Aibu to think skiing is not an essential skill!

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My brother & his wife hate skiing but bring the kids once sometimes twice a year as they think it's an essential skill for their children to learn.. aibu to think this is ridiculous & it will never, ever come in useful in adult life!

How are you defining "Not expensive" and "everyone can go"?

It’s obviously not. But it is.

Well a lot can go wrong. My sister lost her front tooth by a middle aged incompetent man.

She would still say it’s the best holidays she ever had and continues to go skiing to this day.

I was talking to my mum about it at Christmas and she was saying as two girls it was a fantastic opportunity to spend time with my autistic awkward dad who is brilliant but needs to be doing something or gets jittery. He wasn’t one for sitting.

It’s also great for sibling relationships. We had far less arguments skiing than on normal holidays where would be bicker.

It’s also just gorgeous scenery. There is nothing like standing on top of a mountain covered in snow with super fresh air to breathe and beaming sunshine.

The food always tastes incredible too. I’m not sure if that’s down to the excercise. To ski into a restaurant completely isolated next to frozen waterfalls and have someone throwing slabs of meat on a giant wood fired hot plate is quite something.

Or even just getting a Ritter bar and an orangina and sticking the orangina in a snow mound at bottom of mountain so when you get down again it pops and steams the fizziness of ice cold delight. These are my top childhood small moments of joy.

Plus you get spa and swim usually which is also incredible for wellbeing (hot/ cold therapy). You feel fantastic. It helps sleep and as someone who hated early mornings I would always be raring to go.

It is magical as a young child at night with the lights, and also great for older teens when they don’t really want to family holiday as much. It really is something special imo.

It is non negotiable for DP to learn so we can enjoy this together as a family. Him not skiing is probably doubling the price for a number of years so it’s going to be tricky but I have said it’s a top priority once littlest is 3 or so.

Out of interest, what else do your DB and SIL consider essential skills? Golf? Horse-riding? Opera? I suspect football is not on the list.

@MatildaTheCat

"did they ever enjoy skiing? Maybe they hate it now because skiing with kids is a total ball ache. My DB and his wife are excellent skiers and took their DC from tiny. All were absolutely brilliant by the age of 9/10. The early years were not a lot of fun but now they spend weeks every year skiing together."

Totally agree about skiing with children being stressful. Last time I took my young children skiing I spent the entire time slowly skiing behind them acting as a human shield to protect them from a combination of collisions from faster adults and random changes of direction by them and sudden stops.

The children's section of Grenoble hospital at this time of year will change your mind forever on taking young children skiing. Sure the majority come home safely with nothing but good memories but a sizeable number end up with serious injuries.

Now they are older if they want to go on a school trip then fine but it's certainly not an activity I would encourage. The risk / reward is simply not there.

Most people at my work ski, to the point that there’s a work ski trip. I’m one of only a few people there who hasn’t skied since childhood! Similarly, my husband’s family are all skiers and trying to learn as an adult by myself so that I’m able able to join them has been pretty miserable (as is being the only person not joining the holiday!). It’s no way an essential skill, of course, but I do think it’s one of the odd little things that is helpful to have in your arsenal and depending who your friends / family / colleagues are in your adult life, can feel a bit of a gulf between you and them.

It is if you are a posho.

My ex husbands family were horrified that I’d never been skiing. They made me feel like I was a freak show exhibit, “this is mysogisamassive twat - she doesn’t ski!”

You should have seen their faces when I told them I’d never even been abroad (too poor). It was like I’d just come out the workhouse.

Ski bores are another level and best left to it.

I can ski and if I ever get stranded at the top of a large hill, or small not too steep mountain, without shelter or a pair of decent walking shoes but for some reason with a pair of skis and ski boots my size, the skiing lesson will be invaluable!

Yes, this. Or go off-piste and say things like ‘Did I tell you about the time I skied down the north face of the Eiger after only a single ski lesson on a dry slope in Stoke On Trent, Jonathan?

I don't think it's essential in the same way that cycling and swimming (or better put, water safety skills) are, but it certain oils the wheels of middle class civilisation.

Same may apply for golf and tennis.

Downhill ski-ing is hugely bad for the environment though and it's up there with owning an SUV as an eco-sin for me - middle class oils notwithstanding.

If that's the sort of thing you enjoy, go for it.

We ski and its a great family holiday/time together. Definitely not essential though. I think if you can try it early on then do it, so much harder learning in later life.

Downhill ski-ing is hugely bad for the environment though and it's up there with owning an SUV as an eco-sin for me

I think it varies enormously. Skiing is one of the first harbingers of a changing climate - the season is getting shorter and less reliable, especially in lower altitude resorts.

In Austria the ski tourism industry supports mainly small family run businesses and is owned collectively, they are aware of the environmental issues and mitigate them as much as possible. The ski lifts and other infrastructure are all powered with renewables, water is saved in mountain reservoirs to create artificial snow and chemicals are banned - the land is grazed or used for hay-making during the summer.

Any sport which brings people into close contact with nature - as skiing does (and the corollary, hiking and mountain climbing in summer) helps to remind people of the importance of protecting our environment.

Our kids are far posher than we were, so being able to ski is part of their lives. We learnt as late teens, but ours were at ski school from about 5 onwards. Our son is going off to see a friend who’s doing a season as a chalet maid in St Anton. It’s the done thing!

Db & sil are going to a cheaper resort but they were saying there is lots of snow for this week & good instruction... I know nothing about skiing!

Skiing is expensive.

It is but I was just replying to the poster who said location matters.. db is not going to one of the glitzy ski towns where the royals go!

I’ve reached the ripe old age of 59 without ever skiing and I’ve managed to live life just fine

Exactly! It's not essential buy some of the replies were very interesting & I suspect those replies were what my brother meant by "essential "..

it's not expensive

It certainly isn't cheap and I suspect it is still way out of the price range of many people.

If you've never been before it certainly adds up:

• ski clothes: even if just from somewhere like decathlon it adds up - base layers, fleece, coat, salopettes, gloves,hat, snood, googles and helmet
• ski lift pass
• ski and boot hire
• cost of lessons

And for most people:

• flights and/or transport
• accommodation
• airport transfer cost

DS went to a posh school where skiing was part of the social calendar. He had a form of childhood epilepsy so skiing was not possible. He also never learned to ride a bike. He’s never been socially ostracised for not skiing. He grew out of the epilepsy so could have gone on the ski trips later on but was never interested. He tried boarding at the local snowdome but due to his extra long legs and very high centre of gravity he found it impossible to stay upright. His long legs mean that he is far more used to on a rugby pitch.
His social standing has not been affected by his lack of skiing ability.

I would love to know how expensive is defined!

I think some ski towns are more expensive than others & attract the super rich!

I grew up skiing but only cross country having grown up in a fairly flat area. I find it funny how in the UK skiing is seen as posh but only certain forms of skiing i.e. those in the Alps. I can talk skiing with the best of them but not alpine skiing.