Land of the Freebie
If you're like me, 2009 left you a lot broke and a little fat—in serious need of some low-cost healthy outdoor activity. But that's tough to find when lift tickets are approaching $100 and on-mountain burgers top ten bucks. If you've ever found yourself making a ski meal of saltines and ketchup, let's talk. There's plenty of great outdoor fun to be had this winter, even at some of the priciest resorts, so I rounded up a sampling. And by the way, let's not call ourselves cheap. I much prefer “resourceful.”
—Elizabeth Hightower
10. Sierra-at-Tahoe: Backcountry Tours of Huckleberry Canyon
9. Kids Fly Free to Steamboat Springs
Until February 13, Steamboat Springs is running its program—mom or dad buys a ticket, kid under 12 flies free. There are all kindsa restrictions (five-day stay, fly midweek) but once they land, the little buggers can apparently then. Do the math, but this may be cheaper than taking care of them at home!
8. Free Clinics, Ole's Cross Country Center, Warren, VT
offers free clinics—both classic and skate skiing—every Saturday at 10 a.m. You need a $16 trail pass but the lesson is gratis. Olympic biathlon fans: No guns, please.
7. Utah's Olympic Park (Plus Booze)
6. Ice Skating and Tobogganing at Camden Snow Bowl, Maine
More wholesome agenda? Go pond skating for free at , where kids under 5 also ski free. If you can scrounge $5, it will get you an hour of tobogganning down New England's last toboggan chute and home of the US National Toboggan Championships the first weekend in February.
5. Four for Two at Jackson Hole's Spring Creek Ranch
Get this one while the gettin's good: For the month of January, four people fly, stay, eat, get massaged, and go on wildlife safaris for the price of two at Jackson Hole's .
4. Survival Skills in Fernie, B.C.
Very, very handy: (official location of the film Hot Tub Time Machine) offers free on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. This should be helpful in Fernie's five alpine bowls, and in their free geocaching treasure hunts—BYO GPS.
3. Five nights for four at
The math on this one gets a little acrobatic, but if you book five nights at Whistler/Blackcomb, they'll give you the fifth night free, the fourth day of skiing free, or a rate that would give you five nights for the cost of four. It's blocked out during the Olympics, but good for the rest of the season and includes free Fresh Tracks breakfast and early lift access. Oh, and kids under 12 ski and rent gear for free.
2. The ϳԹ Series at Snowbird, Utah
I would have figured Telluride for the lock on this, thanks to the town Free Box. But everything, it turns out, is free in Aspen. Some tips were dubious: Mezzaluna pizzeria has a free bread basket “right by the front door,” wrote one scavenger tipster, who also noted that appetizers were free at fancy new Il Mulino (“….large chunks of Reggiano, olives, bread…I can imagine the ski bum who will be seated, indulge in the freebies, then 'have to rush' before the menu arrives.”) Let it not be said that ϳԹ condones such activity—especially when plenty of legit freebies abound:
-Free coffee, hot cider, sunscreen, and water at Aspen, Buttermilk, Snowmass, and Aspen Highlands
-Free First Tracks powder tours before the lifts open. (On Aspen Mountain, call 970.925.1220, x3543; Snowmass, call 970-923-0560.)
-Free Hucking and Drinking: You are there, gratis, for the at Buttermilk Mountain Jan 28-31 and the outdoor at the base of Aspen's Little Nell. Past performers have included Blues Traveler, Ozomatli, and Everclear.
-Free slide shows. offers free at least once a week, plus , ($4) a locals' favorite slide show and potluck on Wednesday nights. This winter: photographer Peter McBride on the Colorado River and Amory Lovins on Colombia.
-Free admission to the : Plus a gallery tour and reception Thursday evenings.
-Free ice skating (BYO skates) at the Aspen Recreation Center and Snowmass Recreation Center outdoor rinks; plus the 's 90 kilometers of free XC trails. And there's free hot chocolate for skate skiers at the top of the road to Maroon Bells
-Free waxing (skis! get your minds out of the gutter) at the swanky new for guests and even us shmoes apres-ing at the hotel's Eight K or Nest Poolside Lounge & Cafe.
-Finally—and this is just so Aspen—the Viceroy also offers complimentary charging for electric cars.
Bon Appetit! Now ping us with favorite winter steals in the comments section below.