Cheapest trip possible to CO/UT

[Roxtar]

OK, laid off.

Negative:
Obviously it's $.

Positive:
Time off from work.

Wife and I decide to make some lemonade. (and recapture a bit of our youth in the process)
Trying to figure out how cheap a week of Colorado & Utah skiing can be.

Unfortunately, no BC gear so we'll be stuck paying for lift tickets.
Have decent camping gear and friends in Colorado Springs and Park City so lodging/eating could be done on the cheap.

Couple of questions:
Are there places to camp around Summit County and Utah resorts?
What/where are the best deals on lift tickets?
Although going to different places has it's appeal, cash is king and multi-day ticket deals might make staying in one spot a better option.
If so, what resort has the best deals?

[bmg97]

I got a trip including airfare, car, hotel and lift tickets for 997.00 per person x 3 people from NYC. Its a 7 day trip.

Expedia

[teledave]

Just put it on Mr. Underhill's American Express

[Roxtar]

I got a trip including airfare, car, hotel and lift tickets for 997.00 per person x 3 people from NYC. Its a 7 day trip.

Expedia

When I say cheap, I don't mean a good, all inclusive deal, I mean CHEAP
As in, load up with camping gear and PB&J, drive to Colorado, find cheapest lift ticket possible, sleep in tent or SUV. Repeat. Repeat again. Drive to friend's for shower and laundry, drive to next resort...

Remember when you were 18, broke, and jonesing to ski? THAT kind of cheap.

[Evmo]

Relentless spam on my part, but our site Liftopia.com has solid deals on lift tickets. They tend to be better in UT than CO (more variety, better deals), but we do have Loveland/A-Basin in Co.

[Hutch]

Brighton for $45, Canyons 2 days for $106:
http://www.backcountry.com?asdf/stor...t-Tickets.html (remove the "?asdf")

or, even better:
http://www.liftopia.com/

Edit: Ev beat me to it!

[bmg97]

When I say cheap, I don't mean a good, all inclusive deal, I mean CHEAP
As in, load up with camping gear and PB&J, drive to Colorado, find cheapest lift ticket possible, sleep in tent or SUV. Repeat. Repeat again. Drive to friend's for shower and laundry, drive to next resort...

Remember when you were 18, broke, and jonesing to ski? THAT kind of cheap.

Ahh !!! Well I can think of anything like that. Sorry.

[lookinback]

Go to UT, the skiing is better and alot cheaper.... gas is gonna run you quite a bit, however you might make it back by camping...consider the perks of a cheap flight.

Do you have a bunch of high tech camping gear? if so you could backpack it and take a cheap flight and go for no joke pennies... it all depends how much you want to rough it and how dedicated to cheap you are.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

You can camp for free in Last Change lot at A-Basin. It will get pretty cold at night so bring at least 0* bags, booze and collect firewood from up the hill near the parking lot.

[StroupSkier]

Camp at the last chance lot at ABasin and buy a season pass there($380).

Fill up with 10 or more gallons at a shell and get a 2for1 voucher at some other resorts.

[Roxtar]

Go to UT, the skiing is better and alot cheaper.... gas is gonna run you quite a bit, however you might make it back by camping...consider the perks of a cheap flight.

Do you have a bunch of high tech camping gear? if so you could backpack it and take a cheap flight and go for no joke pennies... it all depends how much you want to rough it and how dedicated to cheap you are.

You can camp for free in Last Change lot at A-Basin. It will get pretty cold at night so bring at least 0* bags, booze and collect firewood from up the hill near the parking lot.

Camp at the last chance lot at ABasin and buy a season pass there($380).

Fill up with 10 or more gallons at a shell and get a 2for1 voucher at some other resorts.

Now THIS is the kind of info I'm looking for.

As far as gas goes, due to a situation, my gas is free which is the only reason any of this may be possible.

From what I'm seeing, bottom dollar on discounted lift tickets is in the $50-$55 neighborhood.
Figuring on stocking up at home and resupplying at grocery stores we can get by with $20-$30 for food.
Trying to keep unexpected stuff to a minimum I'm thinking roughly $110-$120/day for both of us.

Is that too optimistic?

[Snowdeprived]

If you tire of camping in SLC, Extended Stay America on Fort Union in Midvale is 49.95 a night if you stay a week. There is also a $50 discount code on the internet somewhere.

Unfortunately you are too late for best aspect of the Utah Ski SuperPass. If you bought it before Dec.1st, you got one free day with a 3 day purchase. I bought 2, and I figured it out to cost $42 a day to ski at either Alta, Snowbird, Solitude or Brighton.

And the very best deal was the early season purchase of the Vail Epic Pass.

[bear]

you're on the right track.

and somewhere on this site is a comprehensive list of the rules of uphill skinning at western ski resorts. now, it's a crime to "steal services" from the ski areas, but most big western resorts don't check tickets on the upper mountain.

another way to look at it --> for what you'll each pay in lift tickets, could you scrounge skins and AT bindings??? would that free you to ski wherever you wanted? why yes, yes it would.

i'm not saying either of these are necessarily good choices, but they're both well-known ways to ski on the dirtbag program.

[PTracy P1]

hELL, iNDIANA? fuck that's ALL of indiana. I'm in Indy, what part of hell you leaving from?


I'm partial to Wolf Creek and Monarch both @ about $50. You can find rooms in Salida (Monarch) and South Fork (Wolfie) for $50.

Don;t sleep in your car that is dangerous and you will suck @ turns the next day.

[backcountryben]

buy backcountry gear! it'll cost money now, but it frees you from expensive lift tickets, and you don't have to deal with people. We've been on the road for 3 weeks now, with 3 people and have visited utah (twice!), cb, summit county, bozeman, and jackson, and all for just over a grand so far...

[ex-powderbroker]

Camp at the last chance lot at ABasin and buy a season pass there($380).

Fill up with 10 or more gallons at a shell and get a 2for1 voucher at some other resorts.

i heard no more camping there due to corporate b.s., anyone have solid info re: right now?

[El Chupacabra]

As far as gas goes, due to a situation, my gas is free which is the only reason any of this may be possible.

Gas is free? As in.... you have a company gas card from your former job, and you're gonna use it?

Then you have a source of $.

You: at gas station -
Random stranger: needing to buy gas-
You: offer to put gas on your credit card, they pay you cash.

[toast2266]

If you've got friends in Colo Springs, you could head over to Monarch - its a little less than a 2 hour drive, and lift tickets are cheap (relative to Summit County). You'd probably have a pretty easy time finding someplace to camp over that way too.

[sawatchsplitter]

There is plenty of free car/tent camping near Monarch. 2 for 1 tixs at Phillips 66 in Poncha Springs w/$10gas purchase. You may even look into their season pass which gives you free days at 8 other mtns including 1/2 price at Alta.

[kkerley33]

Hey Rockstar,

Fellow Hoosier coming at ya...I am taking a group out to WinterPark/Steamboat?Copper at the end of February...RT Airfare from Indy, 7 Days Skiing 9 (2 at copper, 1 at steamboat, 4 at WP) , 7 or 8 nights Lodging (depending on what day they fly out), transportation and breakfast everday is.........






$745.00



No room left in Any of our condos, but I if you are lucky you still might be able to find some of the lift ticket deals, hook up with Mags and use their Buddy Passes, etc.

[televback1]

if you all are in summit/eagle i could hook you up with some of my buddy pass coupons from my pass and it comes to under $50


but heck why not take the bite and get soem bc gear? its cheaper in the long run and much better skiing and with your tents and gear you could go for days in the bc


or even try and ski from hut to hut in the 10th Mountain Division Huts and most likely there will be room for the 2 of you at about every hut except Shrine

[telelebowski]

or even try and ski from hut to hut in the 10th Mountain Division Huts and most likely there will be room for the 2 of you at about every hut except Shrine

^^^This is true and a great idea, except you will have problems with a lot of huts on the weekends. http://www.huts.org/menu_availablity.html

I lose my job day after tomorrow. Sequoia is getting a mattress. My only question is if I will stop in Bozeman or go all the way to Revelstoke.

[sfotex]

You can camp in Big Cottonwood Canyon @ the Spruces lot- you might have to hike/snowshoe/ski in ~ 10 mins but you'll be good to go.
Just don't get to cold and call 911.
You can probably do the same out of White Pine in LCC too.

[Roxtar]

BC would definitely be the way I'd go if it was just me.
My wife is an intermediate skier and has never done side country.
Getting her into winter camping will take some effort by itself. BC skiing would be seriously pushing it.
Don't get me wrong, she's no girlie girl, she's a personal trainer who loves skiing, snowshoeing, mnt biking, and qualified for the Boston Marathon this year.
Three years ago we skied Squaw till 2:00PM on our wedding day.
I just don't think she's ready for BC skiing yet.

There is plenty of free car/tent camping near Monarch. 2 for 1 tixs at Phillips 66 in Poncha Springs w/$10gas purchase. You may even look into their season pass which gives you free days at 8 other mtns including 1/2 price at Alta.

Cool, a Phillips card is part of my, uh, severance package.

Huge appreciation for all the ideas and offers from all the mags here.
Just a serious badass community.
If I can pull this off, I may be getting in touch with some of you.
Thanks again.
Brad

[under the radar]

Here are some things to think about. If you are going to tour you can rent stuff for both of you for ~$80 for the day. Unless you guys are more into hiking than skiing and your wife is hard ass, I would say touring every day isn't actually going to provide for that much skiing. Kind of depends what you are into, but I wouldn't come out for a week and just strictly tour. But that's just me. I think a day or two of it would be fun.

http://web.utah.edu/campusrec/outdoor_rec/rentals.html

If your wife is an intermediate skier (which could mean more beginner/intermediate in soft snow), she might like Sundance/Powder Mt./Wolf Mt (I think $25 a day midweek) better than the bigger/expensive/busier mts. I can't say for sure, I've never skied any of these places. Might be an option though.

http://www.onthesnow.com/news/deals/...-canyon-sports

Keep an eye out for stuff like this and all of a sudden lift tickets get way cheaper.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-DAY-SNOWBIRD-U...3%3A1|294%3A50

Use www.justsnipe.com so you aren't sitting around all day getting outbid 10 sec. before the auction closes. Some planning for tickets could save you some decent $.

I believe you can buy single ride passes at Solitude, might be the way to go for a day and tour off from there.

I wouldn't recommend camping after skiing all day unless you just love being cold. I've done it in NH and it sucked, my face just got chapped and I ended up spending lots of time in bars and spending nearly as much money as I would have just staying somewhere. Realistically, I would plan on a night or two max. I may have an unfurnished apartment but with pots and pans you could rent for $50 a night if you are interested depending on dates.