Michaelmas brings colder weather and the reminder that winter is coming. For some that means wet weather and a Christmas dinner, for others that means ski season. At this university, and our friends in the Other Place, the Varsity Trip offers the opportunity for people to go on a pre-organised skiing trip. The selling point is that the trip is at “student prices” but with the base price (including coach travel) being £558 without add-ons, what types of students are they really aiming this trip at? The answer is those who can afford to splash the cash.

The largest issue with the ski trip is really an issue with skiing holidays in general: those who are less privileged (and thus less likely to have gone skiing before) will always end up paying more. This is because those who don’t ski much will have to rent ski gear, this goes beyond skis, boots and poles, and can include coats, gloves, helmets, and goggles. Renting skis, poles, boots and a helmet will cost one person £115 for the week, and that’s only the basic supplies.

“I have to admit, the trip provides a lot of this rented gear at a lower price than if you were to do it privately”

Ski clothing is also recommended on the cold slopes; it might be good for some who have a North Face lying around but for many a college puffer isn’t going to cut it. Renting is again the far cheaper option but even just a set of gloves, a coat and skiing trousers will put you back about £65 for the week. This doesn’t even include the several layers you’ll need underneath all that and the fetching goggles you’ll be sporting all week. The trip provides a lot of this rented gear at a lower price than if you were to do it privately, but it’s still not cheap.

Now what if you’ve never skied before? Fear not, you can also get lessons when you’re on the trip. Six hours of beginner lessons last year would put you back about £150. So you better hope you’re a fast learner or have some patient friends who can ski and are willing to teach you.

“What the trip really profits off of is all the extras you may feel pressured to indulge in”

These are only the charges you’ll need to incur if you’re a newbie to the slopes. What the trip really profits off of is all the extras you may feel pressured to indulge in. Accommodation is provided in the base price of a ticket, but with apartments varying in capacity from six to 16, many choose to upgrade. Their website boasts that the upgraded accommodation sells out fast and you can see why. Even in the typical four to six person apartments, people will have to sleep in alcoves with bunk beds, share doubles or draw the short straw and kip on the sofa bed. Upgrades will either cost an extra £79 or £149 if you want the even nicer option (no sofa bed for you).

If you think the Varsity Ski Trip is all about skiing you are sorely mistaken. Any person who has had the unfortunate experience of being a member of Ticketbridge during the trip knows it’s also about the events. Every single night of the trip there is a night-time event, from the classics of a silent disco to the fun of skiing back down from Mega Après, you can certainly fill your evening calendar. These events can cost you from as little as £6 to £35 (based on last year’s prices) depending on the event. More extras which you don’t need but you might feel a little left out from if you don’t join in.

Now let’s not forget the most important extra: food. The trip provides vouchers and discounts in some restaurants in the resort but for those trying to work on a budget this may not be the best option. The Varsity trip website says: “If you are cooking for yourself most days, having bought ingredients in the out of town supermarket or from home, [budgeting for meals] can be done quite cheaply.” But the notion of bringing a week’s worth of food from home to cook for yourself is a little far-fetched, and the website gives no indication of the distance or cost of the “out of town supermarket”.

“You’ve never skied before? That’s another £150”

So the lure of a £349 base price ticket quickly spirals up. An extra £209 for the 20 hour coach there and back (you could spend an extra £100 and fly instead). And now you’re at the higher base price of £558 that we started this article on. But let’s assume your part of the normal portion of the population that doesn’t own ski equipment and clothing, that’s another £180. Some extra layers will put you back another £80, for spares in your base layers and some mid-layers. You’ve never skied before? That’s another £150. Let’s assume you and all your mates are okay bunking up and you don’t upgrade your accommodation. Now we will add two night-time events just to add a little fun and call that £15. We will also guess that you are very strict on your budgeting and will cook all your meals, let’s budget £50 for that shop (obviously including the cheapest alcohol you can get because we all know pre-ing is the ultimate budget activity). So your bargain £500 skiing trip is now looking at being over a grand.

The Varsity Trip, at least to me, is often painted as an easy, affordable and accessible way to go skiing, but it lacks so much transparency about the actual cost of it all. Many don’t realise how much the trip is going to cost them until they’re speeding through their 30-minute booking slot and seeing the price rack up.

Now the trip does provide a cheaper skiing holiday, especially for the popular resorts the trip frequents. When a lift pass alone for the week in Tignes costs over £230, you can see why the base price is already so much. But if you really want to go on a cheap skiing holiday with your friends, you’re probably just as well off just choosing a cheaper resort and organising it yourself. And if you do that, you won’t have to deal with Oxf*rd students either.

All in all, many find the trip fun, and I’m sure it is. But I think it shouldn’t try to pretend it’s not any different from a normal skiing holiday, only for those with too much disposable income.