Single day, walk-up lift tickets have seen another increase in pricing this week at numerous Colorado ski destinations owned by Vail Resorts.

Selling at $145 the Wednesday before Christmas, single day tickets to Vail and Beaver Creek are now $159 during the holiday season. These tickets also provide access to Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin, all of which are owned by Vail Resorts.

Resorts outside of CO are raising prices for the holiday season too, such as Deer Valley, UT and Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia.

Regular Rate Holiday Rate Vail Resorts $145 $159 Aspen Snowmass $124 $129 Deer Valley, UT $114 $120 Whistler Blackcomb, BC $109 $119

Officials at Aspen Skiing Co. claim that single day, walk-up lift tickets account for only 10% of all sales, and customers should be looking into multi-day packages in order to get discounts. Aspen Skiing Co., a top competitor of Vail Resorts, has raised its price to $129 for a daily pass that’s good at Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk.

Jeff Hanle, spokesman of SkiCo, says the high daily prices are an incentive for guests to buy in advance and purchase multi-day packages. “You don’t buy an airline ticket the day you fly,” added Hanle. For example, if purchased seven days in advance, SkiCo charges $218 for a two-day ticket and $396 for a four-day ticket. The four-day ticket knocks the per-day price down to $99.

According to analysis by Aspen Daily News, pricing on single-day walkup tickets have gone up 65% since 2005:

It has gone up incrementally since: in the 2007-08 season, the single-day, walk-up ticket price was $87; in the 2008-09 season it was $96 and in March of 2011, SkiCo broke the $100 mark when it charged $104. It went up to $108 in December of 2011, according to Daily News archive articles. Vail was more expensive than Aspen in every instance except in 2005 when the single-day, walk-up price was $77. – Aspen Daily News

With these steady price hikes, it’s becoming more indicative that the middle class may be priced out of skiing.

Want to visit these top resorts without emptying your wallet? Sites like Liftopia.com and GetSkiTickets.com offer an online marketplace for unparalleled values on lift tickets. Liftopia has over 250 resort partners, offering up to 90% off. Make sure you do your research online before shelling out for single-day walk-up tickets. Vail Resorts tickets aren’t available on Liftopia.com, but Vail does offer a discount on tickets if you buy on its website in advance.

Some other ways to save money? Ski off-peak dates — midweek, not during a holiday. Most resorts will drop prices after the holiday rush. You can also check out smaller ski resorts in the area, which will offer more competitive pricing, or looking into season passes, which can pay for themselves in as few as 4 or 5 visits.