 Poster: A snowHead
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Skiing With Kids – Are You Mad?
No! Get it right and it you won’t regret it.
We all had a good night’s sleep and got up bright and breezy the next day in time for a full English before we checked in for our 11:25 flight. So far, so good, we took off on time and all was going well, now all we had to do was get through the three hour transfer, which turned into five because of the severe snowy weather. How can you complain about that?
Eventually we arrived, in the dark, at our lovely little chalet in Reberty, which we were sharing with three other families. Once we had negotiated our way through the snow and ice covered paths with all our luggage, unpacked and sat with a nice cup of hot chocolate in the front of a log fire whilst the children made friends, watched DVDs and compared DS games, the journey seemed nothing more than a distant memory.
Day one - always the worst. There’s nothing like not knowing ‘the drill’. Dressing the kids always takes longer than you think. The boots hurt, the gloves aren’t on right, they decide they want the toilet only after togging them up in multi layers – your fault, of course, because amongst all the turmoil you’ve forgotten to remind them. Eventually you’re ready, although you are hot, really hot, beads of perspiration are trickling off your brow. The last forty minutes have been a bit of an ordeal. You’ve struggled to get these two little people, who now resemble Michelin men, out the door. When I say struggle, I mean struggle in ever sense of the word. You feel physically exhausted. The effort it took to get those boots on little Johnny three times until they were bearable took some doing. You’re emotionally drained. You deserve an Oscar. Not for one second did you let that fake smile and calm tone lapse into the screaming demented parent you were feeling inside. There’s one child already having a total melt down, you don’t want either of yours to be the second. You talk to yourself, repeatedly to stay calm. After all, you’re excited as you know the white powder just the other side of the door is beckoning. Eventually you are ready, all the other kids whose parents have just put themselves through the same ordeal are ready. So, off you go in search of the ski school meeting point. You find it, you sign them in and off you go. Momentarily, you breath a sigh of relief. You’ve survived the morning’s ordeal, the children have been safely deposited at ski school and now you can hit the slopes. But there’s a second wave of stress coming, like an after shock following the first strike. Panic sets in. Suppose they don’t like it? Suppose they hurt themselves? Suppose they get frightened… the list gets longer as your fertile imagination runs away with you. How can you go off and leave them? You decide you can’t but you know you can’t stay either, as they might see you, which could possibly make matters worse. Eventually, you snap your skis on and off you go but not far. How could you possibly go far? You need to ski past the ski school for a sneaky peak, just to make sure they’re OK. Eventually you go off but you’re not relaxed, although that first vin chaud (mulled wine) of the day you had at 11 o’clock certainly look the edge off your nerves.
Come the afternoon, when you are reunited with your little darlings and they are fine, in fact they’ve had a ball - ski school was great and they had a fab afternoon at the kids club to boot, you will be left wondering why you'd spent your day worrying.
Days two to six. You now know ‘the drill’ and as long as you remember it is ‘a drill’ and carry it out in military fashion all week, the mission will be accomplished and a good time will be had by all!
Top Tips
The best piece of advice I was given before taking my two kids skiing was don’t let them get cold. If they get cold it will put them off and you won’t get them out the door on day two. This coming season will be my children's fourth skiing holiday - they are now coming up seven and 10 and they love it. In between holidays we regularly take them to the Snow Centre at Hemel Hempstead to keep the momentum going.
• Wear magic mitts/gloves underneath ski mittens/Gloves
• Line ski boots with sheepskin insoles (£9 from Celtic & co.)
• Layer up with good quality thermal under garments and a fleece
• Carefully consider the transfer time. If travelling with very young children chose a resort within close proximity to the airport
• Take snacks with you – these can be expensive in resort and will be needed for ski school
• Ski suits can be expensive so try ebay
• Hire skis, boots and helmets
After trying out Esprit and Inghams we now holiday with Family Ski, whose childcare is superb. They have resorts in Reberty in The Three Valleys, Ardent in the Port du Soleil and Les Coches (La Plange/Les Arcs) in Paradiski area. Prices do not include flights but do include transfers, breakfast, afternoon tea and three course evening meal with wine. Check them out on www.familyski.co.uk or +44(0)1684 540 333
We normally fly BA and book well in advance to take advantage of the best prices. BA's luggage allowance is extremely generous, so no extra to pay there! We take a double ski bag which holds two pairs of skis, one pair of boots and a few clothes (all under 23kg), two large wheeled holdalls plus one further case as our checked luggage. Should we need it (but never do) we could still take a further four generous carry on bags!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 29-10-13 18:03; edited 7 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Joolz, I thought your piece was great, but confess that I just read it the once.  You've captured it beautifully.
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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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And if you have a good look through the forum Joolz you'll find lots of advice on how to make a ski trip with kids even more fun, easy and cheaper.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Tue 29-10-13 17:03; edited 1 time in total
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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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I love skiing with my son, he's now 10 but has been on ski's since 3&1/2 (the 1/2 was important as Swiss ski schools would accept him from that age) and ski's better (*checks behind self*) than his mum.
From my point of view I make sure of the following:-
He's warm
Its fun - pounding motorways all day isn't fun, skiing through trees and over jumps is.
I have pleanty of fun sized chocolate bars about my person.
Laugh at him when he falls, if I don't and get anxious he'll get upset (yes even at 10)
Don't complain about 5euro hot chocolate on the mountain - your beer probably costs more.
Eat inside even if the weather is good, kids eat slow and cold food on a cold mountain isn't good.
Buy him/her/they the best gloves you can afford.
Then buy another cheap pair for snowballing that night
Go sledging, a 5euro bum sledge will let you have loads of fun and probably costs less than your beer.
If they want cake, let them have cake. Its energy and a treat all in one, that means happy little kids which in turn means happy big kids
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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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Duplicate posts removed. Good report Joolz,
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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All very sound advice
I am sooooooo glad that ours have now reached the age where they can get ready with minimal parental involvement.
The challenge currently is finding fun stuff for the kids which doesn't scare teh crap out of mum 
This is of course another reason why we keep going to the same place, as I can tell Mrs B to take one piste and meet at lift while we go into the trees
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I also enjoy the self drive aspect and it also makes it a bit cheaper even though I'm in a Navara pick up.
Tips for the journey:-
Almost everything your kids own will have a usb charger and you can buy USB cigarette chargers
Cheap ones are cheap for a reason, I bought two off Amazon (and had three sent out) and they all burnt our in a matter of minutes.
Tablets and the like need a specific input to charge, the cheap USB converters (that do last) do not provide this output - buy a proper charger.
Your mrs will get grumpy when her kindle won't charge because of said cheap USB convertors
Don't leave electronic gadget purchases until the last minute, tablet holders/chargers etc.
Don't worry about crumbs in the back seat.
Or the front seat.
There are a lot more serious ones about checking oil, breakdown cover etc but as we're all grown ups we'll ignore those.
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get a Sanef toll tag if you're going to France, you get to play real life Mario Kart at every Peage!
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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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| Quote: |
Don't worry about crumbs in the back seat.
Or the front seat.
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or drinks, snot, sick, wee, mud, snow, chocolate, marmite, peanut butter, blood - you get the drift
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So good to hear so much common sense. I've never understood people who find doing stuff with kids too much hassle. In my experience the more stuff you do with them the easier it gets.
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Quote:
Don't worry about crumbs in the back seat.
Or the front seat.
or drinks, snot, sick, wee, mud, snow, chocolate, marmite, peanut butter, blood - you get the drift
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Too right, it's a means of transport not a piece of art.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Boris wrote: |
| Quote: |
Don't worry about crumbs in the back seat.
Or the front seat.
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or drinks, snot, sick, wee, mud, snow, chocolate, marmite, peanut butter, blood - you get the drift |
And sticky sweets, mouldy something that was once food, things you really really don't want to know what they are!
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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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| robapplegate wrote: |
So good to hear so much common sense. I've never understood people who find doing stuff with kids too much hassle. In my experience the more stuff you do with them the easier it gets.
| Quote: |
Quote:
Don't worry about crumbs in the back seat.
Or the front seat.
or drinks, snot, sick, wee, mud, snow, chocolate, marmite, peanut butter, blood - you get the drift
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Too right, it's a means of transport not a piece of art. |
Doing anything with my 3 boys (only 4 years between the 3 of them) was far easier than staying home and doing nothing! At home they were always experimenting and trying to out do each other, and/or tussling with each other, it was really hard work! Taking them skiing was a doddle compared to being home! 
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You know it makes sense.
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CaravanSkier, Same with my 3 girls! (though 4 years between 4 of them doesn't help)
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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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CaravanSkier, yup. Skiing with kids is not particularly difficult.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Sorry davkt, 
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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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Well you do some sister baiting particularly in the car tostertalby!
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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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Oops that was me, tostertalby, had left herself logged in on my Macbook!
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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>> Hire skis, boots and helmets
My kids have funny feet so I always hire in resort, we hired once in the UK, their boots hurt after 1 day so we ended up paying in resort for 2nd hire...
We also buy adjustable helmets, cheaper and easier to sell on via ebay I reckon....
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My kids have their own kit given how rubbish the snowdome hire kit seems to be, helmets buy for sure. Would you really trust safety kit that has spent weeks/months in the hands of people with no vested interest in looking after it? This years ski show shopping will be for a helmet for my 13YO after the beating her last one took saving her from a probably nasty head injury (there is a big sharp dent in the back where she bounced it off a rock while wearing it!)
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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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CaravanSkier, Roxa chameleon boots are the answer to fast growing feet (the adjustable ones). Chloe's are going into their 3rd season and have just been set to their biggest. Though doubt she will settle for anything as uncool as 2 clip boots when it comes time to replace them.
Plus a huge proportion of kids ski kit buyers on ebay have no idea what things are worth so I rarely seem to make a loss when I sell things on (in fact have managed to sell one well used pair of kids boots for more than I paid new!)
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davkt, thats interesting about boots, though sadly too late for mine, then again we may have grandchildren in the not too distant future and I would guess they will be going on ski trips at some point!
Sadly my experience on ebay, of selling ski stuff has not been as successful as yours!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ebay from about now to Christmas is the best market for secondhand ski gear I think.
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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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davkt,
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Ebay from about now to Christmas is the best market for secondhand ski gear I think.
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+1
Or kind people on here selling on good stuff! Daughter loves the jacket thanks!
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Great stuff jonkgray78. Here avoids some the hassles of Ebay.
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You know it makes sense.
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| robapplegate wrote: |
So good to hear so much common sense. I've never understood people who find doing stuff with kids too much hassle. In my experience the more stuff you do with them the easier it gets.
| Quote: |
Quote:
Don't worry about crumbs in the back seat.
Or the front seat.
or drinks, snot, sick, wee, mud, snow, chocolate, marmite, peanut butter, blood - you get the drift
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Too right, it's a means of transport not a piece of art. |
No spilt milk ! No spillt milk ! Etc etc
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FAQ
