The most affordable ski resort in the U.S. is in Upstate NY, ranking finds

North Creek, N.Y. — Snow lovers know the pursuit of fresh powder is far from cheap.
But at one beloved resort in Upstate New York, skiers and snowboarders can explore the great, snowy outdoors on a top-tier mountain without emptying their bank accounts.
Gore Mountain, a popular Adirondacks resort in North Creek, has been named the most affordable resort in the United States for a ski vacation.
Along with being ranked the No. 1 spot for a wallet-friendly “ultimate slopeside vacation,” Gore Mountain was the only New York resort to make the list by HomeToGo, a vacation home rental marketplace.
North Creek and Gore Mountain have served winter sports enthusiasts since 1934. The mountain boasts the “most terrain in New York” for skiers and snowboarders — along with a vertical drop of 2,537 feet, 14 lifts and 108 trails, according to its website.
What’s the methodology behind HomeToGo’s ranking?
The rental marketplace said it used one-day adult lift prices for resorts in areas it serves and the median nightly cost of nearby HomeToGo vacation rentals to find the most affordable ski vacations. By that metric, HomeToGo said Gore Mountain came up on top.
The median price of a nightly vacation rental in the North Creek area is $88.02 per person, HomeToGo said.
A daily lift-ticket pass for adult same-day or on-site tickets at Gore is set at $119 for the 2024-2025 season, according to Gore Mountain’s website. But skiers and snowboarders can save big — as much as 45% — if they buy tickets in advance.
“With price being a vacation planning priority for many in the U.S., we designed this (report) to help travelers put together trips that make the most of their budgets, pinpointing the places with lower accommodation and lift pass rates to ensure maximum thrills for the money,” Eleanor Moody, a travel expert and HomeToGo spokesperson, told Travel + Leisure.
Not everyone was happy with HomeToGo’s list.
SNOWBOARDER, a magazine that calls itself the most-read publication in snowboarding, called the ranking “questionable.” The magazine took umbridge HomeToGo’s methodology, calling its exclusion of data from other rental platforms, hotels and motels its “most obvious omission.”
The Times Union pointed out there are no lodgings at Gore Mountain and few traditional hotels nearby, facts the newspaper said surprised a HomeToGo spokesman.
Still, it’s good to see an Adirondacks gem like Gore Mountain — which has already started to make snow for its sprawling trails — in the spotlight.