Group skiing
Going on holiday with a large group of people may sound like a week fraught with social niceties but in reality, group ski trips can make for a great and sociable trip. Everything from having plenty of people of your ability to ski with to getting bigger discounts means that more and more people are choosing to go skiing with as many people as they can rope in.
Booking your holiday
Start your search by checking out some broker sites such as
Iglu Ski who offer special group bookings where they will offer you free name changes and can hold the chalet for seven days whilst you confirm your numbers. Alternatively, a chalet broker site such as
Alpine Answers lets you search by resort, quality and number of people.
Often it will be possible to negotiate a free place for the group leader although at peak times, the chance of this is reduced. Book as early as possible for the biggest group discounts and to have your pick of resort and location. And the more of you there are, the cheaper it is per head – especially if you can find a deal that includes lift passes and ski hire.
Tour operators who specialise in group skiing are
Mark Warner who run large chalet-style hotels,
Skiworld offer benefits such as lower deposits and electronic rooming lists and
Supertravel has a large range of chalets to choose from.
Getting there
If you’re organising your holiday independently, often one of the big expenses is your travel between airport and resort. Even groups of four to eight people will get significantly cheaper airport transfers by taking a minibus transfer. Transfer companies such as
ATS (Alps),
The Cool Bus (Savoie) and
Loacker Tours (Austria) all offer group airport transfers.
On the piste
Group trips often start at the airport but once you get onto the piste, usually the group will split into abilities to ski at different paces. This can work really well as the different levels can split the cost of lessons or off-piste guiding.
Skiing in a group invariably brings a lot of laughter as well as a range of skills and advice. There is always someone on hand to lend you the item of clothing or piece of equipment you have lost, broken or left at home. Often, someone will have just the right advice to make you see your skiing in a different light and improve your technique. And it seems there is always someone on hand who has tools to adjust your bindings.
Off-pisteIf you’re in a group who loves off-piste, then hire yourselves a guide - they will know where the good snow is off-piste, as well as allowing you to cover large areas, and taking you to the best restaurants on the mountain. Usually there’s a limit to how many can be in any one group so you may want to split the off-piste groups into ability and where people want to ski.
Apres-ski and dinner
When the day's skiing is over, the fun has only just started. Don't expect a quiet holiday, but do expect to meet some great people. Dinner is the time to recount anecdotes and exploits on the mountain, and off it too. For our recommended restaurants for groups, see our
top restaurants for groups article.
