Skier Compares "Absolutely Nuts" Lift Ticket Prices to When He Was a Kid

The Australian ski season has been one to forget in terms of natural snowfall. Some resorts have already closed for the season while others are slowly winding down.

Watch as Aussie skier Michael Atkinson reacts to the $249 price tag for a lift ticket at Perisher, Australia's largest ski resort.

Lift Ticket Price Comparison Video, Michael Atkinson

It's no secret that daily lift ticket prices have gotten out of hand in recent years, but the way Atkinson paints the picture using an inflation calculator is extremely effective.

Atkinson mentions that a daily lift ticket at Perisher was $46 back in 1990. He plugged this value into an inflation calculator to analyze just how much lift tickets have sky-rocketed, and the result is fairly shocking.

Adjusted for regular inflation since 1990, Perisher's daily lift tickets should cost roughly $118 by Atkinson's estimates, but much to his shock, Perisher is selling daily tickets for a whopping $249 this season. For those of you keeping score at home, a daily lift ticket currently costs roughly 211% more than the expected inflationary value. That's significant, to say the least.

Atkinson rounds out the video with a statement shared by skiers across the globe—skiing is getting too expensive. While he attempts to find reason for the dramatic increase in daily lift ticket costs in the video, Atkinson fails to address the real reason at hand. Yes, it's getting harder for the 'Average Joe' to go skiing, but that was all part of the plan.

Perisher Resort is owned by mega-ski-resort conglomerate Vail Resorts. Vail sells a popular product called The Epic Pass that allows skiers unfettered access to world-class ski resorts across the globe. There are varying levels of the pass, but the most popular full-access pass costs around $1,000. That could be a shocking sticker price to the untrained eye, but skiers know that's a steal for the value. For less than the cost of what a season pass at one mountain used to cost, a skier can travel the world with their Epic Pass in hand.

The value is obvious for passionate skiers who plan to ski four or more days, but it alienates those that wants to ski one or two days a season. To make the deal seem even sweeter, Vail Resorts (along with other major ski resort companies) have significantly raised their daily lift ticket prices. When a skier is thinking about buying one lift ticket for $249, or an unlimited season pass for roughly $1,000, Vail Resorts is banking on them opting to spend more money up front. It's a controversial strategy, but one that makes sense on paper for a skier looking for the most bang for their buck.

The strategy unfortunately places an uneven price burden on newbie skiers, or those looking for just one or two days on snow each winter. The daily cost for one of these skiers becomes astronomical when you consider rentals, lodging, food, and the $249 lift ticket. We're experiencing similar, if not more expensive, daily lift ticket prices here in the United States.

Skiing has always been expensive, but the recent price changes across the industry can be off-putting to those uniformed. Let us help out with that. Check out our ski mega-pass buyer's guide and stay tuned in for news stories about cheap tickets. We've got you covered.

Related: Another Californian Ski Resort Joins Ikon Pass

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