Skiing in Montana Prices Compared To Aspen

I don't ski, but I do golf and I know that you can pay an awful lot of money to do either. You don't necessarily have to, but you sure can. And in terms of the amenities, the experience, the quality...we may be comparing apples to oranges here. But still, it's nice to know that you can derive plenty of satisfaction from your Montana skiing experience and get a pretty good deal. What brought this to up is that I noticed a story about the Aspen Skiing Company in Colorado charging its highest price ever for a single-day, walk-up lift ticket, $124. A spokesperson says they will reduce it after the holidays. To $119. :-)  They also say that the early ski conditions are once-in-a-generation. Then I looked around at some Montana ski areas' single day lift ticket prices and thought, well, Montana Snowbowl ($44), Lost Trail ($39), Whitefish/Big Mountain ($69), Big Sky ($99) and Discovery ($40)...I'll bet all the folks at those places are having just as much fun as they are in Aspen. So here's hoping you have a great ski season! I'm off to clean my golf clubs and wait for spring. DB