Ski Day Adventures on the Cheap

Hi Folks,
Here's the first post on my concepts of skiing cheap. We started the idea back in the late 70's when we had very little money. As college students, we squeezed every dollar as far as it could go. Lift tickets cost a fortune back then too, so our goal for the ski day was "a buck a run". That way we really got our money's worth. We were certainly a lot younger, and the knees were a lot less wobbly, but the lifts were a lot slower back then too. So pulling off 19 or 20 runs was a great SKI DAY! It was on those ski days that we learned about what ski fitness really was about -- taking a pounding 2, 3 or more days per week from December to June. Going for first chair up in the morning and seeing if you could still make to that last 4 pm chair.

Once we learned about the concept of ski houses, we were really cranking it up and building on our system. Getting a season pass became a must have piece of ski jewelry. You wore it proudly and marked off the days you skied. Along came the break-even day celebration. That formula of total season pass cost divided by the day ticket rate = #days to free skiing for the rest of the season! It made a for a great party after a long ski day.

Another development was the "3 Run Minimum". That was invented for the wimpier members of the ski house. Those people who didn't get up to the mountain until 11, then complained it was too crowded - and too icy. And had the nerve to call it a ski day!

Even if it was boiler plate ice top to bottom, you had to get 3 runs in before you could call it a ski day. I think there was some mention of character building or something like that. Having sharp edges certainly was a necessity on those days too.

So naturally you need a season tune pass...

More on that later --
Along with more cheap ski tips, ski videos, ski pictures and ski reviews.
Lew