Has anyone used ESF for children in vaujany?

A snowHead

Hi there,

We are about to book our extras for our first ever family ski trip to vaujany and could do with some friendly expert advice from someone who knows the esf set up in this particular resort. Our children will be aged 5 and 7, nearly 8 and we had thought that we might put them both in ski school for the morning and then the five year old boy could have lunch and go to the garderie ( play group) for the afternoon whilst his big sister had lunch with esf and went back out skiing. However we are starting to think this might be too much for the seven year old and she met be better off joining her brother for the afternoon

So has anyone got any advice on
A) whether all day in esf is too physically demanding for a fit and active 7 year old girl who has never skied before
B) what's the lunch time set up for kids with esf all day, ie are they dumped in a room for 2 hours with food watching french cartoons whilst the instructor goes off to do private lessons, and finally
C) if they both went to the afternoon play group is it just full of 4 and 5 year olds or would the 7 year old have some company her age?

I know some people may feel inclined to ask why we are bothering to go on a family holiday and then put the kids in class all day, but we honestly think they will learn more and potentially have more fun this way. It also means we get the chance to do some skiing without stressing about being back for pick up time almost as soon as we have set off.

Thanks

A snowHead

HI,
I came across your question while cruising for Vaujany as we are going for the first time at half term. Very excited! We are booking ours in to ESF for just the mornings as they are older.

SO...I havent been to Vaujany but can share what we learned on our first family ski trip to Austria last year with an 8 and 10 year old. Basically I think the answer is to be flexible- I know you have to book and pay for it all but we ended up meeting the kids for lunch the first day then leaving them all day for the second and third, on the fourth day my husband took them swimming in the afternoon while I skiied alone. We picked them up at lunchtime on the fifth and sixth days because they wanted to show us what they could do and we loved having some ski time with them- hence the lunchtime pick up. If you wait to ski with them for the end of the day they are just too tired. They got good enough in a week to ski blues and greens with us with a bit of hot chocolate thrown in. -enjoy! we had the best time.

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Hi,

We haven't stayed at Vaujany but have used the garderie in Oz-en-Oisans (and Samoens) and have been very happy with them. Both the garderies took children up to age 6, but I have no experience of the ESF/lunch arrangement for older children - it may be that they also go the garderie, as in both Oz and Samoens, our children have been delivered back for lunch after lessons by ESF.

Our children have been skiing since they were 4/5 and at just 5 last year, our daughter went back to the garderie after lessons but this year, she will be out on the mountain all day because we know that she can easily cope.

Its difficult to say whether your daughter will be able to cope with afternoon lessons but if she is reasonable active, it would be worth giving it a try - you'll be the best judge, but I know that both of mine can/could cope with 4 hours of lessons at a younger age than 7. I agree with Nem that it is worth booking them in but you can be flexible, as it nice to ski with them and they are often very tired at the end of day. We have found that each afternoon is slightly different as the children get tired/cold/want to ski a black(!) etc. etc. I'm not sure where the Vaujany ski school is but if it is at top of the lifts, getting back isn't too bad and the skiing around Vaujany is lovely, so you may be in the area for lunch anyway.

Have a brilliant time and ignore anyone who casts judgement on your holiday arrangements! We are going to Oz at Christmas and your post reminded just how nice the skiing is in the area.

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Davemc37,

My kids are 6 and 9. They have been in all day ski school (including supervised lunch) for 3 seasons now. My son (the eldest) has always been OK with this, my daughter struggled a bit on the first trip, but has been fine ever since. They have been to Austria, Switzerland and Italy, not France yet so I can't comment on ESF (except to say BZK and "follow me").

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Davemc37, if you are staying with Ski Peak ( http://www.skipeak.net/ ) ask them if sHs don't come up with answers. They've been there for years. Know the place inside out and backwards. They might even help with an email or a phone call even if you are not using them.

(I have no connection with Ski Peak other than having used them years ago as a solo late-booker in their hotel in Vaujany. They were very good then....)

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Davemc37, I can only help with your first question I'm afraid. I've instructed for a few Austrian ski schools with a similar set up to the ESF school you mention with regard to lunchtime care and full day lessons. In my experience 7 year olds have been fine in full day lessons even when they were complete beginners. If they didn't come along to the afternoon part of the lesson or weren't booked in to these in the first place, it was typically that their parents wanted to ski with them/or do another family activity rather than tiredness being the issue.

I have also taught younger children in full day lessons who managed without any problems, whilst others only ever did mornings or a mix of some full days with mornings on days they needed a bit of a rest. Each child is completely different and only you can decide if it's getting a bit too much. You just have to be flexible and see how she gets on. I would think that an active 7 year old would have no problems energy wise for afternoon lessons but you won't know until you try. Just make sure she's wrapped up warm and has a couple of snacks in her pocket Smile

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Has anyone used ESF for children in vaujany?

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