Casper skiers and snowboarders will be paying more this year for their favorite wintertime activities as the lift fees at Hogadon Ski Area have been raised for the coming season.

The Casper City Council on Tuesday voted 8-0 on a resolution raising prices on nearly every type of lift ticket and season pass offered by the ski area. Councilwoman Lynne Whalen was absent from the meeting.

The council raised the price of an adult all-day lift ticket from $25 to $28; the price of a student all-day lift ticket (available for skiers 12 to 18) from $21 to $24; and the price of both adult and student half-day passes from $19 to $22, according to city documents.

The prices of children's lift tickets and for poma lift tickets have not been raised and will stay at $16 and $10 respectively.

The council also raised the price of a single adult season pass purchased after Nov. 16 from $250 to $300; the price of a family season pass purchased after Nov. 16 from $500 to $600; and the price of a junior season pass purchased after Nov. 16 from $175 to $200, city documents said.

The rates for most early bird season passes have also been raised this year, but they will continue to cost significantly less than the passes purchased after Nov. 16.

A single season pass purchased before Nov. 17 will cost $200 this year, up from $165, according to city documents.

Skiers and snowboarders who buy their early bird passes in groups will continue to get price breaks as they have in the past, but prices for these "buddy passes" are also going up.

Two people buying passes together before Nov. 17 will pay $175 this season, up from $148; a person in a group of three will pay $155 this year, up from $135; and a person in a group of four to six persons will pay $145 for a pass, up from $125, city documents said.

The $99 cost of purchasing a first-time season pass has not been raised for the coming season.

The fee hikes were necessary this year in order to keep the prices at Hogadon in line with lift ticket prices at similar facilities in the region, said Alan Kieper, Casper's special facilities superintendent.

Every year the city does a survey of ski areas that offer similar services and are of similar sizes to Hogadon, Kieper said. If Hogadon's fees are out of line with the fees at these other ski areas, Hogadon's fees will be adjusted accordingly, he added.

This year the city found that Hogadon's fees "were really way below market," Kieper said.

For example, at the Antelope Butte Ski Area near Dayton, a one-day adult lift ticket costs $30; a family season pass costs $950; and adult season pass costs $450, Casper city documents state.

At the Big Horn Ski Area in Big Horn County, a one day adult lift ticket costs $23; a family season pass costs $800; and a single adult pass costs $345, the documents state.

Another reason for the fee increase at the ski area is to keep up a rough balance the city has maintained between how much user fees fund Hogadon's operating costs and how much the city funds these costs, Kieper said.

For years the city has paid roughly one-third of the costs to run Hogadon, while user fees have accounted for two-thirds of these costs, Kieper said.

True to this form, the city plans on contributing $200,000 to Hogadon this year to keep it running, while user fees are estimated to bring in around $400,000 for the ski area, according to the city's Fiscal Year 2003-'04 budget.

Because some of Hogadon's fixed expenses, such as wages and utility costs continue to go up, the fees at the ski area must also go up in order to keep this one-third to two-thirds balance the city has maintained with Hogadon's operational costs, Kieper said.