 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm sure this will have been done before, but a search isn't throwing anything up so I'm hoping for some help from you good people.
I feel I missed out enormously in that I never got round to "doing a season", and would love to make up for it slightly. However I have 2 primary aged children, and I'm not yet brave enough to take them out for a whole winter.
What I would love to do, though, is to go somewhere for all of the Christmas holidays and most/all of the Easter holidays one year. We'd give half term a miss I think. If that went well then I would seriously recommend coming back to spend a full season and putting them in French school.
So:
1) Where should we go? - For the Christmas holidays (around 15 December - 7 January) would like somewhere with suitable Christmas atmosphere, and the a good chance of decent snow along with access to tree skiing in anticipation of cold / windy weather. For Easter holidays (probably 25th March - 20 April approx), I guess we'll just need to go somewhere we can get high. However it presumably makes far more sense to go to the same place at both ends because then we can benefit from a season lift pass. France the easiest option for me because I do speak some French and could learn more, and also the kids speak a bit of French (and would hopefully learn more).
2) How do I go about finding a suitable apartment? Am I likely to see any discounts as a result of taking it for 3-4 weeks at a time?
3) How might I go about integrating the kids a little bit / making a few friends, or is it likely to be impossible in 3-4 weeks a time and not worth worrying about? I imagine they'd do ESF or similar lessons, but I also imagine that everyone else would be there for a week or two. Is there any sort of "family seasonaires" scene?? Or do we just get a big apartment and reckon on having lots of friends to stay?
4) What else have I not even considered yet? I'm a planner by nature and like to cover off every angle, so any help on the angles very much appreciated.
S
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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There's a family scene in Innsbruck, there's also an English/International primary (I think) school.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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swoafs, Interesting. I think I'd go for it - take them out and let them attend a local school. the younger the better, for this - it won't get easier as they get older.
If you were living somewhere for months at a time you'd have a car. Having the "right sort of slopes" nearby would be much less important than having the right sort of school, and community - no problem driving to the slopes, which is generally what locals do.
There's a snowhead (name escapes me for the moment but will probably come back to me soon, or someone else will come with it) who has gone to live in Les Gets with small kids, and it seems to be working fine. And another, called Annie, who spent a season in St Gervais (a lovely town) and who has been hankering to go back ever since!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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pam w, MeMyselfandI is the one who went to Les Gets 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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swoafs, MeMyselfandI - is the snowhead who is living in Les Gets. The children are at the school which is just up the road from us. There are in fact 2 schools on the same site - the State school and a private school. I think that the system in France is that if you send the child to the private school then the state pays the private school what it would be paying the State school and then there is a small top-up paid by the parent (and I mean small..) There have been quite a few non-French children attending the schools and they seem to get on very well. I know that MeMyselfandI has been very happy with the integration of the children.
We had neighbours who lived in Les Gets for three or four years and the children were all educated at this primary school or the older one was at the college in St Jean d'Aulps.
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Pamski, sarah - I knew you'd come up trumps! Such a fantastic opportunity for the kids to go to a French school, especially one which is used to coping with foreigners and where they wouldn't be the only ones.
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You're all so encouraging, thank you and I can see that from the children's perspective you're absolutely right.
However, being realistic and boring, we'd have to pay for their UK private school in order to keep the place while we were away, and as I'm self employed I would have a good deal of planning to do in order to maintain my work if we came away for a whole winter. Plus, I'm a wimp - that's really why I didn't do a season when I was 19 and now, aged 40, I'm afraid I don't seem much better  My husband would have to stay in the UK and just join us on some weekends which would be a bit sad too.
Hence the "compromise". I'm kind of hoping that we'll all love it so much that the full season will be a no-brainer thereafter, but it doesn't feel doable straight off unfortunately.
Just on the basis of Christmas and Easter, where would be worth looking at, do you think? I wondered about maybe a satellite to one of the big areas? I think that even for 3-4 weeks at a time we'd definitely drive out, so would have a 4x4 at our disposal.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I was skiing with a chap in the PdS who was doing his second season out there with his family. This season they were home-schooling their kids (4 and  , last season they were in the Chatel area and had the kids enroled in the school there which had a large enough expat Brit attendance that they didn't feel out of place but still learnt French enough to study.
Choose your location wisely and it shouldn't be an issue.
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When our children were young we would take the caravan to the Alps at Xmas, then at half tern and again at Easter some years. We ran our business from the caravan and the slopes by mobile phone and then the internet as it became more accessible.
We did leave the van at Pralongnan La Vanoise one year but mostly we took it to and fro as fuel prices were reasonable back then and we preferred to go where the snow looked best.
Obviously we were limited to where caravan sites are located and they tend to be lowish but the plus side was plenty of other things to do apart from skiing (becomes more important if you are there for a while) and cheaper eating out etc. We did not do ski school but the boys made plenty of friends of all nationalities, mostly by chatting to other children on chair lifts or in the camp site pools!
The last couple of years (children all now adult) we have hired a large apartment over Xmas, this last one for two weeks and the company we used (Compagnie Altitude) were quite willing to offer a discount because it was for two weeks. The pre Xmas week tends to be very cheap anyway and I would guess you will get a positive response from most rentals if you ask for a discount for making a booking for several weeks.
Most French Alpine towns make an effort for Xmas Eve but I gather the Austrians go for it in a bigger way. Again many French resorts organise Easter Egg hunts at Easter, I don`t know if the Austrian resorts do?
It is great to have several weeks in the Alps over winter and I`m sure you family will have a thoroughly enjoyable time.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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swoafs, the "Christmas and Easter" plan sounds good but it would be like a couple of long holidays - not really like becoming part of a local community, albeit maybe one with a lot of expats (and there's nothing like having kids in the local school to achieve that).
The kind of base you would want for a couple of long holidays is very different, I guess. For a few weeks, with your own family - and possibly visitors/friends coming for a short time - you would probably need to be fairly close to the slopes, so that you could take small children out for a few hours, then back to the apartment for lunch and a rest - and maybe just have one or two members of the family go out again afterwards.
I have a slopeside apartment in France and being able to "come and go" easily, without lots of complicated arrangements for use of a vehicle is a real boon with small kids. Relying on buses is an absolute pain with littlies - they never go just when you want them and in France they tend to stop for quite a while at lunch-time. 
Our small resort (and the large majority of French resorts) will only be opening at the beginning of the Christmas week - you might have to go to one of the bigger, more expensive, resorts if you want to ski the previous week, which makes sense. The New Year week is always horribly crowded - a good week for everyone to be in ski school, with lift priority.
I've never spent Christmas in Austria but a few recent comments have suggested that some resorts make very little of it, reserving the big guns for New Year.
You might well get a good deal on an apartment, as CaravanSkier suggests, as you only want two expensive weeks (Christmas and New Year) and several low season ones (pre-Christmas and Easter).
In some ways two different resorts would be good - but you would lose the great advantage of a season lift pass. You could look into the Grand Massif which has a very good value season lift pass and I think Flaine itself might be open the week before Christmas. In our area a season pass bought before end November costs the same as two 7 day passes bought during the season. Under 5s are free and there are family pass offers for those with older kids. A bit of research on lift passes could save you enough money to afford a bigger apartment!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Or something like Ta Tania for Christmas and Val T for Easter? Then you get the season pass benefit.
Are you essentially looking at two three-week holidays? If so I'd just rent a nice sized apartment, near the slopes at a resort of your choice. Somewhere with a decent pool and ice skating and other activities would be nice I think but I wouldn't worry too much about 'integration' because you're not really there long enough and children are pretty good at making shot term friends in the pool, in ski school, on the sledging slope etc.
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Or something like Ta Tania for Christmas and Val T for Easter?
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Yes, if you can afford the 3 Valleys - will be a much more expensive season pass - that would be a good option.
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You know it makes sense.
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This is all so helpful everyone, thank you. Pam w, I think you're absolutely right that slope-side (or within a few minutes walk) is the way to go. I hadn't thought about the option of two different parts of the same area - I suppose then that the Paradiski region (e.g Vallandry in December and Arc 2000+ in April), and the Espace Killy are also on the list? Anywhere else springing to mind? I suppose we could also stay somewhere which has a reciprocal ski pass arrangement with other resorts. Does Serre Che fall into this category Pam w?
Ski passes will be my next area of research then; I've already seen that the Grand Massif season ticket is circa 450 Euros for adults and 300 for kids if purchased in the Autumn, compared with 952 Euros per person for the 3V (using the family pass option), so a big difference. I suppose that the big areas don't feel the need to offer the early purchase discounts?
kat.ryb, yes, it is really just two extended holidays, at least this time round, so I think you and Pam w are right in that any sort of integration is secondary really. That's one to consider if we make it through to phase 2 in the form of a whole winter.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I suppose we could also stay somewhere which has a reciprocal ski pass arrangement with other resorts. Does Serre Che fall into this category Pam w?
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Those arrangements are only for a couple of days, usually. I don't know Serre Chevalier at all - never been there - but I do know it's a great area with lots of fans on snowheads, including a couple with property there. If you send a personal message to Hells Bells she will be able to give you the lowdown.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I'm so sorry Pam w; I must have been confusing you with Hells Bells in my tiny little mind!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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swoafs, no problem.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I second the suggestion of the 3 valleys, though the season passes are pricey, you wouldn't suffer through either being too high at the start of the season or too low at the end. If you're planning to go next season though and want an apartment for the new year, you would need to get your skates on. I also love the Grand massif, but you wouldn't get the lifts opening before mid December. We rented for a season in Les Carroz which is lovely.
I am a big fan of St Martin de Belleville (3v), and we have rented a pretty apartment in an old farm house one of the pretty satellite villages (st Marcel) for 7 weeks last year. It was still only a mile from the lifts, and was just lovely! (The local agent was agencedesalpes and the apartment was chalet St. Louis 2 if you're interested).
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