 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi everyone
I'm soooo new to this but I wanted to ask if this was too expensive for a school or not. I've seen a couple of forums now that show different pricing but they are coach and only mention 10 hours of tuition for example.
6 nights/7 days ski trip to the le grand massive ski area of france, full board hotel (doesn't say which one), 6 days ski pass, 30 hours instruction, all equipment, return flights to France, return coach transfer to the resort, practise sessions at a local dry ski slope including equipment etc hire and return transfers there, evening entertainment.
This is for February 2027 half term week.
Price is a whopping £2,250.
Daughter is desperate to go but just not sure if they are getting the best value for money.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Has your daughter skied before? Do you ski as a family?
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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: |
| Has your daughter skied before? Do you ski as a family? |
Nope, she has never skiied before and we haven't been as a family. We went to Lapland at Christmas and she wanted to have a go then but we just hadn't included it in our plans. We've spoken about a ski family holiday before, but just not in the budget at the moment! X
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@B1ondie89, the best thing about school ski trips is the 5hrs per day instruction. That is hard to find outside of school trips (and bloody expensive).
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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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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| @B1ondie89, the best thing about school ski trips is the 5hrs per day instruction. That is hard to find outside of school trips (and bloody expensive). |
Thank you, that is really good to know! Really appreciate that!
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That seems like a pretty reasonable price to me, given that practice sessions at a dry slope are also included. For reference, one of the dry slopes near me charges £50pp for a two hour lesson as part of a group.
We ski in France each year and I pay £215pp for my children to have 15 hours of tuition over the course of 6 days (2.5hrs a day).
February half term is peak, so flight cost will be a big factor, as they certainly jump for half term.
If she's keen, this could be a way for her to go without you needing to budget for the whole family.
We went to France (Les Arcs) in February half term this year. For a family of 4, it cost in the region of £5.5k, so not a million miles per person outside the cost the school is charging. We saved money by getting the train. Had we flown, the cost would have increased.
However, if you're keen to do it as a family, you could put the cost of the school trip towards a family trip. We could offer insights into how to get the best value for money, but overall it'll cost more than just sending her on her own.
Skiing is, unfortunately, very pricy. They've also picked probably the most expensive time of year to go.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sun 19-10-25 14:52; edited 1 time in total
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My trip sounds similar, but to Ischgl and in December.
I think this sounds expensive. If people are willing to pay, then I guess tough, but my daughters school went too pricey and failed to fill the places.
My trip is £1500 for next season. The ski company charge is about £1400 and I add £100pp to buy an extra instructor and some other quite major costs.
I Wouk have thought that my trip, but in Feb would be about £1700.
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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| @B1ondie89, the best thing about school ski trips is the 5hrs per day instruction. That is hard to find outside of school trips (and bloody expensive). |
My children had 4 5 hours instruction a day in Austria (2.5 hours/1 hour lunch/2 hours), but it's not something I've seen in France or Italy.
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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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Didn’t read that there were flights involved. Maybe £1900 maximum for me.
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@Owlette, nor Switzerland. I remember when my husband switched to skiing he did his lessons in Saalbach as it worked out much better value for learning - although he was allowed out at lunch 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I think that’s expensive for a school ski trip.
Schools here charge £1500-1750 for a week of skiing. And I think that’s a lot. Which is a fair bit less than you said!
It isn’t costing that for us to go to val d’Isère at Xmas. I suppose you’ve got to factor in the staff etc as well probably. Still seems steep to me though.
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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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@B1ondie89,
Where in the Grand Massif?
Are her mates going?
As far out as 2027!
Have you factored in other kit to buy - eg goggles, gloves, socks, jacket, pants, lip salve, sun screen?
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| Kenzie wrote: |
@B1ondie89,
Where in the Grand Massif?
Are her mates going?
As far out as 2027!
Have you factored in other kit to buy - eg goggles, gloves, socks, jacket, pants, lip salve, sun screen? |
That's a good question, I might ask for exact hotel and location and a breakdown. Thankfully we've got everything else already!
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You know it makes sense.
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@v1cky24, yea but Christmas is a cheap week compared to Feb half term
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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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@B1ondie89, as others have said, it does sound a bit on the steep side...but it does include a lot...flights, transfers, full board food, a lot of instruction, equipment hire and staff supervision, plus the dry ski slope stuff beforehand with transport, instruction and entertainment. I assume transport to UK airport too.
I don't think anyone is making a huge profit, just adding costs up and dividing them by the group. It probably could have been done cheaper, but not without a lot of hassle, scrimping and scraping, haggling with suppliers, etc. The staff might well be getting a free trip, but it's not going to be much of a holiday if you're responsible for 50 teenagers and all their antics! You wouldn't be able to pay me to do it!  
I have done ski trips at Feb HT as a family of four with two teenagers, in 2022 and 2023, one to Italy, one to Andorra, for around £2500 all in, but no paid instruction, mostly self catering, staying in apartments a short drive from the ski areas and a lot of research to find the best prices for everything. The Italy trip had 5 days skiing and a day along Lake Garda and into Verona at the end. The Andorra trip was only 4 days skiing, but included shopping in Andorra la Vella, an evening at the Caldea spa and a day in Barcelona by way of compensation. I think it would be tricky to replicate in 2026 as prices have moved that much further on and as first-time skiers you wouldn't necessarily have the experience to know where you could make savings, plus you would all need professional instruction to learn.
So about the school trip, I suppose you have to ask yourselves, can you afford/justify the cost as a family? Would we be better putting that money towards a family trip?
Difficult to resist when kids want to do something that all their friends are doing! 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| @v1cky24, yea but Christmas is a cheap week compared to Feb half term |
I wouldn’t say it was cheap. Maybe marginally so relative to NY week. All are ‘peak’ ski season weeks though.
You’ll never catch me skiing in Feb half term I’d find the queues triggering
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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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| v1cky24 wrote: |
| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| @v1cky24, yea but Christmas is a cheap week compared to Feb half term |
I wouldn’t say it was cheap. Maybe marginally so relative to NY week. All are ‘peak’ ski season weeks though.
You’ll never catch me skiing in Feb half term I’d find the queues triggering |
Oh nooooo queues! I didn't think about this and my daughter struggles with queues. Is this the case if she is having 2.5 hours of instruction morning and afternoon, I assume she'll be kept quite busy?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
my daughter struggles with queues
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Well, to be brutal about it, if she's going to ski at half term she'll have to get used to them. Ski groups often get priority on lifts, but they will still queue to some extent. And typically in beginner ski lessons (or any other, really) the group will take it in turns to try something following a demo from the instructor. That's quite an instructive, and sometimes fun, thing as you can learn a lot from watching what others get right, or wrong. But some "waiting around" is part of the scene and if your daughter can't hack that, the trip is not for her!
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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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| B1ondie89 wrote: |
| Oh nooooo queues! I didn't think about this and my daughter struggles with queues. |
In which case she should definitely join the trip, it will be an incredibly educational and formative experience for her 
The price looks high for a school trip, but I think that's reasonable given it's Feb half term.
In case you're not aware as a non-skier - but the costs of the "extras" that are essential for skiing, really add up. Lift pass £200, gear rental £100, ski lessons with lunch £500. Dry slope as previously mentioned c. £50/session. Then there's the overhead of looking after the kids - 1 school teacher per 8 pupils to fund accommodation/food/travel for = ?£200 each.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I see there’s some tuition pre trip involved too here.
Being objective- this is going to be a great experience and sounds like a LOT of tuition for your daughter. So for a slightly higher than average cost, it might be excellent value learning wise.
Le grand massif - if she’s staying in flaine, wild guess? I know the ski schools do get priority here, for definite on some of the lifts - distinctly remember on the grand plat lift there’s a learner line to minimise queuing.
It’s a nice place to go skiing - I’m sure she’ll have a wonderful time.
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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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The whole experience, especially for a child not used to be away without parents, and having to "fit in" with what's going on, can be very valuable. BUT the problem is that if she falls in love with skiing, the expense will never end.
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I think that is pretty expensive, but you can't really shop around with a school trip.If you want her to go that's the price.
How many of you are there? A family holiday for 3, with a tour operator and at the same time could be done for not much more depending on where you want to fly from. Feb half term is the peak of the peak so if you could go at easter, even more optio s open up.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Origen, or she could end up living in Switzerland
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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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| Origen wrote: |
| The whole experience, especially for a child not used to be away without parents, and having to "fit in" with what's going on, can be very valuable. BUT the problem is that if she falls in love with skiing, the expense will never end. |
Yes I agree. Many friends said a family holiday would be better but to be honest, it gives a whole new experience and confidence doesn't it! They do it at a younger age too, it's for year 9s so that's fab!
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School trip is VERY different experience from family trip. Yes it would be nicer if £300 cheaper. Can you find one £300 cheaper? If not, the question is pointless
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You know it makes sense.
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The points made by @snowdave are to the point. On top of all the direct costs, which are very high, especially at half term, there's the overhead of supervision/childcare, which is not be sniffed at. My son in law did a lot of school ski trips in his time (PE teacher) and dealing with the travel sickness, home sickness and rampant sex drives of a whole lot of secondary kids is not a trivial task.
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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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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| @B1ondie89, the best thing about school ski trips is the 5hrs per day instruction. That is hard to find outside of school trips (and bloody expensive). |
5 hours a day is standard in Austria for kids and adult group lessons - and group lessons are often offered as part of a package with ski and boot rental.
I've also had a week of all-day group lessons in Canada.
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Poster: A snowHead
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My son did a peak half term ski trip and the costs were similar (and this was a couple of years ago). He had stopped having lessons so this got him back into a refresher and the ESF instruction was excellent. It was really worthwhile for him (already a good skier). For a non skier it’s a brilliant opportunity to get started and also a week long school trip is a great experience for their organisation skills and more (so many are shorter now). School trips are rarely a bargain but they have always been a good experience in my view.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Several of my friends, as well as my son in law, have led school trips (not all skiing - many were language exchanges). One of the points they noted is that although kids had been sternly instructed NOT to take more than they could carry themselves up and down steps, and snowy streets (not just wheel along in an airport!!) many, but especially the girls, disregarded that rule.
Sort of mistake you only make once. I did it - taking a pogo stick to a Guide camp. Not only can you not pogo in a field, especially a Welsh one where it never stops raining, but it was a real pain to carry.
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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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I am now replacing “chocolate teapot” with “a pogo stick on a Welsh camping holiday”.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| @Origen, or she could end up living in Switzerland |
Best of luck to her trying unless she has an EU/CH passport
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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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It's very expensive but is not unreasonable, given what's included. Half term flights are usually an outrage, even if you book independently .
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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FAQ
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. However, I recently bumped into a former school mate (that I hadn't seen for 44 years) and that ski trip was one of the things he mentioned when we chatted and reminisced! 