*Please note, prices are listed in AUD, and are only correct as of the time of my research. Prices fluctuate heavily throughout the year. Dates for research were selected randomly during the ski season, excluding weekends and holiday times. Prices listed are only to give you a rough idea, and should you follow the links, you’ll find prices accurate to the time you’ll be booking for, the number of guests, and the current going market rates.
I just worked, as a working holiday maker, for a company in Australia’s beautiful Snowy Mountains, home of Kosciuszko, the highest peak and tallest mountain in the country, standing 2,228 meters above sea level. I lived in a town called Jindabyne, and worked in a resort area called Thredbo. When we first arrived, we stopped to take advantage of a start of season snowboard sale, and got completely kitted out before we finished the drive to where we’d be living. Only… to return it all the next day after a little bit of financial research.
So what went wrong? Well, as a Canadian, I’m well versed on what costs are for world class ski and snowboard passes, and well versed on what good pow is. And that’s where things went wrong. Had I not known these things, I might have been a lot less distraught at what I’d found.
Cost of Passes in Canada
In Ontario, a Blue Mountain lift ticket for the day costs $60-85(at the time of this post), and $389. Or you could get a $2,000 Ikon pass that lets you ski and snowboard globally all year and receive many great perks. At Whistler Blackcomb, one of the world’s top ski mountains, you can get a day pass for $156, or a season pass, or $1,611 for a seasons pass. These are your budget and luxury prices. There are in betweens but I don’t suspect I need to list them all here for you.
Cost of Passes in Australia
At Thredbo, which features Australia’s longest run, but is certainly not Australia’s only ski area, a lift pass is $230-260, and a seasons pass is a whopping $1,700. There’s also an Epic pass, which costs $1,099, and access to a huge amount of ski areas globally, some of which are in Australia (but since I’ve been talking about Thredbo, I’ll mention that it is not included in the Epic pass, just for clarity).
Cost of Vacationing in Canada
At Whistler, an absolutely amazing, fantastic, magical, true north, elk calling in the distance ski village can set you up with a luxury 4 night stay for $1,745-3,375 with a lake view at Nita Lake Lodge, which has pool, spa, and personal in-room fire place. Ok? So this is a luxury option at a luxury mountain. But it can go cheaper! Pangea Pod Hotel is an awesome budget option, and a 4 night stay goes from $813-1,013. But what is a pod hotel, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you! A pod hotel, just like you may have seen as you’ve doom scrolled across youtube and instagram, is a hotel made up of pods in a wall, where you sleep, around other people also sleeping in pods, and the building features things like bar and restaurant so you can have a great time with your friends without breaking the bank. Would I stay at a place like this? Absolutely not. I can’t sleep unless it is silent and pitch black. But would everyone else I know stay here? Yes, absolutely, and many of my friends have had a great time in hotels just like this one! AND it’s right next to the lifts! You can also find cheaper accomodation if you stay longer term, with friends, and book well in advance. If you really want to show off, there’s also Timber Haven, which is a full chalet with eight bedrooms, and for four nights, you pay the small amount of $31,563 Australian! Which is only $31,795 Canadian! Which is only $22,652 American! And remember kids, this price can be divided by as many people as you bring, so with 12 friends, you’re only paying $2,630 AUD each! For four whole days! Personally, I can’t afford it, but imagine the bragging rights!
And let’s not forget about good ol’ Blue Mountain! In beautiful Ontario! The Westin Trillium House is a mid level stay option with a budget of $1,374-2,863 for the same four nights. It features a heated outdoor pool, kitchenette, hot tub, gym, and private beach area on Georgian Bay. A more luxurious option would be Village Central at Blue, a 3 bedroom PET FRIENDLY apartment for $2,341. Blue Mountain Resort Mosaic Suites is a cheaper option that’s actually right in the middle of the ski village, featuring a spa, private beach, and outdoor swimming pool, just a hop skip and not even a jump away from all the shops and bars the village has to offer, all for $1,213-1,455 for four days. There’s also cheaper options if you’re going with a car! You can stay in lovely Wasaga Beach, who during the winter season offers reduced rates on motels, since Wasaga in a summer tourism town. On the way to the mountain you’ll pass through Collingwood which has lots to do on a rest day, including a climbing gym, gorgeous lake views, and is the home of Free Spirit Tours who in the winter will take you snowshoeing to some local Niagara Escarpment wineries, or any other number of local outdoor tours!
Cost of Vacationing in Australia
Winterhaus comes highly regarded from booking.com, (and is also a place I cleaned a few times as a housekeeper). The going rates for four days are $1,386-3,960, and you score a beautiful view of the mountain. Now if Thredbo is fully booked, which is likely will be, or if you like to have a bit more amenities on the financial down low, you can stay in Jindabyne (where I lived). Jindabyne equally boasts budget and luxury stays, with full chalets and tiny apartments alike. Mind you, that entering Thredbo with your car will cost you $30 unless it’s been included in your pass price, or you’ll have to take a bus $20 each way per person with a strict schedule. Something else to consider is that if you’re going the budget direction, Jindabyne has a lot of free recreation, and if you’re not planning to spend everything you have eating out, you’ll be wanting the Jindabyne grocery store. I also want to add – and this is not meant to be a deterrent, but another thing to consider – that compared to the Whistler and Blue Mountain area accomodations, the ones in Thredbo and Jindabyne can be extremely run down, and in deep need of a deep clean. But that isn’t to say that you can’t find really nice places! Take This Cozy Alpine Retreat for example. Full kitchen, fireplace, a gold standard of full house renting.
Something else I want to add, that is not a financial cost, but one of other kinds, is accessibility. Thredbo and Jindabyne are notorious for being unaccessible. If you have mobility needs, are carrying small children, or hurt yourself on the slopes, a lot of these places will be miserable. Get in touch with the booking agents that handle these places if you have any concerns, because many places won’t have wheelchair friendly parking, will have endless, treacherous staircases like you wouldn’t find in Canada, and a lot of unmanaged ice. When I worked there, there was a number of employee slips and falls on stairs, even though we went in prepared for slippery walks. Getting in touch with the agents allows you to select a place that you know will be suitable for your needs, because in this area you can’t assume.
An Alternative
So say you’re in Australia on Work Holiday, and you would rather ski down some quality pow rather than the muddy ice you find most days in New South Wales. And say you don’t want to fly all the way back to the Americas, Europe, and other far away lands. Just hear me out for a sec.
A Japan ski holiday! If you are a work holiday maker, also consider that you can do a work holiday as a Canadian from ages 18-30, and you don’t always need to know much Japanese to work in the ski resorts. In fact, in Thredbo, most of my team was from Taiwan, and many didn’t speak much English. You don’t need English to clean OR to have fun! And likewise in Japan, although obviously learning what you can first makes it easier, and opens you up to more positions.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, you might just be looking for a holiday. And a holiday you shall have! Japan has an incredible ski season, and many of their resorts are featured in the Epic and Ikon passes we discussed earlier! You could literally buy one of these passes and do a world tour, if you can afford it.
A lift pass at Niseko runs $122, and a seasons pass is $1,660. At Hakuba, you’re looking at $111 for a lift pass, and $1,840 for a seasons pass. But not only that… You get to go to Japan!
Look at this place in particular, at Niseko. Higashiyama Niseko Village runs $12,000-14,000 for the four days chosen, and it is an absolute masterpiece. If I was rich and wanted to impress my clients, or splurge on a honeymoon, I’d go here. But since I’m not rich and not looking to impress anyone but my parents who will never give me the validation I want, I’d probably stay somewhere like Freeride Backpackers Lodge Niseko which has options for a private room for $1,680, or a room in a shared dorm for a measley $438 and comes with a shared kitchen so you don’t need to eat out.
Verdict
If hitting the slopes in Australia is a bucket list item, don’t skip it. There are plenty of ski resorts in the South, and you can wait until the season starts to see how the snow is doing. It was unfortunate that my time in Thredbo saw only a few days of snow, and essentially of full season of 16C days and lots of rain, but it isn’t always like that. But personally, I wouldn’t bother with the price tag it comes with unless I wasn’t worried about the money at all. For what you’d be spending to get to an Aussie ski area, stay, and get your passes, you’d might as well pay for a flight over to Japan and find some pow, and fit another beautiful country into your adventure.
Leave a Reply