Hey!
not a ski lover but.. I have Raiffeisen as bank. Paying 200 CHF i became a kind of "shareholder" (I will get the money back when I will close the bank account).
Being a shareholder you become member plus and you have some benefits that you can find here:
https://memberplus.raiffeis...

maybe is something that can interest you :)

Some more ideas to consider:

• going sledding instead of skiing
• cross country instead of downhill
• doing a winter hike
• going just for a weekend (in off season) instead of a whole week (in high season)

I recommend the Magicpass, if you go more than about 8 times it’s worth it and gives you access to the some of the bigger stations.

Also snowshoeing or skinning, once you have the equipment it’s absolutely free and so good for you.

Happy trails

Hi what a perfect timing! We just came back from our ski holidays. Keeping our actual cost journal, I was wondering if there are any other tips to make this expensive activity cheaper 😁

Our background: We live in a city and own a car. We are a family of two (my 12yr son and myself as mother), NOT frequent skier (only during holidays). So we don’t own equipments except our glasses and my helmet. We don’t do season rental either because we don’t go skiing so often (only once or twice for holidays) and our car is too small and cannot carry ski equipments.

Here are my tips:

• Get second hand ski clothes for kids for free or very reasonable prices. My old colleague, who has only son growing up as fast as my son ahead of him, always offers ones for free! We buy new socks, warm underwear, and fleece for my son when necessary but always search for discount.
• Go for adult skip clothes to outlet shops or normal shops on sale at the end of the season. Especially at outlet shops, you can get huge discount if you are there in the right timing. It might not be the latest model but I don’t care if I get new one 80% less from the original price (which happened to me yesterday!)
• Reserve rental equipments in advance via internet. You can get 20-50% discount.
• Take a private lesson in France if you want one. The price difference is big while the one for group lessons is not so much.
• Don’t go skiing in bad condition or if you have doubt. You may end up being forced to stop in the middle of the day. It can be very expensive ski if you stop after a few hours with your one day or 1/2 day pass. Save your day (and money) for a perfect ski day. It would worth it.

Growing up in Valais there was a "ski Club" in every village, that save my parents lot of money on ski classes. Also they didn't have to go skiing with me if they didn't want to/ couldn't. Living close to the mountain we also always went for half a day. Now I live in Zürich and get more often cross country skiing, it's cheaper, take less time and you can rent the equipment. Surely less fun if you have kids :)

I realize there are so many different ways to approach the sport and I might not represent the most typical situation but I have learned a few lessons that might help someone out there.

To put things in context: I grew up skiing and I’m very passionate about the sport. Like start-training-in-may-for-next-season-spend-all-summer-watching-snow-videos-and-check-webcams-from-November passionate. I also started the instructor path as a teenager but I did not fully complete it.

I have 4 kids aged from 2 to 10 (smallest one does not ski yet and my wife is not a big fan either). We live in the opposite part of Switzerland.

In recent years we skied around 30 days per season. So financially it’s more about keeping costs within the allocated budget rather than squeezing the last franc.
However I still managed to spend less than many friends spend in a handful of days/season.

What I do:

• I buy a family season pass in a small family-oriented resort close to home. I buy it as early as they go on sale (sometimes end of March) to get a substantial discount (I’ve seen up to 40% reduction).
  The pass gives half price on other resorts in the region, so it allows for some variety.
  With this technique I’ve spent less than 500.-/year in tickets for myself+kids. It could’ve been less by sticking more to the base resort, but it’s still excellent value to me.

• We avoid big name resorts. We are more into the sport side of things rather than tourism/leisure/scenery, so in general I appreciate a few well prepared and empty runs rather than hundreds of outrageously expensive and crowded pistes.
  I appreciate other people might have different tastes though.

• we always bring our lunch. Most resorts have a picnic room. If it’s good weather eating outside is nice too. If we only do half day we eat on the way home or at home.

• we often ski half day, always in the morning. There’s less crowd on the piste, kids are fresher, less risk of collision when everyone is heading home tired at 16 on the same slope. And the kids like to do other things for the rest of the day. This is one of the big advantages of the season pass, if weather gets very bad or kids are not in top shape you don’t feel guilty heading home early.

• I buy most gear 2nd hand from Ricardo out of season. It’s a bit strange to buy ski stuff in June but if you keep a clear list of what you need and have good eye you’ll save big money. You usually find good quality equipment when kids doing racing end/start the season.
  Boots (for adults) are the exception. It’s the one piece that will change your experience so bite the bullet and get proper ones from someone that knows his stuff (no big shops that will always sell you two sizes too large). They’ll last a long time.

• i maintain impeccably skis and other gear. Always dry them after skiing, etc. I also do the tuning on my own but doing this in a cost-effective way is a whole other topic.
  That way equipment lasts a long time and kids can pass from one to the other.

• ski school: teaching your own kids is not for everyone. Actually it’s probably better avoided. It’s working for me but I would not advise it in general. Your best bet is a ski club or a seasonal group course if the local ski school offers it.
  It might still expensive but if you’re passionate this is the whole point of skiing.

Have fun!

Try cross country skiing. I startet last year. It makes a lot of fun, less people on the track as in alpine skiing and it doesnt cost much. For 140 CHF you get the all season Switzerland pass. One Daypass costs usually about 5-7CHF. Equipment is about 300-500 CHF or 20-40 CHF per day for renting.
Depending on your location the distance to the skiing area is much shorter than the alpine skiing areas.

Thanks Marc for all your precious tips. We use homeexchange to save on accommodation costs. Loads of offers in Switzerland and France (but you need to be ready to open your house :-)