By NATHAN MORLEY
As lift ticket and equipment prices increase, the number of enthusiasts who can afford skiing and snowboarding is decreasing. For many college students, a lift ticket just isn't in the budget.
'I snowboard, but I can't go very often,' said Amanda Packer, a sophomore from Littleton, Colo., majoring in recreation management. 'But when I do board, I go at night because it's a lot cheaper.'
Tyson Creer, a senior from Richland, Wash., majoring in international finance, agrees. 'I love to ski, but it's hard to justify spending so much on just one day's lift ticket,' he said. 'I would go all the time if it wasn't so expensive.'
Why are lift tickets so expensive? In the current sue-happy legal environment, American ski resorts face the possibility of business-ending law suits. Liability insurance that can save resorts from devastating litigation is becoming increasingly expensive, and resorts are passing on their expenses to skiers in the form of big dollar lift ticket prices.
Litigation isn't the only fuel making lift ticket prices skyrocket. To compete, many resorts are trying to make a name for themselves by transforming into luxury vacation destinations, complete with five-star lodging, world-class shopping, spas, mountain and lift expansion, and dozens of winter activities.
Park City, for example, opened the first six-person high-speed chair lift this winter. With luxury accomodations, gourmet food and a ski-town atmosphere, Park City and its neighbor Deer Valley are Utah's answer to the ultimate luxury ski destination -- a distinction that is evident in $49 and $52 lift ticket prices.
Alta, with a $27 lift ticket price, is the antithesis to the bigger, faster, more expensive trend in American skiing.
'We've been around for a while and we are a well-established ski area,' said Connie Marshall, Alta's director of public relations. 'Because we don't have to advertise, and because we haven't tried to be something we're not, we have been able to keep our lift prices low. Our day pass is the best value in the industry because people know us and that enables us to do things no other resort can.'
Many Utah resorts are working to have the best of both worlds. Ski areas want to attract destination skiiers who spend vacation money on food, lodging and skiing, and still maintain a loyal following of local day skiers who typically spend money only on a lift ticket.
Even though the days of the $8 and $10 lift ticket appear to be gone forever, there are still ski deals to be had. Many Utah resorts offer discounted tickets at retailers around the valley. Sundance encourages carpooling by offering one free lift ticket to cars with four people or more.