When it comes to fate’s fickle hand, snow holidays can be crueller than most leisure activities.

Book for the first week of July in 2014 in Australia? You were laughing all the way to the bottom of your favourite run in prime snow conditions less than a month into the season.

Book for the first week of July in 2015? You’d be kicking stones, the cat and anything else you could wrap your ski boots around as the only white stuff about came out of a gun. As if just to rub it in, the snow then came by the bucket load when you returned home.

So while resorts play the temptress with pre-season deals, trying to lock in your dollar, is it possible to resist their wily charms and ski on your own terms when the snow is good? And can you do it without breaking the bank?

It isn’t always straight forward and compromises invariably have to be made.

But the answer is yes.

GETTING THERE

Don’t want to drive or would like to split costs perhaps? The new Apple app, Go Snow, connects like-minded snow types and you may be able to organise a lift or perhaps even give one.

Another option is to join the Facebook noticeboards for groups such as the Perisher Snow Riders and Thredbo Snow Riders. These are big communities (in Perisher’s case almost 7000 people) of snow-loving souls who may want to do the same thing on the same day as you. There’s a wealth of information to be had here and plenty of people ready to answer your questions quickly too.

Thinking about a quick NZ trip? The flights to Christchurch invariably represent the best value and you can often get one-way fares for under $200 each way, even at fairly late notice from the likes of Jetstar. Mid-week departures and arrivals tend to help if you can swing them.

With great snow in places like Mt Hutt, Porters and other clubfields, that’s worth serious consideration at the moment. The other option is to check Ebay and Gumtree where you will from time to time find people selling unwanted airfares.

Of course do your due diligence in terms of fees for name/date changes and who you are dealing with – but two years ago I swung return airfares with baggage for two people for under $600 to Christchurch by doing just this.

ACCOMMODATION

The peak season and good snow combo will of course limit your options. On snow won’t usually be cheap; so in the first instance you may want to consider feeder towns. For the NSW resorts that’s Jindabyne (East Jindabyne, 4km north should not be overlooked either), Berridale, Kalkite and Cooma.

You’ll have to travel in to either Perisher or Thredbo but there’s likely to be more beds and cheaper ones at that. For Victoria think Mansfield (Mt Buller) Mt Beauty (Falls Creek) and Dinner Plain or even Omeo (Mt Hotham).

There’s also the accommodation section on the ski.com.au website. I had a great last minute stay on a very busy weekend two years back in East Jindabyne for $160 a double, including breakfast.

Hit the likes of Wotif and Need it Now too. You do get cancellations or sometimes odd room configurations that aren’t filled, even on snow. And of course, check out those Facebook forums as well.

I have generally found New Zealand to be better in regards to last minute beds. Check out the travel sites as mentioned above. If you find something there, see if the resort accommodation itself takes online bookings as it may well save you a fee that the third party site wants to charge.

LIFT TICKETS

Sometimes you can get combo-deals including tickets from travel operators and accommodators but getting much love last minute and peak season is usually a stretch.

Do however check what discounts the various resorts offer online for either pre-booking a certain period of time in advance or, if you have one, by simply loading up your pre-existing pass with days on it. (For example a Thredbo day pass drops from $115 to $103 on a seven-day advance purchase).

At the very least that will save you significant time stuffing around at the ticket office of the resort where, particularly on weekends and good snow days, it can be extremely busy.

GEAR

There are no strict rules here but if you can organise it in advance at a city ski shop before you go you should be better off; at least in the time-saving department and perhaps financially. There are plenty of ski hire places on-mountain and out of town; the general rule of thumb being the closer to the hill the more you are likely to pay.

That said there are all-inclusive deals at resorts (ie ticket, lessons, hire) worth crunching the numbers with. Also, if something goes wrong with your equipment it’s quite handy to be able to get a fix on the mountain.

FOOD AND DRINK

The closer you get to the snow the more you’ll get slugged here. The odd day eating in resort makes a nice treat, over three or more days this really starts to hurt the hip pocket. On snow/resort/club accommodation can actually work out well here if you can duck back into your abode for a sandwich or snack.

That aside, you can either store some treats in the car if driving to the mountain or carry them with you in a lightweight pack. Also carry a water bottle in it or CamelBak as bottled water tends to be more expensive than Italian white truffles.

Remember, on a good snow day you don’t think much about what you’re spending. On a bad one you seem to count every cent.