Photo: Alexander Simonsen//Unplash
Skiing and snowboarding are the second most expensive sport(s) for kids to participate in, according to a survey from the Aspen Institute. This, of course, shouldn’t be surprising to anybody who’s seen the rising costs of everything from gear to lift tickets in recent years, making the sport appear less and less accessible to most people.
The survey strictly focused on costs relating to camps, registration, lessons, equipment, and travel, amounting to families spending an average of $2,279 per skiing or snowboarding child. The highest single cost comes from equipment ($1,174), outpacing the second place sport in that particular category by a long shot (field hockey: $521). In fact, skiing and snowboarding equipment is the highest single cost of any sport on the survey. But ice hockey still relegates skiing and snowboarding to second overall when all costs are combined.
Top 5 Most Expensive Sports
1. Hockey: $2,583
2. Skiing/snowboarding: $2,249
3. Field hockey: $2,125
4. Gymnastics: $1,580
5. Lacrosse: $1,289
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Still, the idea of having any disposable income in 2025 feels far-fetched for a lot of Americans. According to Smart Asset Data Studies, only 18 of the 100 largest U.S. counties surveyed this year have positive disposable income after accounting for basic costs like food and rent.
“If earning the local median household income, 82 percent of households would fall financially short supporting two adults and a child,” Smart Asset wrote in January. Using the state of Utah as an example of the disparity, a family of two adults and one child in Utah County has an average disposable income of $8,640, while Salt Lake County families only have $1,141 in disposable income.
