To not understand the snobbery around skiing?

'I'd be interested to know how it compares, cost wise, with a trip to Disney in Florida. Or even Paris.'

Disney in Florida - went with family - cost about £12k for 4 of us and we didn't stay in Disney itself either. For a week in Disney and a week elsewhere. BUT - that is still an immense amount of money for any family, and I wouldn't be claiming that 'anyone' could go anymore that I would claim ski-ing is affordable!
It also would not have been my choice of holiday - US based family special birthday meant we all went.

Paris - cost about £1600 for a week - own car, ferry, airbnb, self catering. mostly timed museums for 'free' times. Had a lovely time.

'Austria, at Christmas. No ski school needed (kids now 11&13), own equipment (except the kids ski boots) but ski passes for whole valley. Self catering apartment.
Does that include:

• flights
• other travel if not flying- ferries, petrol & tolls to drive there
• Food? If you are self catered thats a lot of meals to sort when out skiing all day

I no longer ski but did for the best part of 50 years.

Like Golf, there is now a mixture of people from all walks of life where there never used to be.

'I was once with someone (fairly wealthy) who said, in all seriousness, they considered horse riding, a life skill.'

My old boss told me he thought ski-ing was a life-skill like swimming and didn't understand why parents didn't prioritise it more for their children! With NO sense of irony. He did go to Rugby school though, so I think his idea of what was and wasn't a life skill was skewed. He couldn't cook, for example! Boarding school, a housekeeper at home, and eating out meant he'd never really cooked much for himself...

I work in an industry with a lot of posh & public school educated people, and some of the stuff they come out with had genuinely left me open mouthed at times.

@HollyKnight

We ski every year in the UK. There are 5 ski areas:

Cairngorm
Glenshee
Glencoe
Nevis
The Lecht

If you have £6/£7k/£8k for a family holiday sure, it's super affordable!

We were going to go with friends for the 1st time, budget, 'unsexy' country & resort, self catering absolute bare bones and it was going to be £5.5k for 4 of us. And that was before we bought/hired clothing or ate or drank though it did include lesson. We didn't in the end for various reasons...

Most of our MC ski-ing friends at least have the good grace to admit it's expensive!!

The thing about ski holidays is that you can pay a LOT, or pay much less…
when we used to go (had our own boots and skis) we’d pack up the car with essentials, including a menu for the week and foods not generally available in France, and drive to an apartment we had rented privately. Our main costs were the ferry, the apartment hire and the ski passes, but these were far less than a normal holiday was costing.

My parents used to think it was a posh holiday, but we actually lived for the skiing - up the mountain on the first lift of the day, then a short break for lunch, then back up the mountain for the rest of the afternoon, trying out all the trails.

IME, the people who went because they thought it was posh, didn’t roll out of bed until 11, did a couple or three runs per day, and partied all night! We, on the other hand, came back 2 weeks later, physically tired, but in great shape and having lost quite a few lbs! Those were the days😁

I know a man who complains about his summer house, and he complains about it in a group that I go to, where I know some of the people are quite poor.

I think it's a way of feeling extra rich

• to complain about something of luxury, when you know other people barely have enough food

I was once with someone (fairly wealthy) who said, in all seriousness, they considered horse riding, a life skill.
I'm 46 and I've never yet had a situation where I thought being able to ride a horse would be an advantage!

How can anyone "know no different".

When I was poor as a child , I knew that rich children existed.

I never understand when rich people say "oh we know no different"

You don't have to be poor to know that there are poor people.

It's more that they don't want to even think about poor people

That is true. I do consider ourselves lucky that we can afford our "cheap" ski holiday (which is our main holiday... its just camping otherwise). Actually learning to ski is the most expensive bit!

Its like the Private School threads. You get some claiming anyone can afford it, while others say you can't unless you earn £200k+. People se their income as normal.

I don't think its about hating or resenting people who can afford nice things. Some people will have been brought up in a position of privilege, other people will have worked at jobs that enable them the income to do those things, or saved for a period of time to afford it.

I think the issue is the apparent surprise that they are seen as luxurious, rather than an "ordinary" holiday. Of course ordinary or normal will have different meanings, and for some the norm will be that they dont go on holiday, but I think it's disingenuous to pretend that skiing, AI, or Disney are within the reach of most people. (In the same way, on other threads, a cleaner is classed as an essential rather than a nice to have...which I feel the same about!)

In most of the UK, skiing is a class thing because its a signal of your background and not your present wealth.

DH and I are well off. We can afford multiple holidays a year with our two kids. We could afford half term skiing and a pretty good summer break. But neither of us grew up with serious money (I went abroad three times with my parents before 18, I think - all self-catering apartments in the med, when that was pretty cheap). Neither of us learned to ski as children- no family holidays or school ski trips. So we can't ski - and I don't really want to drop £££ on a new skill I probably won't be good at, rather than on a holiday I'll enjoy. So we don't ski. So our kids don't ski. And thus the cycle reproduces itself.

People would save all year for their summer holiday. People that go skiing would go as well as their summer holiday. There is a lot of snobbery around skiing still.

Where is the hate?

It's because of money that many are now priced out of something that should be relatively accessible.

This is a weird comment. How is skiing "relatively accessible"? The UK doesn't have the weather for it, so anyone wanting to ski will always have to travel to do it.

But sure the UK has always been like that.

The rich amd the poor.

The rich will complain about the quality of their skiing holiday.

The poor barely have enough food.

Yeah, my children have to learn how to ski as part of PE lessons, but its cross-country (but they do practice a bit of slalom on the hill near the school). My son started learning in nursery, and was in his first ski race at 4 years old (was terrible at it )

Threads like this are like a portal into the world of ignorance. How can anyone truly imagine that a ski holiday is within reach of "anybody"? Or indeed, that taking a holiday is something that most people have experienced. It makes me want to weep for humanity. There are so, so many people who are unhoused or in unsuitable housing, who don't have enough to eat, who don't have enough clothes - the prospect of a holiday for people enduring poverty is as likely as a unicorn landing on the doorstep. Please can we just try to think beyond our tiny little lives and be a little more tactful. Even read, watch and listen.

I went in ski-ing in my 20s about three times as a fairly cheap package holiday thing- still more expensive than a sunny holiday though.

Three times was enough to know that:

• I don't like the cold weather and ice and snow
• I don't really like ski-ing
• I come back feeling like I need another holiday

If we'd had the money then we might have taken the kids ski-ing, I probably would do staying inside with a hot chocolate and a book, but it is a lot for a family and I'd rather have a nice sunny holiday.

It also depends what country you're in. Several European countries have skiing in their school curriculum. Every child has to learn how - a bit like riding a bike!

Definitely a holiday for rich people.

1. so much ad-ons : equipement, kids classes, passes, super expensive food, etc. People quoting lower prices have their equipment already / don’t need kids classes anymore.

2. it is never the main holiday of the year, more of an ad-on. So being able to spend 5-10k on an ad-on holiday is not the same as being able to spend that on your main holiday.

3. I agree about the generational wealth point made above. Most skiers I know have learned as
   children.

Oh it’s a ludicrous pastime! It made sense if you lived in a mountainous area before cars being widely available and needed to get from A-B quickly, but as a sport it is pretty daft.

But, like most things, I don’t think the people who can easily afford it will brag about it. I would never mention it unless someone specifically asks me if we are going away - why would I?

Thanks @stargirl1701 - we're only a few hours from Glencoe area so it's something we've been considering for a holiday - maybe if we go knowing we may not ski then it could be worth it!

It's something to brag about.

Oh I'm going skiing in February.

If you think about it, going down snowy hills on two sticks is a bit ridiculous (and not safe a lot of the time - there are a lot of accidents)