Related: Ski free with your airline boarding pass (Photo courtesy of Grandpa Points/The Points Guy) COVID-19 impactsĪll of that said, unless you are on a secret mission to Mars or you are reenacting Rip Van Winkle’s sleep, then you are fully aware that life on our beautiful planet has been dramatically altered in this year of 2020. We found ski resorts in 27 of the 50 states - including Alabama! Of those, here are 116 mountains, hills and resorts that offer free lift tickets for seniors, usually beginning at age 70, though some hold out for octagenarians and a few optimistically start their “free” skiing at the ripe young age of 90. Some are hills with single Poma lifts and just a few hundred feet of total vertical on a couple of runs, but there are also major resorts with hundreds of runs and thousands of feet of vertical served by dozens of lifts including high-speed quads, gondolas and magic carpets. We combed the web (and even made a few calls on a real landline) to find as many places as possible within the U.S. There are deals, however, that go all the way to free lift tickets for seniors. Related: Tips for skiing after 70 Free skiing for seniors Financial savings can vary from just $5 off to a $50 discount or more. Lift ticket price breaks start as early as 60 years of age, but most seem to kick in starting at 65. Related: 6 mistakes to avoid when planning a ski trip (Photo courtesy of Grandpa Points/The Points Guy) If you go that route, here are places where kids can ski free. And lift ticket deals for seniors can simply be an incentive to keep skiing or good PR based on the hope that the senior skier is accompanied by generations of family members. Reduced ticket rates can also be an acknowledgment of the support seniors offered the ski industry in their previous decades. Lower prices can be, in part, a recognition that most senior citizens are well past their prime earning years and highest income levels. There seem to be multiple reasons for this trend. Sign up for TPG’s free daily email newsletter for more travel stories and tips delivered each morning to your inbox! (Photo courtesy of Grandpa Points/The Points Guy) Rather, they are encouraging them to stay on the slopes by reducing lift ticket prices for seniors. The ski industry in the United States is certainly not writing off the enthusiasts who helped build and sustain their business for the last 50 years.
Citizens over the age of 65 will make up 20% of the nation’s population within a decade.īut reaching a golden age doesn’t mean that senior skiers have to stay home and pack away their equipment.
The post-World War II baby boom is swelling the ranks of senior citizens in the U.S.