It doesn't have to be. My season pass costs around $700 and I'll get around 35-40 days of use out of it (under $20/day). I spent zero dollars at the resort last season and even the bus from my house to the resort is free. One day last season I found a $20 bill on the ground and thought, "I actually made money today!"My previous trips to the Islands as a tourist are starting to sound like a bargain! For that kind of money, we could have done all the paid touristy stuff our "package company" tried to sell us. I never knew skiing was that expensive.
In contrast, a typical family of four spends between $20K and $30K on a 1-week ski vacation to Vail. Even being economical with self-catering in a condo on the vail resort bus route (i.e. not ski in/out), and advance planning on lift tickets and rentals, it's still $15K for a 1-week family vacation. Last year one of the ski magazines estimated the cost of a long-weekend "Budget" ski trip to Vail (4 nights / 3 days of skiing) at $10K.