Tuesday 26 January 2010

Skiing: bloody expensive

I'm going skiing with 7 colleagues on Thursday night and, well, certain preparations have to be made. Insurance has to be bought, tickets have to be procured, accommodation arranged. For novices - like six of us - lessons have to be booked and, if necessary, transport. Luckily for us, we're travelling overnight on a coach, and it's included as part of the deal. That's way better than a two hour flight, really.

And then there's the question of equipment. I know sport's expensive, but few popular ones can surely rival the expense needed to go skiing. One of my more experienced colleagues is organising everything, and he's provided us with a list of stuff we need to bring. Luckily, I've almost got my gear sorted.

Most of it was bought from Sports Direct, which always seems to have a massive sale on. That meant my jacket was reduced from £80 to £16, and my trousers from £80 to £25. This is gear that's on sale in Sports Direct, so it's not exactly high-end stuff. I also got my socks, gloves and hat from there and, luckily, that was all in the sale too.

Sports Direct doesn't sell thermals, though, so I wandered over to Kathmandu, an outdoor shop that's literally over the road.

It's a gorgeous, welcoming shop, all polished wood floors, rails of fantastic-looking gear and helpful assistants. It seems to sell everything the hardy outdoorsman needs and, as an added bonus, it's also got a sale on at the moment. "Thousands of items reduced", the big red signs blare. I thought it prudent to spend some decent coin on decent thermals, and found them on sale in a two for £24 deal. Sorted.

I also reckoned that I'd be able to get my gloves, socks and hat from the same place, since it was also boasting a three for two deal on any selection of these. You'll notice that I bought those items from Sports Direct, though. That's because I walked into Kathmandu and the first pair of gloves I looked at cost £40.

All this is for a short trip and I'm doing it on the cheap because I have no idea if I like skiing. In all likelihood, I'll spend three days tumbling down a mountain before coming home.
But what if you're serious about it? £40 gloves are, surely, just the start. I've been told that decent jackets and trousers can cost £200, and a quality pair of boots also stretch way into three figures (I'm hiring mine).

Then there's all the ancillary stuff: ski ties, hats, socks, thermal base layers, fleeces, goggles. And then the stuff that we're hiring when we get there - boots, poles, the skis themselves.

It all adds up and, it seems, it'd be a frightening amount if you're really going to take this whole Winter Sports thing seriously. It doesn't help that all of the gear in Kathmandu looked absolutely brilliant: from t-shirts and hoodies through to rugged trousers and thick, warm jackets, I wanted it all - not just for skiing, but for wearing everyday. I guess I'm just a sucker for this kind of kit: I'm more liable to choose a backpack or jacket based on the number of pockets, compartments and hidden areas it's got than I am for what it costs or looks like.

I'm sure it'll be awesome and I can't wait to get there. I think I'll stick to football, though: after all, you only need some jumpers and a ball. And I'm pretty sure you don't need to spend hundreds of pounds to get some of those.

2 comments:

Dariem said...

In fairness, that's a two-hour flight, plus the time it takes to get to one of the optimistically-named "London airports" ready to check in 90 minutes in advance... then the time it takes to reclaim your baggage and clear immigration at the other end, followed by a hundred-mile drive through the mountains to get to the resort. The whole process is still quicker than the coach, but you can't do it overnight, so it actually ends up eating into your holiday more than an overnight coach... - D.

Darien said...

In fairness, that's a two-hour flight, plus the time it takes to get to one of the optimistically-named "London airports" ready to check in 90 minutes in advance... then the time it takes to reclaim your baggage and clear immigration at the other end, followed by a hundred-mile drive through the mountains to get to the resort. The whole process is still quicker than the coach, but you can't do it overnight, so it actually ends up eating into your holiday more than an overnight coach... - D.