 Poster: A snowHead
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The first time I went to Paradiski around 2008, we stayed in a Crystal catered chalet mid-March with an all-in price of something like £750 per person. I'm going back to Vallandry this year, catered chalet again, but the cost is around £1600 per person.
Personally, I'd love to have a crack at the US and Canada, but I simply can't justify the cost for a weeks holiday. I thought last year was possibly going to be my last ski trip into Europe with the massive rises, and it's only my absolute love of skiing that's brought my wallet back out. With the impact of climate changes and the reduction in resorts, I can only see the costs spiralling.
Avoiding the debate of self-drive/self-catering vs package to keep the costs down, I wonder what people consider to be a fair price for a weeks skiing? At what point will you say enough is enough?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Back in the days of 2-1 $/£ prices the NA trips were much easier, but those days are gone.
These days I'd be looking at smaller, more obscure resorts to keep costs down as the lift ticket is such a big chunk of the budget, or back-door routes into ski areas to stay in.
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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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It's a competetive world and the fair price for a holiday is what the market will bear. Costs and inflation affect everyone. I doubt the tour operators are making massive profits. My own personal price of skiing has probably fallen a bit because I now pay for my wife and myself rather than for both of us plus kids. I don't know what I would consider unaffordable I am retired and my income isn't huge but I'm quite happy going to secondary resorts with lower costs if necessary f the skiing is good.
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@ratkinsonuk, I'm not convinced that the price of ski holidays has gone up hugely more than the price of other holidays. Holiday rentals and campsites in the UK, for example, especially in school holidays. A flotilla holiday on a yacht in the Mediterranean, for example, for 6 people will cost (very roughly) around £6K (just the boat and airport transfers, flights and food extra) which is probably comparable.
If you can avoid school holidays, everything is much cheaper, and more pleasant.
But there's no such thing as a "fair price" for a ski holiday, any more than for any other kind of holiday. Depends on people's priorities. But it's worth remembering that ski holidays (like flotilla holidays) have always been confined to a well-off, fortunate, minority.
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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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The cheap chalets have gone, because their business model no longer works with Brexit.
The bigger higher resorts are putting their prices up to make as much money as they can whilst they still can.
Sunweb, Crystal, Inghams all work out at much the same price when you factor all the costs in.
You can get cheaper holidays from them, but you'll run a risk of having to get on a bus to get to the snow. It's not the end of the world, but it does put a dampener on things if they're crowded and don't run super frequently.
As mentioned in previous thread, I budget £2-2.5k per person all in for a holiday half board in a mid range hotel with apres drinks, and food on the mountain.
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@ratkinsonuk, the combination of inflation and worsening exchange rates would probably means £750 in 2008 is equivalent to around £1500 today, so it probably hasn't changed much for TOs or resorts. (Inflation adding around 50%, and exchange rate around 30%). And that assumes holidays today are identical to those 15 years ago. IME subtle upgrades are happening all the time. At one time most chalets were shared bathrooms, now nearly all en-suite. Uplift systems upgraded with fewer drags and more gondolas. Etc.
We could probably get back to £1 = €1.4 - 1.5 and cut the price of European holidays if we increased UK interest rates significantly, but that has obvious downsides for some.
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| Quote: |
And that assumes holidays today are identical to those 15 years ago. IME subtle upgrades are happening all the time. At one time most chalets were shared bathrooms, now nearly all en-suite
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That's a really good point. We did a number of basic catered chalet holidays with the kids and none of them had en-suite bathrooms. The first two (with Ski Olympic in La Rosiere) also necessitated catch a bus to and from the slopes, but the bus was reliable and not crowded. The chalet's electricity supply cut out if too much power was being used and we had to be considerate about sharing the hot water. Nobody complained. We also did two holidays by coach, which was about half the price of flying. It still felt like an awful lot of money, but we enjoyed all the holidays immensely.
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I had a week in a catered chalet in Zermatt in the early 2000s for £399 per person inclusive of flights and transfers. The exchange rate was something like 1.6 Swiss francs to the pound, and I remember thinking it was a bit pricey back then.
But those days are long gone.
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| Origen wrote: |
| ...But it's worth remembering that ski holidays (like flotilla holidays) have always been confined to a well-off, fortunate, minority. |
This.
I'm about to sound like a Monty Python sketch without the jokes, but it took me 10 years between learning to ski on plastic and being able to afford to fly (!) to the Alps to do it on snow. Back then UK folk wore C&A clothing and they certainly didn't have "quivers" of up to date skis like some regularly post here. When I went to Canada in the late 1980s most people I met had never encountered anyone from the UK before: it was really expensive.
But damaging and then crashing an economy has consequences, and most of them are a lot worse than skiing less.
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First time I went to Tignes in the 80's self catered but including flights and transfers it was £90.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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My best bargain was a week half-board in Courmayeur for £175 each (incl flights & transfers).
Same deal is available for £520 at the moment and I'm VERY tempted, I've been back twice more in the intervening years so a fourth trip is tempting as it's a known quantity
Holidays in Andorra are about the same price, Austria is about half as much again, while something equivalent in france is about twice the price.
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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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To put it into perspective I took up golf and about the same time I took up skiing.The municipal course that I learned on has gone form £3 to £38 . The private course that I could pay onto has gone from £7 to £90 for green fees.
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I have skied the alps for 10 years and it's not costing me much more than it did 10 years ago. You just have to be clever with the booking things yourself. 10 years ago it cost me £350-400 a person for a week in les arcs excluding food and drink. This year as follows:
Hotel in London before train: £40pp (3 in a room)
Train London to Paris Return: £83pp
Train Paris to Bourg St Maurice Return: £167pp
Lift Pass 1 week: £160pp (I wait and booked on 40% off sale day for Les Arcs)
Airbnb 1 x week in 6 person apartment : £72pp for the week
Own my own skis so no rental
Total: £522pp for a weeks skiing excluding food and drink.
Not expensive at all. And the lift pass worth every penny as think how much expenditure they have on maintaining infrastructure in those weather conditions. Even if I spend £100 per skiing day on food/booze for 6 days thats £1,122 all inclusive for a weeks skiing.
Last edited by 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  on Wed 14-02-24 14:39; edited 2 times in total
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You know it makes sense.
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£1600 all in with flights and transfer? That's a bargain these days.
We started off in Merbel about 8 years ago with similar tour operator catered chalet and flight deals for around £7/800. There's not much under four figures now (2nd week of March so outside half term.) We upgraded to nicer chalet accommodation only a couple of years before Covid, which was about €1300 plus everything else. This year paying £1800 for pretty much the same thing, We figure there's only a limited amount of time before the prices soar as only the higher resorts will be sustainable so will continue to suck it up.
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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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| Macker13 wrote: |
| Total: £422pp for a weeks skiing excluding food and drink. |
I'm definitely knocking on your door next year. I spent weeks trying to put a cheap trip like that together and struggled to lose more than a few hundred pounds with considerable compromises (no matter how I jiggled Excel). I'm obviously not doing it right 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks for your interesting responses. The question wasn't so much about inflation and the 'real' cost of a ski holiday, but more around at what point does it simply get too expensive.
For the same price as skiing with my OH last year I went to Thailand for 11 days, paid for my my mate and his Mrs to come, paid for 6 hotel rooms (lay-overs in Madrid and Dubai), hired a private luxury villa (which included staff and a chef), and hired a car for the duration. All that came to not much more than a decent ski holiday.
My point being, I felt that my hard-earned had been better spent than getting ripped off in some truck-stop French restaurant halfway up a mountain whilst the staff look down their nose at me. At some point, the scales tip. I'm almost at the point where I'd rather pay for a nice 2-week winter cruise to somewhere warm than doing the thing I absolutely love.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
getting ripped off in some truck-stop French restaurant halfway up a mountain whilst the staff look down their nose at me.
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You are comparing apples and pears. There are plenty of places to go skiing (in France and elsewhere) which needn't confirm to that stereotype. You've maybe made poor choices?
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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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| Origen wrote: |
| Quote: |
getting ripped off in some truck-stop French restaurant halfway up a mountain whilst the staff look down their nose at me.
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You are comparing apples and pears. There are plenty of places to go skiing (in France and elsewhere) which needn't confirm to that stereotype. You've maybe made poor choices? |
Victim blaming?
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@Macker13, that’s a very good price, when did/are you travelling? And how do you get from bourg to the apartment?
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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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We self catered using a package company in a 1 bed apartment this year over Christmas week for 2k all in 3 ppl only 1 child had ski lessons but also didn’t have to pay for ski pass for child! So I guess that means it’s the same as nobody with lessons. This was to a high resort in France but had pool, jacuzzi, sauna though apparently only 2* ( it was fine).
We also went 3rd week in January to Austria, so school term, this was 3.5k all in for 3 ppl including all child care & ski lessons for child and it wasn’t a package. It was a full board 4*. Very nice spa & pool, and amazing fun things for children at the hotel.
We didn’t prefer one trip over the other they were both fun in slightly different ways! But I guess when you look at it on value for money then in that sense the first trip won. We are easily pleased though, some people don’t want the hassle of cooking and we were happy with either way.
I would say 2k with strict self catering in something small really is about as cheap as we find it once factoring in ALL costs, I guess if we drove & went in term time maybe we’d knock £600 off at a push? Finding a well priced package in school holidays does also come with very good booking timing using crystal, not sure next Christmas will be as good value!
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| kitenski wrote: |
| @Macker13, that’s a very good price, when did/are you travelling? And how do you get from bourg to the apartment? |
Hi there
We are going 23rd-30th March
You get free access to Les Arcs from the train station in Bourg using the 7 minute funicular with either showing your train ticket or by using a lift pass if your pass is active. There are free Navettes (shuttle busses) that run from Arc 1600 to all the Arcs too.
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@Macker13, it might just be my old fashioned maths........
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Interesting conversation. For me, I would feel uncomfortable on more than £1000pp for a week (that's the buy-in costs of transport, catered accommodation, lift pass, kit rental). Obvs spending comes on top. Probably puts me in the skinflint category compared to many.
When I started going skiing circa 2004 it was £149pp to one of those boxy apartment in France where you sleep on the sofa bed or a bunk in the hall. I was young, wasn't fussy and generally got wasted when I wasn't on the snow so would sleep anywhere. Last trip we did package-style (in our early 40s, so a bit fussier) was over £500pp for a 5-day trip to Andorra with Neilson.
Looked for this year and we settled on Sunweb for the free lift pass, going with another family just before easter, self-catering for £400pp (inc. rental) plus the cost of the self drive and tunnel (and of course food). Feels like that's the only way we can do it now, as catered options just seem to be out of reach.
As a parent I also now notice that ski trips (like Summer holidays) just cost more because of the seasonal price hike around school holidays. Might be lucky some years with the way our area's holidays fall and get a cheaper week, but with kids it seems to just spiral in cost. I do fall into the trap of comparing apples with oranges though; 16 days driving through Europe with 11 days in a Tuscan Eurocamp place came to approx. £4000 so duration, sights seen and experiences, that trip felt like great value.
Like the OP, I've eyed up Canada and the US but for the life of me, can't work out how to do it without spending a fortune. Will I just give up snowsports? I wouldn't want to, especially as we're just getting the kids into it, but the idea of getting multiple trips a year like some people do, that's way out of my means. Obvs there are the Eastern Europe resorts that do offer good value and maybe that's where folks like me will gravitate to.
Last edited by After all it is free  on Wed 14-02-24 14:44; edited 1 time in total
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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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| toyah807 wrote: |
| @Macker13, it might just be my old fashioned maths........ |
ha fat fingers. edited
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| Origen wrote: |
| You are comparing apples and pears. There are plenty of places to go skiing (in France and elsewhere) which needn't confirm to that stereotype. You've maybe made poor choices? |
I see what you're saying, and obviously not all resorts are the same. We did Soll in Austria recently and the mountain restaurants were much better (although not as good as I remember them), but then my Mrs struggled with the terrain so we didn't explore much.
The main reason we're heading to Peisey this year is for the nice easy blues everywhere, and about as snow sure as the Alps are going to get this year. I'm also hoping being somewhere quieter (i.e. not 1950/2000) will equate to the occasional smile in the restaurants. I've squirrelled away all of the 'best places' suggestions on some of the other threads!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Not been skiing for long (less than 10 years) but I think my main increases have been because of general price increases and because I'm not going for the bargain option these days. That said, most of my recent trips have been snowheads bashes.
I probably used to budget around £1,000 for a trip and this is more £1,200 now, but some of that is luggage and meal increases. I also don't stick religiously to a figure now. But compare that to other trips for other hobbies and I dont think increase has been any different in skiing compared to them. It's like being surprised that a Chomp or Freddo isn't the same price it was in 1993, things are just more expensive
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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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| Specialman wrote: |
| Interesting conversation. For me, I would feel uncomfortable on more than £1000pp for a week (that's the buy-in costs of transport, catered accommodation, lift pass, kit rental). Obvs spending comes on top. Probably puts me in the skinflint category compared to many. |
I think we're on the same page.
I'm lucky that I rarely have to worry financially, but then I do like to get value. It could be that a lot of SH's are happy to spend their leisure money on 2 or 3 winter trips and then not do too much through the summer, so cost is outweighed by desire. Maybe. For me, I like to do lot's of varied activities, from motorbiking around Europe, learning to fly and various music festivals through the summer. I wish my pot was unlimited (don't we all) but I have to pick and choose.
I guess the reason behind the original question was to see if other's are feeling the same, or just me feeling the weight of an unwelcome choice.
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How long's a piece of string?
FWIW I reckon that even at current unfavourable exchange rates a group of seven flying Easyjet from the UK in our most expensive apartment at peak time could work out under £1000 per person all in. Around £300 each, self-catering (bought from the French supermarket) should be able to eat well for under a tenner a head per night, let's say lunch on the slopes for around £20, plus an apres ski beer, couple of vinos with dinner, should easily be under £50 a day for all food and drink. So that's £650, plus flights (booked in advance for what, 100 quid per person?) and transfers (around 50 euros last time I checked), lift pass (bloody hell, _how much_?)...
OK maybe £1000 is paring it back to the bare bones, but the figures being bandied around up there ^^^ of two and a half grand or more would go a hell of a long way even if you were eating fine dining with good wines out every lunchtime and evening.
Last edited by 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 on Wed 14-02-24 15:15; edited 1 time in total
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You know it makes sense.
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| ratkinsonuk wrote: |
Thanks ... The question wasn't so much about inflation and the 'real' cost of a ski holiday, but more around at what point does it simply get too expensive.
For the same price as skiing with my OH last year I went to Thailand for 11 days, paid for my my mate and his Mrs to come, paid for 6 hotel rooms (lay-overs in Madrid and Dubai), hired a private luxury villa (which included staff and a chef), and hired a car for the duration. All that came to not much more than a decent ski holiday.... |
Well it's always going to be cheaper to spend a week surfing in Costa Rica than it is for a week's snowboarding in Whistler. For what it's worth the surfing is about... 15% the cost, for a similar level of luxury.
I'd say that's related to the economic difference between the two economies, and the cost difference between building and running a ski resort and just chucking a few surf boards into the water.
But cost clearly doesn't affect most people the way it affects you; they would pick simply go to cheaper resorts (the snow's the same stuff!) if it did.
Most Brits go to the most expensive BC resort they can find.
Skiing has always been relatively expensive, I think because it costs quite a lot to make it happen.
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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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| phil_w wrote: |
| Skiing has always been relatively expensive, I think because it costs quite a lot to make it happen. |
Indeed. I always think that lift passes are expensive, but then I think about the sheer number of people and amount infrastructure to make it all happen, plus obviously there's money to be made.
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Poster: A snowHead
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It's quite a fun conversation but hardly likely to come up with any huge insights or universal truths. I'm a sailor and because I am regular crew on Somebody Else's Boat (much the cheapest type to sail) my weeks of sailing, in the UK and (except during the Covid years) France and the Channel Islands, cost me very little.
I have owned boats in the past - small and unimpressive ones, for the most part (think "pee in a bucket"). But it's noticeable that just as many of us now consider an en-suite bathroom to be a Basic Human Right, boats have got bigger. My daughter and her cousins, 30 years ago, were thrilled to find that our boat (chartered for the week, didn't belong to us) had the highest mast in East Cowes Marina (that's the unposh side of Cowes, admittedly). Now, that boat, about 36' IIRC, would be dwarfed by all the 40 foot plus boats which have proliferated.
Many of us have become accustomed to a very fancy lifestyle. It won't last.......  Eat, drink, ski and be merry, for tomorrow we die...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Chaletbeauroc wrote: |
| OK maybe £1000 is paring it back to the bare bones, but the figures being bandied around up there ^^^ of two and a half grand or more would go a hell of a long way even if you were eating fine dining with good wines out every lunchtime and evening. |
Assuming that self-catering is one step lower than we're prepared to go (purely because we refuse to ski all day and then start thinking about what we're gonna eat), the absolute minimum I could find was just over £3k in a SkiBeat chalet under the Vanoise. Having compared the alternatives, pre-paying for food should work out a lot cheaper that eating out at £60-£80 a night.
By the time I've then added on ski hire (we're taking our own), car parking, fuel, tolls, food and drink, I know I won't be coming home with any change out of £4k.
So, £2k-2.5K per person is perfectly realistic....although other supermarkets (and cheaper holidays) are available.
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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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@ratkinsonuk, it does sound like you have many other activities that you like to do. Maybe skiing is a bit far down the pecking order in comparison to some.
Personally, I find it hard to imagine not going skiing. I think the combination of mountains, the fun of doing activity itself, having got reasonably good at it, the cosy evenings in, the fact we can do it as a family or with friends, means it's a big part of my life - so it's hard to think it would get so expensive I would not stomach the cost.
There are definitely other things I question. Gig tickets for example. If they were much cheaper I'd probably go more often. I mean cheaper, as in from my perception. Like skiing it's quite possible venues/bands aren't racking it in.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
For me, I like to do lot's of varied activities, from motorbiking around Europe, learning to fly and various music festivals through the summer. I wish my pot was unlimited (don't we all) but I have to pick and choose.
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Learning to fly is, I hazard to guess, a tad on the expensive side. Then there is renting the plane (I assume you don't own one already), landing fees at Courcheval, and I supect paking fees for the plane are more expensive than for a car. But I really admire your endevour.
I suppose we all have competing desire as to what we want to do with our time and money. My wife wants to spend more time skiing, I want to go climbing and in my dotage that is tending towards warm destination sport climbing rather than a wet weekend in Wales.
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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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Less snowfall, higher temps, more sun, more summer heatwaves, more winter heatwaves, more nighttime melt, more rain, more ice, creeping snowline, melted glaciers, fewer skiable pistes, the end of offpiste in many stations, fewer viable ski resorts, weaker Western currencies, even global pandemics and subsequent inflation pops... they all mean (much) higher prices in the future.
Ski vacations are (once again) inching above the financial means of the lower and middle classes.
The global ski industry needs to start thinking about finance deals for poorer skiers.
Buying kit, flights, and hotels on 3-year bankloans, for example.
Skiers also need to get wise.
Instead of spending $1000 on those new skis and new clothes, buy secondhand or recycled, aim for $200 or less.
Use the savings for the holiday.
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| Layne wrote: |
| @ratkinsonuk, it does sound like you have many other activities that you like to do. Maybe skiing is a bit far down the pecking order in comparison to some. |
For those of you that already know, going round a tight bend at 80 sat on a machine that's capable of 150+ mph is about as thrilling as it gets without taking your clothes off. And yet, if you were to press me, I'd have to admit I find skiing more exciting.
Unfortunately, if petrol went up to £25 per litre, I'd have to seriously consider stashing the bike in the garage.....
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My trips this year are opposite ends of the spectrum. This is due to the people I go with.
Early Jan - 6 days skiing, 5 nights accomadation inc breakfast and dinner, ski hire, lift pass, car hire, EasyJet flights, parking, fuel, lunch, booze and a weatherspoons breakfast at 3am in Gatwick all in for £650. I did have to drive to the nearest lift though. This was in Les Sybelles.
March - 2 weeks in a rather lovely apartment in Alpe D'huez. The lift pass will cost the same as the Jan trip.... The rest is not cheap but it is my main holiday for the year, and I only have to pay for me 
Will it ever be too expensive? Only if I can't find a way to fund at least one trip a year! I love skiing more than saving
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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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| Whitegold wrote: |
Skiers also need to get wise.
Instead of spending $1000 on those new skis and new clothes, buy secondhand or recycled, aim for $200 or less. |
No point having all the expensive gear but can't afford to go skiing. Currently I've got a few excess ski bits and pieces listed on Ebay that I'll probably never ever use, that money will go into the next ski holiday fund. Having just had a rather enjoyable but costly ski holiday (based in Zurs) I doubt I'll go back there (or even the Arlberg resorts) as the accommodation cost was twice the price of my other recent comparable trip to Italy. I'll certainly let more the affluent skiers go ski the more affluent resorts that no longer remain "value".
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| ciderinsport wrote: |
| Will it ever be too expensive? Only if I can't find a way to fund at least one trip a year! I love skiing more than saving |
Eloquently put! Not that I disbelieve you, I'm struggling to work out the £650. £210 for lift passes, £100 flight, £70 ski hire - leaves you £260 for everything else? That doesn't even cover my apres ski !!
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FAQ
