Australian snow resorts fight for your 2016 business with incredibly cheap season passes, available now

RICH person’s sport? Forget it. After a super snowy local season, Aussie resorts are bending over backwards to entice you back in 2016. These prices are amazing.

Fun in The Fresh Snow at Thredbo today. Fresh snow a perfect was to start the week in Thredbo 27-7-15. Supplied by Thredbo

IT’S October, but the ski season still rolls on in New South Wales. So if you’re desperate for a last minute shred on some delightfully slushy snow before the lifts close on Monday afternoon, get in your car. Now.

Here’s what Perisher looks like this weekend. Not bad for October, eh? The chairlift you can see in the picture is one of 10 lifts still open.

It’s not too late. But you’d basically better start driving now because lifts close at the end of Monday.

Meanwhile Thredbo has just released this video. Very nice.

If you’re prepared to wait for next year, local resorts are offering some amazing deals to carry you through the summer months.

Perisher first launched its Freedom Pass in 2011. It gave you full access to the mountain all winter for about half the cost of a normal season pass.

With a single day ticket costing over $100, the 2016 Epic Pass (which is what the Freedom Pass is now known as) is now on sale for $799.

It’s great value, especially considering it includes a whole lot more than just access to Australia’s largest resort and its 47 ski lifts.

And that’s just one of the 47. Picture: Perisher Ski Resort

Perisher was acquired by US ski industry giant Vail resorts in May. The upshot of this has been all good news for Aussie skiers and snowboarders. Buy an Epic Pass and you now get free access to US resorts Breckenridge, Keystone, Vail and Beaver Creek (all in Colorado), Park City (Utah) and Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood (in California’s Lake Tahoe region). More info here.

But Perisher’s fierce NSW rival Thredbo has struck back. It is offering season 2016 passes for $699 until midnight this Monday.

Unlike Perisher, Thredbo comes alive in the Aussie summer with a range of activities including hiking to Mount Kosciuszko and Australia’s best mountain biking tracks, all accessible by chairlift. An upgrade to a 365 Pass (including summer and winter lift access) is just $799.

Thredbo has also joined an exclusive group of resorts called the Mountain Collective. It includes Chamonix Mont-Blanc (France), Hakuba Valley (Japan), Valle Nevado (Chile) and a range of Canadian and US resorts.

Thredbo in midwinter. Australia’s longest runs.

Anyone with a Thredbo 365 Pass or Season Pass gets 50 per cent off at these overseas destinations, plus other benefits. Further info here.

Australians are responsible for approximately one million skier visits in northern hemisphere resorts. Local resort marketers have finally seen this as a positive rather than a negative, and are trying to leverage local business on the back of it.

The clear winners in all of this are Australian snow lovers, who enjoyed a great season in 2015, with a maximum snow depth of 148.8cm in New South Wales and slightly less in Victoria.