To not understand the snobbery around skiing?

I live in a very deprived area I don't know any one my age (45) or above who has been skiing.

If we go abroad we spend around £600 pp all inclusive. I doubt you could do a week's skiing and accommodation and food for that.

My dd did go skiing in year ten which was about ten years ago it cost 1000 pounds and we didn't have a holiday that year so she could go. I bet it would be more like 1.5 k now and I doubt many working class could afford it.

We have been fortunate to be able to pay for both our sons to go on skiing holidays with the school . They have since gone on to go on ski holidays on their own with friends.
I'd love to have gone as a family but it would have meant we couldn't afford a summer holiday.
Skiing holidays I would say are only for the better off.

I live in Europe, most people of all backgrounds here go skiing so I wasn't sure why it's considered upper class in the uk.

Use your brain 🙄

That's horrible. What type of workplace is it, I'm guessing law or banking? Is it somewhere where being in the clique pays dividends (so to speak)?

In my workplace, if you spoke about skiing you'd be considered a bit of a w**nker.

Just priced up the costs of the nearest slope to us (Finland) and its not bad at all actually - 155e for the week equipment rental per adult, 230e ski pass for the week, could get a cottage for the week for 600e. Actually tempted to go now! But of course there's no extra costs for me for flights etc. (though you could do Norwegian Air for pretty cheap, then train then bus and it wouldn't be too bad) that's part of what makes it so expensive so out of reach for many Brits, but there is definitely cheaper ski holidays out there than 10k in the Alps!

In the early 1990s my school organised a ski trip to (i can't remember where) and they wanted to charge £500 which my parents simply couldn't afford. And yes, the kids from the better off families went 🤷🏻‍♀️.

As for snobbery...yes, there is, because skiing is such a pricy pursuit (stiil), but some people will overstretch themselves to go.

I would rather hike through the mountains in summer than ski down them but each to their own.

Skiing is still prohibitively expensive for most. We have booked DIY for NY week. My husband and I ski, but not for years and years, and this is the first time we will be taking our two kids. So we don’t have equipment, and we need lessons. Self catering it comes to £5k without any food counted, and that’s also not counting the cost of buying clothes and a few ski lessons for the kids before we go at the snow dome. All these faux naive ‘you can do it for a couple of grand for a family of four’ responses don’t include ski lessons, kit hire, etc. Which is akin to claiming it’s cheap to go to the Bahamas because you can stay in your friend’s holiday home. Like most expensive things, skiing becomes cheaper when you actually have money and privilege. When you grew up skiing, and so don’t need lessons. When you can stay in your family/ friend’s chalet.

I do have a good salary, and I am privileged. But our summer holiday won’t be AI, we’ll be going to France self catering for a week. And I recognise that I am very privileged to be able to do that on top of a 5k skiing holiday earlier in the year, and I do it because I have skiied before, and know I love skiing. If I hadn’t had the opportunity to ski before, would be dropping 5k on a holiday that meant I would have to spend less on my main summer holiday? Would I fuck.

@Cappuccinowithonesugarplease the uk is an island so simply getting to the resort in the first place is a considerable expense before even starting the think about the skiing.

Transfer prices have become bonkers over the last few years. Driving can work out cheaper but you have to have a car big and reliable enough to do such a journey filled with people and equipment.

If the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) had reliable snow fall and a lift network, skiing would become more accessible for the folk from Merthyr Tydfil and Welsh valleys. It’s not rocket science!

We don't do more than the odd weekend away in the UK because we can't afford to. DH had to 'justify' himself in office chat the other day because he's 'only' visited a handful of other countries in his lifetime. We're quite happy with our lives and are content to amuse ourselves on a budget.
There does seem to be a lot of snobbery about holidays in general, not just skiing.

But I think basically if you can afford an all inclusive holiday, you can probably find somewhere to ski for similar price, even if you go a bit more off the beaten track.

Most of DH's colleagues also complain a lot about money, and squabble over overtime. And generally don't seem all that happy, and live for 'getting away from it all'. We're all different I guess.

Just done a quick search on Crystal Ski, 2 adults and 2 children skiing in February All Inclusive from £744 per person total £2976. Adding on all the extras like Ski hire, lift pass, lessons £3300.

Disney with TUI (same company which is why I'm choosing it) at the same time cheapest comes in at £4851 Room only.

And yet people think skiing is for the elite but have no issues with people going to Disney.

I know which I'd prefer.

I live in Europe, most people of all backgrounds here go skiing so I wasn't sure why it's considered upper class in the uk.

Surely you can understand then why skiing would be more expensive for people who have to travel overseas to do it. It's like someone living in Florida saying "I don't know why people think Disney is a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. We go all the time."

What exactly are you referring to as riff raff?

I live in Europe, most people of all backgrounds here go skiing so I wasn't sure why it's considered upper class in the uk.

Surely it's obvious the logistics and expense are different if you're in the U.K.?

An analogy might be sailing/watersports. If you're in the U.K. it can be posh/expensive, or it can be quite cheap and accessible. We have water, not snow!

The trick is to pick lesser known resorts, book flights and accommodation individually rather than a package. Use public transport to get to your accommodation. Austria is generally cheaper. Pick small family-run hotels with just a handful of simple rooms. Go for a short break of 4-5 days rather than a full week. Buy gear at home rather than at resort so you only rent skis whilst there. Pick a day or two of activities that do not require a ski pass (cross country skiing, walking, sledges) to bring down costs. It is still an expensive type of holiday but can definitely be done at much below 10k!

Of course it's typically expensive for Brits. And when you've only got 5 weeks holiday a year, a week is expensive in time too.

The only time I've tried skiing was when I lived in the US, we went for a couple of weekends - cheap in money and time. It was as a place with the wonderful name Blue Knob.

Exactly this,

Given most can only only budget for one holiday a year, the thought of spending it in the winter months in a cold climate becomes less appealing to many

Agree with many points above-it's not a so much class issue as much as money issue. I'm a poor skier(so opt out now)Husband learnt as an adult so is competent and enjoys it.
Kidsareexcellent(skiing&snowboarding)
having done it since 5yrs old. It's by far the single most expensive wk of holiday we take each yr, admittedly over Feb half-term. I've concluded Skiing is a bit like foreign languages, the younger you start the better you'll be, it's more natural less forced and finances permitting, you can participate in school trips/long weekends.

I went once with school as did my 2 siblings. Mum and dad said they could pay half, I got a paper round to pay the rest and we hired the clothing from a company that school recommended. I loved it and it was the first holiday that I booked when I started working. My 2 siblings have never been again.

Since having kids we have taken them regularly, often (as is the case this year) in lieu of a summer holiday as we all enjoy it. When they were in (state) primary school we would go in the cheapest week in January, since being in (state) comprehensive we have gone in school holidays. Next February half term we have booked a half board hotel with flights, transfers and lift passes for just under £5k. Most of last years kit still fits which is handy and they don’t need lessons any more. Lunch won’t cost a lot as we’ll have a good breakfast, then cakes provided when we get back to the hotel.

We were looking at an AI for October half term but that was nearly £6k (nearly doubled in price over the last 2 years) so we’re not going. We live a nice life without money worries but could not do skiing and the AI in the same year.

There is a lot of snobbery around the sport and skiing as a holiday. It used to be very exclusive but there is much more choice now, and the internet has made it far easier to shop around to keep things within budget.

An all inclusive holiday would be around £5k for us, not including any spending money. That means it's a once every two or three years event. Skiing is something that wouldn't even cross our mind - we want somewhere hot, with a pool and a nice beach so the kids can play and we can all relax

Exactly, Im speechless at the idea of 1500 quid for one child, for a school trip!!!

That is also my budget for a holiday, give or take, for a week.

Skiiing used to be very expensive. It still is, but not in the same way. When I was young, there weren't the sort of package skiiing trips-generally you only went if you could afford the eye watering expensive hotels, or knew eye wateringly rich people who had their own chalets. All pretty exclusive. And there were many fewer runs. And the gear was incredibly expensive.

From what I’ve read this far, this post has changed somewhat in tone - at first it seemed like OP couldn’t believe the person she overheard assumed everyone could afford to go skiing, like they were out of touch with reality and the current cost of living crisis, now it seems like she’a tripping over herself to let everyone know she’s very much a skiing family and they go on ‘a few short breaks’ a year. Presumably not to stay in a city where they have a snowdome in the uk! 😂

Humble bragging at its finest