was affordable. But I stopped skiing in the 2000's, because lift tickets shot up 100%, and it wasn't worth a trip to ski resorts anymore.
As a European, why am I even watching this
To feel good about the fact that a ski lift pass is 40 euros and skiing is still somewhat affordable here?
I live near whistler and a day pass is now over 200 canadian dollars for the winter season.
cause of the youtube algorithm
@@PPKFilms in Italy it is usually like €15 a day to go up to over 3000m
@@abccanada6248 haha a week pass in India for the worlds second height ski resort is 130usd
Everyone: *forgetting generation X exists*
🤗
Yes I am always amazed that gen x is never talked about as they are in prime income years boomers are like 60 minimum. And frankly it's gen z that they should be catering toward it was always about young people millennials have kids now.
@@NONARCS Gen Z? Gen Z is mostly teens. The youngest are in elementary school and the oldest barely in college. Millennials are still young. Most people skiing are in their 20s and 30s. Although teens also ski, they do cuz an adult usually pays for them.
BadgerCheese94 the oldest gen z are graduating college right now
@Drake Zakra OK Boomer.
I am from Germany. Just read the comments. Having tears in my eyes. Here in Europe skiing and especially lift tickets are affordable not only for the rich. There are expensive places especially in Switzerland but also cheap and smaller locations in other parts of the alps. Is it the fact that investment companies own whole resorts in the US ? Are insurances for the lift companies more expensive because they fear to be taken to court by dumb skiers who injure themself . This is nature. It is free of charge. It is for everyone. And yes you can die - even if you take the marked slope - this should be the only high price ;-) Everything else should be priced on a normal level. I hope this changes some day because I'd like to come to ski in the USA one day. And who eats Hamburger in the skihut? We eat Kaiserschmarrn and Germknödel. Hang loose.
The average lift ticket in the alps is also close to 100€ a day. That’s not something everyone can afford, you also have to count in the cost of accommodation and renting equipment if you don’t have any. A weekend of skiing can easily cost upwards of 300€ per person which is definitely not cheap
@@mort7987 Lmao it’s closer to 55€ if we are rounding up, I’ve only ever seen 100€ ski passes in expensive areas of the Swiss alps and then accounting and that’s before the mountains of discounts. Sure it ain’t cheap but your numbers are way off wack
@@vera_ah I was in Zillertal last weekend. 130€ for a two day pass
Let's seeee.....
At one New England ski resort, lift tickets are:
Adults -$196.00
Seniors - $176.00 ( what a deal)
Junior (5-12) - $152.00
Kids 4 & Under -$65.00
Minimum nights stay - 5 nights and lodging rates are ridiculous, not to mention food and transportation. Plus the cost of equipment, clothing and the fact there is a lack of competition. Two mega ski corporations, buying up all the resorts. Skiing has always been expensive, but now you really need to be well to do and l believe that is by design. No riff-raff, you know.
None of that has anything to do with the loss of skier visits, huh!?!
Skiing at top resorts in Europe, is about a quarter of what it is in North America.
Short answer: No one has disposable income or vacations anymore and all the snow is melting anyways.
mid-January in the Toronto and there isnt any snow. Ski resorts are 2 hours north of here and they lie about their snowbase and conditions lol
Well Trump is president now so the means that everything, including skiing, is doing better than it ever has in the history of the world.
@@Curling_Rack Huh. In Minnesota we've had quite a bit more snow than last year. Haven't had bare ground since early November.
If das da case Europe skiing wouldn't be boomin the way it is now
@baby bean _ Wow. That's the best explanation I've read. Very good point.
Had my first skiing experience this January and loved it. Out of a group of 10 people, 3 of us would do it again. The cost was too high and we researched cheaper options. We want to give it another shot but it's not in our budget at this time. Also, the instructor played a huge role in our overall experience.
When we were kids we went to ski swaps to get used equipment & tow prices were very cheap. Now the swaps are gone and the prices for equipment & tow tickets have skyrocketed.
This is so sad. Imo, skiing is like the best thing, ever. Hands down.
Short answer: wages haven't increased for both lower and most middle class jobs in 30 years, while cost of living has quadrupled.
Andy Miller that’s not true
@@chriskildunne7054 it is very true
That’s actually completely false.
there is no answer actually because skiing and snowboarding is still at an all time popular high out west. all the resorts are jam packed every weekend, and if there is fresh snow, it may as well just be a free for all. despite wages changing, more people than ever are going skiing and snowboarding. this video is very untrue.
are you trolling or just plain ignorant, it is both easy to find out and common knowledge
America's middle class has less disposable income, and less free time.
If you think the American middle class has a problem with disposable income spare a thought for those further down the pyramid. Most of those have barely enough money to feed, cloth or shelter themselves. America and many other countries have a real problem with distribution of wealth and compassion. American top end, and that also applies to other nations seems to be fixated on raking in and pillaging as much personal wealth and never satisfied because every one else in their circle at "The Country Club" have just mad a financial killing. Meanwhile for the Ski industry the elephant in the room is the climate.
Personally I stopped skiing 40 years ago mainly because of work load but also the type of people it attracted not so much the young travelers or families but the shallow self obsessed that treat everyone as dirt and demand everything, funny these where quiet often wealthy Americans.
Yeah, too bad I don't have money to invest in a sport I can't even get time off to participate in. Those gosh darn millenials killing the industry!
@@richardkaz2336 most of those further down the economic ladder are on drugs, drink alcohol, chain smoke, produce babies every year, and really don’t work very hard. They piss away their money in a million ways like casinos, drugs, alcohol, etc. A large portion are obese. Stop with the victim mentality that had oppressed minorities for generations. Oh, and Trump won so suck it.
@@allanfarr Delusional
@@allanfarr Bro you’re lucky Robespierre isn’t alive
The popularity of snowboarding has plateaued now and the cost of equipment and ski passes keeps getting higher and higher
I skiied until I was 16 and then switched to snowboarding. The problem at that point became that I was a beginner snowboarder going with a bunch of advanced skiiers. I paid for lessons and each year I got better. Then I became an intermediate snowboarder and was improving but I always had to pay for lessons because everyone I knew was either an advanced skiier or a completely new, beginner snowboarder who wanted to do the bunny slopes while I was on the blues. It was too hard finding people who were intermediates so I always had to pay $150 for a trainer to do the slopes with me. Then we had a death in the family in January, right at the peak of the season, after having spent about $300-450 on lift tickets that went unused. We could not get a refund and that was the end of snowboarding for me. I think I felt a bit burned by that whole experience.
Some things to note, the "Nevele Ski Resort" was barely a ski resort. For anyone that knows ski resorts, there was one trail at Nevele and it was equivalent to the learning slope on any actual ski resort. They use it as an example because it's an impressive abandonment. The hotel is huge. The problem is management spent too much money on large expansions that the property eventually became outdated. Add to the fact that people had better access to air travel and were taking cheaper all inclusive vacations in tropical destinations, the resort kind of just lost relevance. An outdated property in the Catskill-ish region of New York with no adjacent ski slope for even beginner riders was destined to fail and did. It should not be shown as an example of a defunct ski resort though.
Sugarbush was a great choice. That mountain is extremely nice and one of my favorites in Vermont. There was an increase in temperature since the 1950s and that leads to worse winters like she points out. That's a major reason for the closing of many ski resorts. The driving reason is that many ski resorts failed to take on advanced snowmaking and grooming technologies. Where before you only needed a hill and lift while relying on the natural snow, you now need a hill, lift, snow guns, and huge grooming machine just to run a resort. A lot of the smaller mountains closed down. These are the hills with 3-4 trails on them. There are no really large hills that closed. Many are still open and operating today in the same regions they used to be.
Hobbies also go through fads. Skiing and Snowboarding peaked in the 80s and 90s and some 2000s for snowboarding, along with other action sports like skateboarding and bmx. These just went though a fad period. A big reason, like she pointed out, is that millennials now have a lot of student debt. That lowers accessibility into activities that require large initial investment.
Distrion Gaming -Yeahhhh - the NEVELE was one of many Catskills resorts that had to put in a ‘ski hill’ to keep up with the local resort competition in the 50s and 60s. None were real ski destinations, they were something for their metro NYC guests to to on a self contained resort compound along with golf, tennis, squash, pools, a theater and lots & lots of food. But - these small resorts put thousands of brand new beginners on skis which helped the industry. I believe small “feeder mountains” closer to population teamed up with larger resorts as skiers develop would be key to building the industry in reality. As someone that lives 100 mi north of NYC, the small Catskill resorts and ski areas were key to
In ct I work at the biggest mountain in the state and people travel over an hour to work and ski here even though they are much closer to other smaller areas and bigger ones in ny
Vail charges 180$ for a single day ticket lmao they’re doing it to themselves
Eh eh this video is bs anyways. I live In Colorado and it’s always crowded here.
Yes, I think Vail is outrageous and should go out of business. They have been buying up all their competition.
I went to Vail several years ago it’s not dying!! Back then it was $140. And it’s packed with people! Last year I went to Park City tickets were $189 4day lift was over $800 didn’t look like it was dying!
Doan R6 same omg in Utah, my local resort is busy every year
$180 is the list price for a same day weekend ticket if you buy it at the ticket window. If you buy in advance on line and use promotions you can buy a ticket for about $120 or less.
Snow days have become less common in our winters nowadays and doesn't stick around long. Resorts are hurting.
I started skiing in 1970. It was the end of the era of $10 lift tickets, $1 bowls of chili for lunch, and 35¢ drafts apres ski. Combine 10-15x inflation with sitting in traffic for five hours a day, and it just isn't fun anymore.
In comparison, if the purchasing power value of a '1970 dollar' was 100¢, now the very same 'dollar' is now only worth 2¢ in purchasing power .... a 98% LOSS of 'value'. So, its not the fault of the ski area operators for the massive costs, its the fault of the US government & 'Federal Feserve' monetary policies !!!!!!! Just wait until the 'dollar' (soon???) becomes even more 'worthless', even down to close to ZERO value.
@@richh1576 General inflation over the last 52 years was not 5000%, though. You're off by a factor of five. For instance, the 35-cent apres-ski domestic draft now costs $3.50. And there are other reasons. The number of ski areas has declined. The cost of running a ski area has increased. Ski area operators concentrate on the upper end of the market.
@@monkmchorning The US currency has been continually DEBASED since ~1970 ... due to profligate congressional spending.
In comparison the dollar (100¢) in 1970 had a purchasing power of 100¢; through DEBASEMENT - the constant printing of 'imaginary' value money - today the 'dollar' is only worth 2¢ in purchasing power in comparison to a 1970 dollar
100÷2 = 50
50 X 100% = 5000% (debasement).
Save yourselves 9 minutes of your life and just read the comments for the consensus
LMAO
then you end up reading the comments for thirty like me
I gave up skiing western resorts years ago. In Michigan's Upper Peninsula are a number of really nice ski resorts with low, low ticket prices (as low as $19 for juniors and seniors, with half day tickets available and season passes around $300!). Similar low prices for lodging and meals. And, amazingly, with 200 to 250 inches of snow each season, the skiing is great. Did I mention that the snow coming in from Lake Superior is every bit as powdery as out West. And did I mention short lift lines, even on weekends. And did I mention that after a fresh snowfall, many runs are left ungroomed for those hankering to ski deep power (sometimes up to two feet of untracked snow). My two favorite U.P. ski areas are Big Powderhorn and Indianhead. Skiing starts in mid-December and runs well into April most years.
There ya go!
Graet
Great snow, and beautiful scenery. Only problem is not much vertical.... under 1000 feet. I am exclusively Nordic, and the UP is great for that. But I live in Wyoming now, where we have great Nordic skiing also.
Quit living in a fantasy land, I just checked those resorts’ websites and they’ve gotten less snow this entire season than some areas out west get in a few days. Also 600 feet of vertical isn’t exactly something to brag about.
@@NASAFanboy Very few ski areas get 200 inches in a few days. Targhee gets 400 inches, and I suppose Jackson is similar. But that is for a whole season. But the vertical is much better out west, as you say.
Biggest problem I see as a life long skier, the real estate developers ruined the ski resorts and towns. You don't need a bunch of fancy hotels and facilities to ski. The family model is much more affordable and can still offer something for everyone. Alta is the perfect example, with demand high and their costs relatively constant.
Spent tons of my 20’s and 30’s snowboarding. I’ve seen tickets go from $20/day in late 90’s to $90/day. I switched to cross country skiing because its quieter, cheaper, a better workout, and more relaxed. I simply don’t have the energy or desire to fight traffic, parking, crowded resorts, and come back exhausted.
People forget what skiing was for $20/day. Old, slow lifts, few to no amenities, and basics all around. If we’d go back to that, you could do it for $20/day again.
I am 51 and have been skiing since I was 10, know I am getting my son into it, but I used to go all the time,know it's $120 for a ticket at Mt. Bachelor in Bend. Screw that!!!!. We watch for deals,bring out own food, and have to save up for weeks to go theses days. If it wasn't for Mt Hood Ski Bowl, we wouldn't be able to afford to ski at all. Prices have just gotten to high for the average Joe. We just went this weekend. With gas, tickets for my son and I for 2 days, one night in a Yert and food we were close to $500.00. Had a blast. But completely strapped for cash know. Ps. Yert was 80 buck, I checked with the Best Western, they wanted 240 bucks for one night,funny when we drove by they only had 3 cars in there parking lot,lol.
$120 dollars for a day ticket. Thats literally a scam, in europe a day ticket is around 50 euro's/dollars
It’s $50 a day and $80 for the mountain to have insurance because everyone sues.
I'm 57 and I've been skiing off and on since I was 7. I also bring my own lunch, recently got deep discount gear at a ski show ( the gear is about 2 seasons back-but who cares) and I save for a bulk pass. Winters can be very long in Canada and skiing helps to keep me sane!
It's simply the cost of skiing that prevents me from going. If it was affordable I would go as often as possible.
Also, while I am a great skier, my wife is brand new. And it's really hard to want to get her to try something new that costs so much.
Here are tricks to make skiing cheaper:
1. Buy used gears on Facebook marketplace during the summer. Make sure you buy good gears as well!
2. Buy season passes during the summer will save you much more money.
3. Set aside some your paycheck just for skiing every year.
4. Choose smaller ski areas or more local ski areas instead of going to big ski areas. For example, those living in Northern Colorado can save a lot of money go skiing at Snowy Range in Wyoming! Many ski resorts in Montana and Idaho are very affordable (except for the big ones of course!)
5. To avoid expensive injuries, be aware of the terrains and know your ability. When in doubt, go slowly! If your job provides health insurance and HSA, get those just in case!
I know some of things I’ve mentioned are harder to do. One thing that the video should mention is millennials and younger demographic are moving to large cities where skiing is also very far away. Skiing is typically almost accessible to rural folks living in the mountains. That said, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boulder, Rutland, Bozeman, Missoula, Burlington, etc. have a lot of good skiing nearby. If you live in Texas or Florida, then I’m sorry! California is also very inaccessible as well because most cities are in the coast and skiing usually requires a 4 to 5 hours trip one way.
I’m 58 years old. I have the Ikon Pass and ski at Mammoth/June most of the time. Been skiing there for many years. Bought their season pass when it was only $435. Over time, the pass included Bear Mountain and Snow Summit in SoCal and the price has gradually increased up to this season where I paid $1000 for the Ikon Pass. As with anything and everything the prices go up across the board; lodging, gas, food and trinkets from the different resorts. And then there’s the fare for flying to resorts out of state because I’ve got free passes to those included with my pass. I used to be able to ski Mammoth for roughly $200 a weekend everything included. Now it’s more than doubled. It’s the times we live in. Gas fluctuates but nothing else seems to. I’m still doing it though. Nothing like riding millions of dollars worth of equipment to the top of a mountain and letting gravity do the rest to get me to bottom.
Skiing is definitely not dying. Every year lift lines get longer and longer.
Oreo king 27 facts
At some of the bigger resorts but not the smaller ones. Most places that are not “ destination resorts” you can ski right up to the lifts. These same reports in the 80-90’s were happening with regular lift lines and full lodges and parking lots.
Could the longer lines be due to some sort of optimizing measures (e.g., less lifts or chairs to decrease maintenance costs)?
No One no these resorts are staying the same they don’t remove chair lifts and they’re still packed
Uh, no. Not at all true.
The title of this vid should be “Why are Americana ski resorts dying”
European ski resorts are arguably dying faster due to climate change.
@@asecmimosas4536 Do you have any verifiable data or evidence to back up that claim? Not trying to argue, just looking for factual data to support your claim. Thanks.
there's a good article on it from 2018 the sport has decline nearly 25% in about 7 years........ that should tell ya something...... It not working
@@boardrigger I was just watching youtube videos under the caption "ski resorts dying", there's one on europe as well, goes through the history and everything and has some statistics.
@@asecmimosas4536 thanks, I'm unable to find it, can you provide a link?
I am a 60 year old downhill skier, I have been skiing roughly 55 years. Some of the statistics they refer to are dead on! Corporate greed is going to be the downfall of everything!
I used to go more than 10x per year at minimum. Now that I'm bringing my daughter and the cost of everything on mountain has gotten so expensive, we're down to 1-2 times a year, and our stay is shorter.
If we're not going to our local mountain and having to stay near or on the resort, it becomes a $1,000+ visit and I just don't have that kind of money