Aibu to think skiing is not an essential skill!

My daughter (10) can ski and snowboard as we lived near slopes for many years and now her school organises annual ski trips were the children can go all the way through to being instructors by age 16 - for a nice gap year in the alps or the rockies. We still own a house near slopes which we will go back to in a few years time when my husband goes back to remote work.

Not an essential skill like swimming but great to have and good way to earn some £££ for Uni. But I can ski and snowboard so I took her onto the slopes to begin with when she was little, seems odd your Brother and SIL see it as essential but can’t do it themselves? I don’t expect my daughter to anything I wouldn’t have a go at.

yes I also sail and horse ride - again not essential skills but I love them especially sailing. I didn’t come from a sailing family, I just loved Howard’s Way back in the day, and it seemed so glamorous. Sailing is not glamorous- there is a chemical loo I have to clean several times a season 😂

Beginner group lessons are fairly cheap. The green beginner slopes at the bottom of the ski lifts can be safely tackled by absolute beginners - but it would be important to choose the right resort (e.g. Austria has the accommodation in the valleys and exiting the ski lifts can be very daunting due to how crowded it can be. You'd be better off in a French resort where you can walk from the hotel to the green area and use the conveyor belts/travelators to get the hang of things).

Snowploughing is something most people pick up by lunchtime on the first day and the technique will get you down green and blue runs. I think most people manage to progress to blue runs within a couple of days, but there will always be some people that struggle and never get the hang of it.

I tackled a very icy black run on the Val Toren glacier at the end of my first week skiing with school. It was completely beyond my limited ski skills, so I reverted to snowploughing. It certainly wasn't pretty, but I got down safely.

If you've never been skiing, I can see why you'd write it off as something that's expensive and elitist, but it's really not like that and it's great fun. The views from the slopes are just incredible and it's a fantastic family holiday.

Give it a go.

Just remember to pack some Factor 50 sunscreen.

But you need lessons. A family who has never skied before can not just turn up at the slopes with rented ski gear.

you can find cheaper ski holidays than £5k a week!

And average or not, try to book something with little notice, everything gets fully booked quickly! The Brits have money, not everyone does, but most people do or holidays wouldn't sell so fast - and that's before looking at other countries.

What do you think the average couple with 2 kids earns as a household?

Do you know the range of disposable income families have?

Average disposable income in the UK per month | Moneyfarm

This is the average household disposable income - £35,500

Money used for everything - after tax.

Do you think £5000 is affordable for a holiday for the average family?

So what you're saying is that the average couple, earning the average amount, with two kids, can afford to spend £5k on a ski holiday and they'd still have over £11k (£900 p/m) leftover for other non-essential spending.

I'm glad we've cleared that up.

So many things to say about that comment.

But I think it's been said.

I think it's probably more of an 'essential' skill if you live in the Alps/Scandinavia etc. where everyone skiis/it's on the PE curriculum etc.

We live in the UK, but my DC are half Italian (from the Alps bit) so I'm going to make sure they at least learn the basics so they are not left out when all their cousins go skiing.

I'm a terrible skier myself but I can ski enough to go skiing with friends (then hang out on the baby slope and meet up again at lunch time).

This thread is fascinating, great insights into MN’s hive mind and so many interesting cultural differences.

I learned to ski when I was three because my parents were skiers and really enjoyed the so-called “friluftsliv” which is not unusual in Scandinavia. I consider myself an average skier. My children have also learned skiing about the age of 3 because this is the youngest age accepted at ski schools and we wanted to have some time to go together with DH who also learned as a toddler. I can also cross-country ski and I’m good at it, tried ski touring as well and I can manage but it’s not my favourite activity. I switched to snowboarding at some point as an adult and I haven’t skied since. I have always prioritised winter holidays and used to go to various places, including ones considered expensive like Zermatt or the three valleys on a very tight budget - we would save and go in larger groups of friends and colleagues, do self-catering and avoid expensive restaurants which used to be full of new Russians anyway.

Things like Vasa Loppet are on the to-do list for many people in Scandinavia and it doesn’t have much to do with class or cultural capital. It’s usually about the challenge, being fit, the love of nature and having active hobbies.

Add in council tax and insurance you can take off another £4.5k a year.
And savings or pension contributions.
That leaves 11k for holidays, savings, pensions and unexpected costs ( repairs, replacements - a new heating boiler can cost 2k)

Considering the forecast this weekend, a set of skis might come in handy. And there might be some miserable skiers if their flights are cancelled.

@ThisOldThang

"The average uk income is £35k. An average couple working full-time would have an income of £70k.

£4-5k for a ski trip would be affordable for the average UK family."

You forgot to factor in that they would be taxed on this income so their take home is closer to £28k each or £56k total.

Average energy bill is £1250
Average food and groceries bill per person per year £3000 (£250 per month).
Average total cost of vehicle ownership per year £4k.
Average mortgage payment is £1440 per month (£17,280). Source: www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/mortgages-property/buying-a-home/what-is-the-average-monthly-mortgage-payment-in-the-uk
Average clothing budget per person is £1400 or £5.6k for a family of four.

So adding that up is £56k minus £1.25k + (£3k x4) + £4k +£17k + 5.6 = £16,150.

And that is just covering the basic essentials.

Maybe if you live in Finland! But not if you live in the UK.

Swimming of course very much is!

I hope not as I have never learned!! My one attempt at X-country skiing ended in whiplash so not going to try again. I can sail though :)

Im always surprised when i meet adults who cant cycle, but i guess that's also not an essential skill if you don't need to do it

Termtime maybe. But not everyone approves of termtime holidays

But your comparison was still not comparing like to like

The average uk income is £35k. An average couple working full-time would have an income of £70k.

£4-5k for a ski trip would be affordable for the average UK family. They may have to cut back on their summer holiday, or something else, to pay for it, but it's hardly the exclusive preserve of a wealthy elite.

Yes, exactly. I suppose it’s hardly surprising, though — so many Mners struggle with friendships and see ‘cliques’ and exclusions around every corner that it would follow that they imagine that friendships with people from the higher echelons of the class system would involve proles desperately trying to conceal their low origins, laughing nervously along as gangs of braying aristos bore on about powder and keeping the wolf from the portico.

As you say yourself - you're comparing two very different things

Self catering term time skiing Vs AI summer holiday ..

A fairer comparison would be self catering term time skiing Vs self catering term time beach holiday

We stayed here a couple of times. They are self catered apartments.

That price includes fights from Gatwick and transfers from the French airport to the resort.

I think you're probably looking at another £500 p/p for lift passes, ski hire and cheap ski gear from TK Max, Decathlon, Sports Direct or Vinted.

It's not really any more expensive than a summer package holiday - although I am comparing non-school holiday skiing with peak summer holidays.

Personally, I'd be willing to take the kids out of school for a week because it's an activity/sport as opposed to sitting on the beach.

Many of my uni friends are massive poshos and not one of them has ever noticed or cared that I've never been skiing.

People on here have very strange ideas about what posh people are like.

Yanbu it's not essential.

We go and all 5 if us enjoy it. I'm happy to pay to go and for them to learn the skill so that all 3 have same ability and can holiday without us in future. My grown up nieces and nephews can holiday together as siblings if no friends can go / or know they have a similar ability partner to ski with

Definitely a luxury not a life skill

Of course it's not essential - but I'm with your DBro and I think it's really useful for children to learn whilst young. If they do it whilst young it's easier to go back to and it can be useful if going with friends. I have also worked places where there was an annual ski holiday so it can be also good for networking.

So a family who have never skied before could realistically spend the same as they would on a luxurious beach holiday?
Of course they will not. You have to include ski lessons in that pricing and that pushes up the price considerably.

It's only important if you want to do skiing holidays with other good skiers.