OPINION: It’s official – Utah’s skiing prices are out of hand

I love skiing. When I was a kid, I went skiing every single Friday. And I would love to share that with my kids. But I’m going to be honest. I don’t. I never take them skiing. It’s not that I’m some terrible Dad who wants my kids to be miserable. It’s just that skiing in Utah has just gotten way, way too expensive.

Case and point – the other day, I stumbled upon an ad for Ski Utah’s Gold Pass. For 100 days of the year, it lets you go to almost any ski resort in Utah. Which, I’ve got to admit, sounded like a pretty good deal

But then I saw the price.

And I’m not exaggerating here, when I saw the price, I laughed out loud. I mean, literally, I just started laughing like a maniac in my own home.

$5,200.

That’s how much it costs to go skiing in Utah. $5,200. Well, not counting all the equipment, anyway – that’s going to cost you extra.

That’s $100 every week. That’s enough money to buy a starving family groceries for year. You could keep a family from starving to death, freezing on the streets, warmed only by the dim light of a single fading match — or you can get the Gold Pass at Ski Utah.

It’s transferable, so you can share it with your friends — but only if you absolutely never go skiing together. If you and your friends actually like to spend time together, though, every skiing trip they join you for is going to set you back another $100 or so.

The Ski Utah Gold Pass is a bit of an extreme, but there is no such thing as a cheap skiing trip these days. When I was a kid, my family could afford to go every week. And it wasn’t because we were rich – the prices were just low enough that people could actually afford to go skiing.

But today, if you want to go skiing, you’re looking at about $100 just for a lift ticket. And that’s not mentioning all the extra costs on top.

This is getting out of hand. We’re here, nestled in the Wasatch Mountains, surrounded by beautiful mountains and some incredible ski resorts. But if you don’t make a six-figure salary, you’re not going to be able to take advantage of that.

I don’t know when these companies figured out they could hose us like this, but we’ve got to get these prices down. Otherwise, skiing in Utah is going to become the pastime of millionaires.

Our listeners share their advice

Debbie & Dujanovic listeners are the best. When we talked about this the Ski Utah Gold Pass on the air, they called in and let us in on some places in Utah that still actually have reasonable prices. And I’ve got to admit, I never would have been able to find this stuff on my own.

Check out our podcast to hear all their great tips:

Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon on KSL Newsradio. Users can find the show on the KSL Newsradio website and app, as well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.