Every year, there seems to be a grim competition as to which North American mountain resorts will have the highest daily rate for a lift ticket: It’s scary times when $250 is the new average at marquee destinations.

Yet it is still possible to ski for much less than that, even without committing to a multiresort pass like Epic or Ikon.

For starters, most of those sky-high prices are for last-minute single tickets bought at the window: Ski resorts harshly penalize impulse buyers and the unprepared, so always purchase ahead online as early as possible.

Admittedly not everybody has the option to avoid weekends and holidays, but for those who can, skiing midweek makes a big difference.

Daily rates in the two figures abound when you know where to look, even at midsize to large resorts: $99 on select Thursdays at Copper Mountain, Colorado, or $69 to $79 for Ladies Day Thursday at Mt. Rose — Ski Tahoe, Nevada.

Finally, the $100 world is your oyster if you are open to trading high-end properties for smaller ones, like the six listed below. All rates are for an adult daily ticket.

Smugglers’ Notch, Vt.

Smugglers’ Notch sits just north of Stowe, one of the most popular destinations in Vermont, though in winter when the mountain road between them is closed, it’s a 45-minute drive from one to the other. While Stowe is part of Vail Resorts and is on the Epic Pass, Smuggs, as it is nicknamed, is independent and has a laid-back, no-frills attitude. The skiable surface looks fairly small at 310 acres, but an additional 750 acres of glades are available for exploration. Weekends and holidays cost $119, but between Dec. 21 and March 30 you can ski for $85 midweek, and every day for a mere $65 before and after that. Families will be happy to hear that children younger than 17 ski free in January.

Belleayre, N.Y.

Weekends at this Catskills area 2 1/2 hours from New York City just pass the three-figure mark, at $103 with advance purchase. Nonholiday Mondays to Thursdays are an economical $63, making Belleayre cheaper than the neighboring Hunter Mountain and a lot less crowded — which translates to a pleasant atmosphere and fewer chances of being hit by a speeding bro. Like Gore Mountain and Whiteface, Belleayre is operated by New York state, which has been investing in lifts, lodges and snow-making. The effort has been paying off, and Belleayre has become a serious option without breaking the bank. The terrain can be a little funky in that many of the runs from the top of the mountain start off gnarly (well, for the Catskills) before morphing into cruisers, but this only contributes to Belleayre’s charm.

Arizona Snowbowl, Ariz.

Some resorts use dynamic pricing, which means that what you pay hinges on the day you buy a ticket and the day you ski. One of them is Arizona Snowbowl, 2 1/2 from Phoenix on the slopes of Mount Humphreys. The resort made news when lift tickets on a Saturday in January 2023 hit $309; the following Tuesday they were just $57. The first figure was somewhat of a freak occurrence (the area had gotten 15 inches of snow in the previous 48 hours, on top of 5 feet earlier in the week). The prices at Arizona Snowbowl usually are reasonable: In early December, tickets were in the $100 range for a January Saturday and as low as about $20 for a weekday — they will no doubt go up if powder is in the forecast. A huge boon for families is that children younger than 12 get a Power Kids Pass that lets them ski for free at Arizona Snowbowl and 11 other resorts, including Purgatory in Colorado and Sipapu in New Mexico. You should have leftover dollars for extra hot chocolates.

Ski Cooper, Colo.

Two hours from Denver and 45 minutes from the ski hub of Frisco, the publicly owned, nonprofit Ski Cooper is the kind of old-school hill where snowsports are stress-free fun, rather than seemingly designed to drain your wallet and your spirit.

If you can only ski on Saturdays, holidays or spring break, a day there is $110. But if you can go on a nonholiday midweek, the cost dips to $45; Fridays and Sundays are $95. This is a sweet deal for just under 500 skiable acres and 1,200 feet of vertical. Cooper’s down-home amenities and mostly intermediate terrain won’t rival what you’ll find at its fancy neighbors in Summit and Eagle counties (home to Breckenridge and Vail, among others). But this is a chill place where you can work on your skills without fearing crowds, and the friendly prices ensure that repeat visits won’t break the bank.

Tamarack Resort, Idaho

While Idaho’s flagship resort, Sun Valley, has long been identified with cozy luxury, affordable alternatives abound in a state with a growing reputation as a cheaper, less crowded alternative to Utah and Colorado. One of them is Tamarack Resort, 90 miles north of Boise, where advance tickets are around $79 on weekdays and $99 on weekends. Not only does it offer spectacular views of Lake Cascade, but Tamarack has a small base village with lodging. If you want to make it a twofer trip, an online ticket costs $95 ($105 on holidays) at Brundage Mountain, 30 miles north. That hill will tempt experienced skiers and riders with its large swaths of lift-served, but unpatrolled, backcountry terrain — venture only if fully trained and aware of the risks.

Brian Head, Utah

Utah is hallowed ground for North American skiers, but it often comes at a cost — literally, in terms of lift tickets, and figuratively in terms of traffic jams. Brian Head is an exception. Located between Salt Lake City (3 1/2 hours to the north) and Las Vegas (3 hours southwest), this resort tends to get overlooked. But Brian Head, whose vistas are framed by spectacular red rocks, is a perfect place for families who want to get into skiing or snowboarding on a budget, with no lift lines and terrific, predominantly beginner and intermediate terrain.

The resort also uses dynamic pricing. In early December, advance prices were topping out at $106 during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, which is saying something. The rest of the time you can easily ski for less than $60, even on weekends, with some days in December as low as $33.

Also, every daily ticket at Brian Head comes with a $10 voucher that can be used on things like food and rentals.