Skiing in...North America is outrageously expensive...Consider heading to Europe.

ChrisC

ChrisC

Well-known member
Not my headline, CNN's headline. Link

This is true - especially outside of Switzerland.

Some areas of savings, even at a resort like Val d'Isere/Tignes:
  • Airfare - not much more than flying to Jackson, Aspen, Vail/Eagle, Telluride/Montrose, Crested Butte/Gunnison....to get to Geneva
  • Lift Ticket - $330 for 5 days
  • Guides vs. Lessons - The two of us could hire a guide at Val d'Isere for half a day - for the cost of an American generic 2-hr group lesson. Guides will give technique pointers (if you ask) and get you on the best terrain.
  • On mountain food. If you look, easy to find a couple of places with amazing Pasta Bolognese ($12) and excellent salad bar ($8/plate) - enough to split
  • Coffee or Latte - maybe $2-3 at most places. No Starbucks pricing.
  • Car Rentals. An SUV/AWD car is often much cheaper - weekly rates in the $350-500 zone. This is not Denver International.
  • Tip-flation. Not in Europe.
And let's just review US lift ticket prices: One day in the US = One week in Europe (almost)

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You make some good points but no one in their right mind goes on a skiing holiday in North America buying day tickets. Most of the multi resort passes bring day prices down to under $100usd if used 7 or 8 times.
 
Sbooker said:
You make some good points but no one in their right mind goes on a skiing holiday in North America buying day tickets. Most of the multi resort passes bring day prices down to under $100usd if used 7 or 8 times.
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Correct, but that's a tail-wagging-the-dog argument. It's a huge advantage to able to pick ski areas based on conditions, your itinerary, or your mood without having a season pass dictating the choices, especially on a destination trip. With a few exceptions (high-end resorts like Vail, Deer Valley, and Stowe were always expensive), it was that way in North America before the current duopoly. The classic example was going to ski shops at the bottom of the Cottonwoods in SLC to buy reasonably-priced day tickets.

December 2004, purchasing discount tickets at the Sinclair gas station on the way to Snowbasin, which was always under-visited back then:
SLC December 2004 031.jpg
 
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Of course, there are still some independent ski areas that offer less expensive tickets. Today is a stormy Friday at Plattekill in the Catskills so $69 is a comparative deal; however, that's more or less the same window price as Val d'Isere, which belongs in a worldwide resorts Top 10 list for size and quality: not apples to apples.

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Lodging seems to present a lot of value as well especially at the higher end. The best located american ski hotels seem to have leaned into Uber luxury ala montage at big sky or four seasons at Jackson and left a gap in the market for the not seriously wealthy folk that still want a nice hotel but cant afford those insane prices. Even the snowbird lodging has gone through the roof. Half board 4 star hotels in Europe with spa facilities and delicious food can be had for a fraction of the price. A luxury experience for well less than half the price.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
Of course, there are still some independent ski areas that offer less expensive tickets. Today is a stormy Friday at Plattekill in the Catskills so $69 is a comparative deal; however, that's more or less the same window price as Val d'Isere, which belongs in a worldwide resorts Top 10 list for size and quality: not apples to apples.
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Val d'Isere 7 days is 396€ or about $60/day. That's a price from the 1980s at US leading ski resorts.
 
skiandgolfnut said:
Lodging seems to present a lot of value as well especially at the higher end.
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Very true! You can find great values with excellent food (breakfast spreads, possibly dinners) and spa/hot tub/jacuzzi for A LOT less than the US resorts.


Even restaurants - Went to Michelin-starred Atmosphère in Chamonix for the last night of the recent trip. It is 55€ for an appetizer/entree/dessert with wine in the 7-10€/glass zone or less for a bottle. It's not something you see in a US ski town.

Even on the lower end, my 100 Euro room (split 2 ways) in Courmayeur came with this breakfast -scroll a few pics down Link
 
ChrisC said:
Even restaurants
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+1 Dijon was even a better deal than the ski resorts. A Michelin seven course meal at Parapluie with wine pairings was barely 100 euros per person, probably 1/3 the price of such a meal in NY or LA.
skiandgolfnut said:
Even the snowbird lodging has gone through the roof.
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I found out that our room at Iron Blosam rents to the public for $734/night!
ChrisC said:
You can find great values with excellent food (breakfast spreads, possibly dinners)
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even in under-the-radar places. The dinner at the Breithorn hotel in Blatten (just up the road from Lauchernalp so yes very obscure) was outstanding.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
It's a huge advantage to able to pick ski areas based on conditions, your itinerary, or your mood without having a season pass dictating the choices, especially on a destination trip.
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This is of course a fit for the way Liz and I like to travel. However, it's also more necessary in the Alps where conditions are more erratic than in much of western North America. Recall the grumbling from jnelly, who had a more traditional one-week-booked-far-in-advance trip. And Liz' first Euro ski club trip in 2001 was so bad she never returned until after we met.
 
ChrisC said:
Not my headline, CNN's headline. Link

This is true - especially outside of Switzerland.

Some areas of savings, even at a resort like Val d'Isere/Tignes:
  • Airfare - not much more than flying to Jackson, Aspen, Vail/Eagle, Telluride/Montrose, Crested Butte/Gunnison....to get to Geneva
  • Lift Ticket - $330 for 5 days
  • Guides vs. Lessons - The two of us could hire a guide at Val d'Isere for half a day - for the cost of an American generic 2-hr group lesson. Guides will give technique pointers (if you ask) and get you on the best terrain.
  • On mountain food. If you look, easy to find a couple of places with amazing Pasta Bolognese ($12) and excellent salad bar ($8/plate) - enough to split
  • Coffee or Latte - maybe $2-3 at most places. No Starbucks pricing.
  • Car Rentals. An SUV/AWD car is often much cheaper - weekly rates in the $350-500 zone. This is not Denver International.
  • Tip-flation. Not in Europe.
And let's just review US lift ticket prices: One day in the US = One week in Europe (almost)

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pretty much the reason why i all but stopped skiing..aside from some local catskill areas... F the mega passes..No way will i prepay for something I don't know if i will or will not do ...I kind of equate the above to the new acceptable 60$ entree in many NYC restaurants.. Insanity
 
jasoncapecod said:
pretty much the reason why i all but stopped skiing..aside from some local catskill areas.
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You live in the East, so not difficult to take your destination trip to the Alps instead of the West. James has laid out the road map for this numerous times here.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
A shame that the snow gods didn't cooperate with @jnelly on his plans in the Montafon region. I had a great visit there.
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Did @jnelly abort both Alps trips in the past few years - Morzine/Zinal and now Austria?

I assume the lower-altitude Austrian resorts were not in good shape after the spring warm-up and higher snow levels.

An interesting article about this region appeared in my Google News feed:

An eco-friendly stay at ‘the quietest ski village in Austria’
 
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