Beat the crowds and save money by skiing midweek

A typical weekend day on the slopes doesn’t always include as much skiing as you’d like. You hand over your credit card to pay for a pricey lift ticket, sweat through your ski parka while queuing up for rental equipment, and then encourage frostbite by waiting again in long lift lines. When you finally make it to the powder, you spend more time dodging a traffic jam of skiers and snowboarders than you do enjoying the mountain.

For an alternative, try skiing midweek. You may have to take more time off work, but the uncrowded slopes and pristine snow make an extra vacation day worthwhile. With shorter lines for tickets, rentals, lifts, and lunch, you’ll pack more ski time into a single day.

Plus, several resorts offer discounts for midweek lift tickets or ski-and-stay packages. Here are some of the deals available:

• Mammoth Mountain, CA: Mammoth’s January Midweek Madness Promotion offers lift tickets from $55 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from January 8 to 31. That’s a savings of $24 off the regular $79 price.
• Stratton Mountain Resort, VT: One of Stratton’s package deals offers a three-day midweek lift ticket for $155, plus two nights’ accommodations for free. Midweek rates are usually $69, compared to $78 on the weekend.
• Sunlight Mountain Resort, CO: Midweek-only season passes cost between $260 and $360, while regular passes cost $350 to $480. You could save up to $120 by skiing Monday through Friday.

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