@zikomo, Glenshee hahaha - one could argue that the golden age of British skiing was earlier when the brave pioneers formed ski clubs (cos not everyone had a car) to run coaches up to the 'Shee, 'Coe, 'Gorm, for weekend trips in Scottish sub-arctic weather.
I was lucky enough that my parents loved it and so family holidays in Aviemore in the early 70s and then school day trips (and oh lordy Hillend).
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?
phil_w wrote:
Mr Blue Sky wrote:
Apologies if this has been posted before but I came across it today on my Facebook feed and it reminded me of this post. I found it quite entertaining and it seems to have an element of ‘plus ça change’ (in a good way!). Equipment and clothes seem to have much changed but not much else! Having only come to skiing in my late 40s I thought I was a late starter but the featured Dr Hamilton in this video is quite impressive! ...
Well I'd not seen it before - brilliant, thanks. My mum took up skiing in her sixties also.
Note "our equipment expert David Goldsmith" @3:26 explaining SX61 boots to a lady in leather pants. Which reminds me...
Everyone in 1989 (the copyright date...) was ordinary sized; ultra processed food hadn't happened yet.
Fancy hair, and facial hair too.
No helmets, skinny skis.
They showed a couple of snowboarders only, one falling over. His bindings released, which is weird. Looked like stock footage.
The advert in the middle for Citroën BX seems incredibly crude. ABS was a feature... I had to specify it as an extra in '89.
In the early days of snowboarding they used ski boots & bindings, hence the chance of a release.
...In the early days of snowboarding they used ski boots & bindings, hence the chance of a release.
Not quite. I was snowboarding in 1989 in ski boots and snowboard bindings. The bindings were not ski bindings: I never saw any which were releasable. I still ride ski boots, albeit with modern race bindings & a few tweaks. And yet the guy had a double release around 2:34... hence it's remarkable to me. I'd guess he had not tightened either binding properly - especially important with ski boots - and that's why he crashed as soon as he loaded up in that turn.
There was some early activity with people talking about the development of releasable bindings, but we rapidly worked out that you don't need them. You can break an ankle if you crash in some particular ways in particular types of snow, but it's pretty rare and easy to avoid.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@under a new name, I might not always be right but i'm never wrong - The brits used to take ski holidays in the 1930s, many a british entrant to the pre ww2 arlberg-kandahar races in st anton.
When I learnt to snowboard during my seasons I used a pair of Sorrells with a ski boot liner in them! Boarding only started to take off in France from about 88/89.
I also used to ski on a pair of 207 cm K2 Extremes, in all snow and in the bumps too. Still have the K2s (kept for posterity only) but they have delaminated and need to now go to the tip. We could ski powder, hard packed, bumps all on the one skinny pair of skis. Carving was hard and required real effort.
The old rear entry Salomon SX boots of the late 80s! They were pretty popular at the time.
Talking of pre-WWII, didn't you post your skis at the bottom of the hill and then walk up the hill alongside the postie who was carrying a whole load of pairs?
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
JDL65 wrote:
Talking of pre-WWII, didn't you post your skis at the bottom of the hill and then walk up the hill alongside the postie who was carrying a whole load of pairs?
Haha i'm quite the fan of ski history, i never heard this, but would not surprise me if the wealthy guests of this time hired someone to do this before ski lifts were invented. I do know the guests in the arlberg would cadge a lift on the post office vehicle to the village up the hill when they could.
Never had snowboard sorels but well aware of it, my early 90s nideckers were like padded wellies - the golden age of early snowboarding holidays
After all it is free
After all it is free
Old Fartbag wrote:
Kenzie wrote:
...didn't Club 18-30 used to do ski trips?
They certainly did. I know, as I went on one....and you may well wonder why.
The answer was simple - they were offering 2 weeks for the price of one, to Montgenevre. It was over 35 years ago and my 2 Sisters - in - Law (to be - as it was before I was married to Lady F) joined us for their first holiday.
It turned out to be the very cliché of a Club 18-30 holiday:
- There were 2 Chalets beside each other and (luckily for us) the group that had just left, had trashed the one that we weren't staying in. Windows had been smashed, doors pulled off their hinges and chairs broken!....to the point where they had to join us for meals. It took most of the first week to fix things up.
- The Rep was ex-army (Some Highland Regiment, I think) - and exactly how you'd imagine an 18-30 Rep to be....charismatic, with huge resilience for apres ski and the ability to drink copious litres of beer, while having an abundance of drinking games up his sleeve.
- On the first night, one of Lady F's sisters drank until she passed out, had to be carried back...and then snored so loudly that she kept the other sister awake all night.....and then bounced out of bed the following morning with no apparent adverse effects.
- The other sister - a slight 8 stone - was in a Beginner class with the Chalet's cook - a large, uncoordinated fellow who must have weighed 20 Stone. It only took an hour for the Cook to lose control and flatten my sister-in-law. Luckily, it only put her out of action for that day.
- 3/4 of our chalet was made up of a group of lads from the Navy. They were completely out of control - though luckily, there were some older couples there as well - attracted by the 2 weeks for 1 offer - who managed to tame the worst excesses of the group.
- It was clear when we came down each morning for breakfast, that one of the Navy Lads was sleeping with one of the Chalet Girls in the sitting room....Although things turned sour on the last night. When we came down for breakfast, the Chalet Girl involved was in a foul mood, as the Navy Lad had gone off with the waitress from the bar we were at the night before. In fact he stayed at her place and missed the bus to the airport. The waitress had to drive him to the airport to catch his flight.
- On one memorable evening - we all went tobogganing. The Rep pointed to a bush at the side of the Piste and said that was the highest anyone had dared go from. Well that laid down the gauntlet to one of the Navy Lads, whose mates named "Five Pack".
He stumped a good 75m further up the slope, kneeled on his sledge and set off gathering speed at a terrifying rate. What happened next was like the scene from "National Lampoon Christmas Vacation". He couldn't stop at the bottom, went clean over the banking, across the road and lodged in the banking at the other side.
We had good snow, had a laugh, did lots of drinking. It was a holiday like no other that we have had, before or since.
@old fartbag
Also went on an 18-30 holiday to Mayrhofen, reason was it was so cheap. Coach to and from resort and stayed in a reasonably priced hotel
Said hotel got trashed by group members on new years eve and when owner complained to the rep about the damage caused the rep sent a telex (yes it was that long ago) to Club 18-30 head office complaining that the hotel was not the standard that they expected (seems they were used to trashing hotels and getting away with it)
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@nahdendee, The Golden Age of Hotel Trashing!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
JDL65 wrote:
When I learnt to snowboard during my seasons I used a pair of Sorrells with a ski boot liner in them! Boarding only started to take off in France from about 88/89. ...
I switched in '89. The last time I skied.
I'd seen Apocalypse Snow on VHS at the Cambridge ski shop in 1984... Régis Rolland in full flight.... I stood and watched it through at least twice. I couldn't buy the boards in UK at that point, although the central shop (Snow & Rock?) had a preposterous single Burton Performer (I think that's what it was) for several seasons - they couldn't sell it. It cost about twice what a pair of skis cost, and was all black plastic complicated straps. None of the staff knew how to set it up even. I wanted it, went to see it most weeks, but realized that I needed to be off piste to use it (like a no-board today). I learnt to ski off piste. I learnt to monoski. Meanwhile, I saw two besuited ESF guys practicing snowboard turns out of Meribel in '87 or '88. They had metal edges and could carve hardpack with them. The stage was set...
I did 5 seasons from 1990 to 1995. Definitely paid in french francs and in that time the exchange rate varied from £1.00 = 10 FF to £1.00 = 7 FF at the end.
Our county organised annual trips in the 1980s for all the country's secondary schools, half went one week, the other half the following week. Initially these were to Motta, just outside Madesimo, and then Santa Catarina near Bormio. Flights to Milan and then long transfers. The Motta hotel was owned by the Catholic Church and was a summer retreat for the clergy. My first trip though was just our school, in 1979, to Monte Bondone.
My next trip was as a 17 year old, with Club 18-30, by coach to Sauze for New Year. Arrived NYE, straight out partying, shared room with 3 strangers, got back early hours to find no running water in the hotel!
I think the golden age for the British ski holiday was the late 80s to early noughties. The sheer choice of resort, the number of chalets available across France, Switzerland, Italy and even Austria. Loads of people introduced to skiing for the first time, from all sorts of backgrounds.
As a student, and early professional, I never did a summer holiday, saving my pennies (even with mortgage rates of 17%) to get in 2 weeks.
For me personally though, doing those 5 seasons in Meribel was probably the golden age. Simply an incredible experience, learning so much about people, life, handling difficult situations, living in the mountains. Sure there were difficult periods, but overall wow. Skiing 18-20 weeks a season is hard to beat.
It is an expensive sport, and even more so now in many ways. The chalet market has basically become exclusive to the very wealthy, so there is much more self catering. I always wonder what has happened to all those chalets - what are they now used for?
I think that having spent so much time in one of the best resorts in the world you become more reluctant to try smaller places. I remember post seasons having a week in Bardoneccia and being bored after 3 days having skied everything. However it was great to explore some smaller resorts when my son was learning to ski.
On a school ski trip over Xmas 1980 I stayed in that same utilitarian Motta hotel. We flew to Malpensa, it was with the main schools tour operator for an age, Skibound? based in my neck of the woods Brighton. The cost something like £200 a kid.
We were permitted a couple of glasses of cheap crap red wine with dinner, no matter the age, so 11 to 16 year olds.
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.
@snow&skifan - do you remember the old cable cr that took about a dozen people at a time that had to be used to get from the bus drop off point up to the hotel? We also flew to Malpensa then a long transfer up the shore of Como
I don't remember who the TO was and have no idea of the cost.
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
The endless "risk assessments" now necessary for any kind of school trips would probably rule out a lot of the old style school trips. And certainly rule out wine for 11 year olds. The poor wee things all need their own bathroom now.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@hsdee, my apologies, I may have come across a bit harshly there. I was only disagreeing, disagreeably, with your assertion that that was the golden age of brit skiing. I'd assert it wasn't only because it was so elitist at the time. Although James Riddell's 1929 Inferno win was pretty spectacular.
@JDL65, I still have my last pair of Rossignol 7SK 201s in the garage along with Mrs U's Völkl P19s (her having progressed every stage from the P9).
I couldn't even begin to relate the tales from my seasons. Most not fit for polite company.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@phil_w, Apocalypse Snow. Huge grin on my face watching the first few minutes of that!
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Origen wrote:
Have lift passes really gone up so much in real terms as people are arguing? They always seemed jolly expensive to me, paying for a family.
For Val Thorens opening day: 145.30 € for an adult and two kids, last year it was 121.60 € a 20% increase.
I know a lot of people who've given up lift served skiing as the lift passes, for the big resorts, have got extremely expensive.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
under a new name wrote:
I couldn't even begin to relate the tales from my seasons. Most not fit for polite company.
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?
@davidof, lift passes is an interesting one. I've just paid about £60 a day for La Plagne in January. Feels expensive vs other things you could do but I bet in real terms it's not hugely more than it was 20 years ago. Meanwhile, the lifts are so much quicker, the snowmaking etc so much better.
If you wanted to, you could probably do twice as many runs in a day compared to 20 years ago because the lifts are bigger and faster. On a purely "what you get for your money" I reckon resorts today will stack really well compared to years ago.
@davidof, yeah, it's expensive. Costs seem to have gone up a lot in the last few years but I think for Brit families skiing has always been expensive - certainly not affordable for a family on average salaries. There was maybe a different vibe, and demographic, in France with multi-generational families (no "child care costs") self catering in crowded apartments, in places where they could drive easily in the family cars and with loads of hand-me-down stuff. A French lad we skied with once, boyfriend of one of our visitors, skied with us in entirely borrowed stuff, including boots too big for him and huge skis which he didn't think had been waxed or serviced for years. He skied really well, needless to say, in that old fashioned hip wiggling way. AND brought me a bottle of Gevrey Chambertin. Lovely lad. He'd learnt to ski being sent away to ski camps from his home in Burgundy.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@paulhinch, I looked into this in some detail. In 1989/90 a 1 day pass for Val d'Isere cost 44€ allowing for inflation (based on the 22/23 season) and a six day pass 209 €. In 2023 they were 63 € and 378 € respectively. So that is quite a big real terms increase.
Whatever the merits about better lifts or snowmaking it still costs significantly more to go skiing than in the past. You can certainly make the case that climate change is having an impact on the affordability and it will no doubt only get worse.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Mon 2-12-24 11:34; edited 1 time in total
@Origen, you'd certainly have to make sacrifices elsewhere for the average UK skier and probably not affordable when they had families. Very few people ski in France now due to costs although it was different in the past with the vast rabbit hutch complexes.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
davidof wrote:
@paulhinch, I looked into this in some detail. In 1989/90 a 1 day pass for Val d'Isere cost 44€ allowing for inflation (based on the 22/23 season) and a six day pass 209 €. In 2023 they were 63 € and 378 € respectively. So that is quite a big real terms increase.
Whatever the merits about better lifts or snowmaking it still costs significantly more to go skiing than in the past.
In the late 90s, I seem to remember a decent loyalty discount if you showed a previous lift pass. I also think there might have also been a family discount - but could be wrong on that.
After all it is free
After all it is free
davidof wrote:
@paulhinch, I looked into this in some detail. In 1989/90 a 1 day pass for Val d'Isere cost 44€ allowing for inflation (based on the 22/23 season) and a six day pass 209 €. In 2023 they were 63 € and 378 € respectively. So that is quite a big real terms increase.
Something costing £10 in 1990 would be £24.17 today.
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.
Layne wrote:
davidof wrote:
@paulhinch, I looked into this in some detail. In 1989/90 a 1 day pass for Val d'Isere cost 44€ allowing for inflation (based on the 22/23 season) and a six day pass 209 €. In 2023 they were 63 € and 378 € respectively. So that is quite a big real terms increase.
Something costing £10 in 1990 would be £24.17 today.
1. it is France so I used French inflation figure. You would have to take into account exchange rates as well as inflation for your calculation.
2. As I said the 44 euro figure is what it would cost in the 2022/3 season allowing for inflation.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Old Fartbag wrote:
In the late 90s, I seem to remember a decent loyalty discount if you showed a previous lift pass. I also think there might have also been a family discount - but could be wrong on that.
you would certainly have got an elderly free or discounted lift pass much younger
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
JDL65 wrote:
@snow&skifan - do you remember the old cable cr that took about a dozen people at a time that had to be used to get from the bus drop off point up to the hotel? We also flew to Malpensa then a long transfer up the shore of Como
I don't remember who the TO was and have no idea of the cost.
Yes. From that town in the lower altitude village.
I remember the carnage when we all attempted a Poma for the first time.
Was that journey 4 hours? Alpine roads were little improved at that time ... before EU money etc poured in.
We went back, as a couple in 1998, for old times sake . Staying in Madesimo with Thomson, they upgraded us last minute to the cute Hotel Emet.
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.
Quote:
Very few people ski in France now due to costs although it was different in the past with the vast rabbit hutch complexes.
Yet the resorts, particularly Les Arcs which I am most familiar with, seem more crowded. There appears to be much more accommodation built than 30 or so years ago (Arc1950, Eden Arc etc.) There are possibly more international visitors but Arc 1600 still seems to be predominately French. Is this due to some of the smaller and lower resorts closing forcing more people onto the bigger ones?
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
davidof wrote:
2. As I said the 44 euro figure is what it would cost in the 2022/3 season allowing for inflation.
Ah, I see you wrote in a strange fashion (for me!). And it's Monday.
It's a crude comparison but sure it's more expensive. But is demand higher? Or people wealthier?
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
davidof wrote:
...you'd certainly have to make sacrifices elsewhere for the average UK skier and probably not affordable when they had families. Very few people ski in France now due to costs although it was different in the past with the vast rabbit hutch complexes.
That's odd - I saw a lot of people in France last season, and no shortage of Englanders. What's your evidence for "very few"?
Even if you could find that, where's your evidence cost being the reason? The Englanders were in top of the line clothes with a massive pile of ski/ snowboard bags at the airport...
The NSAA publish industry statistics for the US. Their data all show a clear an increase in participants, and an increase in the amount of skiing over the years. If it has become more expensive to ski, that has not meant a decline in participation. => Cost is not stopping most skiers.
You could think of multiple reasons why that might be. You might point out that the demographics are changing, and that might affect the relative tolerance of skiers to cost.
[quote="davidof "That's odd - I saw a lot of people in France last season, and no shortage of Englanders. What's your evidence for "very few"?
I'm talking about French people, hence the phrase "ski in France" in response to a post by Pam about French people skiing. You really do need to follow the thread.
Concerning the number of skiers, the tendance is from a high of around 57 to 59 million skier days in 2010 to around 53 million today. That's a loss of 10% of the skiing public as the boomers age out and the young can't afford the activity.
My evidence is that only 5% of French people do on ski holidays according to the INSEE (that is a ski holiday once ever 2 years) - I've seen 1 in 10 in a recent Credoc survey but they include locals day tripping. At the same time 86% of French people would like to go skiing according to an ISPOS survey.
As for costs
1. French skiers are: "urbains et riches" which implies a cost factor and "L’un des freins aux séjours aux sports d’hiver reste le prix élevé." and "les visiteurs français dépensaient 97 euros par jour et par personne, en moyenne, hors transport, contre 155 euros pour les touristes étrangers." implying another cost factor. La Folie Doux did its own study and concluded "des prix qui étranglent les habitués des vacances à la neige, en particulier dans un contexte inflationnist". According to another study by Campsider, "42 % des Français n’iront pas skier cette année pour des raisons financières."
there are lots of studies on this as tourism is a key industry, I could go on but feel I've made my case sufficiently.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Layne wrote:
But is demand higher? Or people wealthier?
The inverse. Demand is lower and people are poorer due to wage stagnation but costs for lift operators are higher.
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?
apologies if this has been covered. (i've tried searching)
What killed off the Catered Chalet for 14 people model ? Brexit ?
Not allowing Brits to work in the EU without a Visa ?
What about the Aussie/Kiwi/Saffer Chalet Staffers ?
@paulhinch, I looked into this in some detail. In 1989/90 a 1 day pass for Val d'Isere cost 44€ allowing for inflation (based on the 22/23 season) and a six day pass 209 €. In 2023 they were 63 € and 378 € respectively. So that is quite a big real terms increase.
Something costing £10 in 1990 would be £24.17 today.
1. it is France so I used French inflation figure. You would have to take into account exchange rates as well as inflation for your calculation.
2. As I said the 44 euro figure is what it would cost in the 2022/3 season allowing for inflation.
I don't think that's bad at all. 40-50% real terms increase from your figures.
How big was Val D'Isere's ski area in 1990? How good were the lifts then. I doubt things like the Olympique were running.
Something like the Vallon gondola that they're putting in this year more than halves the time (and increases capacity per lift by 40%) on the old one (I wonder if that would have been seen as advanced in 1990).
It's not an eggs to eggs comparison to just look at the price.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
UtahGetMeTwo wrote:
apologies if this has been covered. (i've tried searching)
What killed off the Catered Chalet for 14 people model ? Brexit ?
Not allowing Brits to work in the EU without a Visa ?
What about the Aussie/Kiwi/Saffer Chalet Staffers ?
It was a combination of factors:
French employment legislation - working time directive, employer costs, inability to offset food, accommodation and lift pass against wages, etc, etc. This really bumped up the costs to the chalet operators significantly.
Brexit - making it much harder for non-EU passport holders to work, so fewer available workers, and higher costs again
Covid - huge loss of income put a number of specialist operators out of business
Kiwis were never allowed to work the full season without a working visa, Aussies could though, not sure about Saffas.
How big was Val D'Isere's ski area in 1990? How good were the lifts then. I doubt things like the Olympique were running.
From memory, the Olympique replaced a cable car. The Bellevarde Express and Loyes high speed chairs were built before the 1992 Olympics, can't remember if they opened in 1990 or 1991.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
"davidof wrote:
...you'd certainly have to make sacrifices elsewhere for the average UK skier and probably not affordable when they had families. Very few people ski in France now...
That's entirely in context, it's what you said.
"davidof wrote:
...I'm talking about French people, hence the phrase "ski in France" in response to a post by Pam about French people skiing. You really do need to follow the thread.
You said: "Very few people ski in France now due to costs"
You did not say: "Very few French people ski in France now due to costs"
Please defend the argument you made, not the one you wished you'd made.
Either way, can you provide links to the stats you quote?
They seem to contradict link already posted.
One set of data must be wrong, or misinterpreted, but without you providing yours, well...
After all it is free
After all it is free
I think it's hard to escape from a highly subjective view of all this, reflecting our own experiences. Having fallen completely in love with the whole thing on a school trip when I was 15, using all my savings, I couldn't afford to go skiing again till I was 40, with three kids. We did the cheapest possible trips, either self catered or cheap chalets, sometimes travelling by coach and always in the dead early January weeks. It seemed very expensive. The ski holidays were our main "paid for" holiday - I have yet to go on any other sort of package trip. Now, it all seems more manageable because there's just me. We NEVER, with the kids, afforded lunch on the slopes but when it's just me, that's part of the pleasure. Within reason I can now "afford" whatever holiday I want, given I have no wish for luxury 5* hotels. Give me a shepherd's hut in the Outer Hebrides! BUT - I now want my own room, with a bathroom if possible (though that's not essential, most of my overnights on my Scottish holiday this year were without private bathroom). When I fret at having to pay the same for a hotel room as a couple would, I stop myself and remind myself I'm only buying one dinner!
In my experience Les Saisies, the only resort I know well over a long period, has if anything become more busy. Certainly at Christmas (which is unfortunately when I'm going) and a Snowhead who went there in low season March last year reported it was still busy, with lift queues. And the overwhelming majority of visitors are French and I'd say mostly families. Perhaps it's more affordable than the "Val d'Iseres". Certainly eating and drinking on the slopes is more affordable. Lift passes - I think the only answer with lift passes is just to buy them without much thought and then never think of the cost again. Especially when the weather's so foul you do two runs then head for a café.
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.
UtahGetMeTwo wrote:
apologies if this has been covered. (i've tried searching)
What killed off the Catered Chalet for 14 people model ? Brexit ?
Not allowing Brits to work in the EU without a Visa ?
What about the Aussie/Kiwi/Saffer Chalet Staffers ?
The catered chalet (and chalet hotel) market still exists, but nowhere near the size it used to be.
The first big hit the market took was the introduction of the minimum wage in the UK in 1999. Previously most if nor all UK tour operators offered a package to chalet workers of travel to & from resort, accommodation, food, ski pass, kit hire, ski insurance and laundry, plus a small weekly payment, cash in hand. This avoided income tax and national insurance for the workers and employers national insurance for the TOs.
After the introduction of the minimum wage the TOs had to pay it to their workers (who were now subject to income tax and NI), then 'charge' the workers for their package as above. The TOs now had to pay employers NI, increasing their costs. An additional effect was workers now wanting value for what they were paying for, especially regarding accommodation, which again increased TOs costs. Many TOs survived this by passing on the increases to customers, but some of the 'cheap and cheerful' ones went under.
The thing that sent many TOs under, or led them to massively reduce their operations was Covid, when a whole season without business was the norm.
I don't know what effect Brexit has had, but notice some TOs still employing UK passport holders in their chalets.
There's lots of other factors, but IMHO those were the main two.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@Kenzie, brexshit effectively removed UK passport holders from the EU employment market.
Your two points defo also critical - as was the EU countries mandating correct employment contracts.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
- The brits used to take ski holidays in the 1930s, many a british entrant to the pre ww2 arlberg-kandahar races in st anton.
The poor wee things all need their own bathroom now.