No snowboarding on school ski trip

[Gentillie]

This is so frivolous I know!

My DD is Y8 she has two very close friends and they are all going on the school ski trip in January. Today one of the friends dad has complained in our group chat non stop about how they aren’t allowing his daughter to do any Snowboarding, he claims he’s offered to send her with equipment etc.
Now when it comes to it, it’s because his daughter is better at snowboarding, she’s been going on a trip with her dad every half term since she was a child and always doing private snowboarding lessons. He keeps making it clear she can ski but isn’t as advanced.
He’s now asked a slightly larger group chat of parents 7 kids worth, to join him in complaining to the school as it’s unfair she won’t get to snowboard.
One of the parents has pointed out that it will be because for lessons they will split into ability groups and even if they made a snowboard group she’d probably be too advanced as it would be a small minority who would pick it.
Others have agreed it’s very unfair and will be joining him in complaining.

AIBU to think he’s being very precious and his DD can ski with everyone else for 5 days? Is this normal in your kids school or do they let them ski or snowboard.

I wouldn't automatically assume snowboarding would be available on a school ski trip, no. But if that was really important to me, I think I would ask before commiting to the trip.

If I had assumed snowboarding would be available, and it turned out it wasn't then i"d think "oh well, I probably should have checked". I wouldn't bitch and moan to other parents and I certainly wouldn't complain to the school.

You're definitely right on the boots!! DS (140 is only a boarder, DD (12) can do both but prefers skiing and DH and I are firmly skiers so we ski as a mixed group. Possibly I'm scarred by having to tow DS across the flats and waiting for him to clip in in blizzard conditions . If you go to France I guarantee you'll notice far fewer boarders than in the early naughties and more slanted towards Brits vs locals. I think one thing is that a lot of people my (then) age started boarding in the late nineties/ early naughties because "skiing is for the olds" and now that's sort of changed because middle aged people now board, so boarding is more of a personal preference vs. a "cool thing to do" IYSWIM. I wonder if generally deteriorating snow conditions have also impacted the choice to an extent- as in, is it easier to ski bad snow than board it? Not sure.

And a lot of people don't understand how not interchangeable a family holiday and a school ski trip is. The level of supervision and acceptable level of risk is massively different. Only 6th form MIGHT if they are very good / experienced be allowed to ski with a good staff member instead of an instructor. Absolutely no "free time" on the slopes at all. As pp have said, an injury means kid off the slopes and a member of staff down to be with them. It's just not possible to chop and change. Yes a school could choose to offer it from the beginning but there are good reasons not to.

What an idiot and poor girl. Totally misses point that girl just wants to be on a trip with her friends.
Totally not understanding that it’s a group trip with all logistics and risk assessments. Staff can’t just let her go off on own to snowboard.
No wonder teachers are reluctant to give up time to go on trips.

Nice..blame mum. Poor kid

Having read most of this thread, I see the father failed to see the initial form regarding the trip. If the girl is a competent boarder, then I feel bad that she won't get the chance to do her thing, but at he same time she will have fun being with her friends and quickly become competent with skis.

I live in British Columbia, so raised the kids skiing most winter weekends. DH and I are both skiers, one son boards, the other skiis. Two granchildren are now boarding. It seems quite even on the hill, with a slant towards more boarders for the younger crowd.

It's too bad the school trip cannot accomodate both, but the parent failed to read the form properly. I hope the girl has fun nonetheless.

People said that long before OP revealed that info about the snowboarding teacher gone.

It was clear from the start. The school's letter about the trip said it would be skiing only and that snowboarding was not on offer this year.

Him being a braggart doesn’t mean that this isn’t down to his DD really wanting to snowboard, though. However, if the letter said just skiing, it’s far too late for him to be kicking up a fuss now and it does make him look like a tit.

Are the parents separated? Some of the detail you’ve given sounds like it might be a bit of a tiff between the mum and dad playing out, too.

So they don’t now have a teacher who can accompany snowboarding group and made it clear on booking. He can’t want his dc alone unsupervised in a foreign country and I’m sure his dc would prefer to be with her friends.
I’m a volunteer girl guiding leader who goes on trips and it’s a definite trend that some parents only think of their child and fail to understand how different caring for a group and children that aren’t your own is.
Had a brownie mum complaining her dd hadn’t been allowed to buy a fizzy drink. Leader explained about how we couldn’t let a 7 yr old go to a bar alone in public bowling alley. Mum didn’t mean that - she meant leave the other kids unsupervised and take her child.

On this years letter it clearly stated that due to staffing no snowboarding would be offered.

This is the only important and relevant information.

It doesn't matter what happened in previous years. I'm sure there were lots of differences - wouldn't be surprised if the cost has increased for one thing. The school made it clear it was only skiing, his dd signed up on that basis, he doesn't have a leg to stand on. Doesn't matter if his (I'm assuming ex) was the one who actually received the letter, he obviously knew enough about it to agree to her going, whether her mum discussed all the details with him is nothing to do with the school!

Not only could the school fine him for taking his dd out during term time but surely he's also liable for the full school trip payment as well?
His poor dd is going to have a bit of a shock when she goes to uni and nobody cares how amazing she is (and when she is surrounded by others better than her!)

Are skiing and snowboarding rated equally for the safety? From my Skiing days I assume Staff Ratios and locality of runs are important factors.

DS snowboards and when he went on the school ski trip, he skied of course! He couldn’t actually ski before we signed him up but we took him to Chill Factor a couple of times and he picked it up easily. He could get her some lessons if he’s that bothered about her being the best!

'Never mind, I'm sure if she practices hard she will soon be able to manage 2 skis instead of one' 🤣

Of course I wouldn't say that as he is the twat, not his daughter.
But unless it is a winter sports trip I would point put that snowboarding and skiing are separate sports. Perhaps he should think about working on his reading and comprehension skill......

Snowboarding isn't part of the trip this year.

It's really that simple.

Can see why he's divorced. How awful for his poor ex wife and son.

Dad is showing himself to be an utter arse, absolutely full of himself, and he's busy ensuring everyone knows it.

Shame, really, as his daughter is likely to grow up just like him by the sound of it.

Thank you, this reply makes much more sense.

Like @Margzarita, I disagreed with your original comment; my own experience has been that boarding is generally easier/more fun and is still equally popular.

"...and now that's sort of changed because middle aged people now board, so boarding is more of a personal preference"

This did make me smile. I am very definitively a "grey on a tray" nowadays. I've just turned 59 and it's nice to know that I still count as one of the "middle aged people" who "now board"! I first went snowboarding when I was 29 back in the 1990s.

But, thinking about things, it has been several years since we've been snowboarding in Europe. We've been going to the USA and Canada in the last few years. The whole vibe there is very different indeed to a French or Swiss ski chalet.

btw, if you're ever concerned about lack of snow, then look to Japan. Especially the northern island of Hokkaido. They typically have 15 metres (yes, metres) of snow every year. Even the lower lying cities get around 5 metres a year.

“If she’s not very good at skiing yet, won’t she get better on a week’s trip?” innocent face

He sounds unbearable. He’s one of those people who’s obsessed with a hobby he perceives as ‘cool’ and ‘unusual’ enough to set him apart from others. He probably came to it late himself. And he’s being weirdly posturing and territorial about it. Just laugh at him.

If you can afford the ski trip and want to snowboard then your parents surely should put the money towards lessons at home not a big trip. There is no restrictions as the money is there so needs to be spent more wisely then!

This!

There is a massive difference between. Having snowboarding lessons in England and going boarding in the mountains.

Talk about missing the point.

It's a school ski trip. Not a family holiday. Do you not understand the difference?

Aren’t you friendly? 😂😂😂

Oh I'm very friendly pet. Also a very experienced skier who understands this is a school ski trip and not a family holiday. HTH

You don’t sound friendly hun. I understand the difference between a school trip and a holiday (obviously) but lots of posters were unsure how one might assume a ski trip would include snowboarding. As you’ll see from OP’s later posts, the ski trip had actually included snowboarding in past years. So, not an entirely outrageous assumption for the dad to make.

He can be criticised for behaving like a cunt, but not for starting from the assumption he did.

Congrats on being able to ski. I ski and snowboard. See you in Elevenereife next summer.