Cold comfort: Food prices on Kiwi ski slopes are out of control

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NOTICE: Like family members, friends and lovers, you can just criticize those we love the most. So with that in mind, I do not hesitate to call the North Island Ski Mecca, Ruapehu, for breaking its mountain pricing record.

Like many other Kiwis, I learned to ski and snowboard Ruapehu ski areas Whakapapa and Turoa. But even when ski instructors shouted "Pizza" and "fries" to help me learn how to clear snow, I winced at the price of pizzas and chips in sloping cafes. (thanks, Poppa)

What resulted in an education in packed lunches: which items will survive accidents while conveniently providing padding? Where can we find hot water for our cuppa soups? Is a banana ever a good idea? (No).

This season does not seem different and packed lunches will be the menu of the day for many people.

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Ruapehu's snowbunnies were furious when a frugal adept posted on the company's Facebook page. The Whakapapa cafes would charge $ 26.50 for a burger and fries this year.

"Does it come with a season pass?" There was an answer, but dozens more failed to see the fun side.

The ordinary potato wedges – it will be $ 12.50. Hot chips only a fraction cheaper. Families could easily accumulate a breakfast bill of over $ 150 for something from the fryer and grill. It's crazy and a kick in the teeth for loyal local business followers who come back year after year.

These are the same people who come together for life, so the Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) can fund projects. the same people to whom he asks to write proposals for support for his requests for resource consent. Instead, we might have had to use this time to support bids for a bit of competition on the mountain, the care of a few food trucks.

Am I unfair? RAL probably thinks so.

Managing Director Jono Dean responded, "Food prices are determined by a number of factors, including the quality of the food served and the costs of operating and maintaining the restaurant. Serving quality food in the mountains poses challenges, which helps to reduce costs, including daily cleaning of the snow around the restaurant, high electricity costs, essential for the restaurant to freeze not, be hot "

Dean also pointed out that if the company" continued to produce food at net loss ", it would not be able to invest in its products and deliver them to the restaurant.

We know that the cost of food has increased nationwide and that there are transportation and logistics problems with the supply of a kitchen on a mountain . It was never going to be the same price as the best of Burgerfuel.

But even compared to world-renowned ski resorts in the world, it was still the most expensive. My (non-scientific) survey found better menus and lower prices in Austria, Japan and Canada. I could not believe it when I easily found menus in children's playgrounds like Verbier and Lake Tahoe that sold hamburgers and fries at lower prices.

When Switzerland looks like the budget option, you know things are going badly. What's more, in these renowned ski resorts, there is a high quality to match the prices. At Verbier you have table service with your mulled wine, in Mayrhofen, Austria you have Wiener schnitzel, schnapps and fresh dumpling soup – in New Zealand you have meal trays and deep fat fryers.

were put on the menu after customer comments encouraging higher quality food and discounts for season and life pass members (which were initiated at 10 and 15 percent, respectively)

Think of the third year economy class. This is the basic supply and demand. The company has to make money while the snow is there. But on top of that, these cafes and restaurants have both a monopoly and a captive (and often cold) audience. You do not go skiing with a sandwich press in your backpack, is not it?

The results may not have been difficult to predict. As the holder of the Ruapehu Pass Life Pass, I must accept the fact that I will need to have a long and loving relationship with New World Ohakune as long as these prices will persist. Nobody ever said that skiing was cheap.

Would you like financing with this? How Ruapehu's Hamburger Compares

Ruapehu: Hamburger and Fries $ 26.50

Remarkables, Queenstown: Hamburger and Fries $ 19.50 [19659006] Verbier, Switzerland (The Dahu Break): Hamburger and fries NZ $ 19

Whistler, Canada (supper on the south side): Cheese and bacon burger with french fries: $ 19.78

Mayhofen, Austria (Ahornhutte, 1965m): Cheeseburger with fries: $ 14.50

Heavenly, California, United States (Sky Deck): Hamburger and fries $ 23.50

Great Hirafu, Niseko, Japan (Restaurant Tanta.an): Hamburger and fries: 21.50 NZ

* All prices are converted to NZD on 03 / 07/2018.

Josh Martin is a London-based kiwi journalist who writes about travel, tourism, business and consumer issues between trips to places you prefer to be. Send an email to [email protected] if you have a travel problem that you would like him to talk about.

– Practical Information