A peak inside the financial commitment of Colorado skiing
Though we live in mountainous Colorado, we take only one skiing trip per year. Work, school, debate, and all sorts of life pulls us back to our home in the foothills. Honestly, it is the financial commitment that keeps us from skiing every weekend.
We skied all day at Monarch Mountain yesterday, even my 4-year-old son Elijah whipping it up on the bunny hill. A few of the boys opted for snowboards, the rest of us skis. Wendy spent the day in the lodge taking care of snacks and feeding the hungry kids, and I spent most of the time on the bunny hill teaching the littlest kids.
Suffice it to say, most of those in the lodge had one or two kids and likely an income twice my size. That’s just how Colorado ski lodges are, even one of the outskirt mountains like Monarch.
The inevitable question is how much this cost for the family. Here’s a breakdown:
- Lift tickets: $282
- Rentals: $268
- Travel/food: $150
- Total: $700
So, for this amount all 14 of us got to spend an entire day on the beautiful Continental Divide skiing. Well worth it, in my opinion.