The other day as I was browsing the website for Magic Mountain, in Londonderry, Vermont, I came across a deal they were offering.
This deal involved buying a membership card for $149 and every time you came to the mountain, your lift ticket would cost what it did in the eighties:’ $29. My mind was blown. Lift tickets used to only cost $29? How on earth in a matter of 30 or so years have prices shot up from $29 to $100+ per day?
I’ve got a bone to pick with the snow sport industry. Why does it cost an arm and a leg just to shred down a mountain that is covered in free snow? That’s right, these resorts don’t have to pay for real powder, nope, good ole’ Mother Nature doles it out for free, and yet I still have to fork over $100+ dollars to get from point A to point B.
With this outrageous price comes a certain clientele. Each time I pull into the mountain parking lot, I am met with a sea of Mercedes, Range Rovers, Audis, and a sprinkling of Subaru’s to bring everyone back down to earth. I used to think it was a silly stereotype, that skiing was for the rich. However, over the years, this stereotype has becomea reality.
According to a 2014 report by the National Ski Areas Association, NSAA, the percentage of visitors with a household income of $100,000 or more rose from 45 percent in 2006-2007 to 58 percent in the 2014-2015 season. Not only that, but the percentage of visitors earning less than $50,000 per year dropped from 30 percent to 18 percent over the same period.
Within the report, the NSAA found that one of the most notable trends for the season was “an increasingly affluent visitor profile.” With lift ticket prices rising each year, this comes as no surprise. According to the 2018 Protect Our Winters, POW, economic report, last year the snow sports industry in the United States brought in $11.3 billion. Yes, you heard that correctly, billion. For an industry to be raking in so much dough, can’t they give the people a break?
Luckily for college students, many resorts cut us some slack by offering student discounts on lift tickets and lodging. Even better, Monmouth U Snowriders, our very own ski and snowboard club, offers discounted trips to mountains throughout winter so that we can still partake in the wintery sport without having to live up to the broke college student stereotype. Last year the club traveled to Lake Placid, Killington and Mont Tremblant, offering students the chance escape campus and hit the slopes for a weekend.
Being a college student certainly has its perks, with discounted lift tickets being one of them. Whether you want to join the Snowriders on their next trip, or want to gather up a few friends and drive to the nearest mountain, don’t let the steep prices or slopes turn you away!
PHOTO TAKEN by Caroline Mattise
