The ski season (and snowboard, snowshoeing, or sealskin ski touring) is just beginning in Switzerland. As a frugal Mustachian, it is not a good point for the budget because winter sports are very expensive…
But well, you still have to have fun in life, especially when you are lucky enough to have such beautiful mountains close to home.
And frugal doesn’t mean depriving yourself of everything either!
So I thought I’d share with you some tips and tricks for enjoying the snow season: from cheap family-friendly Swiss ski resorts to second-hand equipment.
In exchange, I count on you to share your good tips with me afterwards ;)
My 6 good tips for skiing cheaply in Switzerland
Tip #1: second-hand ski shop
When you’re on your own, ski equipment (and any other winter sport) already costs quite a bit. So when you’re in a relationship, moreover with children, it only gets worse.
Once we were the four of us who practiced winter sports, we asked around us for some tips to pay less for the children’s ski equipment as they grow up and have to change almost every year!
And then, what a good surprise when our nany of the time tells us about a second hand ski shop in Concise: Skid’Oc.
To make it short: instead of either renting skis+boots for CHF 100-150 per child per season from Ochsner, or even worse, buying new equipment for at least CHF 200 per child per season, Skid’Oc offers you ski and ski boot sets for around CHF 40-50 for children. And the best part is that they buy them back from you one or two years later when your child has grown up. It’s really worth a look.
Tip #2: buy/sell ski equipment on Anibis and Facebook
The other trick where you buy and sell almost lossless is to watch on Anibis or Facebook — Moms or such groups are the best for that!
For example, last year, we bought for our second one: CHF 25 for skis, CHF 15 for boots, and CHF 5 for helmet. In parallel, we sold his old skis for CHF 30 on Facebook :)
Tip #3: the swaps!
In French-speaking Switzerland, the Cossonay swap is one of the best known because it is very well organized, and therefore with quality equipment. One year, we found for our first one a complete equipment (ski + boots + poles + helmet) for CHF 37. Unbeatable!
This swap takes place twice a year. You can find all the information on their “Troc de Coss” Facebook page.
A little pro advice: go there right from the opening if you want to have the chance to find what you want!
Tip #4: cheap family ski resorts
I will not teach the experts anything about this subject, but if you are one of those who are starting to take an interest in winter sports, know that there are huge price differences between the different ski resorts in Switzerland and at the borders.
Two concrete comparative examples:
1/ Full day at Verbier vs. Villars
- Verbier: CHF 73 per adult, and CHF 37 per child, or CHF 220 for 4
- Villars: CHF 56 per adult, and CHF 33 per child, or CHF 178 for 3
- Difference for a family of 4: CHF 42 in savings if you go to Villars
2/ Full day at Villars vs. French Jura border station such as Métabief
- Villars: CHF 178 for 4
- Metabief: 27.5€ per adult, and 23.5€ per child, or CHF 112 for 4
- Difference for a family of 4: CHF 66 in savings if you go to Métabief
And personally, I find family ski resorts more cosy and less touristy than larger ones like Zermatt or Verbier.
I don’t know by far all the stations so if you have other good tips, share them via the comments below.
Tip #5: half-day ski discount
On our side, we almost never go to winter sports for the whole day. First of all, because the toddlers are still too tired too quickly. And second, because it costs a lot!
If we compare the prices of the stations listed above for a full day versus a half day for an adult, it gives this:
- Verbier: 1 day = CHF 73, 1/2 day = CHF 67
- Villars: 1 day = CHF 56, 1/2 day = CHF 49
- Metabief: 1 day = 27.5€, 1/2 day = 25€
You will tell me that it’s not much of a difference, but if you go between 5-10 times a season, with a family of 4, the difference is quickly growing!
Tip #6: sandwiches vs. restaurant (or even better, eat at home)
In the same vein as taking your “tupps” to work, you’ll save even more if you take your picnic in the backpack instead of eating at ski resort restaurants.
And besides, I think it’s so cool to eat in the middle of trees rather than in a crowded restaurant where it’s so hot inside :)
The other alternative if you are lucky enough to live close to the mountains like us is to combine this good plan with the previous one: you eat before going skiing for the afternoon. Or vice versa, you leave early in the morning and come back to eat cosily at home.
Quick calculation :
- Resto for 4 in ski resort ~ CHF 100 minimum
- Eat at home or have a picnic (CHF 3/portion) ~ CHF 12
- Difference for a family of 4 = CHF 88!!!
What is your best frugal tip for skiing cheaply in Switzerland?
It’s a “Ask the readers” article, so the goal is not to produce a 3'000 words’ blogpost ;)
So I let you share with us now your best and cheapest tips for winter sports in Switzerland (ski/snowboard/snowshoes/etc.) in the comments section below!
Switch of online broker, my Swiss experience from …
Net worth and savings rate update November 2019...
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 :)
Very interesting indeed! Thanks for sharing it!
I don't think we will use it as not regular skiing but for sure worth a check for other readers!
Some more ideas to consider:
Thanks a lot for sharing @remouherek:disqus !
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
@disqus_L87HQhQIPD:disqus indeed the MagicPass is a great thing if you're skiing a lot. After some maths last year, we were just below the 8 times, and didn't want to "force ourselves" spend more to go more skiing.
+1 for snowshoeing and skinning. Mrs. MP loves so much skiing...but I'll propose her that we alternate ;)
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:
Thanks a lot for sharing @kaorinojiri:disqus !
Indeed for the other parents giving away their old stuff. We do the same here ;)
Would you mind sharing your actual cost journal (how many days, what activities, where, etc.)?
Sure! I just completed the expense report (?) of our 2nd ski holiday in Switzerland. Because our 1st ski holiday was in France, it became interesting comparison.
1st Holiday in France (FR): 4 nights 5 days in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (Dec 21-25, 2019)
2nd Holiday in Switzerland (CH): 3 nights 4 days in Grindelwald (Jan 2-5, 2020)
For easy comparison, I converted EUR costs into CHF with the rate used for my credit card bill.
We travelled as a family of two, my son (12 years old) and myself.
<transportation: by="" car,="" 2="" hours="" driving="" for="" one="" way="" from="" where="" i="" live="">
(FR) 53 CHF, including fuel, high-way toll, parking for skiing)
(CH) 29 CHF, including fuel only (no cost on toll or parking)
<accommodation>
591 CHF in total/ 148 CHF per night (FR), two-star hotel in the center, including breakfast and tax
625 CHF in total/ 208 CHF per night (CH), three-star hotel close to the center, including breakfast and tax
<activity>
(FR) 325 CHF in total, including;
121 CHF for ski pass (one day Chamonix Pass for one adult 55 EUR plus 3 EUR for insurance, one child 46.8 EUR plus 3 EUR for insurance)
91 CHF for one day ski rental (ski, ski boots, and poles for both myself and my son, helmet for the child, with insurance)
113 CHF for other activities (ice-hockey match live watching, swimming pool, bus trip to Courmayeur in Italy, movie)
(CH) 355 CHF in total, including
183 CHF for two day ski pass (122 CHF for adult, 61 CHF for child) / 92 CHF per day
80 CHF for two day ski rental/ 40 CHF per day (ski, ski boots, and poles for both myself and my son, helmet for the child, with 20% off voucher)
92 CHF for other activities (sledges—passes for sledging, 39 CHF for an adult, 23 CHF for a child, and rental sledges, 30 CHF for two)
<food, dinning="">
(FR) 376 CHF in total/ 47 CHF per meal (4 lunches and 4 dinners)
(CH) 338 CHF in total/ 56 CHF per meal (3 lunches and 3 dinners)
Summary of findings:
Skiing in Chamonix is expensive. I thought skiing in France is cheaper than in Switzerland, but probably Chamonix is exception…
Traveling by car in Switzerland could be cheaper than in France because of highway tolls
Accommodation, food and dinning are cheaper in France (as I expected)
France has more variation of other activities (esp. in Chamonix), and they are cheaper than in Switzerland
Here is the link to an interesting article about ski passes in Switzerland: https://www.swissinfo.ch/en...
Thanks a lot for all the details and findings!
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 :)
Thanks for sharing @disqus_PRIW4Qjytt:disqus !
Interesting idea for the ski-club. Did you have to pay your pass anyway, or just the ski-club abo?
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!
Thank you very much for the story-sharing @disqus_YzYyyxNJ73:disqus !!
I think we're pretty much aligned on every single point :)
What's your ski resort base by the way?
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.
Like it a lot!
Mrs. MP loves Alps skiing but is ready to try again once cross country. Let's see how it goes ;)
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 :-)
@carolinemarck:disqus pleasure :)
Do you have a homeexchange example that you went on yourself?
Yes, we've been using www.homeexchange.com for a year now, saving thousands of dollars in accommodation costs all around the world. Get in touch if you want to subscribe, I can share a referral link which will get you more welcome guest points. Kind regards, Caroline.
Thanks!
What I was meaning was a link to one place you were yourself?
I will do so for referral link if we happen to use it :)