I read an interesting article in the New York Times online edition recently about how skiing has become so expensive in recent years, mostly because of the monopoly of two giant corporations which have acquired ski resorts around the United States. One or two of those areas are in New Mexico.
I realize I’m sounding more and more like Andy Rooney from the old CBS 60 Minutes program these days, but I remember the good old days.
When you were in college, you could still find a $5 daily ski pass at what is now Pajarito Mountain outside Los Alamos — a “secret” ski area in the once secret town where the atomic bomb was developed. There was one chairlift and the vertical drop was probably no more than 750 vertical feet, but you could ski all day, then grab a bowl of “Danny’s Chili” for $1.25 and wash it down with some Buckhorn Beer that sold for 99 cents a six pack. What a deal.
I also remember that just four years ago, anyone over the age of 70 could get a free season ski pass at Ski Apache. Now it costs you $600. A daily pass for someone my age is $57 and for an adult, it’s $110. When I was in high school, just after the ski area opened, we had a program at our school that allowed us to count skiing as our PE requirement. We’d get off every Wednesday afternoon and go to the ski area where we could get lift tickets, instruction and rental equipment for about $10. What a deal.
Making the high ticket cost at Ski Apache even worse is the fact that much of the mountain has been scarred by a terrible forest fire a few years ago. Trees that used to protect slopes from losing snow in gusty winds are gone. At least one major lift is no longer operating because of the fire. And climate change has led to fewer and fewer good snow years on the mountain. Yet, we continue to pay more and more for less and less satisfaction on the slopes.
The New York Times story says that the average cost for a father and mother and their two kids to go skiing for one day in a major resort is now about $500. The article says that skiing is becoming more and more of an elitist sport, similar to what it has been in Europe for many years.
I’m okay with capitalism, but it seems that we’re in a pattern where the incredibly rich just keep taking things away from us that we all enjoyed when we were younger. Some of the best fly fishing waters where I once was able to go for free are now controlled by private landowners. A cheap round of golf is becoming a thing of the past in many places. A visit to Disneyland is almost becoming out of reach for many familes.
Well, I’m not going to give up. This coming year, my goal is to go fishing more, play more golf and yes, go skiing at least one or two more times.
And have I mentioned my plan to develop heavy duty drones with grappling hooks buzzing around ski areas to help older skiers like me get up after a fall? I’ll provide more details later, but I’m fearful some rich guy will beat me to it and it will end up making them a lot of money for my swell idea.
aero-cordero.com 