Winter is coming any day now and the idea of a getaway has either been planned or is on the wish list for many families. Every year thousands of families head west to the Rockies to enjoy the outdoors and experience world class mountains and snow. Whether it’s Colorado, Utah or Wyoming, there are plenty of resort towns to choose from, you start to research which one is going to be the best for the group and then the anxiety sets in….it’s expensive.
As skiing and snowboarding popularity continues to grow, the unfortunate thing is, it’s become quite hard to afford a family trip out west. Unless you have the ins with the locals and know the hidden gems, the Park City’s, Vail’s and Jackson Hole’s of the world, are becoming a rich man’s paradise. An alternative would be nice, wouldn’t it? So, what if I told you, a European ski vacation may actually more affordable for a family of 4? Seriously. It doesn’t make sense, but trust us when we say it’s cheaper to go to Europe, then out west.
So, how is this even possible? When you start to look at flights, lodging, transportation, lift tickets and potentially rentals, you’ll see a noticeable difference in the overall cost of the trip, and some of the main drivers to why North America, albeit closer in proximity, is further from affordability. So lets take a look
Flights
Sky resorts are in areas that large airport hubs are not. I know that’s a duh statement, but it’s an important piece to remember because getting to remote destinations, can get expensive quickly. Unless you’re flying out of a main hub like Atlanta, New York, Chicago, getting to Montana or Idaho or even Utah, starts to add up quickly and direct flights become few and far between, and/or you’ll need to take out a second mortgage to afford them. Denver, is the exception and has flights in and out that are direct and affordable from Minneapolis to Boston for under $200. The issue with Denver is, the close resorts are extremely busy and expensive and the remote resorts are 4 hours worth of driving through mountain passes. If you want to escape the ski vacuum that the Denver area has become and try Salt Lake City, it’s could cost you over $425 a ticket, for trips around February. Same with flights to Jackson, WY; Bozeman, MT or Vancouver, BC. If you don’t catch a direct flight or direct flights are too expensive, you could have 3 to 4 hour layovers and your total travel time might be 8 hours, which is how long it takes to fly to Europe.
As this blog is being written, there are February flights to Geneva, Switzerland where you can get into the Swiss, French and Northwestern Italian alps quite easily for $450 a ticket. You can also fly to Munich, Germany for $475, where you are a quick drive or train ride from the Austrian alps. Unless you are flying to Denver, the cost of flights typically become a wash and at times can be cheaper. Trust us, as the savings on flights to Denver, will be eaten up quite quickly.
Transportation
Flights to and from destinations is actually the easier of the logistics to plan. We mentioned before, resorts are up in the mountains and you have to get there somehow. What do you do, get on a crowded bus, a train, rent a car, hire a private driver? Whether it’s getting to Telluride or Steamboat Springs out of Denver or getting to Val-d’Isere, France out of Geneva, Switzerland, your journey up to the mountains can be a 3-4 hours. The budget option is getting on a public shuttle bus, but those journeys can take a long time and not be the most comfortable. From a cost perspective, they’re roughly the same price in North America or Europe. Private drivers are most efficient and comfortable but become expensive quickly. A private driver from Denver to Steamboat Springs can be $1,000 round trip. If renting a car for a week is more your preference, that can easily get up to $2,000 for a large SUV like a Suburban.
As we compare that to Europe, shuttles to the French Alp resorts like Chamonix and Val-d’Isere, are around 500 Euros round trip. Not necessarily cheap, but half the cost of similar services in the US. For rentals, Europe rentals may not have the land yacht SUV’s like we do in the states, but they do have large sprinter vans that have plenty of space. Those, can be rented for 1,200 Euros for the week and will give you plenty of room for your equipment, bags and places to sit. That’s roughly $800 cheaper, which is a nice chunk of savings. Where Europe really shines, is their rail systems. France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria all have reliable rail systems. Switzerland being the crown jewel of European rail. If Switzerland is your destination, you can get to almost all there resort by train for $100-200 Swiss francs and can be even cheaper depending if you get on of their multiple tourist travel passes. As a bonus, kids under 16 ride for free. A significant convenience of the train is, you can catch the train right from the airport and take it all the way to your destination. It’s that easy. France and Austria aren’t as as robust as Switzerland, but they still have options to get to some of their best resorts. For example, if you’re flying into Munich, you can take the train from Munich to Innsbruck for 300 Euros for your entire family round trip or from Munich to the famous Austrian resort of Kitzbuhel for 240 Euro round trip. This is a fraction of the cost of a rental or a private transport hire. If you decide to go to Zermatt, Grindelwald, Kitzbuhel or other resorts that you can access via train, savings for your family can be upwards of $1,000-$2,000 depending on transportation and where you decide to go, easily making up for the savings on that flight to Denver.
Lodging
Whether you’re a hotel person or prefer to rent your own condo or apartment, lodging is a tough one. We as individuals have unique preferences. To some, a bed is all that matters, to others having the comfort of home and space, is very important for their trip. If we compare European Ski Resorts to North American resorts I can say it’s somewhat of a wash, but I give the nod to team Alps, if you’re one that likes to rent a property over a hotel. Other than that, it’s fair to say, prices are variable based on preference.
European ski towns do seem to have more flexibility in price and you’ll be able to find a 2 bedroom, 3 bed apartment that’s quite affordable. In Chamonix, we recently booked a last second 2 bedroom, 3 bed apartment, in a building we’ve stayed before for $175 a night. If I compare that to Vail or Park City, the average price for a last second booking is $500 a night. That’s $2k in savings depending on your taste. We’ve had similar success in Switzerland and Austria as well. Not to say there aren’t affordable places in the top North American resort towns, but they may be harder to come by, but it’s going to be a case by case basis. Hotels, for a family, can ballon depending on occupancy requirements and level of comfort. Both have budget and luxury hotels, so comparing price wouldn’t be accurate. From experience, renting tends to save you a fair amount vs a hotel. To conclude, more than likely lodging may be a break even, but having stayed at a few of the top European ski resort towns, we have had very good success finding very nice rentals, that a family can easily stay in comfortably, for as low as $90 a night. Do your research, find what you prefer, it’s going to cost either way, but if you are comfortable with renting a condo or apartment, that’s a big way of saving a fair amount of money over a hotel. Not to mention you will have your own kitchen where you can make breakfasts, dinners and aren’t eating out every night. That’s a big savings, as feeding a family of 4 at a restaurant multiple times a day over the course of a week will balloon the budget.
Lift Tickets
The clear difference between Europe and North America is the price of lift tickets. It’s staggering how much more expensive it is in the States. In Jackson Hole, if you’re skiing with a family of 4 for 6 days, it’s going to cost you $4,000 easily. Same thing with Steamboat Springs, CO. Big Sky, MT, it will cost you close to $3,500. The one area of savings is if you plan a trip to a resort that’s part of the Epic network. I believe you can get a 6 day pass as an adult for $600, but that only makes sense, if you purchase the pass early, so plan early. For Vail or Whistler or some of the other well known resorts that are part of the Epic network, the cost is roughly $2,400 for a family of 4, depending on age of kids. Quite a bit cheaper than some of the others we mentioned before.
Now, this is where the Alps start to flex their savings muscles. Chamonix, France, a town that has hosted the Winter Olympics and is known for its skiing, offers an unlimited pass that gives you access to ski in 3 countries (France, Italy, Switzerland) and access to lifts throughout the entire valley. That unlimited pass for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids (14 and younger) costs $1,100 total for those same 6 days of skiing. If you have older kids, the adult rate is 355 Euros per person for 6 days or 1,420 Euros for 4 adult passes. That’s over $900 in savings compared to some of the Epic rates out west. That’s the Unlimited pass, they offer a Chamonix valley pass that’s even cheaper, that saves you well over $1,000 compared to Epic. Grindelwald, Switzerland, prices are almost the same. For those same 6 days, an adult pass is $385 and a kids pass (15 and younger) is only $183. They even have tiered pricing for 16-19 year olds and they’re $250. That’s $1,200 for 6 days, saving you over $1,000 at the Epic pass rate and $2,800 compared to Jackson Hole.
Here are a couple more. Kitzbuhel, Austria, $1,100-$1,400 depending on the ages of you kids. Zermatt, Switzerland, the most expensive destination, will cost you $1,300-$1,600 for an entire family, during the peak ski season. So even at the most expensive rate, you’re still saving close to $1,000 and well over $2,000 compared to the non-epic resorts. Again, that savings for your affordable flight to Denver has vanished.
Rentals
This is a bonus section. For a good portion of families, rentals aren’t an option. You’ve invested heavily into your equipment, you prefer the feel, I get it. Others, don’t necessarily want to bring their equipment on planes because of the potential of them being lost or damaged, so for those of you that don’t feel like traveling with your equipment or are a leisure skiing family that just enjoys a day on the slopes, the price of rentals is vastly different in Europe. Jackson Hole, rentals for a family of 4, can run anywhere near $2,000 for 6 days, Vail and Breckenridge, are a bit easier to stomach around $1,000. Comparing that to Europe, it’s $420 for a family of 4 in Chamonix and $520 for a family of 4 in Zermatt. There will always be different level of ski rentals for quality and typically cheaper rates for kids under 13, but the fact of the matter is, for equivalent equipment, you can save upwards of $1500 on rentals in Europe.
Overall, the goal really isn’t to say, hey don’t go out west. It’s too expensive, not worth it, etc. That’s not what we’re saying. The Rockies are a destination for people across the globe, for a reason. The goal was to break down the barriers of international travel and say, just because it’s an 8 to 9 hour flight to get to Austria or Switzerland or France, doesn’t mean it’s significantly more expensive. In fact, there’s a good chance it’s cheaper. So to recap, unless you’re flying into Denver, flights to some of the top Ski Resorts in the US aren’t any cheaper than it is to fly to Europe. Unless you’re near a major airport, and pending your destination, flight durations can be comparable. Once you land, you’re still going to need to get to your final destination and at the very worst, it’s a wash in price because you take the public shuttle. If you decide to rent a care or hire a driver, there’s decent savings in Europe compared to the US. For significant savings, fly into a destination that you can take a train to and from the airport, for a fraction of the cost. Hotels and lodging can become very overwhelming at the major North American resorts, so pay attention to hotels, rentals, AirBnB’s etc. There’s a chance you can find a good deal anywhere, but seem to be fewer opportunities out west to lodge your family, unless you’re a planner and way ahead of the game. Then the biggest savers, European lift tickets are significantly more affordable than the Rocky counterparts. Saving you upwards of $2,000. Think about it, that could pay for most of your flight. So check it out, there’s still time to book and plenty of places to stay if that West bound trip just became a bit more expensive than you were hoping for and experience new cultures, people and places you may not have ever been.