Went to Engelberg the other day and they quoted me 60 CHF for one days' ski pass.
What I'd like to know is - do you really have to pay 60 CHF for a days' skiing in Switzerland? Is it normal to get a season pass instead?
I know that the Valais pass exists for Western Switzerland which reduces the cost a bit and includes some big resorts, but is there such a thing here? I've seen the Central Switzerland pass, but what I'd really like is something that offers more choice, ie. Central and Eastern, including Davos?
You won't get one that covers all, there is the Central, the Meilen Weiss which is central/eastern but only selected resorts and the Graubunden card. Depeneding on where you are going the Graubunden card seems to be the best value as it includes Ischgl in Austria and Andermatt in Central Switzerland.
And... yes day passes in the big resorts cost 60-75CHF, but there are hundreds of smaller resorts where your pass costs 40-45CHF and you end up getting less crowds to go with the cheaper price.
Considering the strength of the CHF , the resorts have been milking the lift price
between 02 and 06 Laax held the price at around the 45 chf mark. compared to the Euro/GBP at the time , 20 quid for a days skiing was a bargain.
in 08/09 the day pass was 65 CHFs ... for the amount of piste you get, and if you are a mega distance skier/boarder then it is still good value. But if you are more recreational / gentleman's style snow hound then the local resort offer much better value.
I still can't get over the fact that Laax is often full - hence the can charge what they want
That never happened in the seasons between 02-06!!
As others have said, unless you are one of those skiiers that ski non-stop from 08:00 to 18:00, the bigger resorts aren't really worth their money for daytrips. Better to go for the smaller resorts that are a lot cheaper.
I must say that I find Engelberg worth every Rappen of the admittedly expensive pass. Not too long ago a Euro would have bought you 1.55 CHF, so the 28 EUR would be somewhere in the area of 45 CHF. I would expect the Swiss lift driver to earn better and so do all the people involved in the maintenance of a fairly large ressort... so if the costs are high, the prices are high...
Little tip: Aldi(!) sells day passes at reduced prices:
I saw in another post you're in Luzern, Engelberg is the most expensive in the area, but there are others within the same travelling time and considerably cheaper. 2 good ones are Melchsee-frutt and Hasliberg .
You can also save more money with Snow and Rail deals, which give discounted rail fares/ski passes and equipment hire.
Day passes in CH are relatively cheap (maybe elsewhere in Europe are cheaper), most day passes in the US are more than USD 75 a day some like Vail are over a USD 100. However, season passes are not so cheap in CH.if you are a local, for example in Colorado, you can get a ridiculously cheap season pass, something like 400 dollars. I still have sticker shock back here in the US about ski pass costs. Maybe I need to fly to the Southern Alps.
Ski passes in the US and especially wiithin Colorado are ridiculously cheap. Check epicpass.com to get a 7 day deal up to an unlimited deal for skiing in some of the best places on the planet.