Over 3,000 Skiers Told Us How Much They're Willing To Pay for a Lift Ticket

Lift tickets cost too much, at least that's what over 3,000 skiers told POWDER in last week's Weekly Poll.

We asked: How Much Are You Willing To Pay for a Lift Ticket?

Check out the results below. Keep reading for more.

Poll Results: How Much Are You Willing To Pay for a Lift Ticket?

Poll Highlights

• Total Votes: 3,605
• Number of Votes on Instagram: 1,748votes
• Number of Votes on Website: 1,857 votes
• Most Popular Option: $51-$100 (1,967 votes, 55% of voters)
• Least Popular Option: $150+ (180 votes, 5% of voters)
• Other results:
  $1-$50 (416 votes, 12% of voters) $101-$150 (1,041 votes, 29% of voters)

Poll Observations

• This poll was positioned to ask skiers how much they're willing to pay for a lift ticket, not what they can afford. With that in mind, the majority of skiers are not willing to pay walk-up lift ticket prices that exceed $150. In fact, a whopping 95% of participants voted for options that were below $150.
• Many skiers in the comments section noted that they rarely, if ever, purchase daily lift tickets these days. Instead, they opt for passes such as Ikon, Epic, or Indy to substantially slash their daily lift ticket rate.
• Some skiers noted that there's nuance in making their decision about purchasing a lift ticket: How big is the mountain? Did it just snow? Who am I planning to ski with? Is it for a big family vacation? Some skiers stated that they are willing to splurge on a lift ticket if it's a powder day or for a special occasion.
• Ski resorts such as Vail, Deer Valley, Palisades Tahoe, and Park City charge more than $200 for a daily lift ticket. These prices can be significantly reduced if tickets are purchased far in advance, but even a powder day from the heavens won't convince many skiers to splurge. Thank Ullr for modern ski touring equipment, am I right?
• The big dogs charge a lot for a lift ticket, but many community hills charge next to nothing. If you just want to slide on snow and don't care about the size of the hill or the conditions, consider visiting a ski area off the beaten path.

What We Could’ve Done Better

• POWDER’s Department of Polls and Skier Opinion prides itself on consistently publishing the results on the Sunday following the closure of the poll. These results were published on Monday because the editor (it's me) drank too much eggnog and ate too many cookies over the Christmas holiday. Sorry!

About the POWDER Weekly Poll 

We launch our weekly polls at 3 p.m. Eastern Time every Monday. They remain open until 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time the following Friday, with the results dropping on Sunday at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. You can participate and see the results right here on our website or by visiting our Instagram page.

While you’re at it, drop us a line or leave an Instagram comment if there’s a poll you’d like to see next. Skiers have plenty of opinions and preferences, and we want to know which ones might land on top of the heap.