From $5 Lift Tickets to $300 Days: The Story Behind Rising Ski Costs [2024]

inflation Nov 23, 2025

Orginally written in 2024. Published November 2025 (Block: 924905 / USD: $87k / SatsDollar: 1.1k).

Why is Skiing So D*mn Expensive?

Skiers have been complaining about the rising cost of the sport for as long as I can remember. Skiing has always been a beloved winter pastime, but the rising cost of the sport is pricing many out of the slopes.

Single-day tickets that once cost just a few dollars, now exceed well over $300, leaving skiers wondering why their favorite hobby has become so unattainable.

[Figure 1]: Article from 1981 complaining about $20 lift tickets

Whether you’re a weekend warrior on a budget, or an out-of-state enthusiast with a family of five, the perception of snow sports as an increasingly exclusive activity is widespread.

I share the frustrations of the masses, but arrive at a different root cause than most. Media outlets, seasonal workers, and ski-bums point the finger at a host of reasons such as corporate greed, rising operational costs, and increased participation as the driver behind the price hikes.

While these factors may hold some merit, they fail to explain the true underlying cause of rising prices:

the erosion of purchasing power due to inflation, and the mechanics of central banking at large.

Let's dive down the money rabbit hole, and go on an exploration of how monetary policy, inflation, and economic forces intersect, to examine the real reason behind the "increasing cost" of skiing and snowboarding.

The Conventional Narrative

[Figure 2]: Retro ski tickets displayed in the Colorado Snowsports Museum

Articles and news reports across ski and lifestyle publications have highlighted the upward trajectory of skiing costs and proposed various culprits:

Greedy Corporations: Corporations like Vail Resorts are often accused of prioritizing profit over affordability. Worker strikes and participant boycotts have become more common over time. While corporate consolidation is a valid concern, these companies are simply responding to incentives created by the current monetary system. The detailed reasons behind this dynamic, including the role of cheap credit, are explored further in following sections.
Fancier Equipment and Infrastructure: Some point to rising costs from state-of-the-art gondolas, high-speed lifts, and luxurious on-mountain dining. Although such advancements enhance the experience, they overshadow the efficiency gains that these technologies bring.
Growing Participation: Others argue that increasing demand, fueled by newcomers to the sport, has led to "pricing out" middle-class skiers. However, many resorts have expanded capacity with more skiable terrain, larger parking lots, and higher, capacity lifts, mitigating this strain.

These explanations seem reasonable at face value, but they fail to account for a crucial piece of the puzzle: the monetary system itself.

Let me explain.

Measuring Costs in M2 Money Supply

To understand how skiing costs have changed over time, we must measure them against the M2 money supply, a broad measure of circulating money that includes cash, checking deposits, and easily convertible near money.

[Figure 3]: An Aspen lift ticket from March 23, 1948.

This comparison is like adjusting the lines on a ruler to account for it's ever growing expansion; it allows us to see the real scale of changes over time.

By adjusting for M2, we separate the effects of monetary expansion- which drives up nominal prices; from other factors, providing a clearer picture of real price trends.

When viewed in this way, the cost of skiing has remained remarkably stable over the last 60 years, even trending slightly downward.

Here’s what the data shows:

In 1962, a daily lift ticket cost $5.00. Today, that same ticket is over $300. However, when measured in M2-adjusted terms, the cost of skiing in 2024 is nearly identical to what it was in 1962, even trending slightly downward.

Season passes reveal a similar trend.

Since 2008, M2-adjusted prices have fluctuated slightly but remained largely consistent; despite the USD value of these tickets going exponential over the same timeframe. The spike in 2020–2021, driven by a flood of new money entering the system during the COVID-19 pandemic, is already normalizing.

This analysis reveals that the apparent “rise” in skiing costs is not due to corporate greed, increased demand, or fancy new infrastructure.

Instead, it’s an illusion created by the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies, which devalue the dollar and erode your purchasing power.

While the M2 money supply reveals the inflationary impact of new money creation, it also illustrates how inflation widens the gap between asset holders and wage earners. Those who own assets see their nominal wealth increase as asset prices rise.

However, this perceived "wealth" only holds water if the assets outpace the overall rise in prices.

For instance, someone who purchased a $25 million home in 2008 and now sees it valued at $100M may appear to have "gained" $75 million. But, if comparable homes have followed the same trajectory, their purchasing power has not truly changed.

This dynamic underscores how inflation distorts wealth perception while eroding the financial stability of wage earners.

The Real Cause of "Rising Prices"

The data is clear: the perceived rise in skiing costs is primarily a symptom of monetary inflation.

[Figure 4]: Vintage photo of a man skiing from Colorado Snowsports Museum

As central banks print more currency, the purchasing power of the dollar diminishes, making everything from groceries to ski passes appear more expensive.

The USD amount of skiing may have risen in nominal terms; but in real terms, the price remained stable. Inflation and money printing are essentially two sides of the same coin: expanding the money supply leads to higher prices, which many mischaracterize as "inflation."

Additionally, the monetary system itself creates incentives that distort competition. The Cantillon Effect explains how new money entering the economy disproportionately benefits those closest to its creation, such as large corporations like Vail Resorts with access to cheap credit.

This dynamic encourages centralization and monopolistic behavior, as corporations can use artificially low borrowing costs to expand operations, acquire competitors, and dominate markets.

While this might seem like a failure of capitalism, it’s actually a product of fiat monetary policy distorting natural market forces.

[Figure 5]: K. Smith (red sweater) and Zane Doyle (on Smith's left) with other skiers gathered around a ski school sign at Brighton.

For example, Vail Resorts’ ability to consolidate and control numerous ski destinations is less about inherent greed and more about operating within a system that rewards access to easy money.

Under a sound money system such as Bitcoin or gold, monopolies would only persist if they were truly efficient, delivering the most value at the lowest cost to consumers.

This distinction highlights the importance of understanding how monetary systems shape economic behavior and contribute to the illusion of rising costs.

By measuring skiing prices in Bitcoin, gold, or M2 money supply, we can see through the illusion of fiat currency.

While it’s valid to feel frustrated by high prices, understanding the root cause allows us to approach the problem more constructively.

Skiing on The Bitcoin Standard

Sound money advocates understand that the monetary system we use today is inherently inflationary; designed to make prices rise indefinitely. While the Federal Reserve’s target of 2% annual inflation might seem harmless, it quietly erodes purchasing power, halving it every 35 years.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, exponential growth in debt has compounded this issue, with real cost-of-living increases likely closer to 8-14% per year.

Everyone feels the effects of the monetary expansion, whether through higher grocery bills or the soaring price of skiing.

Bitcoiners have responded by adopting a different perspective, measuring the price of goods and services in a money with a fixed supply that cannot be manipulated. This is called living a Bitcoin Standard, and the results are eye-opening:

In 2013, a single Bitcoin could purchase a day pass. By the 2016/2017 season, that same Bitcoin could buy a full-season pass.

As Bitcoin’s purchasing power continues to grow, Bitcoiners have begun measuring prices in Satoshi’s (fractions of Bitcoin, referred to as sats).

When we apply this way of thinking to skiing, we see that prices have decreased significantly.

In 2016, a season pass cost $809, or about 100M sats. In 2024, despite a higher dollar price of $1,100 (a 36% increase in USD), the same pass costs only 2M sats—a dramatic decrease in real terms.

The same trend is true for day passes, having decreased from nearly 40B sats when Bitcoin began trading, to around 400K sats in 2025.

This shift in perspective reveals a stark truth:

while fiat currencies are designed to erode wealth, Bitcoin was engineered to preserve it.

Bitcoin serves as a fixed measuring stick against the world, revealing the true "price" of things without the distortion from inflation.

However, it’s important to note that Bitcoin’s "deflationary" nature doesn’t inherently lower prices.

Rather, technological innovation, unleashed by efficient capital allocation in a sound money system, drives production costs down, leading to lower prices in real terms.

A Hopeful Outlook

Bitcoin offers a solution to the challenge we are all facing. With its fixed supply of 21 million units, it ensures that purchasing power is not eroded by inflation.

[Figure 6]: Park City's new "Town Lift" triple chair will transport skiers from the bottom of historic Main Street to Mid Mountain

As Jeff Booth highlights in his book, The Price of Tomorrow, deflation is a natural force that makes goods and services cheaper over time.

Advancements in technology improve efficiency, reduce input costs, and enhance consumer experiences.

This principle is particularly relevant to the ski industry, where innovations such as high-speed lifts and gondolas are often cited as driving up costs. However, these advancements actually reduce costs by increasing efficiency and minimizing labor requirements.

For instance:

High-speed lifts can transport more skiers per hour, reducing the need for multiple chairlifts and their associated labor and maintenance costs.
State-of-the-art gondolas are increasingly energy-efficient, compact, and capable of handling higher volumes, lowering infrastructure demands over time.

These technological improvements should naturally make skiing more affordable, but the inflation of fiat currencies erodes purchasing power. This creates the illusion that these innovations are inherently expensive.

While innovation demands capital, inflation distorts the process by making borrowing cheaper for some and inflating the costs of resources over time.

Under a sound money system, where capital is allocated efficiently, advancements would drive costs down rather than up, ensuring that businesses and consumers alike benefit from the true economic value of innovation.

[Figure 7]: Luft Seilbahn Corviglia- Piz Nair St. Moritz, gondola

For individual skiers and snowboarders, adopting a Bitcoin standard offers the potential to reclaim affordable access to the mountains, not necessarily because resorts will lower prices, but because the money used will hold its value.

Understanding inflation’s impact allows us to see beyond superficial explanations and envision a world where deflation and technological progress can work together to make skiing, and countless other experiences—more accessible to all.

I’m not suggesting you postpone your adventures waiting for prices to drop in Bitcoin terms, but I urge you to take steps to protect your purchasing power.

Storing your savings in Bitcoin can hedge against the effects of inflation, ensuring your hard-earned money remains valuable over the long term.

In the future, who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to afford not just one, but multiple season passes, without worrying about being priced out of the sport you love.

Footnotes:

Day pass prices are based on historical data from a representative selection of resorts; including Vail, Stratton, Mt. Snow, Killington, Bear Creek Mountain Club, Park City, Squaw Valley, and Stowe.
Some prices used in this dataset may reflect elevated holiday rates.
Season pass prices reflect the full-price cost of the Vail Resorts EPIC Unlimited Pass.
Bitcoin prices are based on the value of BTC on January 1 of each respective year. M2 money supply figures are sourced from the January print of each year.