Aussie ski fields the world's most expensive

WE are paying a premium to ski at home, with our largest ski fields costing twice as much as the world's biggest.

Les Trois Vallees

IT'S often said that it's cheaper to ski or snowboard overseas than in Australia.

That’s probably not true when you factor in airfares and all the other costs associated with overseas travel. But one thing’s for sure, Australia’s lift ticket prices are the most expensive in the world.

All of the “big five” resorts here - Victoria’s Falls Creek, Hotham and Mt Buller, plus Perisher and Thredbo in NSW - have adult peak season tickets which cost $106 or more.

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Perisher tops the lot at $112 per day. In its defence, it is the largest resort in Australia with 50 lifts and 1245 hectares of terrain, which makes it a fair sized resort by global standards.

Thredbo is next at $110. That also seems rather steep, although Thredbo has Australia’s longest runs and a vertical drop (the difference in elevation between the top and bottom) of 670 metres, so it’s a fair-sized hill too.

Australian ski resorts are well-developed with modern, fast lifts at most resorts and good access roads - especially compared to the windy unsealed mountain goat tracks in most New Zealand skifields

But are our resorts really overpriced?

The world’s largest ski area - Les Trois Vallees in France which encompasses 40,000 hectares in mega resorts like Courchevel and Meribel - has tickets for just $49.1 Euros.

That’s about $57.50 or half the price of a Perisher ticket. Ouch.

That said, you have to remember Australian resorts have a short season. If you’re lucky, our season stretches barely four months from the June long weekend to the October long weekend. Realistically, only July and August offer reliable snow most years.

Another cost which bumps up tickets here is snowmaking.

Thredbo has snowmaking across a quarter of its 480 hectares, while every other mainland resort has considerable snowmaking infrastructure. That chews up power, water and labour costs.

This is primarily a land of sand, sun and sea. In many ways, we’re lucky we’ve got a ski industry at all, let alone five major resorts and a string of lesser ones which provide a decent skiing experience.

Yes, our resorts are expensive. Yes, there are extra costs you don’t get overseas like national park entry. And yes, our resorts are clearly are not in the class of northern hemisphere super resorts.

But for four times the cost of your average footy ticket, skiing among the gum trees is a unique experience which more than two million Australians consider well worth paying for.

Adult day pass prices
Perisher $112 (car entry $27)
Thredbo $110 (car entry $27)
Selwyn Snowfields $82 (car entry $27)
Mt Buller $108 (car entry $37)
Falls Creek $106 (car entry $39.50)
Hotham $106 (car entry $39.50)
Mt Baw Baw  $72 w/e $67 w/day ($41 w/e $37 w/day)
Vail (Colorado, USA) $105
Mt Hutt (South Island, NZ) $95
Les Trois Vallees (world’s largest ski resort, France) 49.1 Euros ($57)

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