The coupon book also includes discounts for several other shops around town, including bicycle rentals.

LIFT TICKETS

No way around those steep lift ticket prices, right?

Almost right.

During the peak ski period -- Nov. 25 to April 20 -- lift tickets at Mammoth Mountain sell for $83 per day for adults, $62 for youths 13 to 18, and $41 for seniors (65 years and older) and children. (That's a $4 increase per ticket from last year.)

Less expensive: You can shave off a few dollars -- as much as 5 percent -- by buying your lift tickets online (www.mammothmountain.com) in advance or by purchasing multiple-day tickets or a season pass.

Even less expensive: Before Nov. 25 and after April 20, the rates drop to $69 for adults, $51 for youths, and $34 for seniors and children. So if the weather cooperates, you can ski early or late in the season and save a few bucks.

Weekday rates usually are lower than weekend. In January, Mammoth Mountain will offer tickets Mondays through Thursdays for $57 for adults, $43 for youth, and $28 for seniors and children. (Horizon Air will also offer midweek flights in January for $79 each way, about $20 less than the usual fare.)

Rock bottom: Mammoth Mountain is, obviously, the big dog in town but another way to save money is to visit the quieter, less-crowded June Mountain, about 20 miles north of Mammoth. It offers daily lift tickets for weekends and weekdays for $64 for adults, $58 for young adults (19 to 23), $48 for youths (13 to 18), and $32 for children and senior citizens (65 and older). And college students can get a big break this year at June Mountain by paying $125 for a one-year pass. The only catch is that you have to prove you are taking at least 12 units of college courses in the current semester. (Pottery and wood-shop courses count.)

ACTIVITIES

On the slopes, my daughter was flying down the hill with the reckless abandon of a first-time skier after only an hour of lessons.

Persuading her to put away the skis was the hard part. Finding a fun alternative was easy.

Our lift tickets gave us free access to the new gondola that takes riders from the main lodge to the 11,053-foot peak. (If you don't have a lift ticket or a pass, a ride on the gondola sells for $21 for adults. Kids ride free with a paying adult.) At the Sierra Interpretive Center at the summit we admired the range of peaks to the west. We also watched in horror as daredevil skiers launched from the steepest slopes over the gnarliest moguls, the wind spraying gusts of snow in their faces.

Less expensive: While Tina relaxed at the condo, I took Isabella to the supermarket to buy a plastic sled for $16. (The cheapskate in me cringed when I later learned that I could get a similar sled at a hardware store in Lone Pine for $6.) Along the side of California 203, between Mammoth Lakes and the main lodge, we found several snow-covered hills, ideal spots for sledding. For nearly two hours, we slid down the hills, pummeled each other with snowballs and, basically, acted like kids playing hooky from school.

Rock bottom: Back at the base, we piled into the car and headed a few miles out of town to the Hot Creek Geological Site, near the Mammoth Yosemite Airport. (Take the Hot Creek Hatchery Road north and follow the signs.) At the end of a washboard road, we stopped at a paved parking lot and hiked along a walking path until we reached the creek. The steam and boiling water are the result of water seeping into a chamber of hot magma 3 miles beneath the Earth's surface.

Don't even think about swimming here. The unpredictable water temperatures have burned and even killed several swimmers over the years.

For my daughter, the creek was a weird -- but cool -- bubbling vat of river water. For me, it was a free and fascinating geology lesson. Her only complaint was the rotten egg smell that permeated the creek.

As we headed out of town, having eaten well, enjoyed our fill of snow play and slept comfortably, we totaled what we'd spent: about $700 for a family of three for three days, including gasoline. But we were not done. Our interest in Wild Willy's, the hot spring just west of the airport, had been piqued.

From U.S. 395, we turned north on Benton Crossing Road and after three cattle grade crossings, we turned right and continued along a dirt road until it ended at a dirt parking lot. From there we hiked along a wooden boardwalk to an open meadow, where hot spring water gurgled out of a fissure in the ground. The water trickled down to a 3-foot-deep pool -- about the size of a large hot tub -- that was lined with rocks and concrete.

We stripped down to our skivvies and climbed into the hot tub-sized pool.

The magma-heated water drained the tension and aches from my muscles. A cool breeze rustled the short meadow grass. The only sound, besides our laughter, was the rippling of hot spring water.

More cheapskate fun. More priceless memories.

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