In the early 2010’s my son expressed an interest in Snowboarding. We were not a skiing family at the time and I had little to no experience with the sport. We did not have the resources to jump in to what was, even at the time, a very expensive sport. We purchased the passport ($40 I think) and were able to get him a few lessons and rentals at a discounted rate and I was also able to get the same to be able to spend the time on the mountain with him. That opportunity turned into a full fledged skiing / snowboarding addiction.
My now family of 5 spends every weekend on a mountain skiing, all of us in the 30-40 day per year range. My two youngest are in the slopes every saturday and Sunday, from thanksgiving to mid April, regardless of the conditions.