Why Skiing in Europe is WAY Cheaper than the USA

European Skiing is far cheaper than skiing in North America, and especially in the United States. The answer actually isn't so complicated..

I had a tough time recording this voiceover as my voice was gone from being sick lately. By the next video I should have it back!

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[dcippitelli]

I'm a lifelong skier, and I find it downright depressing that these US corporations have ruined skiing in the US for all future generations by making it completely unaffordable for an average family to go skiing regularly.

[listigt]

Actually the ski passes in Europe that was picked as examples are considered expensive here.. prices are outpacing inflation.
they are much larger than the Vail resort though. Vail distort their piste km by counting all terrain, just looking at number of lifts gives a better indication. In Europe a resort that size would cost 50-60/day.

[grumsta]

Most resorts in Europe are owned by the local council, which is basically communism to most Americans I believe.

[MtNikota]

You gave the example of Chamonix, at 71euros/day, but it still very expensive for France. You can find dozen ski resorts in France, at 45$/day or less, that are twice bigger than Aspen or Jackson hole. It's insane how big is the gap between US and Europe. Resorts in Europe are much more bigger and modern on average, lots are connected, offering unlimited off-piste possibilities. You can also find a charming authentic alpine village with a small resort for nothing if you like it more quiet.
Oh and the food in European ski resorts is 10 times better and cheaper. Good video by the way.

[charliejeep]

A year ago today I was skiing in Zermatt after a week in Chamonix.
Two weeks of skiing in Europe was equal to two days of lift tickets in Colorado

[AchWilles]

Literally just got back from skiing 4 days in Italy and it was quite refreshing as someone who grew up skiing in North America. Literally everything was cheaper and it was quite noticeable how local everything was from the restaurants, lodging to stores. I hope it never changes.

[luigifranceschi]

Most of ski areas in the alps were built by the local communities, putting money together, in order to promote tourism n the existing villages. People have been living in the alps for thousands of years and so there are very well rooted local communities. Most of the resort were not built starting from green fields, but by building slopes next to the villages. And then expanding. So very rarely there’s one single private owner or corporation that can decide to sell the lifts. Moreover the rest of the station, and I mean hotels, restaurants, ski schools, rentals, are owned and operated independently by the locals. Which they also own the shares of the lifts. They are local public companies where the directors are chosen not necessarily to make directly a profit from the ski operations, but to make sure that the operations work well to attract tourists in the area. Which will spend money in the hotels, restaurants of the village, which owns the ski operations.
Moreover for families the incentive to bring the children is very high. In most cases children until age 8 or 10 ski for free, as long as their parents ski as well. And after they still get substantial discounts.
Ski classes are also quite affordable, and the quality of the is instructors is top. In North America the teachers are usually young people that know how to ski, but no formal exam. In Europe ski teacher is a controlled profession that requires a lot of experience and training. Even for a very good skier are required years of fine tuning before being able to pass the very demanding tests on the slopes. And the ski schools are NOT owned by the lift operator. They are usually a coop of teachers.
The only place where is different is in France, where instead the role of the typical American corporation was done by the central government. The main ski resort are all owned and operated by the “Compagnie des Alpes” which is a majority government owned company that owns lifts, hotels and restaurants. They do have ski stations built from green field. I find them quite ugly when compared to the typical local villages that instead you can find in Switzerland, Austria or the Italian Dolomites.

[markdisanzo]

I got to ski Kitzbuhel last year. A 6 day pass was 360 Euro, or just under $400. For six days. You can't ski at any of the northeast "resorts" in the US for that. And the food is SO much better (and also less expensive) at the European resorts. I know it will never happen in this country, cuz there is something wrong with us, but we simply have to stop giving our business to these giant companies that are ruining our experiences. I outright refuse to buy Epic or Ikon anymore.

[jamesplaum]

it‘s not true that most european resorts are built on glaciers. there are a few but still 95% of the resorts are just normal resorts without a glacier.

[JamanWerSonst]

One of my favorite things about skiing in the Alps is checking out the restaurants. Mostly small huts scattered across the mountain and each with their distinct flair and family run. And the food is always local favorites and really good.
It is similar with accommodation, I have mostly stayed at little family run apartment hotels and I always make sure they have a sauna because sauna after skiing is the best.

I guess one big factor behind all this is that all the land where ski resorts are now in Europe was essentially privately owned alpine farmland thats by default open to the public, so when skiing took off it was like a bunch of local farmers that got together and bought skilifts and eventually you had a resort, and during summer they all send their cows back up to graze.
It is much harder for companies to buy all that up, because for a single resort you'd have to buy out several dozen land owners who have actually been living and working there for generations. They have no intentions of giving that up. In fact, at least in Austria they are well organized and form one of the most powerful lobby groups in Austrian politics. They obviously want to make money, but at least they are also the people who live and work there. The people who run the slops also ski them whenever they can.
Not just corporate suits far away making numbers go up in spreadsheets.

[geoffoakland]

Been living in France for 8 years. You can ski in the Pyrénées mountains for between 30 and 40 euros. I was shocked when i recently looked at prices at Lake Tahoe area resorts in California😮

[MatveyTsivinyuk]

2:19 Gudauri, Georgia (country), $27/day, $250/season for all the 4 resorts in the country (all state owned btw).

[lembergguy]

Best resorts in Austria with hundreds of km piste cost now about 70€ a day, and this is already expensive. Many europeans quit skiing altogether because of rising costs.

[johnbradley]

Vail .. " what can we get from you ". Europe .. " what can we give you ". Ski'd 3 weeks in Austria last month ( January '24 ). 12 different resorts, but all with the same attitude to their skiers. How good can we make things for you ?

[C]

I skiied in Mayrhofen this year. About €350 for 6 days if i remember correctly and a good meal is about €20 on the top of the mountain. An alcoholic drink is €5. No tipping. Everyone is nice and european. Not snooty rich types.

[Weathernerd]

I grew up in Sacramento California in the 1990's/2000's and skiing was cheap enough that my parents could afford to put me on a ski bus up to Lake Tahoe several times a winter. I was even briefly on the high school ski team. I wasn't a great skiier but I was good enough to get down almost any run at the resort and had so much fun. These days I can only afford to downhill ski once or twice a winter and I mostly cross country ski/snowshoe. Its sad that I couldn't teach my kid to ski. Its not that young American's don't want to ski but it takes several ski outings to good enough to have fun with the sport and few families can afford that. You can still ski alot with a season pass but a season pass is a huge chunk of change 1-2k per person.

[zutzach]

I just got back from skiing in Zermatt yesterday. Way cheaper and much better time. I’m from the US btw.

[henrydendorf]

I’ve watched all your previous videos without knowing you only had about 1000 subs, EXTREMELY underrated

[niklasmanhart]

I am happy to live in Austria. The day pass prices are between 40-60€ at ski resorts with 15-60km of slope (Hinterstoder, Loser, Turracher Höhe, Katschberg, In the huge ski resorts you pay 65-75€ a day like kitzbühel, kitzsteinhorn, wagrein, arlberg and much more!

[opritasorin]

Just went to Davos in Switzerland for one day (2 hours drive for me): 75 $ ski pass; 40$ food; 6$ parking. I would never have thought I would say Switzerland is cheap :))