Fifteen Months to Departure: How Adam Southey Plans a Ski Trip Students Never Forget 

When a colleague comes to Adam with no idea where to begin, his advice doesn’t start with logistics. It starts with mindset. 

It’s advice Adam credits partly to having staffed ski trips led by other colleagues before taking the lead himself. Seeing the process from the inside first made his own first trip far less daunting. If you’re considering leading a ski trip for your school, see if you can join the staffing for a ski trip for another year group, giving you added experience before leading yourself. 

For the best choice of resorts, accommodation and flight availability, Adam starts making enquiries around 15 months before the group travels – sometimes before the previous year’s trip has even taken place. From there, SkiBound guides the process step by step. 

“SkiBound helpfully guides you through the process. I meet with our school accounts team to split the cost of the trip into three payments, ensuring that we are able to comply with SkiBound’s own payment schedule.” 

With parents busy and hard to pin down, Adam puts the groundwork in early rather than chasing people later. He prepares an information PowerPoint and sends it out so parents can read it in their own time and come back to him with questions, rather than needing everything explained in one sitting. It may also be a good idea to hold a parent meeting shortly after, to recap any important information, and have a further discussion if necessary.  

In the weeks before departure, he holds two or three pupil briefings, so students know exactly what to expect from their trip. 

School trips rarely run exactly as planned. Student numbers shift, and individual students sometimes must withdraw. Adam points to SkiBound’s support in these moments as one of the biggest reassurances of working with them. 

“In those situations, SkiBound has always been easy to contact and quick to provide practical solutions. Their team clearly explains any financial implications, advises on the options available, and helps minimise the administrative burden on staff.” 

Rather than working through it alone, Adam says he has always felt supported by staff who understand the pressures schools are under, which has given him confidence that if something unexpected happens, there’s a team on hand to help find a solution. 

There’s also great peace of mind to be had from SkiBound’s wider team (SkiBound is part of the Experience Education Travel Group). With dedicated aviation, coaching, ops and health and safety teams behind the scenes, there is plenty of protocol in place to support every eventuality that may occur. 

With so many resorts across Europe to choose from, Adam relies on a mix of his own experience and research, backed up by SkiBound’s resort guidance. SkiBound’s team can suggest resorts across France, Austria, Andorra, Italy, North America, Japan and coming soon – in Spain too. Staff have visited the resorts and can fill in the blanks about different sized hotels, local ski fit, proximity to slopes and to potential apres ski options. 

“Previous knowledge and lots of research. SkiBound have a great website with excellent resort information, and also provide good advice via email or over the phone with reps who have been to certain resorts.” 

Leading a ski trip for the first time is, in Adam’s words, daunting but rewarding. Having staffed trips led by colleagues beforehand gave him a head start, and SkiBound filled in the rest. 

“SkiBound were always available to answer questions, explain procedures, and offer advice based on their experience of working with schools. Having a dedicated point of contact in resort and a well-established process gave me confidence that everything was being managed properly.” 

For all the planning a ski trip involves, Adam is quick to point out which parts of the process are far lighter than teachers often assume. 

“One thing I found took less time than I thought was the form SkiBound provides to send to parents to ask for helmet sizes, shoe sizes, and so on. This required next to no work at all.” 

Gathering all this information in advance ensured that after a long day of travelling, the ski fit process was not onerous and students got their kit together quickly. 

Having organised trips both before and after SkiBound introduced its Vamoos app, Adam has also felt the shift from paper-based admin to a digital platform directly. Having all the information for his group available digitally and in his pocket made for peace of mind about the logistics. 

“Vamoos has enabled things to be kept in one place and easily available. Less printing also pleases the school. Resort maps and information were also very helpful.” 

Adam’s approach to parent communication is straightforward, and it’s the same principle that runs through his entire planning timeline: do the groundwork early. 

“Plan ahead. Give parents the information in good time and make yourself available to answer questions when needed. The more groundwork you do in good time to answer questions will result in less work nearer the trip itself.” 

Adam has now travelled with SkiBound for multiple years and the reason he keeps returning is simple: the trips work, for staff and students alike. 

“The trips themselves have been consistently successful. Our students have had fantastic experiences, developed new skills and confidence, and returned with memories that will stay with them for years. The positive feedback from students and parents, combined with the reliability and support provided by SkiBound, means that each time we begin planning our next ski trip, they are our first choice.” 

Adam’s experience reflects what SkiBound has supported schools through for over 40 years: early planning, clear guidance at every stage, and a team on hand when plans need to change. If you’re taking on your first school ski trip, you don’t have to work it out alone.