The Weekend Skier
We UK skiers are an unfortunate bunch. Out of the 52 weeks in a year, most of us will ski just one of those weeks, maybe two if you are lucky. Why should you wait all year to do the thing you love for just one week a year? Well, that's the thing. You don't have to. Because you can ski at weekends. Best of all...you can do it on a budget!
I'm Jamma, The Weekend Skier. After completing a season in St.Anton, Austria, I grew an unconditional love for everything skiing. Mountain air, sending it off and on a piste, going big at apres. I love it all. But after my season I chose the 9 to 5 option back in London and admittedly got sucked into the heavy drinking lifestyle, where you go big from Friday pm to Sunday night, struggling all week only to go and do it all again. It's a vicious cycle, and by the end of it, I had enough. I wanted to make the most of my time out of work and do something with my life, so I homed in on skiing.
In 2023 I decided to give weekend skiing a go after going on an impromptu weekend trip with my family. I was amazed by how cheap the holiday was and the amount of skiing we did in just two days. Five trips, 550km of skiing and 87 hours of skiing later, I concluded that this works. My cheapest trip cost me £400 for everything, including food and drink. And I know it can be done cheaper too.
1. Grab some mates
It might sound stupid but get this right and your weekend trip becomes a lot better AND easier. Four will make it the cheapest, but three or even two (romantic getaway anyone?) of you works just fine. Five people plus is hard to find accommodation for and if you’re bringing ski gear with you there’s premiums on car hire and luggage.
Friends, even just one, make the trip so much cheaper!
2. Find a flight
Get on a flight comparison site and find flight times over a couple of weekends that work for you. I tend to book the Friday off and fly Thursday evening or Friday morning, but Friday night is also an option to save a day’s annual leave.
Look on a flight comparison site like Skyscanner to get an idea of flight times, then use other sources like Kayak & Google Flights to check the price for what works with you. If you know what airline has the best flight for you, look direct as they can land you some good deals.
TOP TIP: Always use your ski luggage as your hold, stuffing your bag with your clothes and toiletries.
Also, check if the booking system offers car hire, the deals they give you are often the best ones around. It’s good practice to look on car hire comparison sites though to check you’re getting the best deal.
Some Weekend Skiers doing some weekend skiing in Tignes
3. Find some resorts
Yeah, not just one. You want a selection of places to go to that are ideally under a 2-hour drive away from your chosen airport.
I always use Skiresort.info to find resorts. This site is honestly the Mecca of ski resorts. Browse using the map, filtering criteria for that weekend. Bear in mind the lift pass price isn’t always 100% correct, so I always double-check on the resort's official website.
Benchmark piste numbers for a weekend are under 30km of piste for beginners and 50km+ for intermediates and above.
4. Book multiple accommodation options
My best finds when finding accommodation is booking.com. Free cancellation means you can book a few places across the resorts you’ve found, knuckling down on your preference once you get a better idea of the snow conditions.
Most places offer free cancellation up to two weeks before you go, so you’ll get a decent idea of at least how much of a resort is open & expected conditions. They also have their ‘Genius’ reward scheme, giving you discounts & bonus extras when you consistently use the site.
The cheapest places at larger resorts will be a little bit out of the way, so if you don’t mind driving to and from the piste you can save a lot more, but you will sacrifice Apres time. This is why slightly smaller resorts can work best for weekends if you want to have a drink and enjoy everything the town has to offer.
Don’t forget any extras
Frequent flyers must get annual travel insurance that covers skiing (including off-piste WITHOUT A GUIDE if that’s your thing) and driving abroad.
Consider transport to/from the airport UK-side, public transport is a lot cheaper, but if you carpool with your group the parking price will be cheaper.
Check out this video with more information
