Ski deals & discounts 2016

Skiing can be an expensive sport, but if you know how to take advantage of the many deals and discounts that are available you can easily ski or ride all winter without buying a single full-price lift ticket. Now that the snow and cold have finally arrived (fingers crossed!) here are the top deals & discounts for 2016 to help you hit the slopes on the cheap:

Gore and Whiteface: 12/19 & 12/20/2015

When I said in an earlier post that our passes are working double-duty this year, I really meant it. This weekend we skied Saturday at Gore and Sunday up at Whiteface.

After a week-long thaw, I would have been just as happy to stay home and tune a few pairs of skis, but we awoke Saturday morning to a coating of white on the lawn and the kids twisted my arm to head up to the mountain for at least a few runs.

Gore on Saturday

Whiteface again: 12/12/2015

I almost feel guilty. It's been a rocky start to the ski season, but I've managed to log 4 out of 4 excellent early season ski days. Part of it is luck. We've skied on days when the sun is out and the snow is soft. Part of it is a function of low expectations, like our trip back up to Whiteface on Saturday. Skies were gray, temperatures 40-something, and there was no sign of winter anywhere. Enthusiasm was in short supply as we pulled into the lot looking up at a mountain brown clear to the summit.

Not a promising sight if you're a skier^^

Whiteface Mtn: 12/09/2015

In a way, Whiteface’s marketing department couldn’t have picked a better day to showcase the mountain for its annual Media Day event on Wednesday. Even though the ground was as bare and brown as my own backyard, the open trails were covered top to bottom and edge to edge with snow. The difficult start to the ski season is a reminder that without snowmaking, right now there’d be no skiing at all anywhere in the northeast.

Hug a snowmaker!

Gore Mountain: 12/05/2015

Despite the unseasonably warm weather that has played havoc with early season ski conditions throughout the northeast, we've managed to pull out two decent weekends of skiing in a row to kick off our season, up at Whiteface last weekend and now at Gore.

We were surprised to see the guns still blowing on the upper mountain as we pulled into Gore's parking lot Saturday morning. Temps were marginal for snowmaking, but crews are taking advantage of every opportunity to lay down a base and expand available terrain.

Felt like spring pulling into the parking lot. Cold, please?