berkshireskier":19g61wwg said:
What extra cost, really? By shopping around and timing it right you can get a round-trip fare from the East Coast to SLC for around $300, give or take. Once here you can take a free airport shuttle to a Salt Lake Valley hotel, which can be had for ~$35/night if you're frugal, but for the sake of argument let's include $40 for a paid airport shuttle ($20 each way). Ski bus fare costs $6/day round trip (or you could get a multi-day pass to the Cottonwoods that includes free ski bus transportation to and from your hotel). Lift tickets, even at the walk-up rate are $64 for the first day at Alta, and $59 for all subsequent days if you keep your lift ticket -- even in subsequent seasons.
Now, let's compare it from NYC (and admittedly BBD is farther from N VT than NYC). Round-trip mileage to and from Stowe is 670 miles. Not even considering the depreciation on your car, that's $92.13 in gas based on 20 mpg and $2.75/gallon. A "basic room" at the Mountaineer in Stowe, one of the more economical options on the Mountain Road, ranges from $99-$159/night according to their website -- I'll use $129 as an average. A daily lift ticket at Stowe will set you back $84/day. Food is food, for you're eating anyway whether you're in Utah, in Vermont, or at home, so I won't include food in my calculations -- although I dare say that on-mountain lunches are cheaper here. (A huge Philly cheese steak, fries and a fountain soda with free refills -- enough food to choke a horse -- will cost $12 at Goldminer's Daughter. But I digress...)
So, for a 4-day trip you get:
Stowe:
$92.13 gas
$516.00 lodging
$336.00 lift tickets
TOTAL: $944.13
Alta:
$300.00 airfare
$140.00 lodging
$241.00 lift tickets
$24.00 ski bus fare
$40.00 airport shuttle
TOTAL: $745.00
It's actually cheaper for a NYC resident to spend 4 days skiing here than going to Stowe for the same 4 days, a savings of 22% by the analysis above. It's a myth that it's cheaper to drive to Vermont. Every weekend -- and I mean every weekend I meet folks from NYC who come out here 3, 4, 5 or more times a season and don't ski in the Northeast. They've discovered that it's cheaper and frankly easier to do so.
If instead of pricing gas I use $0.50/mile for gas and depreciation on your car, the cost of that Stowe trip goes up to $1,187. You could stay in a castle here and still break even or come out ahead. It may not be a castle but you could stay on-mountain at Alta in the Peruvian for $188/night in regular season for a room with a private bath and including breakfast, lunch and dinner! Now, let's say that you spend on average $50/day to eat (I'm being conservative -- just try to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in Stowe for $50/day without going to McDonald's). The cost comparison now becomes:
Stowe:
$335.00 gas and mileage on personal car
$516.00 lodging
$200 meals
$336.00 lift tickets
TOTAL: $1,387
Alta:
$300.00 airfare
$752.00 lodging and all meals
$241.00 lift tickets
$68.00 airport shuttle (Canyon Transport round-trip to/from Alta from SLC International)
TOTAL: $1,361
So for essentially the same price as driving to Stowe for 4 days and staying on the Mountain Road, you could be flying to Utah and staying slopeside at Alta and sipping a cocktail in the Peruvian's outdoor pool before dinner as you watch the sun go down behind Mount Superior. And you could get to Utah faster than you could get to Stowe from NYC without the hassle of driving. I mean, really? This gets ridiculous.
All bets are off if you're coming out here as a family. But the analysis above is sound for a solo traveler.
