 Poster: A snowHead
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helen - we have used creches for the past three years and grandparents for another year. the grandparents one was harder in some respects as they both unfortunately got a bug and spent 2 days in bed with D&V !!! . we have used bith ski beat and esprit creches and know the routine - in fact we did get a call on the mobile and have to return to the creche one year, although i think my lad was just frustrated at being cooped up in a dingy converted basement !!! its the older childs care that is more problematic i think. needs to fit round ski school and also keep him entertained. i must admit he had a cracking time with esprit last year but the chalet and food was not up to the standard i expect for the price we paid. i think a smaller operator might be better and i am looking at ski beat again + familyfreindly and also ski magic. the problem is the price. i accept you get what you pay for (usually) and i might end up with a deal with esprit as you can get family deals for a good price. the problem i have with the small operators is that they charge almost as much for my 4 year old as they do for me wheras esprit give a 90% discount for the 1st child. not sure about your workplace nursery but our local nursery that we have used for 4 years are a pain if the child is ill - all they have to do is have 2 runny nappies and i get a call to come and collect him !!!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Guys, thanks again. We now have two options for Feb half term:
1. Les Gets with Total Ski where we have to find and arrange ski school for kids ourselves or
2. Tignes with Esprit which include their ski school for kids.
The second option is more convinient but the resort looks very modern and lacking of character. Any comments?
Cheers
Elena
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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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Elena, Tignes is as you describe. It will be very busy, but if you can handle the looks and the crowds then the skiing is fantastic. (Les Gets will be similarly busy)
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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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esprit do les gets and will sort lessons for you
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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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Unfortunately, there are no availabilities with Esprit at Les Gets. It would have been ideal otherwise
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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i might look at going to les gets but outside half term. my eldest has only just started school so i am happy to take him out for one week.
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Elena, we did the Terril Blanc in Tignes with Esprit a few years back; it was OK, but we've had better experiences. The positives were all about Esprit themselves, especially the staff who were magnificent. The quality of the evening meals far exceeded my expectations and the accommodation was very practical for families as it was safe to let even very young children wander freely. This made the whole trip very sociable for both adults and kids.
There were quite a few downsides, though. The hotel was quite scruffy and not particularly well maintained (we had a cheap holiday but I'd have been disappointed if we'd paid full price), and it was a considerable walk to the nearest lift, something that the younger children found quite daunting. This factor also made it more difficult to have a quick ski with the children at the end of the day. With hindsight, I also wasn't too keen on the split dining arrangements where the kids ate early in the evening and the adults ate later. Some people like this, but we felt robbed of family time; for us, self-catering is ideal with children - that way, you can eat out if you want to or you can have a quiet meal in your apartment if everyone's feeling tired. Most resorts have a few food delivery services and takeaways if you really can't be bothered to cook.
The other downside was the resort. Tignes is a great place for adults, but I'm not sure its's perfect for children. It's very exposed if bad weather sets in, and when we were there the skiing was extremely restricted due to avalanche risk. I've heard that due to the resort's topography this happens quite often. Children will never take advantage of the huge ski area, and we found some of the home runs were overcrowded to the point of being dangerous: our kids had several frightening near misses with speeding maniacs. I do plan to return one day but I won't go back until my kids are the speeding maniacs!
I wasn't impressed by the ski school (evolution 2 via Esprit) and neither were the children. Some of instructors were very harsh with the kids (for example, one of my children was left in the office for two hours because he couldn't use a drag lift at the start of the lesson; he was a reasonably good skier but had never encountered this type of lift before) and I witnessed the children being taken out in appalling weather when they should really have been inside with a mug of hot chocolate. Also, the classes ran for an entire week without any reassessment of skiing ability, so by the end of the holiday each class had an unacceptable range of skiing ability.
With regard to the architecture, I think that most of the brutal 1960s tower blocks actually look dramatic in a mountain setting, particularly when seen from above. Unfortunately, there seems to a bit of a drive to apply disneyesque wood cladding to many of the older buildings and the result is a deeply unpleasant clash of styles that, to my eyes, looks quite bizarre. However, I accept that I might be in a minority...
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Jonny Jones, Thank you! it was very helpfull and I think we will forget about Tignes. Did you have any experience with Les Gets? Still find it difficult to imagine all the logistics of taking kids to some ski school and leaving them there.
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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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Elena, choosing a ski resort for YOUNG children is a bit like good kitchen design.The lift station is your sink,the ski school meeting point is your oven/hob etc etc Ideally your accomadation would be in the centre of the kitchen and equidistant from the fridge,the kettle and the cutlery drawer. There must be no more than 100m between the centre of the kitchen and all the various appliances. It may sound bizzare but this is what I look for when choosing a suitable resort for skiing en famille.If you are lucky enough to pick a family friendly ski company within said kitchen layout ,then I am sure you and the kids will stand more of a chance of of having a great first family ski holiday. Then of course you get to choose a new kitchen at great expense once or maybe twice a year.  Good luck
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Jonny Jones,
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This is where we disagree. In my view, the need to repeat instructions in multiple languages really slows down lessons.
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Probably my middle class neuroses, I quite like my kids being exposed to foreign languages though I take your point about it slowing things down and they probably don't learn a lot of the language.
Recently we have actually generally gone with another family and a couple of times got a private instructor for all the kids as it makes things easy though.
For those considering PSV another fan here though the area is small it ticks quite a few of the boxes above I've only been there on day trips. One thing I'm not sure it's a great April destination if you want to ski in the afternoon it always seems to be a lot softer than Serre Che in the afternoon in the latter part of the season.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If you want to diy it we have a studio apartment at Puy St Vincent availalble look here www.alpsun.com
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