WanderingOnTheWay t1_j4vtedo wrote on January 18, 2023 at 4:46 PM

Reply to comment by nixiedust in This winter is a repeat of the winter of 2019-2020 by nba123490

Skiing isn’t a rich person’s sport. I grew up in the 80s going with my elementary school, and still spend most winters skiing places like Mad River, where the folks like Vail haven’t changed the place in favor of profits.

Skiing is a New England tradition and cuts across class lines!

essmargot t1_j4y0t4j wrote on January 19, 2023 at 1:23 AM

We weren’t rich either and I did ski club at school in Southern New Hampshire. We would go to Gunstock on a school bus every Friday night. My parents got very cheap skis and boots at ski swaps, and I would bring food.

The_eldritch_bitch t1_j4w3ncr wrote on January 18, 2023 at 5:48 PM

Yeah, dropping $500 on a family of four for one day activity isn’t a rich persons sport. More if lessons and rentals are needed.

WanderingOnTheWay t1_j4w934a wrote on January 18, 2023 at 6:22 PM

Four single-session tickets at Wachusett costs around $240. If you ski more than once or twice a year, you buy used skis in the summer, you don't need lessons, and you bring food from home. If only one parent skis, it's under $200 with two kids.

It's not nothing, but it isn't restricted to "rich people", and it doesn't cost $500. If you really love skiing, you buy a season pass, and you save significantly. My point isn't that it's free, or that it isn't a luxury -- it absolutely is -- but rather that it isn't reserved for folks in the 1%. Stuff like Vail buying out our local slopes (ugh, Okemo) sucks, and supporting smaller mountains helps to keep it from becoming something akin to what you see in CO or CA.