Headline News
A Little Savviness Goes a Long Way
in Helping You Afford to Chase the Snow
Remember the days when you could plan last-minute day or weekend ski trips based on where the snow fell and not go broke paying ticket window prices? If you're savvy, you can still find affordable ways to chase the snow.
Believe it or not, ski resorts do want your business. Most resorts offer discounted lift tickets, though some certainly are notorious for never or rarely doing so. But even among the resorts that offer discounts, some make it easier than others to find the deals.
First I'll start with the simple ways to find deals by sharing my favorite websites that do all or most of the work for you.
Liftopia.com is a great online resource for discounted lift tickets. They partner with North American resorts to provide exclusive deals that can save customers up to 60 percent. And, yes, I have seen discounts that steep, though they trend more toward the 20-percent to 30-percent range. Some deals are last-minute, others are available weeks or even months in advance. You purchase your advance tickets online through Liftopia, you receive an e-mailed confirmation receipt and you present that receipt to the ticket window at the resort. You can search for deals two ways: know your dates and punch them into a search engine to see what resorts offer the right deal for you, or know your state/region and let the site notify you of deals as they become available via email alerts.
SkiCoupons.com has been around since 1998 and carries discount coupons for lift tickets, gear rental, lodging, dining and activities. Discounts can be found throughout the U.S. and Canada. They also have a last-minute deals section. Some of the discounts require you to print out a coupon and present it when you make your purchase, others require you to click through a link that allows you to make the discounted purchase online. My major gripe with this website is that even if they don't offer a coupon for a specific resort, the resort listing is still there and you often waste time clicking on links to various resorts only to discover that there are no deals available.
SlidingOnTheCheap.com provides a running list of discounts around the country. You can sign up for an e-newsletter to be notified of discounts in your region or a region you're planning to visit. You might be put off by the 1990s "not slick at all" design of this site, but it does have very useful information that points you in the right direction for deals.
There you have it, the three websites I use to track discount lift tickets. From this point on, it gets trickier. You've got to do the research yourself. Yes, it can be a bit time intensive. But surely you can narrow down a list of "favorite resorts" and monitor those resorts specifically. I can't possibly be exhaustive here, but I can give you some ideas of the kinds of deals that might come in handy for chasing the snow and perhaps you'll discover deals of your own that work even better for you.
• Quite a lot of resorts sell their lift tickets at discounted prices through various off-site retailers such as ski shops, Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS), REI and even Costco. Specific information can usually be found on the resort's website, but you should also ask your favorite retailers.
• Many ski resorts list last-minute ticket deals on their website. Some offer significant discounts if your purchase your tickets online in advance. You may find a discount on a one-day ticket, but generally the discount is for multi-day tickets.
• If you sign up for resort e-newsletters and snow reports, you'll often get exclusive offers sent only to subscribers. Vermont resorts Jay Peak and Killington are among those that do this. Don't forget that many resorts have Twitter feeds and Facebook pages where they announce special discounts as well.
• One of my favorites is the 2-for-1 day, where you buy one full-price adult ticket and get a second ticket free for your companion (or you each get a 50-percent discount, depending upon how you want to look at it). The 2-for-1 deals tend to be midweek, which makes for uncrowded slopes, a special treat on a powder day or a sunny spring day. Examples of resorts that do this are just about any in New Hampshire, including Wildcat Mountain, Waterville Valley, Bretton Woods, Mount Sunapee and Cannon Mountain.
Squaw Valley, Calif., just announced a twist on the 2-for-1 deal: Season passholders can bring two friends to a ticket window and those friends get the 2-for-1 ticket price. The deal is good on non-holiday Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays through April 1, 2010.
• Every once in awhile you'll come across a resort that offers discounted tickets if you bring your season pass from ANOTHER resort. How cool is that? Examples include Saddleback, Maine, where tickets drop to just $35, and Jay Peak, Vt., where tickets are reduced to $47.
• Visit your favorite resort websites and look for details on special discounted days like Ladies' Day, Men's Day, Seniors' Day and Telemark Day. You should also see if your favorite resorts offer discounts for being an in-state resident (and in some cases, residents of other states).
• A popular discounted day this season is St. Patrick's Day, March 17, which falls on a Wednesday. Mount Snow in Vermont is selling lift tickets for $17 to everyone who shows up. So is Sugarbush, but your skiing is limited to Mt. Ellen (Sugarbush North). Mad River Glen will sell you a $17 ticket if you are wearing green. Waterville Valley, N.H., wants you to "be green" and book your St. Patty's Day ticket online in advance for $17.
I hope this gets you started on being creative to find affordable ways to chase the snow.