Michael Atkinson has been skiing all his life and was gobsmacked by how expensive ski lift passes are today compared to 34 years ago.
The 47-year-old Australian dad visits Perisher ski resort in New South Wales every year and revealed how in 1990, when he was 14, a lift past cost him $46 – but today customers are charged $249.
The father-of-two, who’s better known as @outback_mike online, detailed how he used to stack shelves at Woolworths for $7 an hour and was able to save money for one pass after a seven-hour shift.
Now his 15-year-old son who’s earning $17 an hour would need to work twice as much to save enough money for one pass.
‘And it’s not inflation because I plugged it into an RBA inflation calculator and it should today cost $107 – chuck GST on because that came in later, and it should be $118,’ he said in the video.
‘Inflation adjusted, the lift ticket should cost $118. It costs more than double that. Absolutely nuts.’
Though some skiers criticised the dad’s calculation – noting he was comparing a child’s pass in 1990 with an adult’s pass in 2024.
At Perisher a child’s pass is between $95 and $124 if pre-ordered and up to $136 for a same-day pass. This is more in line with his GST and inflation calculation.
However Perisher counts anyone 15 and over as an adult. Adult day passes cost between $172 and $226 when bought ahead of time – going up to $249 for a same day ticket.
Day passes for Thredbo were cheaper across the board – with teenage tickets maxing out at $112 per day.
Mr Atkinson told FEMAIL how the expensive hobby is becoming ‘out of reach’ for the average Australian.
‘I think it’s going to cause more of a divide between the rich and poor,’ he said.
The avid traveller said he’ll never stop skiing despite the cost and how it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the price hike.
