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A Different Skiing Holiday

By: Mark Bartley Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Prices everywhere are high, to say the least and many are starting to use phrases such as exorbitant, crazy, ridiculous; even unaffordable. All that does not bode well for travel companies, who have enjoyed affluent customers and favourable exchange rates for several years. Both of these factors have helped to make foreign trips become the norm for many UK families, couple and individuals.

So how will these new financial constraints wreak havoc on the traditional ski holiday? Well a week or ten days spent enjoying the slopes in the Alps or the Dolomites was never a bargain basement holiday, not unless you go back twenty years or more. Those typically able to afford the sporting winter break could never be classed as people on the breadline, but that doesn't mean skiing holidays are immune to the effects of the financial downturn. Disposable income was something these people would always have taken for granted and the cost of a ski holiday, with all its add-ons of equipment hire, lift passes and lunchtime mountain restaurant stops were just part of the territory. Those extras could never have been considered low cost or even fair-priced, but now that they are all up to 50 percent more expensive than before, their costs are starting to hurt.

People will now be looking very closely at the cost of their winter breaks and many who would have just gone ahead and booked their trip without the merest consideration of the cost will now be checking the figures a lot more closely this time. Calculators will be coming out and a few quick sums will be tapped into the machine before the fingers hit the "Yes" button on the confirmation pages of those online booking sites. For some the final price of their holidays were not realised until they returned home and checked their credit card statements, but we suspect that many will be doing those final price estimations before they book their trips this year. The overall cost that comes out will prove to be too much for some and the annual trip to the slopes may have to be ruled out this year.

However there is an alternative. Don't go away this year! Yes it really is as simple as that. Work out how much you would have spent trekking across Europe on expensive flights (even more expensive if you need to go during school holidays), add on your ski package then add on the cost of your lift passes (£150 average per person per week in Europe this season). Now add the cost of your equipment hire; even fewer people are taking their own stuff this year as most of the airlines are charging extra to carry it and then add on any ski school costs you may have been planning. Finally add on a huge daily budget for expensive snacks and overpriced drinks. All up, you should have a pretty tidy sum on your calculator by now.

If my sums are correct that should be enough to get you a luxury suite in a reasonable London hotel for the week, with tickets and instructors for daily skiing or snowboarding at the new indoor Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead. The centre is a short rail journey from central London and you'll have reliable ski or snowboard conditions every day – guaranteed. You don't need to budget for equipment hire because it's all included and the price of lunch or a slope side coffee will appear ridiculously cheap compared to your average alpine café. OK you won't get those staggering alpine views, but just live with me for a moment.

Once you've had your day on the slopes with your BASI qualified instructor (who speaks perfect English by the way!) you can jump back on a train (or taxi if you feel the need) and zoom back to your hotel, before heading out on the town for a great meal, a concert, a West End show or just a film. Maybe meet up with some friends in a bar or go to one of the many nightclubs nearby. The choices are almost endless.

Repeat x 6 nights and finish the week with cash to spare. How does that sound? OK, I haven't done it myself yet, but I bet you'd have an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable week and you won't be a victim of the expensive European ski holiday that many others will find themselves experiencing this year.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Selecting a ski school close to home at an indoor ski slope is one way to keep the cost of skiing down. Mark Bartley suggests an alternative type of ski break in this report.