Ski Deals

One of the most enjoyable parts of this winter has been that its not just my wife skiing with me, but now our children are skiing with us as well. Before I get into too much trouble with my wife, let me clarify by stating that its been a lot of fun having our children old enough now that we can share the sport with them. Watching them grow and develop as a skier has become very rewarding for me. The best part of the day is seeing their faces beam as they successfully navigate a run. All of that joy of course does come at a price, and that price is paid in the form of American dollars as the currency of choice.

Skiing isn’t cheap.  It apparently never has been and continues to be a sport that requires a financial commitment. Granite Peak in Wisconsin is advertising a single adult ticket for $64! I have paid less than that for true mountain skiing. With a family of four, the prices begin to add up quickly. There are some who offer free skiing for children with a paid adult ticket, but that is not a industry standard policy.

We enjoy skiing a variety of places throughout the season, but try to make our decisions based on the economics of the day. That means we try to find the best deals possible. In doing so, there are two sites that I have begun to use to help find good offers.  The first and most preferred is Liftopia.com. Liftopia helps ski hills manage their ticket sales through supply and demand pricing.  This means that when a ski hill feels there won’t be enough demand on specific days, they open up to Liftopia and allow them to sell tickets and at a negotiated discount. This becomes a win-win for both parties. When a ski hill is facing a day of decreased skier demand, they can lower the price to trigger the demand and put more skiers on the hill. The state with the largest number of participating resorts in the program appears to be Michigan.  And the pricing seems to be much more reasonable and down right affordable. I’ve seen ticket prices on Liftopia for Christmas Mountain in Wisconsin go for as low at $9.99.

Another option for ski savings that I have come across is SkiCoupons.com. There appears to be even fewer participating Midwestern ski hills in this  program.  Devil’s Head Resort is currently offer a $10 off coupon that is valid until 2/17/11.

With the cost of gear, food, lodging and now even gas; every little savings helps. If you know of any other great cost savings suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

Winter Can Be Such A Tease

You may not be aware, but this week the Midwest received a substantial snow storm.  I even think the word “Blizzard” was thrown around a few times and there may have even been a few news stories about the event.  With this storm came several inches of new snow (a skiers dream).  There are reports in the Chicago area that exceeded 20″ and over a foot of new snow in portions of Wisconsin.  For a skier stuck in the Midwest, it’s not often that we get to taste fresh snow in such bountiful amounts. With the anticipation of serious snow fall coming, I decided that while traveling to Wisconsin this week that I would pack my skis.

The storm came and went. I spent substantial time digging out with the expectation that I would be able to hit the slopes later in the week and enjoy the conditions. It wasn’t going to be powder, but it would be a buffet of corduroy runs in top shape.  Today was going to be that day; however a cold front followed up the storm, with the temperature barely breaking double digits. Lange boots are tough as it is to get on and off.  Some times I wonder what is more frustrating; trying to shove my foot into a boot that allows about as much flex as rigamortis or threading a needle.  It’s even tougher to get those boots on and off when the temperature is barely above 0 degrees.

This is the tease of Winter that a Midwesterner often has to contend to. A perfect storm hits and yet the temps are uncooperative for a skier to enjoy the conditions.  The good news is that Saturday looks like the temps will be back into the high 20′s, which means I’ll be able to take my daughters skiing with me.  Now that I think about it, maybe Mother Nature does know what she is doing. Getting the cold weather out of the way now so that I can spend the day on the slopes with my family. I’ll take that any day over skiing the perfect groomers.

 

Christmas Gifts For Skiers and Snowboarders

It’s hard to find good gifts for those who ski or snowboard. There are the typical gifts of goggles, gloves, and snow-pants. But often, these gifts are not surprises and are standard. I often like to be surprised and don’t mind more “off piste” type gifts. Given that there is still time for shopping, I’ve gone through to find some more unique ideas.

Vintage Snow offers gifts for what appears to be for the older skier or boarder who maybe even own ski property.  I say that because they offer gifts, ski art, decor and antiques.  Some of the gifts I found that would look good in my office (hint, hint) include a Chair Lift Photo Frame or Vail Trail Map Poster.

You can also fine a variety of gifts on Cafe Press as well.  In doing a quick search I found over 2,000 ski related products. 

If the budget is tight, check out Microsoft’s Live Search cashback.  The cashback program works with all major and smaller retailers and uses your search words to find products that are most appropriate.  The retailer pays the user anywhere from 2% to 30+% cashback for buying from them.  For example, I recently searched for Avalanche Beacon and found a Backcountry Access Tracker DTS Beacon  from Backcountry that would net me back $36.82 for starting first from Live Search cashback.

I’m still enamored with pocket HD video cameras.  As I have previously posted, these are a great way to record your vacation memories on the fly in better than normal video.  There are several affordable versions available right now including the Flip MinoHD, Kodak Zi6, Creative VandoHD and the Sanyo Xacti series.

Don’t forget that you can always check with your local ski shop as well.  A lot of times they carry great niche products too.  Have fun with it this year and good luck!