VSG said:
Skitube way way under utilised...
.....
Cost of fuel from Jindy to Perisher, plus park entry, plus chain hire... mmm. Skitube plus lift ticket looks good.
But only for 1 person.
If you have 2, 3, 4 or 5 people in a car the price per person drops significaly.
Also, if you are a regular user of other parks, than the cost of the annual pass can be quite cheap.
Least year I purchased an annual pass, visited KNP 15 times and other parks another 10 times so the average cost per visit $7.60.
Each time there was at least 2 people in the car, sometimes it was 3 and sometimes 4 - so the cost per person per visit was less than $3.80.
Its a 60km round trip driving to and from perisher. if you average 10l/100k then this is 6 litres at $1.50 a litre = $9 for petrol
9 + 7.6 = 16.6. lets round it up to $20 for sundry other costs then divide by 2 people and its $10 per person per day.
When I had the 2wd, i owned my own set of chains and had them for over 10 years - cost per day was less than $5 - so that would move it up to $12.50.
Less when you have more in the vehicle.
Where the tube loses out most is -
The timing of the trains from/to Bullocks flat - you can only go when the train is going, not when you want to.
You still have to unpack/pack the car at Bullocks flat
You still have to drive a 40km round trip from Jindabyne to bullocks flat which is 2/3 the distance of Jindabyne to Perisher
Trying to organise several children first in the car then out of the car then into the tube, then out of the tube - then the reverse for going home.......
Where the tube really wins is in avoiding the queues on snow days when 2wd need to fit chains.
I've always driven from Jindabyne had 4 or more in the car on at least 45 occasions and only fitted chains 8 times in 16 years. now I have a 4wd and will only need to fit chains on the very rare heavy snow days
It all depends on Economies of Scale.
Sometimes the tube is cheaper and usually isn't - especially for large groups. Thats why its under utilised.
