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Resort for a 4.5 year old.....

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I've just had a phone call of my sister saying that she wants to take her 4.5 year daughter skiing this winter....neither my sister or my niece have skiied before. She has asked me for advice on where to take her, but as a snowboarder with only 8 weeks experience of boarding with 6 other hairy males intent on getting drunk, I don'tthink I'm the best person to recommend ski resorts for children Shocked ..

Do all resorts cater for children of this age? would it be enjoyable for a 4.5yo?...what time of year is best to go?...are there any specialist operators that cater for young children?....what resorts have got plently to do for children if she decides that skiiing is not for her?....I really don't have a clue on this subject so any help would be great...

Thanks
Richard
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Richard, the set-up for young kids at Hotel Cachette, Arc 1600, Les Arcs is brilliant:

http://www.lesarcs.com/Child-day-care-Arc-1600.html
http://www.hotelcachette.com/uk/navigation.htm
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Wengen, car free and popular with families, good ski school as well with the beginner slopes right in the middle of the resort, plus an easy blue back to the resort, best time to go is end of Jan or early Feb before school half term, If she can get to Southampton or Birmingham airport FlyBe are doing cheap flights to Bern Airport and the local tourism people have organised a cheap bus transfer from the airport at arround £25 return for adults and children under 6 go free on the transfer bus
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Thanks for the quick response guys...

David Goldsmith, , I've had a quick look at those links, they look quite promising, I'll be sure to pass them on to my sister...

D G Orf, Wengen could be ideal, we live 10 mins away from Birmingham Airport so the flight from there would be ideal.and thats a very good deal on the transfer.... Wouldn't it be better to go March/April time when the weather is a bit milder though?...This will be their first experience of a winter holiday...
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joydivision, La Rosiere, superb for kids, quiet and compact. Ski Esprit have a strong presence in the resort with good childcare if required.
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joydivision, whilst it may be a little warmer the snow is unlikely to be as good and often skiing can be a problem late in the season with the amount of ski time restricted as the snow becomes very heavy in the afternoon, Wengen is not very high, in fact the coldest it's ever been in the village was about -12C which is not too bad, warm ski gear will be fine, more importantly Early Feb tends to mean plenty of snow which kids (and adults) love, Wengen itself is on a plateau that gets plenty of sun
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joydivision, I think you need some New Order and some Hookey and the boys.

Try Soldeu in Andorra - excellent ski school and gentle slopes to learn on.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
joydivision, A 4.5 year old wouldn't enjoy skiing much more than a couple of hours tops (unless they are super strong). It might be worth their while considering a family operator who would be able to take the child to lessons in the morning, pick them up from ski school, provide them with lunch and then entertain them in the afternoon. Someone like ski esprit or any of the other operators. Equally, if the child didn't want to ski every day, that wouldn't be a problem either. Our eldest had her first go at 4.5 and a morning skiing was enough for her, she preferred to go sledging, and play with the other kids in the chalet under the care of the nannies (that was ski esprit).

It would be worth your while reading some of the threads on taking babies/toddlers as in some ways the requirements will be much the same.
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View of Wengen nursery slope, Wengen ski school does group lessons in the morning only

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That kicker on the right looks like fun Very Happy wink
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When our children were younger and needed the nanny service we used Ski Famille in Les Gets. We were very happy going off in the morning and returning for tea knowing that the children were being well looked after. They were taken and picked up from ski school be Land Rover given lunch then entertained outside and in during the afternoon. My youngest daughter on us picking her up from ski school on the nannies morning off threw a tantrum because the Land Rover was not there to take her home and she had to walk 200m rolling eyes
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Look for a child friendly operator if they are going to be on their own - if you sister is to get to lessons she'll need the TO to arrange for her daughter to be taken to lessons/nursery and back. At 4 she may not take to the skiing either so they should be prepared to have to change the plans!

Les Arcs 1800 is fab for kids, traffic free (mostly) and with a couple of very cute parks for them to play in and plenty of sledging/snowman building territory. We've been twice with a friends son at age 3 and age 4 - he never really did much skiing (I've yet to see him spend more than a handful of hours on skis over the entire week) but he had a great time sledging, snowballing etc. However there are 12 of us so we just stay in a chalet and rotate the child care between us, so not sure about the offcial facilities/Tour operators.

Les Arcs keeps its snow ok- I would go after half term late feb/early march would be my recommendation - kids tend to be on the artificial snow anyway and it is bitter sometimes in jan...

aj xx
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I would go with everyone else, the operator and the childcare is more than the resort I think
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You know it makes sense.
joydivision

La Clusaz is the place to take the kids to learn - the resort gets a 'good' for families and 'beginners' in the good ski guide and geta better overall rating than some of the other bigger resorts like, Les Deuxs alps, Les Arcs and la Plagne!!!! ..."good nursey areas and intermediates will love the network of log gentle slopes....."

Check out www.gravite.co.uk for more info and prices.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
joydivision, I've taken our family for the last 4 years, I have twin boys who are 5 and a 3 year old daughter (she was just a bump for the first trip!)

From personal experience I would suggest La Tania with Ski Beat for a catered chalet, they have their own creche in one of the chalets for non-skiing days.

Last year we went to Vallandry which seemed to be very popular with families and has a slege run etc in the village. Ski Beat also operate here, although we had a self-catering chalet.

Either place would recommend Ski New Generation for skiing lessons - UK company, English speaking, good with kids. If you go to Vallandry say hi to John for us!
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 Poster: A snowHead
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Wow only saw the top of the pic to start with & thought that's some pretty hardcore beginner terrain Very Happy Do people ski those chutes (avy risk permitting?
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fatbob, nope they're very steep and avalanche prone, it can be done but as Martin Bell described it is very difficult to do so safely
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Quote:

La Clusaz is the place to take the kids to learn

Well, it is a super place. But a lot of the ski slopes are some distance from the resort itself which is lowish. There's a lot to be said for "snow to play in outside the door" and you would often not find that in La Clusaz itself, even when the slopes higher up were fine. The only place I have stayed with small kids and snow outside the door was Mottaret in 3 Valleys, and they could toboggan and build snowmen just outside the apartments. But it was not ideal in some other ways and the Arc 1800 suggestions sounds better. Some parts of La Plagne (maybe Belle Plagne but not Plagne 1800) would also be good. At 4.5 years kids are fickle. Ten minutes into a toboggan session they might well want to give up, so you don't want a big hike just to get onto the snow. For an adult beginner, struggling with her own skis will be quite enough, without having to coax a child along as well - so all the advice about tour operators who can do the ferrying to and from ski school is absolutely right.
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pam w, I'd go with Belle Plagne too, as we took our kids there a few times, or even Flaine (but not so pretty). The ski school was better in La Plagne though.
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Thanks for all the info everyone...I'm visiting my sister tonight so we dicuss all of her options...I think I may have to accompany her though... I couldn't let her go on her own!!....any excuse eh? Toofy Grin
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I'm taking my 4 yr old to La Plagne (Plagne Villages) this Christmas...not going with a Tour Operator, I hope I can get him into ski school in the morning and perhaps get him into a group of kids for the afternoon.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
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With a child of this age it's really worth working on fitness before the holiday (actually I think it's worthwhile at any age), but a fit 4 yr old can ski all day if enjoying themselves. Obvious ways of getting fit at this age are

Ball ponds - particularly the big ones with slides, ladders etc, give them an hour twice a week for a few months before the holiday.

Walking - make it interesting, for example go to a show at the NEC, the outdoor show at February half term for instance. Stay all day and add on walking by having lunch at the airport. Find the time to walk to school, go out every weekend for an hour and walk briskly. Try a few hills.

Dry slope skiing - find a tinies group

Football or other sports. Swimming, dancing, gymnastics, tumble tots, trampolines.

Use the garden, just send the kids out for a few hours with a ball and a pedal car.

It's also important that a 4yr old is warm and comfortable. Good mittens are really worthwhile, also spares for throwing snowballs. Buy or borrow full thermals, and get a lightweight fleece top. We prefer an all in one at that age as there's less ways for the snow to get inside. Buy a fleece for round the neck as it fills the gap between helmet and ski suit. Take some small mars bars or similar to boost energy levels, we also take carton milk drinks.

Have fun, our youngest (now 9) started on snow at 4.5 years and everyone tells him how lucky he was to start then. He loved it, skied all day right from the start and really looks forward to skiing holidays.
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