At Winter Park, pay to stay but ski for free

A Flickr photo.

​Winter Park is celebrating its platinum anniversary this year. That's 70 years, apparently, and the fine folks at the newly-septagenarian resort are offering free lift tickets with the purchase of at least two nights at participating lodges from opening day (November 18) until Christmas.

You get one lift ticket per night booked. The deal is a collaboration with the Winter Park/Fraser Valley Chamber of Commerce, and is therefore good at over 50 locations in the area -- not just the hotels owned by the resort.

Because you only get one lift ticket per booking, the best deal will be for parties of one. For example, I could reserve a bed in a dormitory-style room at the Rocky Mountain Inn & Hostel in for $22 per night. Lift tickets are something like three times that expensive, so that officially qualifies as a good fucking deal. Of course, I am a 22 year-old male on a freelance writer's budget, and maybe you aren't interested in staying in a dorm room.

The cheapest rooms in more conventional hotels are still only $50, at least early in the season, so that's still pretty good. Or, you know, you could stay at vacation home Destinations West for $1,500 per night, in which case you should probably be entitled to nightly rubdowns and an open bar in addition to your free lift ticket.

For details, cruise here.