EuroTrip? EuroTrip!
If you happen to search the Delta app for a flight to Salt Lake City, you'll quickly find yourself in utter shock. A non-stop flight from a NYC based airport to Salt Lake can run you a cool $1,700. No, seriously…
This exorbitant pricing to reach ski destinations on the West Coast has become an accepted norm over the past 3-4 years. We've resigned ourselves to this reality, acknowledging that the premium is the cost of experiencing better conditions than the icy East Coast slopes. So, with a mix of resignation and anticipation, we click “book now,” fully aware that airfare is just the beginning.
The price of tickets, accommodation, rental gear, and even chicken tenders in the lodge have become absolutely comical.
Despite these steep costs, the slopes remain crowded, suggesting an almost inelastic demand for mountain escapes. We justify these expenses for the love of the sport and the allure of pristine, powdery slopes, thus perpetuating (actually, inviting) this cycle of high prices and premium experiences. So
if we’re never going to stop chasing the thrill of deep snow and bluebird days, is there a way we can do it without having to refinance our house?
Curious travelers, who have long heard tales of the white capped mountains of the European alps, decided to change their search criteria in hopes of finding an “unusual” solution. Lo and behold, they found that a flight to Europe - round trip may I add - can be bought for around $800. And this is straight to Geneva. What??
Could this mean that, hypothetically, a trip to Europe may actually be somewhat cost effective?
I went ahead and dug around St. Mortiz, one of the fanciest resorts in the Swiss Alps, to get a sense of the numbers. For reference, I filtered for the second week of February 2025. Let’s take a look at the results:
Day passes? 60 - 80 Swiss Franc’s ($65 - $80)!
Accommodations? Beautiful AirBnbs starting at as low as $90 a night, as well as some great Hostels for around 20 Euros (~$24) per person.
There’s also a bunch of hotels to choose from. You can even find a room for under $300 a night. Yes. four-star hotels near the mountain for sub $300.
When you compare these numbers to a week (or even a weekend) in the United States, they look pretty pretty good.
Obviously, the convenience factor is in play here. It's very easy to hit Keystone for a weekend. Val Thorens, on the other hand? Yea, you probably need a bit more time. But with some planning, a bit of PTO, and some willing friends, a European ski destination isn’t really out of the question.
Further research is certainly required when planning a trip to Ski in Europe - my quick google searches should not be a definitive guide. The information I provided is merely there to inspire you!
So as Epic and Ikon continue to raise the prices of their passes, I urge you to look a bit outside your comfort zone of the Rockies. There's a whole new mountain range that deserves exploration and you can get to it for a surprisingly reasonable price.
