Do You Have To Be RICH To Ski? - Elliott Reacts 

Thanks so much for watching, I know this videos a bit different from the react videos, so I hope you enjoyed something new. Cheers!

Cool to see you taking on this topic. My big problem with what has happened to skiing in the U.S. is the push to force people to buy season passes. I live 60 miles from Lake Tahoe in California and I used to love skiing a lot of different great mountains nearby, including Kirkwood, Palisades, Alpine Meadows, Sugar Bowl, Mammoth, Heavenly and my closest mountain, Sierra. Day ticket prices now average about $160, so I am forced to get one of the cheaper Epic passes that limits me to three ski resorts - Heavenly, Kirkwood and Northstar (my least favorite resort). I used to be able to do a couple of days every year at Palisades, Alpine and Mammoth, for example. But skiing just four days like that now would cost more than my season pass. That is nuts. To someone like me, $150-$200 for a day pass is out of reach, so I may never go to one of those areas again. Why is it that in Europe big ski resorts can charge anywhere from $50-$80 for a lift ticket? I know the answer, but it still makes me mad. Season passes mean the corporation gets their money up front without risk. The buyer takes all the risk - bad snow year? Too bad, we've got your money. We live in a country where businesses minimize risk at any cost to ensure their investors make money. AND - on the subject of absentee ownership - in most pricey ski towns absentee ownership averages more than 50% - meaning more than half the homes are only occupied 1-2 months of the year. There is currently a proposal in Lake Tahoe to charge an "absentee owner tax" to force owners to rent their homes at reasonable rates to increase the availability of housing. If it passes, most wealthy owners will choose to pay the tax which will supposedly be used to increase the supply of "affordable" housing in the Tahoe basin. Covid really damaged the Tahoe economy, but not in the way you would think. Lots of people ended up moving up there and working remotely - people with higher incomes that could afford to buy homes or pay higher rents - driving costs even higher and forcing even more locals to move out of the area. So yes, I think skiing in the U.S. is becoming even more elitist than it already was.

Great segment. Your channel keeps getting better and better.

Really touching my heart on the Is Skiing for the Rich only topic. Short answer, to Ski not necessarily but to LIVE in most ski towns ABSOLUTELY! 1st I must admit I've been a much happier person since I decided over a yr ago that DAMN IT; while I won't go Bankrupt for skiing, I'm going to pay the money to commute and ski my brains out in Tahoe from Folsom (20 mi E of Sacramento). 2 yrs now 50+ ski days my previous record was 34! I used to get the IKON every other yr, but now I've got lots of Palisades pals so I renewed for next season for $819. I now get the SugarBowl season pass 10 Blackout days for $749. It's a non-profit the residents basically sponsor for us Ski bums w/less crowds and awesome trees, I happily consider it my Home Mtn. Great Tip about not waiting too long for those summer deals. Almost a month ago now I bought 2021 K2 Recon boots size 28.5. Level9 sports $299. Now that size is gone! Aside from the learning curve of going from 90 to 140 Flex and breaking them in, as a friend promised me, I love my new boots!

Agree. Smaller mountains are the best kept secrets. So many smaller resorts out there . Imagine this. I pay $98 CDN for a season pass at a wonderful mountain in the CDN Rockies. Mind you I’m over 65! The runs rock. We have members of our ski racing community training here. Yes, skiing has always been expensive. That’s the sport.

My family lived in Boise and skied Bogus Basin in the '80s and '90s. An adult day pass to Bogus cost $18.50 in 1986. That $18.50 in 1986 is equivalent to about $53 today. The 2023/2024 price for the adult pass at Bogus was $79 ($84 if you needed a new card). For comparison, Brundage day tickets were $92 and Tamarack $135 for 2023/2024. As a senior, my season pass at Brundage was $299 during the preseason sale. A day ticket at Winter Park, CO, was as high as $239 in January 2024, and the lift lines were massive judging by videos I saw. Did all those people have season or ikon passes? Are there that many "wealthy" people in the Denver metro area? Were they all wealthy tourists? Yes, skiing is expensive, but lots and lots of people are still willing to pay the price. I live in McCall, and we have lots of absentee or part-time owners. As a full-time resident of McCall, I do feel bad for the people trying to make a living here. Housing has become outrageous since Covid. I know people who left because rent and grocery prices went through the roof while wages stayed about the same. Some of the workers here live in Cascade or Council (45 minutes away) or even the Treasure Valley (2+ hours away). Elliot, I sent you an email a while back. If you want to ski Brundage or Tamarack next season, get in touch.

Another wacky point is up here the employees working at the mountains are not Canadians. They are mostly from Australia and NZ. Pay is minimum wage. Truly wacko.

The overly expensive cost of skiing in the West is why my wife and I stick to the Midwest. Sure, its on hills not mountains but the fun is still there.

Sooner or later there was bound to be a place on the internet where you could talk skiing with Mr. Peanut, I think you should keep that look for your thumbnails

Oh the Ski Town issue. 20 yrs ago I bought a house in Susanville, CA, it's 85 mi NW of Reno. I knew in 2004 I'd never afford Truckee or S. Tahoe. W/O getting TOO far into the weeds, we live in an era of Financial Bubbles, and other artificial nightmares. 0% interest rates for 12 or more yrs, and the Federal Reserve multiplying it's Balance Sheet from $800 Billion to almost $9 Trillion since 2008, has done much to Inflate housing, stock, crypto, now gold, and many/most other things, prices. It's 101 yrs later, and the USA is just a slower version of Weimar Germany. Anyways, I'm nearly 53, and I've made friends w/a pack of 20 something yr old ski rippers at Squaw. Having been homeless at age 19, I couldn't bring myself to work as a Liftie, or live in my car, for the Ski Bum life in my 20s. Yet I have much admiration for how my friends side-hustle or have 2-3 jobs to make their ski Bum lives happen. I was skiing Sat morning w/a new friend for 2 hrs before he had to bail by 1030 am to get to the restaurant he works at. I said I get it gotta work wknds make that money while it's busy. I really feel for these guys, for how the hell are they ever gonna own a home anywhere making $20 an hr today? They're not. I remember my grandparents saying how they bought a house near SF in the 1960s for $25,000 thereabouts. Just the other day I realized that I'm now 1 of those old people who bought a house on an acre 20 yrs ago for $130,000. It was that or go to 4 yr university. I made my luck, yet I feel extremely fortunate.

Elliot you really touched a deeply entrenched issue of the north american continent... wich is real estate speculation... this is the trend that led to absentee owning and airbnb and that is what's preventing the younger generations from ownership... we will have to adress this as a society... wont be easy.

What you truly need to do is move. All of the now major resorts were once small towns. So you need to find some new areas to live and ski. I would have to say that living in the US you may have more luck back in the east. The west is getting totally exploited by the ultra wealthy. The west is nuts with overcrowding. I skied Sun Valley back in the 80’s. What a marvellous time. Even back then it was slowly attracting the ultra high end. Used to see Arnold and Sting skiing back then. There were no line ups!

I paid $630 for an unlimited pass to Stevens. It’s not a Colorado or Utah beast but it’s an hour and a half from my front door. That’s 1 car payment on a pretty normal car these days. The rest of my gear was acquired over the past few years, mostly on sale during the spring. $400 Kendos and $300 K2 Recon boots.

Windham in NY is becoming a private club at $200,000 to join. It is now charging $250/day for Catskill skiing. Sure beats its origins as a Hitler Youth Camp in 1937. RU-vid has a bunch of scary videos on this.

Great content. Still, it's worth to mention the skiing costs in Europe. And these are way cheaper!. Example: Last year's stay (normal season) in Soelden (one of Austria's most prominent ski resorts) cost my family of 2+2 (kids, 10 and 17) an equivalent of around 3700 US dollars all included - transport costs (we live about 1000km/620 miles away), 6 day ski passes, lunch on slope for everyone. You can make it even a bit cheaper by visiting smaller resorts like we did in previous years.

Lots of great commentary Elliott. FYI that Three Forks has a snowcat so there is some great cat skiing available if you are staying at their property. I don't believe anyone can buy real estate there so the land remains pristine and is not being developed beyond the lodge and some adjacent buildings with employee housing I think. Lastly, they employ a good number of locals at Three Forks. It's definitely for wealthy folks that are accustomed to high end amenities, but I don't see how it negatively impacts anyone.

Lots of great thoughts.

If you just have to have long and steep, it’s hard to get past Jackson Hole, but if you are anyone else there are some real hidden gems. Brian Head has wide blue and green groomers that are perfect for families. Silver Valley has tons of snow all year and is another intermediate paradise, with a few advanced features that are perfect for dads and aggressive teens. Even Tahoe has Diamond which is cheap and fun if not especially big. Skiing is a sport where the harder you look, the more you find.

Empty properties is one of the biggest problem of the last decade. It is present both in big cities and in resort areas and It can only going to get worse unless our local politicians take action. But so far, they all seem to prefer taking the tax money from the wealthy buyers than preserving the local housing markets.

Great content.....thanks

Don't go to Michigan for Buck Hill, it's in Minnesota. I ski at Iowa's premier mountain resort.😁 $350 for a season's pass.

Skiing can be made affordable for 1 person. Let's face it, if you are a family of 4 and love to ski it is godly expensive. Kids mostly ski on holidays and weekends so you need to get the no blackout date passes. Wife and I $2400 between us, kids $1200 between them, that is $3600 in passes ALONE!

I skied in my twenties and when my son was born and there a battle between skiing or hockey I lost that battle and my son ended up playing hockey now living in Ontario Canada ,Hockey is way more expensive and stressful then skiing by a large margin

it's a supply and demand problem, ski towns are typically highly restrictive on infrastructure development so investors can't build apartments/hotels/restaurants/etc. then demand for these amenities are so high the price is driven up to the point it's not affordable for locals but ironically the locals themselves are the ones that prevent the development of new infrastructure because they want to keep their profit margins high by keeping competition out and they dont want new development diluting their property values. even the working class people from ski towns are typically extreme NIMBYs that dont want modern chains like chipotle and dunkin donuts in their town and they oppose any type of housing/lodging even though they can barely afford rent

Learned To ski at Lyndon Outing Club T bar best skiers in the day!

Based

Last season I bought a midweek BBR pass (450), used skis on marketplace ( 100), used boots (2022 k2 recon 150) , fuel cost (320), 19 days on the slope, camped out In a Vanagon. My point is it does not have to be an expensive sport. Cut short with Tibia Fracture Feb. 9th. I have Ikon Base for 24/25 season.

Well, it helps to be rich. In the 2022-2023 season, we spent Christmas week in Aspen/Snowmass, spring break at Big Sky, took 4 days in January in Winter Park, and skied a few more days here and there. We live in Charlotte, NC. Between Ikon passes for my family, airfare, rental cars, accommodations, food, etc. I spent $19k that season. That is unsustainable at our household income, so 2023-2024 I went with Epic/Indy (I'm a veteran, so Epic discount is substantial), drove to more places in WV/PA, took only one trip to Colorado for 12 days (Beaver Creek/Vail/Breck/Winter Park), stayed in cheaper digs (except Beaver Creek), and got the cost down to about $5k for the season....that's still a bunch of money for most folks - and doesn't include summer vacation activities/beach trip, which is another maybe $6k a year.

Спасибо большое за мнение. У нас в России ситуация очень похожая. Но не только частные владельцы недвижимости приходят в горнолыжный рынок . Но и инвестиционные фонды и большие корпорации. Поэтому мы вынуждены иногда летать за 8000 километров в поисках более дешёвого катания для всей семьи))) . А если мы катаемся на Новый Год то в таком случае дешевле слетать в Австрию Европу ( хотя это менее удобно и приходиться делать 3 пересадки и брать лыжи в прокат )

it’s cheap if you live near a mountain. keystone pass is like $400 and epic local is $800. costs are for lodging, travel and transport. pass cost pales compared to that.

I'm leery of more Gov regulations, but your idea for ski town residency has some merit. Maybe require them to live on premise for half or majority of the yr. Totally concur w/your ownership vs sharing sentiments, in fact I recently read that after attaining a certainly level of financial and material accumulation it's our friendships and family relations that make us happier, not the pursuit of riches. You've got it pretty well balanced, great video!!!

$730 for an Epic Local Pass is an amazing value. Ikon Base Pass is a good value. Mountain Collective at $605 is a great value if you travel around. Snowbird's season pass at $1350 is expensive but you get a free season pass for a child. Skiing can be affordable for the average middle class family if you plan ahead and spend some effort looking for good deals. Don't eat at the resort. Avoid paying for parking. Stay in the SLC area and drive 20-30 minutes to the resort as an example. Lots of ski towns have hostels that have private rooms. Nothing like paying $179 for a ski in ski out private room that has 4 beds at Jackson Hole (includes parking). Get certain ski gear used off of the internet. Changing topics... Are you trading in your Mavericks for the Kore 93s? Are we gonna see you rippin down the Basin in a Kjus jacket??

Ski towns per se to live in are for multi-millionaires any more. It’s to the point you need to be a drive away to get housing prices even tolerable. The daily prices are crazy, but they want you to buy the season pass. I had 4 passes last season, more than broke even on them all: but it takes dedication and effort. My nearest decent ski place is a 200 mile drive each way. I’ll buy like a piece of equipment or clothing a season, so always slowly upgrading. Keeps the annual cost tolerable.

Backcountry it is then

17:18 But who owns the Airbnb? And where are they while its rented out? Not critizising the essence of this though.

All of these programs touted as exposing lower income people to the sport of skiing are all for show. The fact is this activity has become ridiculously expensive, and it’s only going to get much worse. I think about this a lot because I have a high income and can afford to take my family skiing. My daughter and son really love it, however, the way things are going there’s a high chance that they won’t be able to do the same for their kids when the time comes.

I think that the answer may be to have a vacancy tax that, if someone is spending less than say, 120 days a year at a property they own, the taxes are substantially higher (let's say maybe triple or quadruple?) the rate that a full time owner occupant pays for a similar property, and then have additional taxes levied on short term rentals, with the funds earmarked to either construct or subsidize housing for full time residents making a certain percentage of median income (even over 100%) You probably can't make vacation homes illegal but you can make them work for the community when they are only affordable to the very wealthy.

Congrats on going over 4k subs.

At the root of most all of it? Massive decline of the buying power of the dollar. It sets of chain reactions which cause industries to make drastic changes, most of which crush the lower income people.

I could comment on what everyone else is commenting on but just to be different I will say.. You didn't even talk about food on the hill..

Ski pass solution: work for a ski retailer so you are locked into wage slavery for a free pass every year :)😊

Greed

Rich or single…. Weed is causing the mental health crisis.

Who will you be renting a condo from if everyone is actively using it by living there?