With the 2007-2008 season completed, TheSnowWay.com has compiled a season cost calculator detailing how I spent every penny of my money during the ski season. This calculator includes lift tickets, cost of gas, and season passes. Absent are costs of equipment which are not strictly a one season purchase. Additionally, I have not calculated in food expense.
I would estimate half of my meals were purchased from ski area food services so that is not an insignificant cost compared to brown bagging. However, my obsession with calculating total cost did not entail advanced computation of what the difference is between brown bagging a meal versus paying the ski area. Besides, sometimes you just WANT a tasty burger and cost is not an issue and comparing to brown bag is apples and oranges. Other complications such as having to spend pre-purchased Mad Money at Mad River Glen further complicated the idea which I decided not to implement.
Gas costs were calculated obsessively and with precision. Every ski day would begin by stopping at the local gas station two miles from my house. The gas tank would be filled and the trip odometer set to zero. Upon returning from skiing, I would stop at the same gas station, refill the tank, and record miles driven, gallons used, cost per gallon, and total cost of the fill up. All information except for miles driven was on a receipt for easy record keeping. Actual gas costs were slightly higher than included on the cost calculator as I did not include gas costs for the two miles to and from the gas station and my home.
Recording this information had an effect on my driving habits. For shorter trips, especially those under an hour, I would routinely drive just under the speed limit instead of my usual 70 MPH highway speed in order to maximize MPG. Longer drives, such as to Jay Peak, I would drive normally as extra cost of gas was not worth more time on the road. Very rarely did I miss a gas procedure but I occasionally did forget to set my odometer and estimated based on previous trips or I forgot to fill up once or twice and utilized an average MPG for that destination in question.
The total season cost was just over $1700 for 52 days including lift tickets, season passes, and gas but not including equipment purchases and food.
One thought on “Total Cost of the 2007-2008 Season”
That is incredible. I’ve got to believe that my 30 days season cost 2x that much. At least. My pass was $600. The rest of the cost…I can’t begin to fathom. Nice work.