Deal Quest - Attempting a $100 Season
Before I get into the details I'd like you to get to know just where the info is coming from. My name is Bryan and I'm 33 years old. I live in the over taxed state of Massachusetts. Snowboarding is a passion of mine that I try to do as often as possible. With a wife who snowboards and 2 kids, one of which just started skiing and the other who will start next year, finding lift ticket deals is of the utmost importance. Being a blue collar worker I cannot afford to go all the time, but I do like to go as much as monetarily possible. So enough about me.
The beginning of this season my friend Josh, and I were discussing the possibility of finding every excellent deal in the Northeast and trying to keep the total cost of lift tickets for the season under $100. Although he liked the idea he was less eager than me to keep to the plan. We attended the Ski and Snowboard Expo at the Bayside Expo center on separate days. Though we both received excellent swag, each day the resorts offer different gifts. Some resorts had raffles while others had great Ski-n-Stay rates. Other Resorts just gave away free passes. I love free passes.
My first trip this season was on December 22, 2008 to Cannon Mountain in Franconia, NH. I had picked up 2 half price lift ticket vouchers at the Ski and Snowboard Expo. My ticket cost me $28. They had just received 20" of snow. Cannon is know to be a cold mountain and that day was no exception. It was cloudy with snow showers around 12 degrees at the base. The conditions were awesome with some wonderful untouched powder. We were headed back to the Tram and we hit Banshee Cut Thru. Through my frosty goggles I saw one of the sweetest sights, it was a small open bowl with fresh, barely touched powder. I dove right in. It was so deep I had to lean back to keep my tip up, steadying my body by dragging my hand behind me. What a rush, a true rarity in the northeast. If it wasn't for the local's accent I would have thought I was in the rockies. Being the first trip of the season and the workout I got I was unable to close the mountain. I retired about an hour before lift closing.
Next trip was a freebie. My buddy Josh, his Mom, my wife, and I all snagged as many free passes to Bradford Ski area that we could at the Ski and Snowboard Expo. The passes were for December 24, 2008. Although there was a little drizzle that day it was still and alright time. We got about 25 friends together to go. No one paid a cent to ski/ride. My wife and son did pay for lessons though. This was a great opportunity for a bunch of our friends who had never gone before to try skiing/ snowboarding. Bradford Ski area is very small and isn't even considered a mountain by most, but all in all if you are going with first timers and also it's free, it's worth the trip.
Next trip was in the Berkshires on December 30, 2008. I had gone out to stay at a timeshare across from Jimney peak and planned on riding there but the mountain looked patchy and it was packed. I was going to just let the trip end with no riding when I stumbled across a little mountain called Ski Bousquet (pronounced Booskay). It was after dinner and we were leaving in the morning, so I got dressed and head back to the mountain. The night ticket rate was $20 but because the conditions in the area were less than perfect and it was late they only charged me $15. Their lifts were old and fast no slowing down to get off. Saw 2 other riders dump hard on the lifts. Nice runs though. Their longest run down the right side did have a scary dropoff though. If the net didn't stop you, you would end up in a condo parking lot. OUCH!!! I rode the night away and was very pleased with the trip all in all. I was bummed that I didn't get to ride Jimney Peak as I have heard nothing but good things about it. It would have killed my $100 season though tickets were in th $60 range.
Next trip was on January 9, 2009 to Cranmore Resort in North Conway, NH. Another freebie. I got 2 free lift tickets for this date at the Ski and Snowboard Expo. The regular price that day was only $3.30 since it was Rollback day. I have been to this mountain on rollback day the last 2 years, always worth the money. The conditions were stellar. Great packed powder everywhere. They had just opened up a new section on the left side of the mountain, so we headed there first. Some interesting quick glade tails that came out onto Tommy's Trail. This is death to a boarder. Tommy's Trail ends at Lower Gibson but has a very steep incline after a relatively long flat. If you ride be prepared to unstrap and to save energy I recommend walking up to Lower gibson when you come to the incline. I was very disappointed with this design. The rest of the mountain rocked that day. Every trail was pristine and even though it was a busy day it was worth every bit of free!
So Back to NH again for $10 lift ticket at Ragged Mountain. It was January 20,2009. Inauguration Day for the rest of the nation, but for me it was a reason to take work off and play in the snow. Ragged Mountain ran a special called "Obama Day". Lift tickets were $10 if you mentioned Obama's Stimulus package. This must have been a last minute special because noone was there. This is a relatively quite mountain anyways but it lacks nothing in the fun to ride category. Plenty of glades, where you can say hi to the trees. Personally I like to give a good hug once in a while, not on purpose though. There were tons of great rollers down Sweepstakes to launch off. I love this mountain, and only 2 hrs from my house makes it a perfect day trip.
The next trip was back to Ragged Mountain with my buddy Ken. They had just received new snow 2 days before and it was 2-for-Tuesday pricing. $24.50 for my ticket. They had just opened Easy winder and there was a huge section at the top of untouched powder. I took a mad wipeout in the powder and was lost in a cloud of white. After coming out of the powder the trail tends to level out and then you hit the flats on Easy winder. If your a boarder stay low and fast or you be unstrapping. The powder was fun but not enough to deal with those flats. We found some fun glades off of Cardigan too. With all the new snow there was no shortage of great runs.
I also have 2 free lift tickets for Gunstock, which I won from www.skisite.com, that I have yet to use. Also I plan to hit Waterville valley on March 17, 2009 for $17 and April 1, 2009 for $1. That will put me under $100 for a great season. I will update with my trips to gunstock and Waterville Valley.
| Resort | Price paid |
| Cannon | $28 |
| Bradford | $0 |
| Ski Bousquet | $15 |
| Cranmore | $0 |
| Ragged MT. | $10 |
| Ragged MT. | $24.50 |
| TOTAL | |
| $77.50 |
|
