Be young. At many resorts, kids ski free all year. Of course, the little ones have to be accompanied by a ticket-buying adult and the cutoff age varies from resort to resort.
Be old. Many resorts offer free lift tickets to vintage skiers, usually those over the age of 70. Be prepared to show some sort of ID that proves how old you are.
Have a gimmick. Ski areas have a sense of humor. They occasionally give away lift tickets just to see what people would do. Do you have a good memory? On Martin Luther King Day at one resort, if you can recite the full text of his "I Have A Dream" speech, you get a free lift ticket. At another place, reciting the Gettysburg Address on Lincoln's birthday will get you a free one.
Go to Crested Butte. In an effort to attract early and late season skiers to the town's lodging and restaurants, this central Colorado resort slashed prices to the bare bone and beyond. In recent years, Crested Butte has offered free lift tickets until December 1 and after April 1.
Learn to ski. In the great American tradition of the free sample, many resorts and resort associations offer a way for beginners to try skiing without cost or obligation. These packages usually include rentals and a lesson as well as a lift ticket. Significant restrictions, however, do apply. These promotions are limited to certain dates and are good only for learn-to-ski packages. But you can't beat the price.
Buy in bulk. Skiing is not dissimilar to paper towels - if you buy a lot all at once it's cheaper. All resorts sell multi-day tickets - two-, three-, or five-day passes - that are much cheaper than buying a series of single-day passes. At many areas you can buy a book of tickets - say ten - in advance. The savings are usually significant enough that at least one day of skiing is essentially free.
Bring a friend. This is simple. At many ski areas, if you bring a first timer for their first day on skis, you can get a voucher for a lift ticket for yourself. Most ski areas have group sales departments and among the incentives they offer are free tickets for the organizer of the group.
Ski a lot. You've heard of frequent flier cards? Well how about a frequent skier card? At many resorts, skiing begets more skiing (or more to the point, buying lift tickets begets more lift tickets). If you accumulate enough points under a resort's affinity program, you can trade them for free lift tickets.
Buy a season ticket. At many ski resorts, season passes are so cheap that the break-even point is 20 days or less, so if you ski a lot, you can practically ski half the season for free. A few areas are selling season tickets so cheap - around $200 if you buy well in advance - that even a vacationer could take advantage of the deal.
Volunteer. You know those people who stand around the resort on weekends in their mountain-issued jackets, answering questions, giving directions and generally being courteous? Well, come Monday most of those mountain ambassadors go back to being accountants, carpenters or school teachers. That means that you too could volunteer for this kind of program, which usually doesn't pay but does carry a free lift ticket.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Skiing [http://skiing-guided.com/]
Friday, 26 March 2010
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Discover How to Select the Perfect Snowboard For Yourself
There are several different brands and types of snowboards and when it comes time to select one, it can be quite challenging. Alpine, free ride, and freestyle are the three basic types of boards. When the time comes to choose a snowboard, the style of riding you do will determine the type of board you need to choose. A freestyle board would be used if you spend most of your time in the half-pipe. An alpine board is best if you are into high speed action and a free ride board if you are just heading down the hill.
Another thing to keep in mind and that is very important is choosing the correct boots and bindings that are made for your board. These set ups all have their own traits that are geared to the style of riding that you will be doing.
If you are a beginner and just starting out you should start with a freestyle or freeride board, soft boots and freestyle bindings. This combination will give you some forgiveness in the learning process. It is best to pick a shorter board if you are a beginner because these are easier to maneuver and steer. The height of the board should be somewhere between your shoulders and your nose. But, keep in mind that the height is not the only thing you will need to think about.
Flexibility is an additional feature you will need to give some thought to. If you are considered a lighter rider then choose a snowboard that offers a bit more flexibility, and if you are on the heavier side a stiffer board would be better suited for you.
Let us not forget about the width of the board. If you are one of those with smaller feet you will not have any issues in this area. If you are one of those that have large feet you do not want your boots hanging over the edge of the board. The reason being, your toes could catch in the snow and cause you to take a fall. Be sure to get a wider board if you are one of those with big feet.
If you are a beginner, you might want to rent your equipment first because as you will find out, snowboarding is not cheap. If you buy your equipment before you decide if you like snowboarding, you could potentially be throwing away your hard earned money. Head over to the local sports shop and find out if they rent snowboarding equipment. This could give you the opportunity to try out different set ups and find one that fits your style boarding.
Once you decide that snowboarding is something you are going to enjoy, and it's time to purchase your own gear, do your shopping at the end of the winter season. Stores have incredible sales at the end of the season to get rid of their stock and make room for whatever new merchandise they can put out for the upcoming season.
Get more great Snowboarding Tips at http://www.snowboardandskigear.com. Here, Michael has put together some of the best tips on snowboarding from purchasing gear to learning some of the greatest tricks. Lots of video.
Another thing to keep in mind and that is very important is choosing the correct boots and bindings that are made for your board. These set ups all have their own traits that are geared to the style of riding that you will be doing.
If you are a beginner and just starting out you should start with a freestyle or freeride board, soft boots and freestyle bindings. This combination will give you some forgiveness in the learning process. It is best to pick a shorter board if you are a beginner because these are easier to maneuver and steer. The height of the board should be somewhere between your shoulders and your nose. But, keep in mind that the height is not the only thing you will need to think about.
Flexibility is an additional feature you will need to give some thought to. If you are considered a lighter rider then choose a snowboard that offers a bit more flexibility, and if you are on the heavier side a stiffer board would be better suited for you.
Let us not forget about the width of the board. If you are one of those with smaller feet you will not have any issues in this area. If you are one of those that have large feet you do not want your boots hanging over the edge of the board. The reason being, your toes could catch in the snow and cause you to take a fall. Be sure to get a wider board if you are one of those with big feet.
If you are a beginner, you might want to rent your equipment first because as you will find out, snowboarding is not cheap. If you buy your equipment before you decide if you like snowboarding, you could potentially be throwing away your hard earned money. Head over to the local sports shop and find out if they rent snowboarding equipment. This could give you the opportunity to try out different set ups and find one that fits your style boarding.
Once you decide that snowboarding is something you are going to enjoy, and it's time to purchase your own gear, do your shopping at the end of the winter season. Stores have incredible sales at the end of the season to get rid of their stock and make room for whatever new merchandise they can put out for the upcoming season.
Get more great Snowboarding Tips at http://www.snowboardandskigear.com. Here, Michael has put together some of the best tips on snowboarding from purchasing gear to learning some of the greatest tricks. Lots of video.
Friday, 5 March 2010
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