Chris Estes is an avid outdoors enthusiast and a certified cheapskate. As an outdoors person, Estes has skied for nearly 50 years at more than 60 ski areas across the northeast; while working as a ski bum at Killington Ski Resort in the early 1990s, he skied more than 50 days in one ski season.

Ski Cheap

As a cheapskate, Estes loves a deal – whether it is dining or lodging or skiing – and from 1997 to 2002, he published a ski newsletter, Ski Cheap: Newsletter for Frugal Northeastern Skiers and Riders, informing cheap skiers and riders how to ski cheaply across the northeast. Ski Cheap, which was financially unsuccessful (i.e. - not cheap), was recommended by scores of media sources including Burlington, Vermont’s WCAX-TV (see TV interview, from December 26, 2000, below).

Ski Cheap was recommended by nearly 100 media sources including the following: (magazines): Powder, Ski, Smart Money, Snowboard Life, Vermont Life; (newspapers): The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Hartford Courant, New York Newsday, New York Post, The New York Times, The Times Union, The Washington Times.