To not understand the snobbery around skiing?

[Cappuccinowithonesugarplease]

An actual conversation I overheard:

"Virtually anyone can afford to go skiing these days"

Do people really still think like this in 2024? It just seems so classist....

You have to be active and quite fit to go skiing don’t you?

I’ve never been skiing, or on an all inclusive… but aren’t they designed for very different types of people? Isn’t the whole point of AI is that you’re not active?

I grew up in a city with its own dry ski slope/ski centre. I was a free school meals kid, so definitely no money available to even learn, yet alone go on a skiing holiday!

Luckily for my mum, I had no interest. She just had to manage my disappointment in not being able to afford to learn to ride horses instead.

It depends where you go - some resorts are very expensive & old money. Others are quite cheap. The holiday itself is not all the cost - lift passes, skis, clothes etc all add up. Lunches on the slopes are expensive - I don’t see anyone doing the sitting eating the frozen packed lunch anymore

I’m amazed anyone would say anyone can afford to go skiing nowadays.

It’s unbelievably expensive.

Not sure why you find it funny, I was genuinely curious.

I really value my knees

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.

The point of mentioning your husband's salary was?

We went skiing one day in Scandinavia in February and it cost the 4 of us about £1000. For one day, not including travel, food or accommodation. We had to buy ski-wear, rent skis, ski passes, 1 hour lesson. It wasn't even at a proper resort - just a small local place with something like 5 lifts and 7 slopes.

It's definitely not a particularly affordable activity!

I don’t enjoy skiing but the rest of my family do. I don’t think it’s hideously expensive anymore and is affordable for families that usually have a holiday abroad.

For us, it is the annual holiday, we don’t get one in summer too in the years that we go.

We obviously don’t go to Cloisters!

Laughing at this too!

I think skiing is only seen as UC in the UK - in much of Europe everyone skis, prince or pauper. I didn’t ski as a child and loathed it when I gave it a go as an adult. Give me scuba over ski any day!!!! Other posters are correct though that a certain type of British person will always raise an eyebrow when they find out that you don’t ski. Usually the same type of person who manages to tell you where they went to school within the first 30 minutes of meeting you…

Skiing is expensive and it's true not many people start as adults, too big a gamble.

It doesn't need to be £10k tho. We go to skiing in France, in the Alps but a small ish/family friendly resort and it probably costs about £4k-£5k taking everything into account for 5 of us. We could go to a bigger place for the same amount outside of France but I'm French so....

This year we're driving there rather than flying because of the costs (used to go outside of term time, but with the rules changing it's not really worth it with 3 kids at school) though it wouldn't be vastly different.

That to some people we could afford it, that I appreciate the expense of it despite having good disposable income, that we come from a very ordinary background like most people where it isn’t affordable and is a big expense.

And the point of you chipping in is what? Your contribution to the thread was what?

skiiing is typically a middle/upper class hobby. People generally feel more comfortable in their own social class. Think about it.. don’t you? If someone is considerably richer or poorer, or much less or much better educated than you it creates a divide.

It is horrifically expensive. As others have said it’s not just the cost of the holiday, it’s buying suitable clothes, equipment hire, lift passes, food, lessons, crèche. These can double the expense.

Plus as others have said, if adults are good skiers, what this means is that they have probably started early and been more or less every year of their childhood, so it’s often a signal of multi generational wealth/ privilege in the same way that a trust fund/ inherited furniture is! And I know very few people who have skiing as their only holiday in a year, so for most people it’s just an add on holiday, which costs 5k plus!

Plus my own theory is that like strong cheese you have to acquire a taste for it and it helps being posh- having started later in life I just don’t enjoy it much when I (infrequently) do go. Probably a mixture of being a bit shit at it and all the annoying people…

And yes some people will very much resent not seeing their “type” of person in Val, Chamonix, Meribel etc- starts to undermine their own life view that they are inherently better than everyone else! Whatever next, they’ll be choosing a prime minister who hasn’t been to Eton/ Harrow.

I used to take my kids skiing in Scotland. Wasn't too expensive, drive (£100 in fuel) accommodation £800 half board (was a few years ago), lift pass and kit was £500 if I remember correctly for 4 days 1 adult 2 kids. I remember it was£1500 or so all in including a stop on the way back. There's a youth hostel for cheaper accommodation and if you hire kit in the town it cheaper than the resort

We do go skiing regularly but actually wouldnt call it a holiday - it's really hard work.

We are lucky that a friend has an apartment in a ski resort that they just let us use it (I know this isnt available for everyone!). We drive down, don't eat out as its beyond expensive. Children all have their own gear from Facebook marketplace.

Ski hire/passes are the main costs.

We can do this holiday for about 1k. I wouldn't go if it wasn't for dh and all the children being ski/boarding obsessed. I'm a bit meh about it. I'd much rather a sun holiday - I go on my own with friends later in the year.

I'm definately working class. I agree though, there seems a lot of cash splashing around in the resort. We do look longingly at the beautiful restaurants while we walk back to the apartment for our beans on toast :-)

You have no idea if any of those families struggled to save up for it though. The whole idea of going through the school is you're just paying for the one child not the whole family. I think you're out of touch

Are you just showing off now?

Due to injury i haven’t been skiing since 2016 when we went to Courchevel which is my favourite resort. That was the only year we ever went self catering. The lift passes are 355 euros each. So a family of 4 would be spending over 1k before even thinking about food, accommodation, lessons, ski hire, travelling there, etc.

it was the first time we’d been to Courchevel in years as we’d had a few years in Val d’isere in a catered chalet. I remember being shocked how much the food in Courchevel was compared to Val. For three of us we’d struggle to have lunch for less than 100 euros. When we’d been 6 years previously you could eat in a nice pizzeria for 11 euros a pizza.

I have never been on an all inclusive holiday. I haven't been skiing either but, coming from a country where cross-country skiing is something we do at a weekend, I can promise you that it costs a bomb just in equipment and clothing alone. I can't imagine anyone needs to buy full ski gear when they are off on a all inclusive hols in Crete.

No not at all. We're far from well off!

And as for the "special" clothes - I've always skied in my normal hiking jacket with the fleece zipped in - berghaus in my case. I use it year round, and I put waterproof trousers over my normal ones. You do not need ski specific gear, that's simply fashion and in Scotland many people are wearing decent outdoor gear, layer with thermals (mountain warehouse is reasonable and again I use them on the motorcycle too so not ski specific)

The thing with skiing is that it's a signal of multiple generational wealth

This is it. It’s not significantly more expensive than a big overseas holiday anywhere else but it’s something you are unlikely to feel comfortable doing unless you did it as a child.

My parents didn’t ski so I don’t have the nous and comfort level with it which you have if you have grown up with it.

I have skiied twice in my life and on both occasions it was because I got taken by groups of people who knew what they were doing. I wouldn’t book it for my family, not because I don’t enjoy it but because I would find the whole outlay and the hassle daunting.

You manage two short breaks without credit. You should check your privilege