state school ski-ing trip too expensive?

[swanthingafteranother]

It's £1,500. To go for a week at Easter to America. They always go there, facilities and snow very reliable etc.

Now I think for beginner ski-ing it is in some ways a bargain, because a family ski-ing trip for five is obviously going to be so much more, and anyway my Dh hates ski-ing so we would never go in the first place..

But surely they could have chosen somewhere in Europe which was slightly less expensive, say at Feb half term or even Xmas/New Year?

Anyone else's experiences?

I want to send ds because I can afford it and because he is hopeless at sport and really wants to be better and really really wants to go and has never been and never will go skiing with us, but why is it such an outrageous price so as to discrimate against most of his classmates?

Oooh lake tahoe is my favourite favourite place in the world to ski.

Worth every penny then IMO - but wasted on the kids

I think the difference between taking a whole year group to see some coastline (nightmare-ish) compared to taking 20-30 vair naice kids skiing to USA is not to be underestimated.

Im a teacher and dont really volunteer for most trips (young family etc etc) but would put myself forward for this one!

I actually do think its for the teachers benefit- why couldnt they organise a skiing trip to France/ Switzerland etc?

Lol. It is. Email. Go on. That'll be two of us. Bloody school

DS's school had a skiing trip to the USA earlier this year for similar money. Out of the whole school only 35 kids went. I suspect the ratio will be similar at the OPs school so its not as if it is a handful kids left behind to watch dvds in the classroom while everyone else is on holiday.

I thought our school ski trip was expensive at £900.
I encouraged both DSs to go though on the grounds that we will never go as a family. If I had wanted to go skiing I would have done it 20 years ago. It's not my idea of a holiday.
DS2 is going next Easter in the holidays on a coach trip.

£750 is the going rate for state school ski weeks - and that's a lot of money. There's also clothes and spending money to factor in.

Like SecretSquirrels I would always try to pay for and encourage my DCs to go on a school trip/experience we could never afford as a family - but £1500 just seems mad. I certainly couldn't manage that.

£880 for DS's last two ski trips, by coach to a posh Austrian resort. I thought that was good value given everything they got to do, and the hotel looked excellent.

I admired the teachers for doing this - 50 kids for a whole week. They deserve a medal.

That's a ridiculous amount of money. My dd's school and my ds's school both do them for a lot less than that (travel to Europe, not USA), (£600 - tht one was not in 1/2 term - £800ish) and of course, that's expensive then, but, as others have said, a bit more affordable as a 'one off'. You still have clothing and spending money to add on to that.
My dcs have both been with the Scouts instead - longer holiday, far more activities, and a lot less money.

My sons school trip runs at Feb half term and costs £870. That includes all travel by coach, accommodation full board, six days of skiing with 6hrs of skiing instruction a day, a six day lift pass, all evening activities all equipment hire, full winter sports insurance and a souvineer sweatshirt. I don't think that's too bad considering the lift pass itself costs over £120. Skiing is an expensive activity and that's generally why schools run them during the holidays and make them purely recreational rather than compulsory. Many of the students that go have parents that would never take them themselves and so they see it as a good opportunity to give their child that experience. I do agree however that £1500 is very expensive for a weeks skiing. Ok it is America but Europe is just as reliable for snow and in my opinion much more picturesque, especially Austria!

DD is going to South Africa on a sports trip this summer with school £1600. The school is ion quite a poor area but they were given two years to save and a wide range of pupils are going. It is beyond the range of some, but is that a reason to deprive everyone? Not everyone could have gone anyway, as there was a cap on numbers.
I'm a teacher and I rarely do residential trips now as it is really hard work, including lots of unpaid hours/days, costs money and puts you in a vulnerable position if any child is injured. Teachers definitely DO NOT plan trips for their own benefit!

I think America at Easter will be comparable to Europe in Jan/Feb/March.

The advantage of going skiing in Europe is that they get a little bit of culture, and no jet lag. Mind you, I do think taking a coach through Europe must be hellish. Just fly. really, why punish yourselves?

Yes, £1,500 is a lot. But I would pay it if DS wanted to go (he hasn't even bought home the ski trip letter as he doesn't want to go to Bulgaria, apparently.)

Lol Rabid! A school beginning with G? Don't dare complain, as ds1 has been in trouble recently (yr 7)...and they probably don't want him on the trip anyway...

Interestingly it is not fullboard, nor is it 6 hours of tuition, just four hours, so I suspect loads more spending money required...

Oh dear, why can't they just teach them sailing or something manly?

Nope. Not a g.

swanthing, take him sailing them, or just don't send him on the trip- nobody forces you to go on school ski trips, as others have said probably between 50-100 pupils out of 1800 in most schools will go on the school ski trip. Personally as a parent i love them, i can't afford it every year, but when i can my dc love to go. I can't go away at that time of the year due to large menagerie.

Hi,
I am new to this blog, my kids are just coming up to the age that they will be considered to go on a school ski trip and I have also worked in the ski industry for the past 15 years at all levels from ski rep right up to resort manager. I have been working with school groups for the past 2 years and one thing I know from my experiences is that the trips that are well rememebered by the students and are well run run are done by teachers who work extremely hard both during the week away plus all the work that goes into all the preperation. Admittedly the teachers do have time to ski but when a child feels ill or is unable to ski the teachers are there to stay with the student and the good teachers remember that the skiing experience is for the children and is not a teachers jolly. Regarding the price, the USA, Canada and Switzerland are all over priced compared to what great skiing you can get in Europe, and if you want to keep the price down then a coach trip to Italy or Austria at Easter should cost no more than £800 which with the current exchange rates is a good price to aim for, naturally you will pay on average £100 more for February half term. The overpriced resorts are also a waste of money for beginners and intermediate level students as most of the time they will stay on the same couple of slopes whilst they practice the basic skills and sometimes dont even require a lift pass for the first 2 or 3 days making a great saving.
I have a huge passion for skiing and and snowboarding and it has changed my life and i would recommend every child tries it once to see what it is like , but it should not cost the earth and there are resorts in all prices ranges to suit all groups. Thanks Lucas

I agree with Lucas. My parents have never skiied, and I had the chance to go when I was in school. I wasn't particularly good at sport, but I really took to skiing. I learned German because of that holiday, and went to live in Germany for a while. I am now completely hooked on skiing, and we try to go each year, although we have missed a couple of years because of the cost. I really love skiing though, and am very glad that I was able to go with the school.

Skiing holidays are fantastic. The kids have a brilliant time.
Ds1's school organized a trip to the US and the price was similar - he didn't go as he came home to our beautiful mountains - we were being pretty horrified at the cost involved but parents paid.

I agree that the opportunity for dcs to go on a ski trip is great, that's why I think the schools ought to make every effort to make it as affordable as possible, so more dcs will get the opportunity to go.
There's a MASSIVE difference between £800 and £1500 - well, almost double, obviously. That's clearly going to rule out a lot of families that might be able to budget for their dc to go. Yes, I know some people will never be able to afford to go, but it includes a LOT more if you keep costs down.

They run a similar ski trip at DDs school every other year to the USA for a similar price. They say it is because it is not possible to guarantee the ski conditions in Europe at the right time of year. DD would have liked to go to the US but does nto fancy ski-ing for some reason! She has done a Classics trip and a Water Sports Trip to Spain which were both around £700. The school also did/does an annual short trip to France in year 8 (opal coast) and year 9 (battlefields) which is relatively cheap and subsidised if families can't afford it.

World Challenge is next on the agenda next summer which I think is well over £2000 for two weeks in the Himalayas but the kids have to raise the money themselves (some chance!).

Do you think £1500 is too much for what he gets, or are you miffed that the school is even offering such a trip.

It doesn't sound like a lot to me. The flights alone are going to be well over £500. Add to that accommodation, food, local transportation. Then factor in ski school, and evening entertainment.

I think Claire, the point is, the school have chosen an option that is nearly twice the price of another option, which would also have given the pupils the opportunity to learn to ski / go away with their school friends.
To fly to USA and then have a skiing holiday, it probably is priced about right, but many are saying there is no need to fly to the USA to have a ski holiday.

I think my dd is in that school too!
Way too expensive, they could have gone to Austria for at £500 less. There's no way I'm paying that amount of money and tbh none of her friends are going anyway. The school gets away with it because we are in an affluent area but thay seem to have forgotten that it is a state school. Ridiculous really

Our (state) school ski trip is £800 - it is a coach trip to Austria, and includes full board + 5 hrs tuition per day, and a couple of evening trips out, so hopefully not too many extras to come! Although we can afford it, I am very aware that we are lucky in this respect, and that this is a step too far for many parents. I am a bit about expensive school trips -great opportunity, but maybe those who will benefit are those whose families could afford it in the first place?

Hi - read lots of really excellent comments about ski trips. Could anyone tell me exactly where the Europe ski trips were, which companies the school used and ball park figure of cost please. Trying to mount an argument for going to Europe rather than States as the £1500 seems prohibitive to me for vast majority of families....

AT my DC school they do a cheap(ish! obv relative) one year, then medium the next and the US trip third year and rotate. Boys on bursaries are given assistance if they want to go. Trip is always very oversubscribed, so no shame in not going.
If the teachers get a jolly, so what/ good on them for being willing to go, they have a hard enough job, happy if they have some perks ( tho taking a group of teenagers on a trip would not be my idea of a 'perk' grin]