Cheap Skiing in New England: Where to Find Affordable Lift Tickets and Smaller Mountains

Updated with 2025/2026 prices.

At many major resorts, the cost of a single-day lift ticket has climbed to eye-opening levels, especially at high-profile destinations and large Western ski areas. Even in New England, triple-digit walk-up prices have become common at the biggest mountains. But skiers and snowboarders don’t have to pay top dollar to enjoy a day on the slopes. By being strategic about where and when they ski, it’s still possible to find cheap skiing in New England, or at least cheaper. Here’s how to take advantage of a blizzard of cheap skiing deals at New England ski areas.

Smaller New England Ski Mountain Savings

In skiing, it’s not always “go big or go home.” New England is blessed with many smaller ski areas that offer plenty of variety and excitement for a full day on the slopes at a fraction of the cost of skiing at a large mountain resort. Even a midweek adult lift ticket is north of $150 at Killington in Vermont (purchase early for a discount), whereas the same ticket would cost just $75 at nearby Saskadena Six, which has six lifts and 23 trails.

Ski Butternut in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, has cheap $25 lift tickets and tubing passes every non-holiday Friday, plus $40 lift tickets every non-holiday weeknight. The $84 Jiminy Savings Card at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock, Massachusetts, comes with a free lift ticket plus $25 off weeknight non-holiday lift tickets and Twilight ski tickets. You can ski all day, any weekday, at Otis Ridge in the Berkshires for just $30, or for $35 at Dartmouth Skiway in New Hampshire, which has a respectable 30 trails and more than 100 acres of skiable terrain.

Save On New England Night Skiing

Some of the best cheap skiing in New England happens at night. Several New England ski areas keep their lifts turning after the sun sets, notably Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort and Crotched Mountain in Bennington, New Hampshire. At Crotched, regular weekend day tickets cost $122 for adults, but the Saturday Midnight Madness session—which runs from 8 p.m. to midnight—is wicked cheap at just $45. At Vermont’s Bolton Valley, tickets to ski from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. are $29 if purchased in advance.

King Pine in Madison, New Hampshire, a favorite destination for families, has $20 lift tickets on Tuesday nights beginning in January, and The One Great Rate Saturday deal at McIntyre Ski Area in Manchester, New Hampshire, includes a 5:30 to 9 p.m. lift ticket, rentals, snow tubing, and hot cocoa for $58. 

At Whaleback Mountain in Enfield, New Hampshire, you can ski the last two hours any day the mountain is open for just $22 with their “Twilight Ticket.” And a nights-only season pass at Massachusetts’ Wachusett Mountain is reasonably priced if you buy early, making it a good deal for after-work skiers in the metro Boston area.

Save On Midweek Ski Runs

Not only are ski areas less crowded during the week, they cost less, too. If you’re looking for cheap skiing in New England, most ski areas discount their midweek tickets, and the savings can be significant: Jay Peak in Vermont, for example, knocks $16 off for midweek skiing compared to its weekend pricing.

New England Ski Savings For Kids

Elementary-school students can ski (almost) free at resorts throughout New Hampshire with the Ski NH 4th & 5th Grade Passport. The passport can be used by residents and non-residents alike; the only cost is a $59 processing fee. A similar passport program in Vermont allows fifth graders up to 90 days of skiing for just a $35 application fee. Maine’s $40 Winter Kids app opens the door to a variety of discounts and deals, including free ski days.

New England Ski Savings For Seniors

Most New England ski resorts also offer free or heavily discounted skiing for the youngest and oldest skiers. At New Hampshire’s Gunstock Mountain Resort, both children ages 5 and under and seniors ages 70 and up ski free all season, every day of the week. At Cannon Mountain, resident New Hampshire guests 65 and older ski free on weekdays.

Early (and Late) Season New England Ski Deals

Business at New England ski areas tends to slow down as the weather warms up, so many resorts offer discounts to encourage late-season skiing. The “Rest of Season” pass at Wachusett Mountain in Massachusetts goes on sale in mid-February and is good until the resort shuts down, usually in mid-April. Smugglers’ Notch in Vermont knocks its $125 weekend ($85 midweek) lift tickets down to $65 when you ski before December 15 or after March 31 (spring is the better time to go since there’s usually more snow).

Learn to Ski for Free in New England

You can’t run a ski resort without skiers, so many resorts go out of their way to make learning to ski or snowboard as cost-effective as possible. At Middlebury Snow Bowl in Vermont, use of the magic carpet lift in the beginners’ area is always free. The 1st Time to Life Timer deal at Sugarbush Resort in Vermont has a higher upfront cost—$616—but includes a three-day lesson package, rentals, lift tickets, and a Sugarbush Premium Season Pass.

New England Ski Local Deals

Some of the best deals for cheap skiing in New England require nothing more than your state ID. It’s nice to be kind to your neighbors, and many ski areas show love to New England locals by offering special discounts to in-state skiers. Almost every Sunday, for example, Bretton Woods in New Hampshire offers residents of Coos, Grafton, Belknap, Carroll, Oxford, Essex, and Caledonia Counties alpine lift tickets for just $42. Cannon Mountain extends its $54 deal on Wednesdays to every resident of the Granite State, and Cranmore Mountain Resort in North Conway has $39 lift tickets for Carroll, Coos, and Oxford County residents on select Sundays.

Big Ski Pass Savings

Buying a season pass can also make skiing a better financial proposition, but it largely depends on how often you ski. For example, the multi-resort Ikon Pass offers unlimited skiing at resorts around the world, including Killington, Loon, and Sunday River in New England. But it can cost more than $1,000 per season, so you’d have to ski a dozen times or more to truly get the per-visit cost down to a wallet-friendly range. On the other hand, the top iteration of the Indy Pass, which provides two ski visits each to 20 New England ski resorts, is $599. If you ski 10 times a season, that works out to less than $60 per visit.

Know of a great deal for cheap skiing in New England? Tell us about it below.

This post was first published in 2024 and has been updated to reflect current pricing.

You may also like…
Best Ski Mountain in Every New England State
5 Best Easy Ski Trails in New England

Bob Curley

More by Bob Curley