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Is anywhere in Europe decent at the moment?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Decent in the far south of the French Alps presently at moderate to high altitude after 30-40cm of recent snow. We're in La Foux d'Allos right now at 1800m. Pics from today.

https://tinypic.host/image/IMG20240211095525.pH0QH
https://tinypic.host/image/IMG20240211144332.pHWCR
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Origen wrote:
@T Bar, did the £825 include your share of the accommodation?

Yes.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Another tip if on a budget. We flew to Nice on some cheap flights (v.cheap compared to the flights for the airports further North) and used public transport to get to La Foux d'Allos.

Train from Nice to Thorame Haute.
Chemins de Fer de Provence
https://www.cpzou.fr

Bus from Thorame Haute station to La Foux d'allos centre.

35 euro for the train. 5'40 euro for the bus. That's the all in total for 4 people! Staying in an airbnb in the centre.
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Kramer wrote:
under a new name wrote:
@Kramer, what am i missing
? £825 vs £1860 - £2610 ??


The fact that he’s not included ski pass, insurance, ski hire, and food and drink on the mountain in the £825.

I have my own skis hence the ski carriage in the post but you can hire quality skis for around £120 for a week in Val D'Isere but then I'd have another £40 reduction for my share of ski carriage that I paid.
Insurance I have an annual family policy. Obviously coverage depends on various things maybe £50-80 per week
Meals varied I would be very suprised if I averaged over £40 per day for 6 days and it may well have been less but I honestly don't know, it was certainly less in the dolomites when we were paying around 100 euros between the four of us for each meal but Val is more expensive.
Ski pass is 400 euros with a 10% discount with accommodation maybe £300
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Accommodation is almost always going to be more expensive for a solo traveller.
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Origen wrote:
Accommodation is almost always going to be more expensive for a solo traveller.

Definitely and if I was going solo I wouldn't self cater, I enjoy self catering with friends and family but probably wouldn't on my own.
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@zikomo, I think I’ve done enough skiing to appreciate it as a sport. Laughing

I currently ski one week a year. Maybe.

I used to ski a lot more.

These days I like soft snow with good cover. As mentioned elsewhere, if I have to, I can ski most conditions comfortably, I’m fine on slush, even enjoy it, but am aware that the guys I ski with struggle in it and it tires them out.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Quote:

The fact that he’s not included ski pass, insurance, ski hire, and food and drink on the mountain in the £825.

Just basing the costs on my son's trip to Les Arcs for the Easter holiday.

With Easyjet flights from Manchester or Birmingham to Geneva coming in at £40ish each way for the Easter break and trains from Geneva to Bourg st Maurice at about €35, but you do need to add in the cost of carrying your skis and other equipment. My son also discovered the cost of getting the train to Manchester airport is less than £10 each way. An apartment would cost about 600€ for 7 nights to be shared between 2, but he will be staying with us. Lift pass €330. Yes insurance would add to that, but many of us already have annual insurance. Food costs a little bit more in Bourg st Maurice, especially if, like me you get tempted by the beautiful tarts but wine is a bit less. Overall I discount food costs because I need to buy food and drink anyway (incidently the most expensive lunch I had this Christmas was €17 and the cheapest €3, which is a bit more than my usual Tesco meal deal).

I just canot see how the price of a ski holiday could cost over £2000.
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Origen wrote:
Basic self-catering is generally the cheapest way for a family to have a holiday and if you're used to camping, boats, etc is no hardship. But for me the choice of self-catering is nothing to do with cost these days (though it was when we had three hungry kids). I just much prefer it, not just for ski holidays, but generally. I would much prefer a week in a nice chartered yacht, or a well-situated holiday cottage, to a cruise with 3,684 other people or a hotel surrounded by people stuffing their faces with far more food than they need "because we've paid for it". I've never been to an "all inclusive" place but because I worked in the Caribbean and the South Pacific I spent a lot of time in holiday hotels, sometimes quite good ones, but watching people staggering back from the buffet with teetering piles of "pancakes and syrup" was not a good way to start the day. But I was being paid, so I put up with it. Twisted Evil


You sound exactly like me - I totally prefer self catering, but not surprised as my fave holidays are skiing,villas, yachts and camping - did an AI beach club last year and that was ok, but much prefer the freedom to cater or eat out and I am fairly sure I’d hate a cruise
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[quote="johnE"]
Quote:

I just canot see how the price of a ski holiday could cost over £2000.


Really? Just because you wouldn't pay that shouldn't mean you can't possibly envisage people spending that, surely? We like a nice catered chalet - that will be £1800pp in Meribel in March. Pre-Covid it would have been less than £1400 for the same thing. We do plenty of skiing each day but also enjoy a decent lunch and a few apres drinks. Factor in transfers, skis, lift pass, food, drinks etc and it's not cheap but if we only do one holiday a year it would be this one so it's the one we don't compromise on. You can absolutely be in the same place far cheaper, but we aren't going to be sniffy about the guy on the lift next to us who came out on Alpy Bus and is self catering.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
johnE wrote:
Quote:

The fact that he’s not included ski pass, insurance, ski hire, and food and drink on the mountain in the £825.

Just basing the costs on my son's trip to Les Arcs for the Easter holiday.


Really? Let's unpack them shall we?

Quote:
With Easyjet flights from Manchester or Birmingham to Geneva coming in at £40ish each way for the Easter break and trains from Geneva to Bourg st Maurice at about €35, but you do need to add in the cost of carrying your skis and other equipment.


A few questions for you:

Are those flights at the weekend? If not then they're more expensive for weekend flights.
Does that include luggage? If not then it's more expensive by about £100. And that's before you add ski carriage.
How far in advance did you book them? Yes you can get cheap flights if you're flexible about when you travel and book 9 months in advance on the day that the headline rates appear, but most of the time they cost more.

Quote:
My son also discovered the cost of getting the train to Manchester airport is less than £10 each way.


Me too! Actually it's about £25 return for me. However that's not possible for the Easyjet flights because I'd need to be at the airport between 5.00am and 6.00am, when the trains aren't running. Next cheapest option is a taxi which I think is £55 - £70 one way.

Quote:
An apartment would cost about 600€ for 7 nights to be shared between 2, but he will be staying with us.


In resort, or in Bourg St Maurice?

Quote:
Lift pass €330.


On that we can agree.

Quote:
Yes insurance would add to that, but many of us already have annual insurance.


Does that make it free? If so, please tell me where I can get this mythical free insurance from. Pro tip, if it's with your bank account it's not free, in fact every time I've done the sums, it's more expensive than stand alone insurance.

Quote:
Food costs a little bit more in Bourg st Maurice, especially if, like me you get tempted by the beautiful tarts but wine is a bit less.


I can't emphasise this enough, Bourg St Maurice isn't a ski resort. I want to stay in a ski resort. As I've not got a car with me, nor am I lucky enough to have parents who live near a ski resort, if I'm in a ski resort I'm limited to the actual ski resort shops.

Quote:
Overall I discount food costs because I need to buy food and drink anyway (incidently the most expensive lunch I had this Christmas was €17 and the cheapest €3, which is a bit more than my usual Tesco meal deal).


Yes, I need to eat too. But there's no getting around the fact that eating when on holiday, especially in a ski resort costs me a lot more than eating at home. Yes I could save money by eating a ham sandwich at the side of the piste, but FFS I'm on holiday.

Quote:
I just canot see how the price of a ski holiday could cost over £2000.


So yes, if I discount the real world costs of getting to and from the resort with enough kit to go skiing without freezing to death, and don't actually stay in a resort, and imagine that I'm not actually paying for insurance, and eat a sweaty ham sandwich for lunch and don't consume anything on the mountain, and am prepared to lose half a day staggering to and from the Casino in Bourg St Maurice with bags full of food, and ignore any price differential in that food compared to staying at home, and have parents who live near to a ski resort, and don't eat out at all and don't have any drinks, then yes £2000 is looking expensive. Laughing
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Rhoobarb wrote:
johnE wrote:

I just canot see how the price of a ski holiday could cost over £2000.


Really? Just because you wouldn't pay that shouldn't mean you can't possibly envisage people spending that, surely? We like a nice catered chalet - that will be £1800pp in Meribel in March. Pre-Covid it would have been less than £1400 for the same thing. We do plenty of skiing each day but also enjoy a decent lunch and a few apres drinks. Factor in transfers, skis, lift pass, food, drinks etc and it's not cheap but if we only do one holiday a year it would be this one so it's the one we don't compromise on. You can absolutely be in the same place far cheaper, but we aren't going to be sniffy about the guy on the lift next to us who came out on Alpy Bus and is self catering.


Exactly. These prices I used in my previous post are real world. I keep a spreadsheet to keep an eye on my costs for this very reason.

Kramer wrote:

Based on previous holidays:

Half board in a decent hotel with a TO - £1000 - £1400
Lift pass - £320
Ski hire - £120
Getting to airport - £30
Insurance - £40
Spending money - £350 - £700 = £50 - £100 per day

Total between £1860 - £2610


To be fair, snowHeads has always had the imaginary holiday brigade who like to believe that they're spending far less than they are. I remember one of them arguing with Frosty the Snowman that the cost of depreciation and wear on their car didn't need to be added in to the costs of their trip. Frosty the Snowman owns a transport company BTW. Laughing
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@Kramer, I assume you're not surprised that this thread has turned into a tirade of prejudices (against hotels, cruises and what people choose to eat, to name but a few) unwanted advice on what you should spend and why, inaccurate - as I happen to know - inferences about your skiing ability and a failure to read what you actually wrote. 'twas ever thus.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@Kramer,
Quote:

These prices I used in my previous post are real world. I keep a spreadsheet to keep an eye on my costs

Haha, so do I, though 'spreadsheet' is overstating my primitive, scribbled record. And it ruins my enjoyment every time, as I realise the eye-watering expenses I've managed to rack up on seemingly modest holidays.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:

I assume you're not surprised that this thread has turned into a tirade of prejudices

against ham sandwiches, amongst other things (assumed to be greasy, like Dagos) not to mention cooking, or shopping which nobody with a feeling for the finer things in life would be prepared to do on holiday. wink

Actually, ham is unnecessarily expensive. A tiny pot of Marmite would last the week.

I never keep any record of what I spend on anything and never have done, though I've always had a pretty accurate feel for what I can afford, and can't afford. Somebody recently asked me what I spend on food each week - I haven't the slightest idea. I don't know what I spend on electricity either, and don't want to know. Whatever it is, I can afford it and am reasonably sensible about switching things off.

So there - another prejudice, against people who keep meticulous records of their spending. Laughing
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I'd consider a daily-serviced, high-spec apartment, but something tells me that'd equal the price of a hotel room or suite.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Orwell, there it goes again - the assumption that people who rent an apartment are doing so to save money.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@Origen, I made no such assumption.
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OK, sorry if my inference was wrong. What did you mean? Of course a decent apartment could cost more than a hotel - so what?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Would it not be easier to just say you can spend £2000 on a ski holiday, but at the same time you could spend a lot less, and everyone should just spend what they want/can afford? Laughing Laughing
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But that would be no fun, @swskier Laughing
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swskier wrote:
Would it not be easier to just say you can spend £2000 on a ski holiday, but at the same time you could spend a lot less, and everyone should just spend what they want/can afford? Laughing Laughing

Indeed, I spend between £900 and £2k for a European week all-in depending on where I'm going and what plans I have for the year. I couldn't care less whether other people approve or not. Spending more doesn't make sense for me and my group financially, but I can definitely understand why people do! All power to the scrimpers and the splashers!
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I also keep a spreadsheet for costs, this is my per person breakdown

We did a week in Saalbach 27 Jan-3rd Feb 2024
Flights LGW-Salzburg 339.07 (BA Club Europe so not extra baggage cost)
Private door-door transfers £88.08 (4 in 8 seater)
VERY nice B&B spa hotel (did have half board option but preferred to keep our options open for lunch/dinner) £1055.86
Lift Pass £323.93
My additional spending food and drink for week £617.24
My wife dropped us/picked us up at Gatwick, so electric for car £18, drop off & parking £16 (£8.50 a head)
Total cost £2861.41

For comparison, last year we did self drive to Val D'Isere, with a night in BSM beforehand so we skied 7 days, self catering
Travel, passes and accomodation £758.44 a head - that's not factoring in wear and tear on my mate's 2012 Ford S-Max, but he flogged it a few weeks later!
Spend on top £823
Total £1581.44

So both are possible, I've done them. I preferred our trip this year (especially the champers in the lounge!!)
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Generally people in this thread have just stated their own likes and dislikes. Those are not necessarily "prejudices". I don't like hotels but that's a preference, or you could call it a judgement. But definitely not a "prejudice", which is simply a judgement made in advance. Being determined not to cook on holiday isn't a prejudice, either.
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Orwell wrote:
I'd consider a daily-serviced, high-spec apartment, but something tells me that'd equal the price of a hotel room or suite.

Might do in our trip to the Dolomites the B&B hotel was the same daily price per head as our apartment , but the apartment was more comfortable and almost certainly practically cost us less as we ate and drank in in the evening, it was also better positioned but as has been said it is largely a matter of preference.
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Kramer wrote:
under a new name wrote:
@johnE, yeah, I’d think circa a grand for a week Puzzled


Ha ha, in what world is that? All in price including eating, lift pass etc, not just a shoe-box and flights that needed to be booked a year ago.


I'm just back from a week in Andorra (Grandvalira) 14th Jan half board, pass and ski hire for £820. Was a steal and the snow was actually decent too.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@Origen, forgive me if this is an exercise in semantics, but
Quote:
cruise with 3,684 other people or a hotel surrounded by people stuffing their faces with far more food than they need "because we've paid for it"
and
Quote:
people staggering back from the buffet with teetering piles of "pancakes and syrup"
strike me as being prejudices against cruises in general (which, incidentally, I believe you've said you've never experienced and which Kramer certainly doesn't appear to be contemplating) and against what other people choose, however unwisely, to eat.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@Origen, simply that if you're not willing to compromise on things like cooking and cleaning, the £2k per person minimum spend stands regardless of whether one stays in a hotel or apartment. To reiterate my earlier point too, it does indeed all come down to one's preference and budget. To us, if the budget meant a standard, self-catered apartment or no holiday, we'd pick the latter, and probably invest more in the house, pension, or next holiday. I pass no judgement on people who prefer to self-cater, or are willing to compromise to make the budget work. Again, I struggle to price any ski holiday, all-in, for less than £2k per person.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@Kramer, 3 person apartments are available in Les Arcs for Easter at €655 for a week. The flights were available yesterday when we were costing out his trip. And, yes, I did say that you would have to add luggage to the flight bill but he doesn't need to in this case.

I suspect your assertion that Bourg st Maurice is not a ski resort will infuriate those of us who love to stay in a valley town in Austria and get the ski lift up every morning to the skiing. You don't need a car to get from Bourg st Maurice to the skiing you just catch the funicular.

The reason this discussion has gone the way it has is that some of us are just costing up a basic ski holiday and others are adding things they would like to do into it, such have expensive meals at lunch time full board in luxury hotels etc. Some of us just love skiing others want more.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
My judgement that I wouldn't like a cruise IS a prejudice but one that's quite well based on both my dislike of hotels and the stories I have heard from people who have been on cruises. The things they've told me that they'd LIKED about cruises are things that don't appeal to me. So on the basis of a good deal of sound evidence, I have concluded that I wouldn't enjoy a cruise. My dislike of people who carry massive plates of food back from buffets is not a prejudice, it's my current judgement and I don't want to pay money to share a space with them. In the same way as I don't like looking at overweight men in vests with tattoos and don't like truffles or evangelical Christians. Those are not prejudices, they are current judgements and many people won't agree with them! A prejudice would be to believe that an overweight man in a vest might be more likely to beat up his wife or have an XL bully dog than a slim man in an attractive shirt.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

To us, if the budget meant a standard, self-catered apartment or no holiday, we'd pick the latter, and probably invest more in the house, pension, or next holiday. I pass no judgement on people who prefer to self-cater, or are willing to compromise to make the budget work. Again, I struggle to price any ski holiday, all-in, for less than £2k per person.

Indeed, some of us would like to save the £1000 per person and spend it on another holiday (9 days in Kalymnos in May has just cropped up Smile) . Luxury hotels and such like just don't float my boat. And, yes I prefer self catering to hotels. Each to their own.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Hurtle wrote:
@Kramer, I assume you're not surprised that this thread has turned into a tirade of prejudices (against hotels, cruises and what people choose to eat, to name but a few) unwanted advice on what you should spend and why, inaccurate - as I happen to know - inferences about your skiing ability and a failure to read what you actually wrote. 'twas ever thus.



Not really, I knew that as soon as I put the price of a reasonable skiing holiday there would be a few know-it-alls on here telling me that my own bloody figures couldn't be right. rolling eyes

Let's not forget, in the past, the prolific poster on here who used to pontificate on every skiing technique thread going and then turned up on a bash only able to do stem turns, or the man who knew loads about child deprivation because his daughter <checks> trained as a Norland Nanny. Laughing

To be fair, I don't think @zikomo was actually meaning that I needed to be a better skier, merely making the point that if I was a ski in all conditions type skier (which I used to be, but prefer not to be now) then I'd find conditions acceptable, but that if I was a cruisey type skier, then they're currently a bit limiting.

@Origen, I'm sorry if I came across that I disapprove of self catering, I don't. Neither do I dislike ham sandwiches either, in fact I'd go so far as to say I'm quite partial to a Jambon Beurre. Nor do I disapprove of people who absolutely want to eek out every penny of their skiing budget by taking packed lunches on the mountain. In fact part of the point that I was making was that if you do eat and drink on the mountain, which is a big part of the enjoyment of a skiing holiday to me, and enjoy some apres ski beers, then costs rapidly increase. If you then, like most people do, and as @dunc999 confirmed, eat out at least a few times for dinner, costs rise even more.

What I do disapprove of, is people using magical figures to prove that others are somehow being mugs for paying more for a holiday. They use the cheapest possible apartment (which magically is going to have a kitchen that is equipped to cook well in), prices from the supermarket at the bottom of the valley, which they don't count because they'd have had to buy anyway, never eat or drink on the mountain, forget that they paid ~ £200 for their "free" insurance, flights that I'd need a time machine to go back and book, forget about bringing luggage of any sort, and no ski hire.

Yes, I know it's possible to go cheaper. You can go to Bansko in low season. It's also possible to go much more expensive. But forgive me on choosing to go on holiday in relative comfort, have a nice time eating nice food in nice locations and drinking over-priced beer, which as I said, when I add up the cost, tends to come in at the £2-2.5k per person mark, all in.

Please also forgive me for saying that actually if that's the amount of money that I'm likely to spend, I'd like conditions to be pretty enjoyable all of the time, rather than gritted teeth and make the most of it. Because, and here is my point, I know that I could spend the same amount of money to travel to the same mountains in summer and have the same, if not more, enjoyment on my mountain bike Laughing
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@johnE, luxury, I wish. That's for standard, half-board, 3-4* accommodation. Nothing special. We don't drink much either.
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Quote:

I know that I could spend the same amount of money to travel to the same mountains in summer and have the same, if not more, enjoyment on my mountain bike

It's this last point that I think is crucial and why the people who say a "bad day in the mountains is better than a good day at the office" so irritate me. For a start, it's not. I've had some fairly unpleasant ones on a mountain and some very enjoyable ones in the office. But a bad day in the office leaves me £X richer, and a bad day in the mountains leaves me £X+Y poorer.

Being told that a good skier can cope well with poor conditions is beside the point too. I am actually quite an experienced sailor and can cope pretty well with poor conditions. I don't panic and can generally do what's needed. But it can be horrible and given the choice, I'll avoid it!

There's a macho/masochistic streak on Snowheads which makes people reluctant to say "I looked out of the window this morning and despite having bought a lift pass decided to stay at home with my feet up, read a book and cook a really nice lunch".

I've quite often decided not to go out skiing because the visibility was poor - I like skiing on well-prepared pistes in the sunshine.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
johnE wrote:
@Kramer, 3 person apartments are available in Les Arcs for Easter at €655 for a week.


Quote:
The flights were available yesterday when we were costing out his trip. And, yes, I did say that you would have to add luggage to the flight bill but he doesn't need to in this case.


Weekend flights?

Adding luggage added £136 when I costed flights yesterday. YMMV, but I doubt by much, it pretty much doubles the cost, and maybe then some.

Quote:
I suspect your assertion that Bourg st Maurice is not a ski resort will infuriate those of us who love to stay in a valley town in Austria and get the ski lift up every morning to the skiing. You don't need a car to get from Bourg st Maurice to the skiing you just catch the funicular.


I've stayed in Bourg many, many times, it's a great base for a skiing holiday if you have a car. It's also an amazing base for a mountain bike holiday. However I don't think it would be much fun schlepping to the bottom of the funicular from the accomodation in town, which can be anything from a 20 minute to a 60 minute walk. I know, because in summer, I have done it more than a few times.

My point, that you're avoiding is that you're not comparing like with like. Bizarrely you seem to think that comparing the cost of your son coming to stay out with family, without luggage compares to going on a skiing holiday.

Quote:
The reason this discussion has gone the way it has is that some of us are just costing up a basic ski holiday and others are adding things they would like to do into it, such have expensive meals at lunch time full board in luxury hotels etc. Some of us just love skiing others want more.


Not luxury hotels. Add another £1-1.5k per person for a luxury hotel. rolling eyes

Expensive meals at lunchtime would also add another £50 per day IMV. These are just the costs for normal meals in normal restaurants.

johnE wrote:
It seems rather a lot.


johnE wrote:
I just canot see how the price of a ski holiday could cost over £2000.


I've demonstrated how, quite easily the price of a ski holiday can cost £2000 without going "luxury" or having "expensive meals", as have others on this thread, but rather than just admit that you were mistaken, you've gone down the fantasy price route for your "basic holiday".
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Quote:

I know that I could spend the same amount of money to travel to the same mountains in summer and have the same, if not more, enjoyment on my mountain bike

Indeed, I occaisonally rent a mountain bike as well, but one day is sufficient for me. They are not cheap to rent.

Shop prices, are a bit less in Bourg st Maurice than Arc 1600 but the real reason for shopping there is the choice of what to buy, espcially things you don't see in the shops in the UK.

I must confess that flights to Genva are a ridiculous price at the moment. Why is it cheaper to fly to Geneva than get the train to London? You do not need to book months in advance; these are the prices available now.
ski holidays
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Origen wrote:
Quote:

I know that I could spend the same amount of money to travel to the same mountains in summer and have the same, if not more, enjoyment on my mountain bike

It's this last point that I think is crucial and why the people who say a "bad day in the mountains is better than a good day at the office" so irritate me. For a start, it's not. I've had some fairly unpleasant ones on a mountain and some very enjoyable ones in the office. But a bad day in the office leaves me £X richer, and a bad day in the mountains leaves me £X+Y poorer.


I think that a lot of people on here, understandably because they love skiing, are in denial about how quickly skiing conditions are deteriorating year on year, and rationalising the compromises that need to be made.

Quote:
Being told that a good skier can cope well with poor conditions is beside the point too. I am actually quite an experienced sailor and can cope pretty well with poor conditions. I don't panic and can generally do what's needed. But it can be horrible and given the choice, I'll avoid it!


Skiing is very like sailing in that respect, in that some of the most exciting times can be had when most sensible people have called it a day. I've got very fond memories of repeatedly freezing on a long slow chairlift in Whistler in a blizzard with my buddy because every time we got to the bottom having made fresh tracks we went round for "just one more lap". But that's not for everyone, and one of the reasons that I don't ski like that any more was because of the amount of time and effort I was having to put in to ski consistently at that level.

Quote:
There's a macho/masochistic streak on Snowheads which makes people reluctant to say "I looked out of the window this morning and despite having bought a lift pass decided to stay at home with my feet up, read a book and cook a really nice lunch".


I think it's because lots of people on here maybe aspire to be the skiers that they see on the videos, and as I mentioned above it does take a lot of time, effort and money to do so. Quite often it's worth asking who they're trying to convince?

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I've quite often decided not to go out skiing because the visibility was poor - I like skiing on well-prepared pistes in the sunshine.


Funnily enough, now that I ski one week a year rather than the five or six that I used to, I'm more likely to go out in poor visibility, at least to give it a go. I also know a few tricks that make it easier to do so. But I don't blame anyone for having a rest day. Poor visibility and heavy snow can be a recipe for cruciate ligament tears. And at the end of the day, it's a holiday and it's meant to be fun, not an endurance event.
latest report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Bored. I hope you find the holiday you want, @Kramer, with some decent snow. (Missing our London meals, btw, I particularly fancy a return trip to Lima, which I see has maintained its reputation, though I suspect the prices are a lot higher now.)
snow report
 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.
Quote:

My point, that you're avoiding is that you're not comparing like with like. Bizarrely you seem to think that comparing the cost of your son coming to stay out with family, without luggage compares to going on a skiing holiday.


Yes, he is paying £85 to join us. Rent an apartment, book flights, take or rent skis, buy a lift pass comes to circa £1000. Or even better 3 or 4 of you in a car. The other bits are optional or you have to buy anyway such as food. A decent lunch on the mountain cost somewhere in the region of 15€. If you want to pay more that's your choice.
snow report
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Hurtle wrote:
Bored. I hope you find the holiday you want, @Kramer, with some decent snow. (Missing our London meals, btw, I particularly fancy a return trip to Lima, which I see has maintained its reputation, though I suspect the prices are a lot higher now.)


Thanks @Hurtle.

Fingers crossed that the Snow Gods smile on us. If not then it'll be more mountain biking in summer for me.

Sorry to bore you. There's no point in arguing with some people. A lesson I learned previously on snowHeads and seem to have forgotten.

Unfortunately I'm rarely down in London these days. Sad
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