Not true. If you're on vacation looking to ski for 3 days, you're right in the crosshairs of the ski resort's price model, and you're not getting around it.
I also don't see how the product is superior to what was offered prior
This is an issue with all kinds of products and services, from residential university education to cars to restaurant food.
Expensive options with lots of extras that not everybody wants—and some may actively dislike—replace broadly affordable options with fewer bells and whistles. Everyone is catering to the whales and, thanks in part to our robust lending industries, trying to convince the minnows that they can be a whale too.
It's an issue with inflation calculation too. Sure, product X (house, car, whatever) is twice as big, but now it also costs twice as much - can we really say that doesn't represent inflation when the smaller, cheaper version is no longer being made?
Yes, exactly. Same issue with cellphones: They’re more powerful and have better cameras, but many people are paying more to use the same apps they used a decade ago, even though inflation numbers say they’re getting a better deal.
Not true. If you're on vacation looking to ski for 3 days, you're right in the crosshairs of the ski resort's price model, and you're not getting around it.
That's exactly my point. If you take a 3 day family ski vacation once a year, you are the demographic whose money keeps the whole industry afloat, and allows the $600 season passes to exist.
I also don't see how the product is superior to what was offered prior
Lifts today are a completely different thing from the 70s. You were talking single speed doubles and T-poles back then for basically everything, and there was nowhere near as much terrain developed. Getting six digit vertical days was completely unheard of. Now you take a high-speed detachable quad from base to the top, and have vastly more terrain available. Practically every major ski area has expanded massively since then.
FYI - I deleted my response after reading the post better. While as far as I can tell there has not been massive expansion in Western WA skiing inthe past 25 years, you were comparing with 1970s. I really have no idea how skiing was in Western WA in 1970s, thus I deleted my response.
Comments
Not true. If you're on vacation looking to ski for 3 days, you're right in the crosshairs of the ski resort's price model, and you're not getting around it.
I also don't see how the product is superior to what was offered prior
This is an issue with all kinds of products and services, from residential university education to cars to restaurant food.
Expensive options with lots of extras that not everybody wants—and some may actively dislike—replace broadly affordable options with fewer bells and whistles. Everyone is catering to the whales and, thanks in part to our robust lending industries, trying to convince the minnows that they can be a whale too.
It's an issue with inflation calculation too. Sure, product X (house, car, whatever) is twice as big, but now it also costs twice as much - can we really say that doesn't represent inflation when the smaller, cheaper version is no longer being made?
Yes, exactly. Same issue with cellphones: They’re more powerful and have better cameras, but many people are paying more to use the same apps they used a decade ago, even though inflation numbers say they’re getting a better deal.
That's exactly my point. If you take a 3 day family ski vacation once a year, you are the demographic whose money keeps the whole industry afloat, and allows the $600 season passes to exist.
Lifts today are a completely different thing from the 70s. You were talking single speed doubles and T-poles back then for basically everything, and there was nowhere near as much terrain developed. Getting six digit vertical days was completely unheard of. Now you take a high-speed detachable quad from base to the top, and have vastly more terrain available. Practically every major ski area has expanded massively since then.
FYI - I deleted my response after reading the post better. While as far as I can tell there has not been massive expansion in Western WA skiing inthe past 25 years, you were comparing with 1970s. I really have no idea how skiing was in Western WA in 1970s, thus I deleted my response.