 Poster: A snowHead
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seriously. as someone has kind of mentioned above....
who the feck has 14k sitting around? let alone 5k!?
what the hell do these people do with their lives back home in the UK? sit in and hibernate?!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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that's a bit of a squeeze, even for skibums.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
what the hell do these people do with their lives back home in the UK? sit in and hibernate?!
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Yes. They work their t!ts off for seven months in order to ski for five. How did you think people were doing it?
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i work my tits off all year round, earn a good living, but could no way have 14k sat there in the bank.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| jbob wrote: |
Chamonix
Small studio 2500 (1250 sharing)
pass 500
there and back 200
food 500
beer 15000 |
And the experience.................. PRICELESS!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Lizzard, why are you so f-ing scornful the whole time? The whole world is not necessarily like you, or the company you frequent in your not-so-typical neck of the woods. Which is probably a good thing.
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aldoyle, Obviously I don't know you from Adam (apologies Adam) but despite what the UK press says a lot of people aren't upto their necks in debt and do have those sorts of figures at hand....
I've always thought I won't be as poor tomorrow as I was today and apart from one massive glitch 12 years ago (b$$$h of an ex-wife) it's pretty much been true.. and that by no way means I didn't enjoy my life to the full and spend on a lot of "toys" (3sports cars, big house, dog walker, cleaner, gardener, most weekends away, eat out a couple of times a week)...
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that if that's what you want to have (£14k in the bank) you just need to work out how to get it....
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aldoyle, presumably you have a mortgage, Sky TV, phone contract, car insurance, blah etc. People working temp jobs and saving for seasons don't spend money on that stuff, since it's surplus to requirements if you're just going to abscond back to a ski resort in a few months. And you don't need 14K either.
Hurtle, what's 'scornful' about it? The question was how people generate enough cash to ski all winter. Well, in many cases that's how.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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aldoyle, it's about priorities. I don't understand how someone thinks you need 14k to do a season though, maybe if you go out drinking every night and have a 6 bed appartment to yourself it would.
WTF about the term ski-bum implies working, surely the very essence of the bum term implies not working?
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marcellus, wot I said to Lizzard, mutatis mutandis, except that, thankfully, you're not as scornful/rude as she is (whilst apparently being blind to the fact).
It's obviously no use generalizing on these matters, what every person has, and what every person wants, will differ.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I dont have a mortgage, for the purposes of saving on monthly outgoings (by half). i dont have sky TV, nor a phone contract as work provide my mobile. just phone line and broadband.
my money is spent on bills, rent, running my car, eating, clothes (every now and again), save for skiiing holiday + summer holiday, and maybe the odd treat here and there....
I earn a damn good living (approx double national average) and there is absolutely not a cat in hell's chance i could save that sort of money.
so clearly, there is more to it than your (simple) explanation as above.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Swirly, to be fair, the 14K figure included accommodation costs in the UK plus six months cat-sitting. Clearly a silly proposition. On the other hand, Bertie Bassett reckons he spent 11.5K, though I don't know anyone else who's spent anything like that on a season. Maybe he lived in a mansion and drank champagne every night.
aldoyle, are you sure no-one else has access to your bank account? 
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Lizzard, Im positive thanks.
earning 50k per annum - to put 14k away (working for 7 months) to go away for the season, means you are left with 5-6k to live on for 7 months....
850 quid for bills / rent / eating / etc etc etc?
told you there was more to it - silver spoon perhaps?
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You know it makes sense.
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OK Hurtle I'll generalize less especially for you!
aldoyle if you earn approx £60,000 per annum (double national average salary for 2007/08 source National Statistics Office) I am astounded that you can't see how you could have £14k in the bank quite easily...
aldoyle, to give you a further idea of what is possible.... in 1997 (aged 29) I was made homeless and lumbered with over £25,000 of cash debt cash and a court order against me to give someone over £7,000pa.
I always wanted to retire by the time I was 40 and I never lost sight of that.
In 2007 (aged 39) I quit and sold up in the UK and effectively retired.. ok reality is I'm semi-retired but still it is achievable this will be my 3rd "season"..
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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aldoyle, totally agree. I don't earn much over the national average and 90% of my income goes on mortgage, bills, running the car and bike, food, clothing, etc. However, I have managed to save £1500 this year. This has funded/will fund new ski boots and secondhand skis, my ski holiday and a fair bit of dental work. By that calculation it would take me 8/9 years to save enough to do a season. In this time I would be fairly close to paying off my mortgage, so forget doing a season, I'll just do the real thing instead.
Clearly there are some people out there who earn enormous amounts and have low outgoings. I don't know people like this but they must exist somewhere.
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Sat 14-11-09 14:52; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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To add, based on your numbers;
Annual numbers;
> £50k Gross
> £30k Net of Tax and NI
> £10k bills, rent, eating etc etc etc (£850x12)
> £20k disposible..............
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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aldoyle, I suppose that if you rent accommodation in the UK, that at least would be saved if you spent a winter in the Alps? Some of the other stuff - eating, drinking, wearing clothes, needs to be done wherever you're living, and you can save a lot if you don't run a car (in a ski resort with buses it's not hard to do without). For many people getting unpaid leave from work, on top of paid annual leave, could be a big problem (easy for me 'cos I'm retired). I think a lot of people who spend a winter in the mountains would count that as their main holiday and they wouldn't have a proper paid-for "summer holiday" as well. For many people, especially without kids, it's doable if they made it their priority (the whole thing is cheaper per head if there are two of you). But I suppose most people do have other priorities - especially cars and houses. We have normally only had one car between us, we have kept them till they're ancient and done 150K miles, we've never put a new kitchen in a house (our present kitchen was elderly when we bought the house in 1993, though we did do new work surfaces), we don't eat out (though we eat in very well), we buy very few clothes, we've never done a package "summer holiday" and we don't buy drinks in pubs (our sailing club does very cheap drinks, and we pop over there occasionally). But we do have an apartment in the Alps and this will be the eighth winter we've spent there.  I have a friend who spent £15K on a kitchen! And she doesn't even like cooking. Madness.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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IIRC i spent about 10k on my season. however:
- i had a number of side trips ski touring in switzerland, italy and other bits of france
- did 2 BASI courses which required 1 week's accommodation in Tignes and 2 weeks in Val d'Isere
- broke my Landcruiser requiring about 3k in repairs
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I am firm believer that where there is a will there is a way....
If you really want to do a ski season then just go and do it while you have the opportunity. This might mean quitting your job, renting out your house or selling your car. But time is one of our most important asset's - not money. And no ones live for ever.
Life has a habit of catching up with you. Blink and you will miss it.
And once you have a massive mortgage and 2.4 kids its going to be lot harder to live the ski bum dream.
You certainly dont need mega bucks to do a full season either.
Plenty reasonable seasonaire jobs out there that will cover the costs, with plenty ski time to boot.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sat 14-11-09 15:16; edited 1 time in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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no no... I'm referring to someone's comment above about working really hard for 7 months....
50k per annum salary for 7 months = £19,833 NET (roughly) - take 14k off this for the season = leaves you with £6,000 ish.
divide this £6,000 by the 7 months = £850ish per month
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Haggis_Trap, totally agree with where there is a will there is a way.... which has got me to where I am now at 23 years old, with a damn good job and lifestyle.
But, this whole disussion is around people claiming it costs 10-14k for a ski season, and this being an affordable amount by "working your tits off for 7 months"
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| Peter Leuzzi wrote: |
In monetary terms that is.
If you went from say mid December until mid April how much would that 4 months cost?
Besides guessing (which i'd like to hear as well), anyone actually done it and kept track of the bottom line? If so, where?
NB This is a complete hypothetcial for me  |
People nearly always delude themselves about the true, total cost of a workfree season.
Almost everyone will end up paying somewhere in the range of £2k to £10k per month.
A young, poor, childless, homeless male with ski- / board-repair skills traveling in a group to ultra-basic selfcatering accommodation in a good resort in the French Alps for 5 months from Dec to Apr will be roughly around:
Lost net wages = £5000;
Accommodation = £2500;
Liftpass for whole season = £900;
Cheap, new kit to last the whole season = £500;
Food = £500;
Drink = £500;
Buffer cash for surprises and emergencies = £500;
Insurance = £400;
Kit maintenance and replacement for whole season = £200;
Total return transport costs = £200;
Cellphone & Internet = £200.
So, roughly £10k to £12k for 5 months is the absolute baseline for total costs.
In reality, most people will end up paying about 50% to 200% more than that estimate.
Make sure you stay near the center of a big resort. Feel the buzz. Only losers stay down the valley.
Do it.
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Whitegold, that doesn't compute. If you're going to factor in "loss of wages" then you you also have to factor in all the things you're NOT spending the money on at home. Food, drink, cellphone and internet, etc. And I don't see why insurance should cost £400. I'm spending not much more than half that on two very elderly folks, with unlimited skiing including off-piste, for an entire year.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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aldoyle, if you really want to do it, don't look at these numbers... you're 23....... find some typcial seasonaire work.. some might even give you a roof over your head, feed you and give you a pass. so the money you earn covers your beer tokens...... so the season for you could cost you 3parts of nothing..
Afterwards you could go back to the UK and settle back down.... when interviewed explaining a 6 month break could be turned into a positive....
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How do people do this  .
My circumstance ;
Age 45.
Reasonably well paid job with excellent benefits including car and personal fuel etc.
Nice 4 bed house and mortgage free.
Wife also is in a well paid job
2 children, one semi dependant (lives at home, but does not contribute, but on the same score doesn't really cost us that much to keep him) one at College studying A levels intending going to Uni.
So on paper we are pretty well off and I do enjoy 3 ski hols a year and a further 1 or 2 Sun hols. So YES if I were to forego these I could quite easily raise the £10k or so for the season. Even if my OH would agree, the problem I would have is going to my MD and asking for 5 months off. The reason I am well paid and have a company car etc, is because I am needed at work and cannot just take 5 months off. Even if He said yes what about the X mount of £s I would not earn by not being at work.
So come on Guys how do you do it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
Only losers stay down the valley
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that doesn't compute either. I don't know the town well but the centre of Bourg St Maurice doesn't look to me like it's full of losers. A better "buzz" than many ski resorts, I suspect.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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silver spoon / right place right time / luck. (like most of the skiing society to be fair)
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You know it makes sense.
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aldoyle, I'm claiming that it costs more like £5000. We've easily saved that amount over seven months on an income less than yours and still paid all the usual bills. (With the exception of Sky TV, obviously )
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Kel wrote: |
How do people do this .
My circumstance ;
Age 45.
Reasonably well paid job with excellent benefits including car and personal fuel etc.
Nice 4 bed house and mortgage free.
Wife also is in a well paid job
2 children, one semi dependant (lives at home, but does not contribute, but on the same score doesn't really cost us that much to keep him) one at College studying A levels intending going to Uni.
So on paper we are pretty well off and I do enjoy 3 ski hols a year and a further 1 or 2 Sun hols. So YES if I were to forego these I could quite easily raise the £10k or so for the season. Even if my OH would agree, the problem I would have is going to my MD and asking for 5 months off. The reason I am well paid and have a company car etc, is because I am needed at work and cannot just take 5 months off. Even if He said yes what about the X mount of £s I would not earn by not being at work.
So come on Guys how do you do it. |
simple - you decide that you would rather do the season than have the assurance of a job to come back to
not saying that is how your priorities should be but if you really wanted to you could do a season no problem, esp when you get your youngest packed off to uni
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Poster: A snowHead
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| aldoyle wrote: |
no no... I'm referring to someone's comment above about working really hard for 7 months....
50k per annum salary for 7 months = £19,833 NET (roughly) - take 14k off this for the season = leaves you with £6,000 ish.
divide this £6,000 by the 7 months = £850ish per month |
but plenty of peoiple do live on this, even in Edinburgh which isn't known for cheap rent, you can get a one bed flat for ~ £450/month, £100 council tax, £100 gas/electricity/phone, £200 a month for food and other things. You would be living very frugally but its by no means undoable. Rent a room in a flat share and you would have another £100-£150 a month. Most people are saying they don't spend anywhere near £14k so even on a lower salary this would still be realistic. If you think you need to earn £50k for a decent standard of living then you're sadly deluded.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Haggis_Trap, out of interest, do you reckon you could have lasted a full season in your van?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Kel, You get say 25 days holiday a year - roll one year over and take the next year's as well. Bingo 2.5 months off , ask for a couple of weeks unpaid and you've got a 3 month "season" with barely a scratch on your wallet. If work is such an issue agree to work 2 days a week remotely - 1 day off the slopes and the other spread over your evenings allowing you to stay on top of things.
No silver spoons involved either.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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This is about priorities. For someone whe earns twice the national median and has no mortgage millstone to say that he can't afford to ski for a season is ridiculous. It would be more accurate to say that he doesn't actually want to or isn't prepared to make the necessary sacrifices. Both of which are fair enough, but not the same as 'can't'.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sat 14-11-09 15:47; edited 1 time in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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LOL! I was feeling sympathetic towards aldoyle until I found out he/she earns £50k at the age of 23!! Holy carp!!
I could also point out that I did a season at the age of 23. I was utterly broke (£7k of student debt) but mortgage and job-free. I worked for a TO as a resort manager. It was quite hard work, the pay was lousy and I didn't get to ski every day, but it was fantastic fun and I never regretted doing it. The only thing that stopped me doing it again was the need to get a real job and start paying my student debts off. The rest, as they say, is history.
It's perfectly feasible when one is young and without commitments. Once you're at a certain point on the property and career ladder, it's a different story, but I'm still aiming for my 10-year-plan.
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| chaletglacier wrote: |
| I know....call me old me old fashioned but 'doing a season' means working not just an extended holiday. Its usually more fun and you feel more part of the place, make more friends.... |
That is an illusion "feeling part of the place"
All they do is meet people doing alike, very few speak the local language. Its just a transfer of rich kids from the Kings Road or Kensington High Street to the Alps, they do not meet or integrate with the locals. There is no adventure in that .
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Sat 14-11-09 16:08; edited 2 times in total
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| Quote: |
| Haggis_Trap, out of interest, do you reckon you could have lasted a full season in your van? |
Ha ha. April road trip in the camper van was fine.
Though it night be a different story in mid January when its -20 outside.
Would have lasted - but an appartment would have been better.
The biggest problem with a campervan is getting gear dry - especially if you cant hang stuff outside.
Sold that van for £400 profit by the way! (after putting in a new battery, glow plugs and 2000+ miles on the clock).
Was sorry to see the green god-dess go. But she did us proud....
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
silver spoon / right place right time / luck. (like most of the skiing society to be fair)
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aldoyle, if it's true that you're 23 and earn £50K, then that quote tells us all we need to know. You seem to feel a bit sorry for yourself, and hard done by, and you think "luck" happens to other people, or they have rich parents, or whatever. With that attitude, nothing's likely to change for you.
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Here is another question.
If you have the inclination... then what is the opportunity cost of not doing a ski season whilst you have the chance ? IMHO time is just as valueable as money !
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Sat 14-11-09 16:07; edited 2 times in total
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