Keeley Stokes stepped into her first pair of skis when she was about four years old.
Get top headlines and KUNC reporting directly to your mailbox each week when you subscribe to In The NoCo.
“I've just kind of always known how to ski, so I learned when I was really little. And then joined a ski club,” Stokes said.
Ski clubs were a big part of the 48-year-old’s childhood - along with many adults who grew up along the Front Range. The clubs transported kids to the high country every weekend to ski and snowboard. In middle school, Stokes remembers riding a charter bus to Winter Park, sharing snacks, jokes and cassette tapes with her friends.
Her single mother could afford to pay for her and her two brothers to participate.
“When it came to skiing, like there was just so much freedom,” she said. “The first couple years, I guess I probably had an instructor. But they weren't like lessons. We were just following an instructor all over the mountain, which was awesome.”
Times have certainly changed. These types of youth ski clubs are not as common. Skiing and snowboarding in Colorado now come with some major price tags, including lift tickets and lodge meals, plus logistical challenges like lift lines and I-70 traffic.
The increase in costs has impacted businesses, too, like Carver’s Ski and Bike in Breckenridge. The shop opened in 1995 and used to mainly outfit youth groups, families, and church groups. But owner Thad Eldredge says many of them have now been priced out.
“When I walk by the lift ticket office, when I go skiing and I hear the ticket attendants say, ‘All right, Mr. Smith, that'll be $4,000,’ you're like, ‘whoa,” Eldredge said.
Over the past few years, this high cost has impacted sales, he says. Instead of renting equipment for four or five days, out-of-towners are now only purchasing gear for a day.
“I think the cost of skiing for a family of four (is) $250 a day for a lift ticket,” he said. “Now you're in thousands of dollars for four or five day rentals.”
In the early ‘80s an adult full day lift ticket at Breckenridge was under $30. Today, it will cost around $300.
Same day lift tickets are the most expensive. But there are other ways to make skiing and snowboarding more affordable, said Sarah Beatty, communications director for Colorado Ski Country USA.
“There are so many different pass options, season passes, multi-day packs,” Beatty said.
There are roughly 30 ski areas in Colorado, from corporate resorts to small hills with a handful of runs. Most residents opt to buy season passes, which can cover just one mountain or several. Some allow kids to ski for free or at a discounted rate.
“If you plan ahead, you can find a pass product that's going to work really well for you and is going to bring skiing, you know, more in alignment with many more family budgets,” she said.
Across the country, only 19% of all daily and multi-day lift tickets came from walk-up window ticket sales at the mountain, according to data the National Ski Areas Association shared with KUNC News. That number was 46% five years ago.
“This shift reflects the industry’s move toward advance purchase and dynamic pricing models, where most guests buy tickets or passes ahead of time at lower rates,” said Tonya Riley with the National Ski Areas Association in an emailed statement to KUNC News.
Colorado ski resorts have offered passes for 80 years. But Vail Resorts raised the bar in 2008 when it introduced the EPIC Pass, allowing access to multiple mountains for less than $600. Alterra Mountain introduced the similar Ikon Pass a decade later. Today, the cost of their unlimited passes exceeds $1,000 and can be used at resorts across Colorado and the world.
“It's a good deal in that it gains you access to more skiing at a fairly affordable rate,” said Michael Childers, an author and associate professor of history at Colorado State University. “But that affordability, it all comes at one lump sum in the fall, and then there's this pressure to, you know, make it worthwhile on your investment.”
EPIC and Ikon passes must be purchased by December when the ski season is just getting underway. These upfront purchases can benefit the industry. Ski resorts are expensive to maintain, and the money can provide a financial buffer if resorts face challenges like weather or labor disputes.
“It also really protects you from climate change, as we're finding out this year, this drought has really hindered the ski industry, where they've had to make a lot more snow,” he said.
When I was a wee lad I used to take the ski train to Winter Park. My father would give me a $10.00 dollar bill. It was $3.00 for a train ticket, $3.00 for lunch, and $3.00 for a lift ticket. There was a snack car on the train and I got a coke and a box of Cracker Jack for 50 cents and had 50 cents left over!!!!!!! 🥳
- John Vaugh, Denver
I grew up skiing (then mostly snowboarding) here with my (very middle class) family, and just finally got back to skiing with my kids. It’s been so expensive I couldn’t afford it until recently. It felt like riding a bike, like I hadn’t just skipped out on 30 years, I was elated!
- Brandi Lippmann, Aurora
KUNC News spoke with nearly a dozen Front Range residents about the high cost of skiing and snowboarding. They all own season passes. While some think the passes are expensive, they also think the cost is worth it.
A few people buy used gear or utilize off-season sales to cut down on equipment costs. Some pack sandwiches and instant soups for lunch in lieu of resort food. Others said the price and consolidation of ski resorts have changed the culture at those mountains, making them more corporate and crowded.
Another key part of hitting the slopes? Having a place to spend the night - which can be a significant added expense. This includes Stokes.
Stokes and her husband live in Boulder County and buy Ikon season passes for their family of four. Their teenagers can hop on a free city bus to Eldora Mountain, which is close to home. Or, if they want to ski at Copper Mountain in Summit County, they stay at her mom’s condo in Dillon.
“We're so lucky because we can just wake up in the morning (in Dillon), hop on the road, get over to the mountain within 20 minutes, 25 minutes,” she said.
Weekend traffic on I-70 is usually bumper-to-bumper from the foothills to the high country and back. Navigating this traffic is a universal headache for the aforementioned Front Range residents. A few said they will only head to the high country during the week.
“If we had to sit in traffic both ways on Saturday, I don't think we'd ski nearly as much as we do,” Stokes said.
Stokes has been skiing for over four decades and loves the sport. But she knows a lot of people won’t ever get a chance to carve up fresh powder or feel the thrill of flying down a slope. The price is too steep.
“The cost is just not designed for people who want to try it out or like dabble a little bit,” she said. “Or just go a couple of times.”
The only way to make the cost worth it, she said, is to go as often as you can.
