Season pass - yes, or no?

Just curious how many here get a season pass to somewhere every year, and how many don't.

If you don't, what's your strategy to maximize your skiing time and $?

I typically get a Belleayre Midweek season pass for $289, a Hunter Big Lift Card for $49, and a Ski3 Empire Card. I run my own business from home so Im lucky I can ski midweek and work weekends. I average 40 days a year, which gets me to about $10 a day.

This year as a 29 year old I purchased a Belleayre only 20-29 Full Season pass for $299. Now I can do some weekend skiing.

Season pass holder at two locations but at my age i ger pretty good deals at most places 😎

Season pass holder.  My local mountain charges $375 end of season (early purchase).  Full day passes are $45... it pays for itself very quickly.

I live 7 miles from Gore, so I buy the full Gore/Whiteface pass every year. Before I got the cabin up here, I had the Killington bronze pass for a few years. That was good at Killington, Mount Snow and Sunday River, among others.

Before that, I was in a ski club. That kept the costs down and was a lot of fun. I met my wife there.

Ski mostly WF, and it's not that easy for me to get the days in during a single season to "break even".  Bought a WF only, non-holiday pass last March, which I was able to use the end of last year and all of this year.  Probably will go sans season pass for 2016, then buy a 2017 season pass next March that I can use for the tail end 2016.  Call me an every other year pass holder.

Bought the Gore pass early, so get all three mountains and actually went someplace other than Gore with my daughter's ski club coming up to ski Belleayre once during the winter.  Next year she'll have a car at school and I'll no doubt do it again and we'll hit Belle a few times.  Live just over an hour from Gore and hit it once or twice a week and I'm sure I broke even, but more importantly, with the season pass, I don't feel like I've got to make first and last lift, like I would if I just bought a day pass.  If conditions suck, we'll bail early and hit Cafe Sarah and not think twice about it!  

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Got a season pass two years ago at Hunter, best thing I ever did, changes everything. Crowded weekend? start early quit soon, bad weather? no biggie, super cold, windy ?, hey go in, have a hot beverage rest the feet, go out. Luckily at this stage in life I can afford it, if you can, do it, by the time you factor in the times you skied, and the convenience , [no ticket lines], I bet it's not much more than a big dinner at a restaurant with your girlfriend, or a couple of tanks of gas,  and the joy lasts the whole season, not just one night.

ps breaking even isn't everything, living well is the best revenge

It's a no brainier out here in Colorado. I have two, the Epic Local and the Colorado Super Pass Plus, which gets me an enormous amount of skiing for about 950 dollars. Ticket window pricing is absurd. Copper is $138! Steamboat $128. Vail and Aspen are about $160. Cheapest mountain is Loveland, at $58. The math is simple. If only eastern skiing was as cheap.

not to hijack the thread, but who in there right mind would pay 160 for lift tkt..F them...

I he's ya JP.  If I was close to the mountain I'd do the same.  We primarily ski WF, but it's a 3+ hour drive.....so no popping in for a couple of runs or bailing when the conditions are less than ideal.  Weekends are somewhat limited, with lots of other things competing for the time, so when I do get out I make the most of it.  So, I know I'll get somewhere between 12 and 18 days in at WF a season, and it's the accountant in me that makes me look at the break even.  

I will get one at some point. I'm holding off until the last day of the discount.

Been a season pass holder at GORE/WF since I was 16 (28 now)...live 5.5hrs from Lake Placid, 4 from GORE...manage to make it worthwhile, usually ski 20-30 days per year depending on weather in any given season.  Usually ski weekends, and midweek when I'm feeling "sick".  Try and get out to a few other places throughout the year if I find deals, this year hit VT and Tremblant to mix up the variety.  but 90% of the time in the ADK.  Try and get a west trip once a year in late Feb/March, been consistent on that except this year due to weather and trying to minimize my season pass per day price, having had to can several weekends due to weather.

Here's a big surprise...we have and will purchase again for next year seasons passes at Plattekill.  Prices went up a bit this year but it is worth every dime!

I haven't had a season pass for years as I don't spend that many days in bounds, I can usually get a deal or a comp ticket if I desire to go. However this year I was beginning to rethink this. I was so busy working (and I am supposed to be retired) that I could not commit the time to tour much. I am thinking about reconsidering this, particularly if we buy a place closer to civilization.

When I regularly had a season pass I really enjoyed the way it took the psychological pressure off to get every ounce out of a daily pass. I never felt the pressure to get every day off the season pass but I also did not go to any other local mountain, I pretty much stuck with using the pass. That's the down side and one of the reasons I stopped buying them. There are still so many places in the NE I haven't gone, I'm going to have to correct that while I still can.

No to a season's pass,  I enjoy skiing different places and do my best to try one or two different new places each season.  This season Bolton Valley & Mad River Glenn.  I usually ski based on deals like Founders Day, Skiing Santa Days, etc.  Especially now that I take my daughters with me.  They get to Ski the East and have favorites.  Early season Killington or late season Sugarbush with a bunch in the middle.   You could see that in my signature but I guess that privilege has been revoked.

I've had a Gore/WF Pass for about (?) 10 years. Always do way better than break even. Right now I'm at $21.68 per day, but if all goes according to plan I could have it down to about $16.50 per day. Back when Killington offered the Bronze pass, I could do Gore/Whiteface/Killington/Pico/Sunday River/Mount Snow/Attitash/ & one or two others (I think?) for around $925. That was a good time (pre-kids).

JTG4eva! wrote

So, I know I'll get somewhere between 12 and 18 days in at WF a season, and it's the accountant in me that makes me look at the break even.

Freakin' bean counter.
Yup, at 12 to 18 you're definitely ahead.