Season pass - yes, or no?

Passes.  They're great, and I'm sure my family will go all-in with Gore/WF again this year, but they do have the downside of limiting variety.  At this point in the year, especially with the current ho-hum conditions, my wife is desperate to go almost anywhere else.  I mean, I love Gore and WF, and when they are in top condition they are both really great, but sometimes, just sometimes, the skiing's a little better somewhere else.
  There you go, I said it.   And it'd be nice to go to the somewhere else place without going through the mental math of "4 of us at Gore today = free, 4 of us at XYZ Ski Resort = $250."  Which is why I occasionally consider wildass alternatives like that Intrawest Passport deal last year, or this year's version, the MAX Pass.  Just sayin'.

Adk Jeff wrote

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

I ams what I ams!

I'm livin' on the edge.  I get 18 and yeah, I'm more than breaking even.  I don't think I'm getting to 18 this year.  I get 12, I'm right on the edge.  I think I'll be at 14 after this weekend.  I was too cheap to go full Ski3 this season, and just about broke even on my WF only, non-holiday this year, as a good portion of my days were holiday.

All that to say.....a pass isn't a slam dunk for me.

But now that you make me think about it......an average of 15 days of tickets scraped together off eBay and Liftopia at $60 per is $900.  Full Ski3 is $759.  I should just pull the trigger.

JTG4eva! wrote

Adk Jeff wrote

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

I ams what I ams!

As an accounting type myself I figure I have license to poke at other accounting types.

Poke away....I deserve it!

I'm trying to decide this as well. We have enjoyed the Gore passes for the last 5 years but this winter was weird. The snow was in VT and so we went there for all our skiing since New Years.  If anything I think I'm going to buy into the MRG Coop and get a pass there. Something about that place is so special. I guess I should realize that this was a historically unusually epic winter there, and next year we will hardly use those passes while going to areas with snowmaking.

evergreen wrote

I'm trying to decide this as well. We have enjoyed the Gore passes for the last 5 years but this winter was weird. The snow was in VT and so we went there for all our skiing since New Years.  If anything I think I'm going to buy into the MRG Coop and get a pass there. Something about that place is so special. I guess I should realize that this was a historically unusually epic winter there, and next year we will hardly use those passes while going to areas with snowmaking.

That's always a possibility but NVT, like the dacks, is actually having a substandard year snow wise. MRG is 70" below its usual season totals, the thing that made this season special was the lack of thaws and rain. The coast really got all the snow, I wonder how much Berkshire East will be up by the end.

Gore  non holiday for us,30ish miles away , no kids in tow anymore. Sometimes we miss out on some good conditions , but we also miss out on the holiday horde. In a good way it forces us to seek alternatives ,x/c,bc,snowshoeing...We also plan a NVT tour , hitting 4 mts,with a large group. We keep the cost down with discounted tickets and a fun ,affordable place to stay.

I just had the annual discussion with the wife about getting the non-holiday instead of the full Gore/WF passes and the result was the same. If there are just 2 great snow days during blackout periods, it costs the same. If more than that, we made the wrong decision. So we're doing the full pass again. I'm buying my pass tomorrow because I lost mine on the mountain yesterday. No way I'm paying $25 to replace this years.

As far as whether a season pass limits variety, we can always justify going somewhere else besides Gore if conditions warrant. Even WF and hanging out at LP is variety enough. We did a day trip to Mad River Glen in January when they got all that great snow and Gore got nothing. Liftopia discount tickets through this site made it well worth it.

One year, I had a season pass to Mt van Hoevenberg and pretty much broke even.  Got in 1 or 2 extra days.  As much as I like van Ho, I also like variety.  And this year I'm working on Saturdays, very difficult to get a whole weekend in on skis.  The other thing is, at this stage in life my family, while they enjoy skiing they don't eat, sleep and breathe skiing.

A season pass would be a no brainer if I lived in or north of Albany.  But down here, right now, it doesn't make sense.  :(

Oh just spent two days at MRG, powder stashes on upper mountain all weekend long, glades, cliffs, Lawsons, I'll pony up if it will be like this next year..............

Season pass
for me it's the only way to go