The Ski Area Value Index 2023/2024 (#SAVI)

View of the Ski Area Value Index

Initiated thanks to a TikTok series, I felt unsatisfied by how difficult it was to find an all-around good value ski resort based how much skiing I could do and for what price. I did lots of manual calculations and website browsing. I quickly learned a few resorts control the vast number of American ski areas, distorting the global landscape and the cost of skiing. To this end, I introduce The Ski Resort Value Index. It’s a collaborative document, and, ultimately, a living one. In the short term, you’re invited to browse the 2024 Ski Area Value Index here (Google Sheets), composed of data initially scraped from Ski Resort.info in 2023.

Why do this?

There are about 6,000 ski areas in the world, ranging from thousand-acre mountains to single bunny hills in the United Kingdom. The mission is to find the absolute best values for skiing around the world at areas you may have never considered. That, and have fun with data. The ambition is to crowdsource this in a manner that has up-to-date info every year (read further to see how you can help).

How do I use SKI AREA VALUE INDEX?

  1. Open the Index on Google Sheets.

  2. By default, the “overall value” is ordered in descending order, with the best value globally listed first. This is the number that determines whether you’re getting a good deal.

  3. You can change the column that is determining the order of the sheet by changing which column is presented. For example, clicking on column C and sorting the sheet “Z-A” will give a list of the most expensive ski areas first.

  4. You can also apply filters to exclude any parameters.

  5. Ski areas with incomplete info are collapsed.

How did you calculate this?

Different people determine value in different ways. Feedback on the TikTok series quickly revealed that slope distance wasn’t enough, but neither was price. I wanted to strike a sweet-spot between how much skiing I could do for the least amount of money. The value is calculated by dividing the total elevation change offered by the resort by the one-day lift ticket price (effectively how much you’re paying per meter drop), multiplied by the amount of theoretically skiable terrain (in kms). The one-day lift ticket price is the biggest challenge because it’s the biggest variable. Many resorts have shifted toward dynamic-pricing model based on demand, making the lift-ticket price even more complicated element. I’ve tried my best to augment my initial findings with up-to-date pricing based on a typical high-season weekend. All prices are in USD.

Why don’t you incorporate price of food and lodging?

There are plenty of resources to help you triangulate the cheapest hotels and you can pack your own food. This is about the ski area, specifically. Maybe one day we’ll take it further.

Browse the 2024 Ski Area Value Index here (Google Sheets).

Past Editions

I don’t see MY FAVORITE SKI AREA.

Thanks for telling me. Please use the contact form below to share your favorite ski area’s details.

The price you listed is wrong.

I try my best to get realistic prices for the casual skier who might only get out once or twice in a year. Given that, I’ve centralized my research on the high-season with optionally holiday pricing. Found a higher or lower price? Send an updated price with a date for 2024 via the contact form.

What about Epic, IKON, and other cost-saving passes?

These passes can (and do) absolutely transform the value of a ski area, particularly in the United States. Update forthcoming to include a toggle to include them.

Browse the 2024 Ski Area Value Index here (Google Sheets).

Contact

Thanks for reading! Follow @equitiesmanager1 on TikTok.

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