Ski wear adds to the problem that we have discussed before:  skiing is not a poor man’s sport.  With apparel, accommodations, lift tickets, and skis themselves all costing a pretty penny, shortcuts are few and far between.  But, Snowgrrl is here to save the day and help you find some affordable ski wear!  Following are our options for finding cute clothes to wear on the slopes that don’t break the bank:

1.  Swap meets and ski shows — The upcoming Colorado Ski and Snowboard Expo features a booth by Colorado Ski & Golf, peddling last year’s gear at 40-60% off.   The large outdoor stores also have sales with huge discounts on last year’s ski wear, hard goods, and accessories around labor day. Numerous other, smaller ski swaps occur throughout September and October, and sometimes into November, offering the opportunity to sell your old gear and acquire someone else’s ski or snowboard clothes and gear.  Scarpa is known for a parking lot sale in early September; Vail and Breckenridge each host a swap meet geared to locals; and any google search of “ski swap meets” is sure to yield results.  Check in late August to be able to hit the most relevant sales for you.

2.  Consignment stores — The online consignment Thredup sometimes has very affordable active wear, including ski wear.  A word of warning, though: while prices to buy items on the site may be great, use extreme caution when selling.  I tried out the service by sending in two different bags full of gently used clothing.  One yielded $100; the other, $.60, and the items inside each bag were not so different from each other.  Your local consignment store may also have some good deals on gently used clothing.

3.  Forever 21!  Never thought we would utter the name of that store on this site.  However, a recent visit revealed cute and under $100 ski pants ($39.90!) and jackets ($69.90!).  No word on whether these “luxe” ski clothes are warm/practical or just brightly colored – Bronco’s orange, anyone?  I couldn’t resist this ski bunny base layer for $14.99, currently part of the activewear sale.  At 30% off, it was less than $11!!