That’s right — for the price of one season pass at a cheaper mountain, our family gets geared up and skis all winter for under $700. I have outlined below how our family approaches affordable family skiing.
Skiing for less than soccer
To put this in context, skiing for our family each winter is about $170 per person. When soccer leagues finally open up again, I expect I will pay more for my kids to play soccer than to have them ski for the winter. See below for the cost of a Soccer Season:
| Uniform | $ 50 |
| Cleats | $ 30 |
| Registration | $ 100 |
| Total | $ 180 |
Our Affordable Ski Pass Expenses
We ski at a Co-Op called Sky Tavern, located in Reno, NV, where we train parents to help teach kids to ski (and board). Sky Tavern is a smaller mountain with only 4 lifts, but it provides tons of excitement for beginning and intermediate skiers. Here is what we paid for our upcoming 2021 winter season passes:
| 2021 Season Passes | Price | Category |
| Mom | $ 135 | Parent of Sky Kid |
| Dad | $ 40 | Certified Instructor |
| Son | $ 165 | Junior Ski Program Member |
| Daughter | $ 165 | Sky Kids Program Member |
| Sub Total | $ 505 |
Every year we mix in a day at Diamond Peak, which has an offer where you can ski free for one day either on your birthday, or on the Friday before Spring Break if you have a summer birthday. They also let kids under 6 ski free, so we have had a great time at this mountain one day a year. This gives our kids a chance to ski a bigger mountain and see some new terrain once a year.
Our Affordable Ski Gear Expenses
Sky Tavern offers season rentals for $40 a season, so our kids get relatively new gear each year to use for the season for only $40. For Mom and Dad, Sky Tavern runs a Ski Swap each fall, and we normally give ourselves a roughly $50 budget to explore and splurge. Here’s our average gear budget for a regular winter.
| Gear | Description | |
| Mom | $ 50 | Something used at Ski Swap |
| Dad | $ 50 | Something used at Ski Swap |
| Son | $ 40 | Season Rental – Skis, Boots & Poles |
| Daughter | $ 40 | Season Rental – Skis, Boots & Poles |
| Sub Total | $ 180 |
Learn how to snag great deals at Ski Swaps based on this article:
I didn’t include jackets here. We live in a place where our children would need a jacket, hat, and gloves. I guess we should include those things, but you can round up our gear budget by about $20 to get a sense of the impact by season, as much of the gear we get are hand-me-downs, and if they are not, they tend to last multiple seasons.
Also, in full disclosure, both my wife and I got new (to us) skis this year. I bought my first ever pair of new skis for $375 and I got a pair of relatively new skis for my wife of Craigslist for $175. This felt like an outrageous splurge for us, but given our skis were all made in the 2000’s decade and had well over 100 ski days on them, it felt like a good investment.
Affordable Family Ski Budget
| Grand Total for Family of 4 | $ 685.00 |
| Per Person Per Season | $ 171.25 |
| Per Person Per Day | $ 8.56 |
So, we are spending about $8.50 per person per day of skiing. And, we are avoiding so many of the expenses families incur trying to keep their kids sane through the cold of winter like: Snow tubing, Going to the Movies, Jump Gym, Art Classes, Going out to Dinner, Going to Chuck E Cheese, Buying a trampoline, Basketball team, Professional Basketball games, Streaming a new Movie, etc.
Since we bring our lunch with us to ski, and we are tired after hard days of skiing, we find we spend almost no money each winter on entertainment beyond skiing, which often means we are actually saving money as a family by skiing 20+ days a year.
There are lots of little mountains and several niche co-op programs across the country, so I recommend asking around to find what is the best option in your region. Our family has been so fortunate to get involved with a program that truly make skiing affordable.
Here’s more tips on ways to make skiing affordable as a family:
Thank you for reading. Please follow our blog below to receive emails on new posts to help you teach and equip your child to ski with you successfully!
I earn an affiliate credit for items purchased when accessed through the links on this post. None of these manufacturers have provided incentives to me for these endorsements or reviews.