I got tired of trying to do the math in my head, and decided to put together a quick little pass calculator for Whitetail, so I could see which option makes the most sense for the skiing I think I'll do this winter. Because there are 5 different options, with different rates for different days, it got a little messy.

Once I had it finished, I decided maybe other people would be interested in using it, so here it is. It's an Excel spreadsheet (in the 97-2003 format). Just enter the number of days (peak or off-peak) and nights you plan to ski, and it will advise the best option.

Download the pass evaluator.

If anyone would like one for another resort, I'd be happy to modify this for wherever, as long as the rates are easy to find online.


aaron

PS - edited to show "total cost" on front tab.

PPS - I'm using the pre-October 31 pricing, and assuming the ski club pricing, as well...

that is sweet thanks!

Is there a family rate for the advantage card - or is it seperate for each member (whitetails website is a little confusing for this)

Jimboc - here's what I take away from the page. Family pass is $149, which covers 1 person, their spouse, and any/all unmarried dependent children up to age 18 (or 24 for full-time students).

The companion card is a "special case" type of card, which can be used in conjunction with a family card and is not limited to the "family" as defined by the above. Basically, it's so that mom/dad can take one of junior's friends skiing at the advantage card rate.


My interpretation could be off, but that's what I understood anyway...


aaron

Oops. Just realized I didn't include the sixth visit free on my calculator. I'll have to do that tonight.

Anyone know if night skiing visits on the "night club" card count towards free ones? I'd guess only paid visits count toward free visits, right?


aaron

Correct.

Notice, however, that an AM 4-hour session starting before 11am and a night visit starting at 3pm on weekends gives you 12 almost continuous hours of skiing at the discount rate, and counts towards a free visit.

The above combo also allows you to snooze during lift peak hours, assuming you made first chair.

It's still just a quick and dirty, but it somewhat accounts for the "free visit after every 5" thing. The problem is, without knowing how to calculate which price you'd be getting for "free" the numbers got ugly, so I just track each category of visit (night, peak, off-peak) as a separate count. In other words, if you have 3 night visits, and 2 day visits, you don't get the free one. You have to have 5 nights, or 5 days, etc.

I still don't include family passes at all, or 4 hour or extended day tickets. If anyone actually WANTS that, I could figure it out....

Updated caculator

I hope people find this at least marginally useful, or even just somewhat entertaining...

aaron

Aaron,

Nice work on the calculator. I've never seen so many nested IF statements. I'm going to have to figure out how to use the AND's in the IF's at some point. I would have done it with lookups instead, I think.

Anyway, we have had Nightclub cards for several years. It is especially a great option to add lessons. I have been taking 4 or 5 lessons each year.

This year, we may go with the family advantage card. My youngest, the ardent snowboarder is off to Salisbury on Jan 23, so Nightclub doesn't do anything for him. It would be close to breakeven for me, but by reducing his cost it seems to make sense from a family point of view. I already have 4 other ski trips planned, so don't think I'll see Whitetail more than 4 or 5 times this year.

Good luck on your decision. (Hint-get a night club card)

Steve

Very true. It can be an hour and a half of private lessons if no one at a similar level shows up. With line privileges possible.

FWIW and IMO, this situation is similar to getting free drinks from the bartender - good policy to tip generously.

Scooter,

You want a pass calculator? Try Rusty's Whitetail/Liberty/Roundtop pass calculator !
Save to disk and open in Excel. Warning - macros are used to do navigation, editing and make resetting the spreadsheet easier. You can leave them disabled, but the buttons won't work; or trust me and enable them.

This one is a little more complicated (cough). The prices are updated for 2008 but I'm always working on getting the little bennies updated (e.g. what's the value of the locker discount?).

therusty, do you have the snowtime pass calculator updated for the 2009-10 season?

Thanks for putting this together.

Luis

Using the Mountains of Distinction (MOD) option goes under "Miscellaneous Savings," I assume.

I continue to be surprised that Snowtime doesn't promote this MOD program more widely but, regardless, I bought a pass last season and just paid for one for this season too. (MOD is mentioned on Liberty's website.)

Woody

I'll be working on the 09/10 version this weekend.

Here's the new version:
The 2009 Advantage Card Calculator
You have to enable macros to get the buttons to work. BTW-I use McAfee for virus checking. You can trust the rust.

Ticket prices are up $1-$2, but pass pricing remains mostly unchanged. The # of visits vs type of pass to get is mostly unchanged (see the quick compare worksheet).

7 Springs has joined the Mountains of Distinction program. I updated as many prices for the MOD resorts as I could but most have not put 2009 rates up yet (links to price pages were also updated). I'll try again later in the fall.

Caveat emptor - this is not an official product.