Skiers who thought the slopes were beyond their means this season should consider this list of bargains. The watchword here is good value, not just low price.
For every deal listed, you may be able to find similar ones. (Dial directory assistance for resorts’ toll-free numbers, 800-555-1212.) Unless otherwise noted, rates are per person, double occupancy.
Buyer beware: All of the packages have restrictions, so ask for all details before handing over a deposit. Tax and gratuities are not listed in most of these packages. Many hotels, lodges and B&Bs in ski country now add a service charge to room service and lodging bills to distribute among staff, so ask before you start leaving tips. (But do add on a tip, too, if the service merits more.)
Most of these packages are available only on specific dates, and space may be limited. Days may be added to most packages, so request details. Always ask for the refund and cancellation policies before booking.
Air fares are continuously changing, thanks to airline battles. This winter, many resorts have added a caveat to packages: “Prices subject to change without notice due to fluctuation in air fare pricing.” Before booking vacation packages that include air fare, call your travel agent or a few airlines to make sure the package includes the best fare.
On with the bargains:
1. You can float down Parsenn, Winter Park’s vast new powder bowl for intermediates, if you book the Snow Show Special. Four nights’ lodging, three days’ lifts, a Hertz rental car and round-trip Continental air fare from Chicago to Colorado start at $555 a person in a condo (four people in a two-bedroom, two-bath condo), and go from $686 in a Mountain Inn (two people per room, includes breakfast and dinner daily). The same package, with seven nights’ lodging and six days’ lifts, starts at $790. For more information, call Winter Park Central Reservations at 800-453-2525.
If you prefer to take the train, four nights’ lodging, three days’ lifts, Hertz rental car and round-trip Amtrak from Chicago starts at $433.25 a person based on four people in a two bedroom, two bath condo. Rail/air packages also are available. Call 800-USA-Rail.
These vacation packages may save you enough money to take an evening sleigh (or chairlift) ride to a gourmet dinner at Sunspot, the resort’s dramatic new log and glass mountaintop lodge.
Packages are available during regular season, Feb. 13-April 4. During White Sale Season, now through Feb. 12, lodging rates may be slightly lower.
2. Aspen’s new Fax Club promises the best weekend ski packages available in Aspen and Snowmass resorts in Colorado. Every Tuesday evening, through April 7, members will get a fax with details of discounted lodging and lift ticket information for the next weekend. It costs $5 to join, and you must have a dedicated fax line, not one that also accesses telephone calls. For more information, call 800-525-6200 and ask for Fax Club, or send a $5 check payable to Aspen Skiing Co. to Fax Club, Box 1248, Aspen, Colo. 81612.
Steamboat also offers FAX TRACKS, a similar service for free. To join, fax a note to 303-879-7844, dept. 324, attention FAX TRACKS.
3. A United Airlines’ deal rewards you and a disabled athlete with donations to National Handicapped Sports Association and discount air fare coupons, dollar for dollar, in $25 and $50 increments. Each $25 discount coupon can be used toward the purchase of any published fare of $200 or more for travel in all 50 states; the $50 coupons are good toward the purchase of any United Airlines published fare of $300 or more. Coupons may not be combined. Contact: National Handicapped Sports Association, 800-966-4647.
4. Big Mountain, Mont., offers five-night packages starting at $310 during regular season, now through April 3, and include lodging, five days’ skiing and five full breakfasts. Contact: 800-858-5439.
5. Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Telluride Ski Resort, Colo., and the premiere season of its Winter Festival Series, with free skiing. Book lodging at a participating property April 3-11, during Surf the Rockies, and get complimentary lift tickets. Lodging starts at $85.
The Bargain Blitz packages at Telluride are designed to combat post holiday blues. now through Feb. 12, five nights’ lodging and four days’ lifts start at $337 in a B&B, $327 in an inn or hotel and $402 in a condo. For more information about these lodging packages in Telluride, call 800-525-3455.
The 50 percent discount on Telluride lift tickets promised to skiers who stay in certain neighboring towns will cover the gas for rides to the slopes and some of southwestern Colorado’s most spectacular sights. A soak in the immense natural hot springs pool or a sweat in a vapor cave await skiers staying in Victorian Ouray, 50 miles away. Skiers staying in Montrose, 65 miles from Teluride, are also 15 minutes from cross-country ski trails on the rim of the Black Canyon National Monument.
Skiers staying in Montrose, 65 miles away, are 15 minutes from cross-country trails at Black Canyon National Monument. Vacationers in the towns of Cortez, Dolores and Mancos are 61-73 miles from the slopes, but close to Mesa Verde National Park and two Indian reservations. Contact: 800-873-0244 for Montrose; 800-228-1876 for Ouray; 800-253-1616 for Cortez, Dolores and Mancos.
6. With the Budget Rent a Car Ski West promotion, you get a free one-day lift pass redeemable at select ski resorts and membership in the American Ski Association. The freebies total $70, not including any savings through use of SkiAmericard. The Ski West promotion is available from Budget at its airport locations in Albuquerque, Denver, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Aspen, Steamboat, Vancouver and Calgary. Call 800-527-0700.
7. The older you get, the less you may have to pay at some ski areas. Septuagenarians ski free at Vail, Beaver Creek and Breckenridge in Colorado, and Park City, Utah. Seniors 65 and older ski free at Mammoth Mountain, Calif. Skiers 65 and older pay $5 at Squaw Valley USA, Calif. Seniors 65-69 receive half price lift tickets at Crested Butte, Colo., but skiers 70 and over get a free ride. Call your favorite areas for specifics.
8. Kids get all the breaks. If they are 4 or younger, they ski free at Keystone, Colo. Children 6 and younger ski free at many areas, including Aspen and Snowmass. At Brighton, Utah, children 10 and under ski free. At Squaw Valley, Calif., children age 12 and younger ski for $5. And don’t forget about those kids ski-free/stay-free programs at resorts like Steamboat, Colo.
9. At Big Sky, Mont., kids 10 and younger (up to two per adult) always ski free, and they stay free in some lodges too. (Lift tickets are half the adult rate for additional kids.) At the ski-in/ski-out Huntley Lodge, children 10 and younger stay free in the same room with parents. (Book a one-bedroom condo at the neighboring Shoshone Condominium Hotel and kids can sleep on the living room murphy bed.) The budget-minded adult crowd books into The Mountain Lodge (doubles from $44), a five-minute walk from the lifts. Call Big Sky Central Reservations at 800-548-4486 for reservations or information.
10. Wasatch Powder Guides offer a spring day (four runs) of heli-skiing in Utah for $140. The program was designed as a “thank you” for locals, but opened to the public. The only requirement for a day at that price: Skiers must come in groups of 8 or 9. (However, Powder Guides has been know to help put groups together.) Individual skiers pay $160 a day, still a bargain price. (Last winter’s high season rate was $385 a day for seven runs.) Call 801-742-2800.
11. Park City’s popular Toucan promotion is back. This winter, skiers will again get three nights’ lodging for the price of two at participating resorts March 27-April 11. Many local restaurants and shops also offer deals.
During the overlapping Park City Snowshine Festival, March 20-April 3, skiers can get a free video analysis of their skiing. Other free activities include snow golf, a family ski challenge race, an outdoor dance contest and mountain history tours. Call 800-453-1360.
12. Stay two nights or longer at Northstar at Tahoe, Calif., beginning March 21 (end of ski season) and ski free. Rates start at $111 a night for two people. This promotion will also be offered during selected mid-week periods throughout the season. Call 800-533-6787.
13. Package your own trip, at a savings, using coupons for discount lodging, lifts, ski lessons, meals and more. The Gold C ($10) and Entertainment Passbook ’93 ($32.95) directories for cities close to ski country, such as Denver and Boston, have discounts on all the components of a ski vacation. The Travel America at Half Price Directory offers 50 percent savings at hotels and condominiums in ski towns from Colorado to New Hampshire. Call 800-477-3234 or 709-945-8855.
14. The Rough Riders Ski Week at Steamboat in Colorado is a bargain for parents and promises fun times for the kids. This $200 package includes five all-day lessons for the children, an on-mountain barbecue, four lunches and a NASTAR race. Put yourself in the adult version, a $132 package that includes five two-hour lessons, an on-mountain barbecue, NASTAR race and a video analysis. (Lift tickets additional.)
Ask about Steamboat’s Kids Ski Free program where kids 12 or younger may ski and stay free with parents purchasing 5 or more days’ lift tickets and staying a minimum of 5 nights at participating properties. And if parents rent equipment for 5 days or more, kids get free rental gear.
Late spring skiing in Steamboat means a 30 percent savings with the Last Chance Snowsaver deal. Prices start at $191 in a motel and $223 in a condo for three days’ skiing and four nights’ accommodations April 5-11. All prices are per person, double occupancy in a motel, or four people per two-bedroom condo. Packages are available exclusively through Steamboat Central Reservations. For more information, call 800-922-2722.
15. A cheapie package paid for in Canadian dollars is a bonus. Take a spring fling at the Chateau Whistler Resort, Whistler, B.C. After April 5, two nights’ lodging and three days’ lifts are $190 in Canadian dollars, about $154 in American currency. The three night, four day package is $250 Canadian, $203 American.
For reservations at any of the hotels in the Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts chain, call 800-828-7447.
16. Physically challenged skiers get price breaks on lift tickets, rentals and lessons from specially trained instructors at ski areas across the country. For example, Winter Park, Colo., has a $35 half-day, one-on-one lesson, including lift ticket and adaptive equipment. Crested Butte, Colo., offers physically challenged skiers and their ski buddies half off the window lift ticket price, and rental adaptive equipment for $8 a day. For a list of ski areas with programs for disabled skiers, contact National Handicapped Sports Association at 800-966-4647.
17. Consumer ski groups open the door to a houseful of bargains. Key national consumer groups include the American Ski Association (ASA), National Snowboard Inc. (NSI), the United States Recreational Ski Association (USRSA), Ski Card International (SCI) and the National Ski Association (NSA). This year, the U.S. Olympic Ski Team has a new passport for consumers.
All of the groups offer discounted lift tickets, lodging and dining at various resorts across the country. SCI offers a $245 three-day getaway for two at the Snowmass Lodge and Club. It includes three nights’ lodging, two lift tickets a night and airport transfers-good throughout ski season, space available.
Every $50 Ski Card International membership comes with a free lift ticket good at more than 200 ski resorts, including biggies like Vail and Mammoth.
The new U.S. Ski Team Passport includes a variety of benefits from more than 240 ski areas, including several in Colorado. With the $29.95 passport, skiers can get a discounted lift ticket at Arapahoe Basin for $19-$23, depending on the day. Part of the purchase price is donated to the U.S. Olympic Ski Team.
Contact: ASA and NSI at 303-292-6273; USRSA at 714-634-1050; SCI at 800-333-2754; U.S. Ski Team Passport at 800-846-0078; and NSA at 303-825-0944.
18. Computer buffs dial up the Colorado TravelBank (voice number 303-320-8550 and modem number 303-671-7669) for the latest discounts and bargains in ski country. Look in the PriceFighter section of the Snowbank for current deals on lodging and lift tickets.
Or they can get information through online computer services such as Prodigy or CompuServe, which are limited to paying members. Prodigy has an online ski guide which gives information about various resorts and a skiing section in the Sports Club Bulletin Board where consumers exchange information about resorts. The Easy Sabre reservation system has airline, car and hotel sections where you can search for bargains. CompuServe lists ski reports and includes lodging information in the OAG travel service section. For more information about Prodigy, call 800-776-3449; for more information about CompuServe, call 800-848-8990.
19. The posh new Doral Telluride Resort in Telluride, Colo., has packaged ski vacations at approximately 20 percent off the sum of the individual components, good until April 2. The Enthusiast’s Sampler, the Experience Telluride packages and the Family packages feature a variety of spa, skiing and other winter activities. A week in the Doral on the family plan includes lodging, three adult ski passes, four days’ kids ski school or Kidspa, dinner sleigh ride, daily breakfasts for all, family night, family nutrition consultation/cooking class and logoed T-shirts. Cost: $3,472 until April 2 for two adults and one child; $344 for each additional child.
Discounted shoulder-season ski and spa packages will be available to introduce skiers to this new hotel. Call 800-443-6725 for details.
20. In Durango, Colo., where summer is the high season, there are lots of rooms going for $22 to $38 on winter nights. Near Purgatory/Durango ski resort, the more a motel’s name sounds like a money-saver, the lower its rates will be. Inexpensive digs are yours at Budget Inn for $22-$30 a night, Econo-Lodge beginning at $32 a night and the Dollar Inn $26-$32 a night. Names that whisper the soulful Southwest also offer cheap digs. The SilverSpur is $30-$38 a night, Siesta Motel is $26-$32 and Caboose Motel is $26-$38.
Ask Purgatory-Durango Central Reservations for the best rates at motels; some include discounted lift tickets. Packages go as low as $40-$50 a day during regular season. Call 800-525-0892.
