To not understand the snobbery around skiing?

It doesn’t have to be that much. There are cheap options (Bulgaria) and skiing is the in TO holiday I do because generally it’s hard to beat independently. I went to Ischgl feb half term booked during a sale and paid £3k all in for two people.

going skiing as a child may have signified you as rich 30-50 years ago but not now. Anyone can afford it but as with everything how anyone spends their money is their choice.

i don’t smoke, rarely drink, rarely eat out
12 yo car
second holidays are camping or staycations
dont spend on beautycare or makeup
happy to wear jeans and wellies

it would be very easy to judgemental on a whole raft of other peoples consumerist choices. Don’t judge all people who ski as toffs and posh.

I didn’t learn to ski until I was in my 30s, it is expensive but now I’d prefer to go on a skiing holiday than lie on a beach… it’s great fun (I’m not a good skier btw) and not at all snobby at any of the resorts I’ve been to in Europe, Canada and USA. The kids are happy all day long, that’s worth a lot imo

Once you have the kit and have been a bit skiing can be done quite cheaply.

Bulgaria for 5 days for flights, accommodation and spends in Feb approx £1000. And could be done for a lot less if you were to compromise on where you stay. That's doing everything individually rather than a package.

Equally, a catered chalet in France would cost double. And there's less of them to choose from now because of Brexit.

The kit is a significant outlay. And you're unlikely to have much use for it outside of skiing.

It's tone deaf to suggest it's a holiday that anyone could or should afford. I know lots of working class people who ski though.

I first went skiing as an adult. Hated it. Tried again and enjoyed it. When kids were older, took them out of school 😳 for a cheap trip in January. They loved it. Did that a few times. Wouldn’t get away with that now. But they have great memories of skiing with their mum. And didn’t harm their education. Both doing great now in life.

It’s more affordable that you think if you book it all independently. I have been as a family of 4 the last 2 years. 2nd week of Jan. Cheap easyJet flights and air bnb cut the costs right down.

If you go on a package deal with Crystal or one of the other tour operators, yes it can be 10k. It can be done much, much cheaper than that though, if you are prepared to drive, self cater and take out packed lunches. We also do all our lessons at home on a dry slope and don't pay for ski school or lessons on the slopes. If you want to do it cheaply, you absolutely can. It will still be out of reach for some people but we spend less than some do on AI summer holidays for a family of 4. We do this instead of a summer holiday as we love skiing.

Along with ice skating and riding a bike

I love it being included in the milestones in Finland @Natsku ! That's so cool.

After banging on about planes and costs last night, I realised I never said what I originally intended to.

Neither DH or I grew up in households that took ski holidays. My mother mountaineered and skied in Scotland in the 50s/60s, but no one in any part of the family had any money for alpine skiing nor were we the sort of people who would have considered going.

We were happily taking our kids on summer holidays in Austria and decided it would be nice to spend Christmas there - which came with skiing, almost without us realising. We discovered very quickly that neither of us liked it remotely, BUT the children did ski school and totally loved it. So we now go for them. It’s expensive and I half wished we’d never started but two of them have additional needs and the enjoyment and confidence they get from skiing is like nothing else.

The other people we meet though are all very financially solid and mostly from a particular social background. We are definitely the poor relations who are acutely aware that we’re basically frauds!

Heh, ballroom dancing is something that children of all classes learn in my country (Finland), its a big thing especially in high school when 2nd years do a big dance show for parents with traditional and modern and their own choreography. Would be nice if ballroom came back as a thing for everyone in the UK too, its lovely (and highly amusing, depending on how drunk they are) to watch couples dancing ballroom style to karaoke down the pub

And skiing is included in the milestones list you get when your baby is born, the milestone is expected to be reached between 5-7 years

I'd love to have tried ski ing. When I was young my high school put ski trips on. It was never discussed, my parents just couldn't afford for both of me and my brother to do it.
I remember lots of the only kids being able to go, up and down sides to everything I guess.
If DD fancies it when she's older, she can have a go.
I wouldn't want to pay for a ski ing holiday niw though as it's a lot of money if you don't enjoy it.

Absolutely love skiing. It is expensive but not as expensive as some people are saying.

The cost depends on many factors including resort, time of year etc.

Food in France is stupidly expensive on the slopes so we avoid France. We all go during term time as well as it definitely is cheaper. We have done it together enough times that we don't need to pay for lessons.

My husband learned to ski as an adult as have a group of our friends who all enjoy skiing together.

We are definitely not posh or upper class. We just love the views, the exhilaration and the social aspects of having fun together in beautiful surroundings.

We get cheap flights and share a minibus to drive to the resort and have made packed lunches to keep costs down. Also some tour operators have really reasonable offers including half board.

You can also buy cheap but decent ski clothing from Decathlon. If you are not a snob all this can be done to keep costs down but I do agree that lots of people definitely can't afford to do it. We are very lucky.

Yeah, we’re going to Munich in October half term midweek for a fraction of the cost.

BA were far more expensive than our indirect option, and as we aren’t in the south, there’s the advantage of being able to travel from a more local airport too. Frankly after the train journey from hell, even a connecting flight felt like a giant treat.

We go to a hotel so it costs more but I don’t want to self cater. As a non-skier my fun is being waited on.

We’ve done this journey a lot now, and that is definitely the cheapest route - it’s usually much cheaper to fly with BA than easyJet, no idea why.

When we booked, EasyJet was about £500 each way, BA was £187 or something. Still a lot more than they charge every other day of the year though - if we could fly on the Wednesday it would only cost £50 😭

It is where we go. Obviously depends on the resort, but it’s pretty common in Austria IME. Lots of ski schools chasing the same customers, I suppose.

The sale made a difference as I priced up those exact flights out back in March and they were much more.

We’ve never flown before as it costs so much more (we don’t do a package option) but after misery at both Eurotunnel and on trains in recent years, I snapped. The flights are still a lot for five of us though.

How much do you expect to spend on food?

I think though the point has to remain that these holidays are not particularly cheap!

We are going skiing next year but no summer holiday for us: the kids picked that arrangement as they love skiing so much. As I don’t ski, it’s not my preferred option as my only holiday of the year particularly, but it’s not forever.

BA flight from LHR to MUC at 19:55 on 14/02, returning on 22/02 at 14:45. We booked last June in the seat sale, not sure if that affected prices - obviously they cost more now, but that isn’t a hugely popular route. You can still book on those dates now for £600 pp return

The airport hotel is actually ridiculously cheap for a family room - €107 for all of us, including breakfast. Trains are €180 return for all four of us.

The adults have their own equipment and not everyone is skiing (DM is in her late 70s and just does some hiking). An adult lift pass is €369 for the week, a child one is €167. Ski school for the week is €249.

So for us, with two adults and a child skiing and one adult hiking, that’s another €1073. So £4000 total. If it was two adults and two children, all skiing, it would be an extra €1500, so more like £4500 in total.

Not cheap, but definitely not £6000. And we aren’t cutting corners, it’s a nice apartment in the centre of town, and flying with BA not Ryanair etc. It could be done cheaper if you were staying in a cheaper apartment further out of town and flying with a budget airline.

Well, also plus all food.

(German trains are virtually free. Although they have become unreliable in the extreme recently.)

I’m also very intrigued by the flight costs! We are doing the exact same route on the same day and I lived on Skyscanner for weeks, not to mention checking out EJ costs on the day the flights were released, and we booked last spring, and we’re paying far more for indirect flights. I think you need to set up as a travel agent. I’d be your first client.

Sorry, I mistyped. But same as the passes, ski hire not included in my own experience, nor in the Crystal holiday.

Also, it might not be £6k, but 3.5k it ain’t either.

£1100 flights
£2000 accommodation
£x ski school (at least for the kids, from your post)
£y ski hire for adults
£z lift passes

plus airport hotel for 4 people (1 night? Or also on the way back?) Train for 4 people (granted, it’s Germany, not the UK, so you might not need a second mortgage)

How much once you’ve taken into account all the costs, not just flights and accommodation?

Ski hire is included with children’s lessons - boots and skis and helmets. Not lift passes.

I’m not trying to book. I’m pointing out that the previous poster’s holiday costings were a bit misleading.

Although what you’re costing out there is quite different to what would be included in that holiday. And IME ski passes aren’t included in ski schools, but I’m sure mileage varies, so to speak. They’re not included in the package I priced up on that website.

Most ski schools don’t take kids below age 4, IME. And even then, usually just half days.

DS did go to ski kindergarten in Canada when he was 2, but that was literally just playing in the snow (not in skis) and they went back inside regularly to warm up. So, exactly like his Toronto nursery, which also took them outside to play in the snow every day in -10C weather. If they have decent clothes on, they shouldn’t be sobbing from the cold after less than an hour outside in the Alps.