Taking kids: go with a childcare specialist or DIY it?

A snowHead

Aiming to do April (probably 7/8th) with the kids, maybe Andorra, but probably France due to selection and shorter transfers/better options for flights.

Never been with the kids before so just looking at how to get them sorted both on the slopes and off - Kids are 4 (girl) and 8 (boy), never skied before but both looking forward to it.

Love the idea of specialists like Esprit, which always seems to have brilliant prices for late deals and seem to be highly rated when it comes to offering all-round cover for kids. But if we end up doing a DIY holiday - which is very likely because aside from selling vital organs, budget will be tights - then we'd obviously have to organise everything ourselves.

For parents who've done both, I can imagine that a specialist family TO will be the best option (if only because there's no language barrier and they know you to an extent) but pricey once you add in the childcare sessions, ski school, evening clubs, that sort of thing. But at least it's all covered. With DIY my biggest concern is being a standard punter, i.e. straight off the street, is there less certainly of english speaking childcare, all round cover (i.e /afternoon and evening clubs), and more stress for us because we have to do more running around?

Is going with a specialist TO a price worth paying or do fellow SHs manage to do DIY hols with no stress and decent savings? Bear in mind these are total beginner children so I'm guessing they'll not be in a position to follow us around the mountain unless they channel their inner Franz Klammers Smile

My other half has already said that we have to adapt our approach to a snow holiday when we take the kids; we won't just be doing endless runs and going where we want,and we'll have to probably send the kids off in the morning for a lesson and then stick with them on the nursery slopes in the afternoon. is this the reality? I have no real concept of this kind of holiday with kids Smile

Opinions most welcome from parents, especially those who've gone from being a couple to a family of skiers/boarders.

A snowHead

It does change everything...

We only have the one and she's 3 currently (yet has been on far too many ski trips for a child her age wink

I should say however though that we effectively always went on snow holidays with a bit of skiing/boarding, rather than rushing to fit in every run, but now its even less.

Yours are old enough to go to to ski school which helps as that keeps them occupied for longer, but kids get tired/bored more quickly, so don't be surprised if afternoon sessions are a write off...or as we often do you end up going out on your own whilst the other stays with the little one.

Arguably the biggest issue is actually the accommodation, as your choices are either to let them stay up, go to bed super early yourself or pay up for larger accommodation.

For that reason alone we've always gone DIY as TO's have never quite had what we've been looking for available (admittedly we've had to book at shorter notice than ideal over the last couple of years due to work, so perhaps in advance they are better).

So personally I'd be tempted to go DIY for the greater flexibility (and also if you leave on a quirky day you can often save a fortune on flights...i.e. leaving a day into the holidays, rather than the first day after the schools break up for example can be much cheaper than just a day's accommodation saved).

All that said, we've actually just booked our first TO organised trip, but its a Santa one so slightly different to normal...and most definitely a one off!!!

What I would say is check out Are in Sweden for those dates (2 hour flight and only a 75 min transfer), we went at a similar time last year, its super child friendly, bar alcohol generally cheaper and the pistes were far less crowded than France (as a rough guide we paid circa £120 for the 3 of us return from Gatwick with Easyjet then added one case)!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Specialman, that is the week of the Spring Family Bash, so you may want to take a look at that:
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=134004

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Have always done DIY when with kids (began at 3 & 7). (TO trips before they came along) When looking from here always found the specialist TO to be pretty pricey as to the components you could put together yourself although never factored in evening childcare. Haven't had any real hassle doing it DIY, in fact a sense of satisfaction when it all works.

Definitely have to change your expectations especially the amount if time you will actually ski even if they are in ski school.

You can get all day ski school where they are looked after at lunch but depends if they have the stamina for it. As to what is the school/care is like you should pretty much find someone here who has used it to ask. As to English speaking, more likely to find this in resorts frequented by the English or Scandinavia where they all seem to speak excellent English.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

vjmehra - that's good info, particularly about the kids getting tired... you can never bet on what kids will be like (so I'm retaining an open mind) but I can't see them doing full days at this stage. Which isn't a problemm, as our last trip to Andorra, me and the missus were very laid back compared to previous trips and we probably did about a fraction of the slope time we'd done on previous trips... a combination of ages, etc hangovers and learning to ski for two days.

sj1608 - I'll take a look, see how the costs stack up. VT is a great resort, I love it there, so it's definitely somewhere I know will be a good bet for late in the season.

ster - yep, pricey definitely... had quits into the £4,000 mark so far for good chalets so i think we'll be going self catering, maybe half board hotel if we find something cheap.

I think the fact we'll both be continuing to learn to ski should make things easier, as we won't be venturing too far from resort. Currently looking at Sunweb deals - lots of SC accommodation, lift pass thrown in and all that's needed is to get there.

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+1 for the Spring Family Bash. It looks like there will be every combination of toddlers, primary school aged beginners, primary school aged hooners, teenagers, surly phone-deprived teenagers, and their parents.

And everybody's favourite uncle, @Masque.

Which all goes to say, you are likely to find other SnowHead parents doing similar drop offs, pick ups, hot chocolate stops, swimming pool sessions, etc.

And I'd absolutely second @pam w, it's their holiday too and there is little fun when you're cold, tired and frankly scared.

After all it is free

Once saw a father and daughter on the Fornet glacier. Had misjudged things and had a long pole back. Weather was starting to close in and both were starting to panic. I expect it was a long time before dad was able to convince daughter to ski.

My recommendation would be to go with a specialist TO, at least for the first holiday. Time on the slopes is limited anyway and you don't want to get frustrated with how little skiing you'll get and put them off to boot. This will also give you a feeling for what skiing with young children is really like.

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@Specialman, Scandinavia would be a great option - good conditions in April, very family orientated, smaller so you are never far from home or a cafe, lots of warm huts to take a rest, virtually all ski-in ski-out. A number of Snowheads are Scandi ski fans and the resorts popular with families are Trysil in Norway or Sälen in Sweden (from Oslo airport) or Åre in Sweden from Östersund airport. Very easy to DIY using the skistar website. FYI changeover day is normally Sunday (but you may find some Sat-Sat)Some TO also do holidays to Finnish Lapland resorts.

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@Specialman, we have done Esprit and highly rate them. Especially with your 4yr old. With their kids clubs offering and having snow rangers coming along with the lessons to help the children. It does allow you to have a full day skiing if you wish.

Also their baby listening services allows you to put them on to bed and then you go down and enjoy a meal and a drink or two Happy

However it does cost. Imo it was well worth paying in the earlier years

This year we are going to the Spring Family Bash that week - our girls are now 11 & 8 and have several weeks under their belt.

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We are looked at Scandinavia previously when the girls we younger but we put of by the only group lessons we could find for them just being in the morning and just 1.5hrs long.

Though now they are saying they don’t want lessons (and are at a level we are going to try just try skiing as a family) we are going to Sweden for half term week Happy

I'll let you know next week 😉 Just booked last minute Esprit for family of four at a bargain (I hope) £1150 snowHead

You know it makes sense.

@Specialman, with the Esprit offerings you are going to get the shortest transfer I would have thought with their Obergurgl place. The transfer time for Gressoney isn’t bad either and has the advantage of being Saturday to Saturday so you have a day at home before kids need to be back at school.

If you do the French resorts you will need to get to the Chambéry for some of the resorts.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@NickyJ, yes you’re right, the group lessons are quite short. It suited us well in the past as our son was a bit anxious. We skied together in the afternoon, or with a friend from ski school.

Now we normally do some kind of private lesson or two during the week.

A snowHead

Went with ours since they were 1. We went with catered chalet with crèche when they were very little, it worked but I felt a little inflexible.

When they were on skis, we went with lessons in morn and then a short afternoon session. We always aimed to make this fun, so bumps and little cut throughs. Always incorporating a hot chocolate stop! Rest of afternoon would be sledging etc, one of us could sneak a few extra runs in if needed. Usually me Toofy Grin

Apartment next to slopes essential in my view. Trying to get three kids dressed and out to lessons with all associated kit is challenging at best of times without a long walk. As has been said, also useful at lunch. Sure a mountain restaurant is great, however letting kids take boots and gear off and flop is hugely valuable. And cheaper!

Never found that the compromise in our skiing time distracted from previous holidays as a couple. After all the primary purpose was family holiday. Nor did it last long, kids were soon able to ski faster for longer than us! They're now going off for the extra runs while we head home to do what parents do when there are no kids around wink

Drink

Even though boys are now 17 and daughter 15 we still head back to apartment for lunch. Same benefits for relaxing and given their appetites, hugely cheaper.

In summary, give it a go, you'll find what works for you. Enjoy

A snowHead

We've gone to El Tarter in Andorra for 5 years, starting when they were 5 and 7. I book a one-bed apt on booking.com where I can see how close it is to the lift. There is a decent sized supermarket a mile away where we do a big shop for the week to make soups or pasta for evening meals. First year, when they were youngest, I got it wrong - yes it was "close" on a flat map but actually up a really steep hillside, not what you want at the end of a long day! Book equipment (and passes) via soldeu.com, and the shop is on the snow and 10m from the chair with lockers underneath, so no need to walk back to the apt in ski boots carrying your own and kids stuff. I think 200m from front door to chair. Instructors are native English speakers. Bad points - the creche wasn't much English speaking - at least our youngest was put with the Spanish (she was born in Portugal so there's sort of a link), and the gondola for downloading arrives 200m from the chair and slightly downhill, so that's a 200m trudge with full kit to get back to the shop and the locker.

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Pam w's advice is pretty much what I was going to say.

We've been 4 times now and the kids love it, and are able to ski longer days.

Ours were very similar ages to yours when we started taking them. After much research and debate, we decided to DIY it and have done so ever since.

We book an apartment for more flexibility and taxi transfers from the airport. Chose resort after recommendations on here, and went to Montgenevre which has lovely beginners runs and a fantastic ski school with small groups and English-speaking instructors. Also only an hour transfer from the airport.

The kids have morning lessons (2hr45), then we tend to have a quick snack and then do a few more runs with them whilst the pistes are quiet over lunch. Then late lunch back at apartment or in resort. Lazy afternoons in apartment / sledging / snowman-building / swimming if pool available / card games, and food shopping then nip out for a drink or two at the bar. Not as much skiing as we're used to but a good mixture of skiing and relaxation and family time.

Sometimes we have gone with friends, then we split up and some of the adults (and older kids) go and ski again after lunch. As they get older, we are all skiing after lunch now. It's only taken 3 years for that to happen and now they are better than I am.

We decided against child-specific TO holidays because we didn't need childcare outside of lessons. Also I believe Esprit are set up so that children eat at a separate time to adults, whereas we wanted to eat as a family.

Accommodation as close to ski school as possible, and/or use a ski locker at ski hire place as close to ski school so can walk there in snow boots.

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We might have done a child-specialist holiday had we ever been able to afford it! But those family times are special - and have created some wonderful memories now being repeated with grand-children. Even the minor disasters tend to turn into good memories - like the first morning self-catering in Kapaonik - New Year's Day and the only supermarket was closed. I wasn't skiing (had had a hysterectomy a month previously) and found a bunch of Serbian farmers hawking stuff outside the resort. Having learnt some Serbo-Croat for a sailing holiday the previous summer (which turned out to be completely unnecessary as most people spoke German, though not English at that time) I managed to dredge up enough to buy some apples and kaymak. Great fun - and sobering, with the Serbs (not one word of English between them) dressed in old threadbare macs tied up with string. I felt like a motley fool in my bright coloured C & A ski gear (same feeling I had some years later in a Scottish port, being inept, in the very high winds and an unfamiliar chartered yacht, in my expensive yachty gear, being very ably and willingly assisted to handle the boat by Scottish fishermen in old macs tied up with string). The supermarket opened every day after that - but very late, as they first had to change all the prices. Hyper-inflation. One day on that holiday one of the boys came in very cold from his ski lesson - verging on hypothermia. He still remembers me getting into bed with him, with his icy feet on my tummy. Same boy is currently planning a holiday to India next year and has invited me to join them.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Off topic, but that sounds great @pam w, not sure who's planning it all, but the equivalent of Snowheads for India trips is www.indiamike.com

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Our son, now 9, has been on 19 ski holidays and they've been a mixture of DIY and TO, mostly DIY. If you are happy to wait a bit you can often pick up a good deal, both DIY and TO.

The only danger with last minute deals if you DIY is that you may have less choice of lessons and childcare. Check your lesson options out before committing.

Personally, I prefer catered as it makes my holiday more fun. Time can be spent sledging/swimming/playing games with the kids (or simply relaxing with a drink) rather than shopping & cooking.

When our son was 4 he did all day ESF with Piou-Piou lessons in the morning, lunch and indoor activities in the afternoon, booked independently. We were in Morzine at Xmas and Morillon at Easter. For us, this combination worked best as it gave us chance to ski all day, although at Easter we picked our son up early and took him out for the last couple of runs. Our son enjoyed the company of other kids in the afternoon and frankly the creche had more resources to entertain him in the afternoon than we did. He came out of the Morzine creche laden with things he had made during the week.

By the time our son was eight, he was more than capable of skiing all day so he had morning lessons and skied with us in the afternoon. At the EoSB, he just skied with us all day except when Masque introduced him to boarding. You will almost certainly find you have to split your children up as they will have differing needs. The 4 year old may well struggle to keep going whilst 8 year old brother may not want to stop! The 4 year old is unlikely to progress as fast as her brother. At 4, our son didn't make it out of the Piou-Piou garden whereas the 9 year old beginner in our group was out on the mountain on day 2. Consider how you'll resolve this.

The big TOs offer evening childcare but we've never really found it necessary as in a chalet or small hotel it's no different to being upstairs at home. Consider taking a baby monitor if you're concerned.

If you want to ski all day yourselves and have the kids fully looked after, then book something that offers a lunch club and afternoon lessons or childcare. This can be DIY or provided by the TO. You may just want the kids to have lessons and you pick them up afterwards. A lot will depend on your kids and how much they want to ski and what else they enjoy doing. Will they only be happy if they are with you or would they prefer to be in the company of other children their own age?

Before our son was capable of skiing all day (age 5.5) we did a few holidays with mid-large TOs that had their own childcare, a couple with small independents that had in house childcare and a couple with independents where we used the ESF creche. The key to how much our son enjoyed it was the number of other English speaking kids there. The staff always spoke English, even if they were French, so that actually didn't make any difference, it was the other kids. As you're going in UK school holidays it's likely there will be other Brits there but worth checking before you book.

In your position I would book afternoon childcare for the four year old as a minimum or accept that one of you will be back in the accommodation for the afternoon (and missing out on being with the 8 year old). If she's up for it you can always pick her up later and take her out for a run. Or you can pick the kids up after their lessons, take them for lunch and then a run so they can show off their newly learned skills. You can return one or both to childcare when they've had enough or find other activities for you all to do.

Don't forget, it's a holiday for all four of you. It will be different from the pre-children trips but you should be able to strike a balance between your own skiing and skiing with/entertaining the kids.

Last thing, don't forget plenty of snacks. Children get very unhappy when they're hungry and out of energy. A quick sugar boost is often invaluable to get them down that last run!

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@sj1608, thanks! Have passed that on to my son.

After all it is free

We did one TO trip with the kids and then did it ourselves afterwards. It was easier as we went back to the resort we went to the first time which is so well set up for being with kids with the creche and the ESF right at the bottom of the slopes and most accommodation really central, it was so good I ended up moving there which is, to be fair, a bit extreme.

If you'd like any help please feel free to contact me, I work for a real estate agency in Les Gets and we provide a tailored self catering option so help with organising absolutely everything but you're paying SC prices.

An absolutely brilliant spot if budget is tight is http://www.cis-valcenis.com/ All inclusive, fantastic prices with good kids discounts.

Best bit is a mini bus takes kids from the door to ski school. Then ski back for hot lunch, then back out again for afternoon ski school again if you want. I found with mine, once they had lunch and a break they were well able for more in the afternoon.

So I got a full days skiing in, with a great lunch in the middle.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

So we have 3 kids aged 7,6 and 4 and this will be their 3rd ski holiday.

1st was with a T/O to Les deux Alpes - great hotel right by the piste (literally 10m from boot room to piste and that was because snow was crap). They had childcare which basically meant bringing the kids down at around half 8 and they would whisk them away to ski school or the creche. Bes bit was that if one of the kids had a melt down in the ski lesson or didn't feel like going the creche was there to look after them and we got 6 full days of skiing.

2nd year we stayed in a catered chalet in la Tania which had in house childcare. We had the kids booked in lessons so we had to do ski school drop off and the childcare did the pick ups. Whilst the plan was to have them in childcare only in the afternoons we paid for full day childcare, just in case. This proved the right decision when our youngest (then 3) decided skiing wasn't for him and preferred to play with the other kids in the chalet.

This year we a self catering in Meribel. We have hired a nanny as our childcare option. We will drop the two eldest off for their lessons and the nanny will drop our youngest off and pick them all up. Hopefully this works!

Our experience is that if you skimp on the childcare you end up paying in other ways, mainly one of you or your partner not skiing. We look at skiing as our "selfish" holiday, something that we both really enjoy so we pay accordingly.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

We did Esprit in La Rosiere for three years when ours were 6 and 10 (now 10 and 14).
Stayed 3 years running in Chalet Amelia which has 3 family suites (two bedrooms/ one bath in each) around a large shared lounge / dining area and a massive terrace the kids can play on.
Upstairs is chalet belina which is same layout but smaller balconies instead of a terrace.
Top floor is chalet charlotte which is 2 suites only.

My wife was a beginner so it made sense to have our hands held a little - and we went with friends too.

Esprit worked very well - although we have now admittedly outgrown them.

The childcare , ski lessons (with Evo2 - better IMO than ESF) , evening cocoa club - brilliant - our kids loved it .

They got taken off to lessons at 08:30 so be prepared for an early start every day.
We could collect them before lunch club started at 12 . Or pay a bit extra and have them taken care of (and fed) until 2 pm.

Amelia is right on the nursery slope so we could potter on there in the PM (or sledge at tea time).

Esprit also did ski fun in the PM for intermediate skiers (again led by Evo2) and our eldest did that most of the time. A 2 hour lesson but more focused on fun (doing jumps) than ski technique. This was an extra cost.

La Rosiere is a small resort but very family friendly. Skiing is extensive so long as Italy link is open.

Downside with esprit is slightly tired accommodation and food not the best (but perfectly edible).

Be careful which chalet you choose though - some were big and sprawling and got used as lunchtime supervision areas .
And personally I would avoid the chalet hotels as kids high tea is a bun fight.
We witnessed this when we stayed at the Le Savoie with Ski Total (sister company to Esprit and Inghams) in Val Disere but our daughter went next door to the Ducs de Savoie for high tea (only once mind you...after that she ate with us).

My only question is why go in school holidays ? Just go the week before Easter and save a fortune?!

Aged 4 and 8 - they are not going to miss much ...

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My 2 cents. My dad used to always work out the cost of a ski run (locally), or ski day for a trip, including travel, hotel, lift passes etc. I always thought it was funny, but actually it made sense. I (kind of) use the same calculations now that I'm a mum.

My own experience:
1st family ski holiday: we did 'diy'. My (now-ex) partner skied plenty. I watched swiss kids tv, nobody learnt to ski. We nearly lost a child at the train station.
2nd family ski holiday: esprit, stress free, everyone skied, everyone had fun. Cost more, but worth it just this once.
3rd family ski holiday: ski total, half day lessons, everyone skied, plus some family time on the big hill

Now we're doing a mix, saving money where we can, snacks in pockets, low end gear etc. It does get cheaper when the kids can ski with you. But it's definitely worth paying more the first season.

I think your kids are probably old enough for DIY.

Esprit and the like are very dear once you add in the cost of lessons, clubs and childcare. We simply can't afford it. The only exception. Is if you can get a very last minute deal.

To give you an example.we are going to Sued Tirol this year in Feb, overlapping half term week but going wed to wed, self catering. The kids won't have classes this time, maybe a couple of hours each with a private instructor and then just ski with us.

It works out about £1500 all in, ex.food but including car hire, ski passes, equipment hire, apartment, etc.

The very cheapest I could get a family package for, even either side of half term.week, was about £2800 plus all the extras like ski hire. Nope!

Someone upthead mentioned Val cenis. We went with the kids there one easter and it was great. Kids passes were free (unusual for france ) and there are off-slope activities (vital with kids). Do not use the alternative ski school if you go there though. We had some private lessons with a woman from there and she was not the right person to do kids lessons.

You know it makes sense.

On Esprit pricing you can get reasonable prices (~ £4K for a family of 4 including everything... lift passes, ski carriage for adults, kids clubs and lessons for kids in two room suites/ interconnecting rooms) if you go the first or last week of the season. As such we have been out that last week with them a number of times and once that first week.

Maybe not the cheapest it can be done for but IMO given the level of childcare / support when you have youngsters not horrendous.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I just wanna +1 for Esprit too. Especially for kids that are learning. They get taken off your hands and led off to ski-school at 8:30, and you pick them up at 2pm after they've been fed and watered.

This leaves you a decent amount of time to ski the whole resort in the morning, without having to think about rushing back.

We've been to Les Arcs 3 times and I highly recommend it. Lots of different varied runs to do and enough easy stuff near the resort that you can pootle about with the kids in the afternoon if they want to carry on skiing. I still haven't skied every run in the resort.

First time we went my son was so apprehensive the night before he made himself physically sick with worry. He wasn't looking much better when we handed him off at 8:30 the next morning. This was not a good start. So I was very nervous picking him up wondering how it went. Everlasting memory was him bounding down the nursery slope shouting "Daddy - can we go skiing now?"
The Esprit staff really smooth over any rough edges you might encounter. We also went with another family who have a child with a serious nut alergy. Again - the staff all fell over backwards to explain about how meals were cooked and with what ingredients. Very reassuring.

We first went when ours were 4, 6 and 9. The 4 year old went in creche and didn't ski. As I remember this was slightly inconvenient as we need to pick up kids from two different places; 1 from creche, 2 from the slopes, but that was a minor inconvenience.

The downside - as everyone has pointed out - its very expensive compared to DIY. We probably won't go with them again now as the kids are all confident skiers now. But I'd absolutely do it all again with children who are new to it.

A snowHead

Also, Esprit and similar are quite good value if you have a baby or young toddler, and will only need to pay for nursery for them. It's when you start adding on the cost of their Sprites classes and afternoon/ lunch care that it all goes a bit Pete Tong.

A snowHead

My 2 cents.

We have 2 young boys (2yrs & 5yrs) and go for a week once a season. Since the eldest was born we've still been (almost) every year, but have accepted that we'll ski/board less. I've looked into chilcare many times, both TO and DIY, but always find it to be prohibitively expensive.

So we take turns, split the day in half - I hit slopes before lunch with friends/family that travel with us while my wife looks after the kids, then we swap at lunch, and vice versa next day. Whilst not an ideal situation by any means, we share a lift pass, so a further cost-saving there too.

My eldest is now old enough for lessons, which we did last year, but youngest not quite there yet - eventually, boys will go into ski school in morning/ride with us as required and we'll alll probably potter around as a family on the nursery slope in the afternoon.

My suggestion would be (as others have stated) to book kids into AM ski school, enjoy a good blast around resort before lunch then write off the afternoon in the interests of spending some time tutoring the kids in the afternoon and supervising their practice of what they have learnt in SS in the morning.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Trying to speed scan all this during a few minutes of calm at work… bear with me on asking pertinent questions to all this great info, seems some really valid points and some great suggestions.

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Specialman,

Tell your other half that an afternoon "playing in the snow with the kids" is called skiing! Toofy Grin

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

My youngest was 4.5 on my first ski hol, with a 6.5 and 9 year old too. Went DIY to Arosa in Switzerland, put them into ski school morning and afternoon with a supervised lunch. Me and the Ex were learning too. meet points were all close so we dropped them in for their lessons and and still made start of ours. said hello at lunchtime and made sure all was fine and I used to skip the last 10 mins of my afternnon lesson to make sure I was their to collect them. We all learned to ski and the kids dined far better than we did. that said maybe we got lucky, all 3 being together worked well and they had a 2 hour rest indoors in a nice hotel at lunchtime to keep warm etc. all kids are different.

in the evenings we just hung about with the kids in the chalet and put them to bed reasonably early.

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@Specialman, Kids started in Arinsal. Most of the instructors were English. They were all brilliant with the kids. It is a fairly compact resort, so you can share a lift then one adult can go for a bit of a run on a few reds while the other one potters down the blues with the kids. Meet up at the bottom and start again. The other good thing about Arinsal is that there is only one exit from the slopes. If OH decides to quit early she can sit in the bar and watch the kids play on the nursery slopes and you can find her easily when the lifts close.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@Specialman, there's a lot of misinformation around about fines for taking kids out of school and several threads on here. Check the policy on your LEA's website on absence, you may find a week is fine. For example in Northants you'd have to exceed 10-days in six month period. Also note the school can't fine you, only the authority.

For what it's worth, we took ours out every year of Primary, my twin boys have recently managed a rather impressive haul of GCSEs so obviously didn't affect them!

After all it is free

Help!!

Taking kids: go with a childcare specialist or DIY it?

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