Did You Pay For Your Skiing When You Were Younger?

People are often poking fun at me for not paying for my own skiing at the age of close to 16.  Let me ask this question.  When you were my age, did you pay for your own skiing, or did your parents pay for it?

Who paid for your skiing when you were a teenager?

I paid for my own skiing.

My parents paid for my skiing.

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Or there is the never skied when I was younger.  When I was young, all I knew about skiing was it was expensive.  When ski club papers came around school I never even considered asking my parents to pay for it because I was used to not getting everything I wanted.  I even used to pick on skiers, maybe out of jealousy.  But, one day in my early 20's a girlfriend got me out to Greek Peak and it changed my life.  She and her sister only rode Kway and Castor, the two greens.  And it wasn't long I wanted to ride blues, then hooked up with some snowboarders who started me down blacks and glades.  It's been progressing nicely ever since for the past 10-12 years.  I only now wish I was able to be able to have the experience you already have at your age.

I didn't start skiing until I was 30. I started riding lifts when I was 40.

My two cents:

What rubs people the wrong way is not that your dad is paying for your lift tickets, but that you are constantly beating the drum for higher ticket prices. That kind of talk is never popular but would be better received coming from someone who actually had to pay for skiing or any part of his life.

Answer this honestly: if you had to pay your own expenses for the season starting now, where would you ski?  If you had $500 for the whole season would you pay $20 more for a high speed chair? Or would you put the $500 towards gas and earn turns?

People struggling to afford life - most all of us - just don't want to listen to a kid who pays for nothing go on and on about raising ticket prices so his tender fanny doesn't have to sit on plywood.

Of course someone else pays for a lot of your skiing when you are 15.  Sure, I paid for a lot of my local skiing with sweat equity (ski team) and got most of my equipment at swaps with my own money (from working in a pizza joint).  However, destination skiing is something an adult picks up.  My parents didn't have the dough, but my childless aunt and uncle loved the sport and were very generous to introduce us.  The first pair of new boots I had that I didn't buy were a pair of Scott's from my uncle's collection.  He never seemed to invest in the right things!!

The thing is, skiing was something that I knew I was very lucky to be introduced to.  It's not whether someone else is paying for it, but how much you appreciate the opportunity and savor the experience......regardless of what kind of lift you are sitting on or what kind of snow you are sliding on.

Harvey wrote

I didn't start skiing until I was 30. I started riding lifts when I was 40.

My two cents:

What rubs people the wrong way is not that your dad is paying for your lift tickets, but that you are constantly beating the drum for higher ticket prices. That kind of talk is never popular but would be better received coming from someone who actually had to pay for skiing or any part of his life.

Answer this honestly: if you had to pay your own expenses for the season starting now, where would you ski?  If you had $500 for the whole season would you pay $20 more for a high speed chair? Or would you put the $500 towards gas and earn turns?

People struggling to afford life - most all of us - just don't want to listen to a kid who pays for nothing go on and on about raising ticket prices so his tender fanny doesn't have to sit on plywood.

Harvey wrote

I didn't start skiing until I was 30. I started riding lifts when I was 40.

My two cents:

What rubs people the wrong way is not that your dad is paying for your lift tickets, but that you are constantly beating the drum for higher ticket prices. That kind of talk is never popular but would be better received coming from someone who actually had to pay for skiing or any part of his life.

Answer this honestly: if you had to pay your own expenses for the season starting now, where would you ski?  If you had $500 for the whole season would you pay $20 more for a high speed chair? Or would you put the $500 towards gas and earn turns?

People struggling to afford life - most all of us - just don't want to listen to a kid who pays for nothing go on and on about raising ticket prices so his tender fanny doesn't have to sit on plywood.

I agree 100% with everything stated here. I started in my 20s, so every lift ticket I've used (save for a free coupon to everyone's favorite NJ Mountain) was paid for out of pocket.

skimore wrote

Harvey wrote

I didn't start skiing until I was 30. I started riding lifts when I was 40.

My two cents:

What rubs people the wrong way is not that your dad is paying for your lift tickets, but that you are constantly beating the drum for higher ticket prices. That kind of talk is never popular but would be better received coming from someone who actually had to pay for skiing or any part of his life.

Answer this honestly: if you had to pay your own expenses for the season starting now, where would you ski?  If you had $500 for the whole season would you pay $20 more for a high speed chair? Or would you put the $500 towards gas and earn turns?

People struggling to afford life - most all of us - just don't want to listen to a kid who pays for nothing go on and on about raising ticket prices so his tender fanny doesn't have to sit on plywood.

I started paying for High School Ski Team when I got a job at Wendy's when I was 16. And I bought my own race skis with my money from working at the Track($900 at Alpine Sport Shop because I didn't know any better). My parents paid when we went to Whiteface and Big Tupper and other places they wanted to ski, and obviously it helped that they had a house in Saranac Lake and, you know, fed me.

I don't care if your parents pay for your stuff, sno. That's completely normal. But you have to realize money isn't just some thing that you can conjure up whenever you feel like it and the price of things don't matter. You seem to do that with ski area finances and personal finances. I understand that you're a kid, but maybe you should get a job so you can figure out how hard it is to make a decent wage.

I would pay for the lift no matter how much it cost and if I couldn't afford it would be taking up bowling.

   what harv says!

my 16 yo pays for his own pass and incidentals like goggles poles etc by working at the mountain. we did buy his instructors jacket for him (he agreed to pay us back but I never called in the loan). he bought his own goalie pads two seasons ago.big equipment purchases -  ski, boots, skates etc are given as his major Christmas present.

he also has to earn the privilege to ski by keeping his grades up  - and guess who missed opening day this season  (yea yea I'm just an uptight suburban white guy )

he hasn't missed an assignment since and is saving up for new park skis...

snoloco wrote

I would pay for the lift no matter how much it cost and if I couldn't afford it would be taking up bowling.

Read that sentence slowly to yourself Loco, and see if you can figure out where you contradicted yourself.

My father paid for lift tiks at Bobcat where my siblings and I learned back in the late 70's. I think the price was about $20 a piece with rentals. Once I was in high school and worked I went more with friends , so I paid. And yes we did go to MC, mainly because we didn't trust our cars to go any further. Lift tickets are high enough now, I don't mind slow, hard ,windy lifts. In H.S. we use to say work hard ,play harder

The only reason I got into skiing was because I had a relative that worked at Windham. Said relative also took me there the year before working there for my first day on skis.. Free lift, rental, group lesson every vacation from 5th to 7th grade. When said relative left Windham, I paid for some of my skiing.

Mom purchased my first snowboard for me in 5th or 6th grade... Boy was that a can of worms. She would help out with lift tickets about $30-$40 for the school trips in Middle School, anything on top of that was on my dime.  Every board, bindings, goggles etc since then was from money made by taking the school bus to work and taking the garbage out.. well until I got a promotion to dishwasher.

First couple pairs of snow pants were sewn in my living room by Momma.  She did great for raising 3 boys on her own.  (I love my mommy)

Been working since I was 13 to support this fuckin habit...

Advice to any MS/HS age kid from an internet stranger...  All things on NYSB aside, if you aren't currently working open your mind up to getting a job next week-- even if your parents don't necessarily push you toward it.  

Work hard play hard.  There's plenty of time for school, sports and work so don't use that excuse.

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Harvey wrote

What rubs people the wrong way is not that your dad is paying for your lift tickets, but that you are constantly beating the drum for higher ticket prices. That kind of talk is never popular but would be better received coming from someone who actually had to pay for skiing or any part of his life.

. . .

People struggling to afford life - most all of us - just don't want to listen to a kid who pays for nothing go on and on about raising ticket prices so his tender fanny doesn't have to sit on plywood.

Sno, read and re-read these statements and take them to heart. Your older brethren on this forum grow weary of imparting nuggets of wisdom that never penetrate your bulletproof self-centered view of what all ski areas should be. You've got a lot to learn. Today is a great day to start.

I skied maybe 10 times total before age 23 when I moved up this way.  If i was lucky we would get to ski 1 day a year on a 300' tall sheet of ice called Hidden Valley.  When I was 14 I got to go to Colorado with my church on a mission trip and we skied 3 days and worked the other days... and I had to work to pay for that trip.  We did 2 days in Galena Illinois that my parents did pay for as our family vacation.  All these were on rental skis and day passes.  

Get a job.  As soon as you can go get a job at mountain creek running a lift.  See how many hours you have to work at 8 bucks an hour to buy a lift ticket... then your views will change quickly.  

If we didn't live an hour from Gore we would not be doing this.  If we had to pay for lodging or more then a tank of gas every other trip I would be a twice a year skier... max.  

If you are saying that if I am paying for my own skiing that I will settle for crappy conditions, no snowmaking, outdated, slow, uncomfortable lifts, etc. you are wrong.

How about you get some experience too.  Go to Hunter, Windham, or Killington on a weekend.  You will see plenty of people in their 20's there.  People who pay for their own skiing CAN afford the best in snowmaking, they can afford high speed lifts.

^ I think snoloco trolls before he goes to school so that he'll have something to respond to when he gets home.