Chris Estes
Chris Estes, founder and publisher of cheapskateUSA.com, is an avid outdoors enthusiast and a certified cheapskate. As an outdoors person, Estes skis (both alpine and backcountry), hikes and backpacks. Estes has skied for more than 40 years at nearly 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). CheapskateUSA.com, which is financially cheap, provides free information on cheap skiing at the 15 largest and most popular ski areas across the Northeast.
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.
Estes also publishes ScreamingBooks.com which offers resources for hikers, backpackers and backcountry skiers across the northeast. A New Hampshire native who lived in Vermont for more than two decades, Estes has written for magazines and newspapers including Ski, Skiing and The Boston Globe. He is not affiliated with any ski resort and has never accepted anything free from any organization about which he has written.