1) Commit To A Date Early

More than anything, this will be the hardest thing to pin down, so don’t waste any time in floating potential dates for the trip to the group. There’ll be plenty of time afterwards to argue about where you’re going to go, so that can wait.

If there’s only a handful of you, this shouldn’t be too hard – but as the numbers increase, so does the complexity.

The Doodle planner can be useful for this – if everyone marks off the days they definitely can’t do, then the likely options will soon present themselves.

“Avoid email chains if you can – the first time someone hits ‘Reply’ instead of ‘Reply ALL’ then the whole thing is potentially fucked”

3) Assign A Leader

Representative democracy – it might not be perfect, but sometimes nothing else will do. Rather than having everyone book their own flights and accommodation, pick one person to handle the big stuff for the group.

“They’ve probably already got a nickname along the lines of Captain Sensible, the OrganisoTron 3000, or The Spreadsheet Whisperer”

Avoid going for who might seem most like a ‘natural leader’; you’re not storming the beaches at Normandy. Look past the most enthusiastic, charismatic person in the group (who may well be poised to unleash their inner Führer), and pick the one with the best organisational skills.

Figuring out who that is won’t be hard; they’ve probably already got a nickname along the lines of Captain Sensible, the OrganisoTron 3000, or The Spreadsheet Whisperer.

They’ll probably grumble about having to shoulder the extra responsibility, but you all know that they’re secretly happier to do it themselves than leave it in the hands of someone that doesn’t even have their own set of different-coloured highlighters.

5) Look For Group Deals

Travel companies love it when a large group comes looking for a deal, so be sure to do the rounds.

Don’t leave it all up to the organiser, though. Get a list together, then divide and conquer. If you make it clear to the operator that you’re on the hunt for the best deal, they’re likely to do all they can to get your business.

Sometimes they’ll offer a free place for every five or six people on the trip. If the trip is in honour of somone’s birthday, the freebie can go to them, or if not it could go to the organizer. Another option is to split the saving among everyone, resulting in a nice little discount.

6) Manage Your Money

The organiser will do most of the money-handling, but it’s up to everyone to ensure things go smoothly.

Apps like Tilt  allow you to manage a group payment, and ensure the record of who has paid what is easily tracked. If things go wrong at this stage, they can go very wrong indeed, so don’t drop the ball.

Also, no-one likes chasing people for payment, so cough up when asked. And NEVER be the one who’s massively up for it, then declares at the 11th hour that they can’t afford it. If it’s looking doubtful, make that clear from the start.

Once you get there, it might be a good idea to pool your money in a kitty, especially if you’re likely to spend similar amounts on food and booze. At the same time, don’t force this on the group if it doesn’t look like it’ll work out fair.

“Ensure that everyone knows what they’re getting for their cash, and what they’re still required to sort out themselves”

8) Don’t Take More Luggage Than You Need

You’re about to spend a collective fortune on flights and carriage, so do what you can to avoid forking out more than you need to. The easiest way to do this is to only take one board bag beween two.

Any flatmates or couples going should be able to sort this out fairly easily, but it’s a little harder for those that live separately. We recommend that you get everything packed up at least a few days before you’re due to fly.

If it’s looking like you’ll need an extra bag or two, it’s better to know this before the morning of the flight – and it usually costs less to add extra bags at this stage rather than at the airport.

It should go without saying that the more efficiently you pack your stuff, the better. Get some great tips on how to pack your snowboard bag here.

9) Stay Positive

So the group didn’t decide to go to the resort you suggested. So they opted for the cheaper place that’s a little further down the mountain. So they chose half board rather than self-catering. So two of the group got leathered and made a bit of a racket at 3am while attempting to find their bunks in the dark. So… what?

In a group situation, you can expect to please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time – but not both. If things don’t quite go your way, then for the love of God, don’t say ‘I told you so’.

It may sound corny, but having the right attitude cannot be overstated. It’s never going to go 100% smoothly – unless, perhaps, you’re attending the British Risk Assessment Forum’s annual getaway – so take your cue from the Python boys and make the best of it.