Suggestions for family resort for Easter 2015

A snowHead

I would welcome any advice / suggestions for a resort to suit 2 average, not very adventurous adult skiers & 2 kids (will be 12 & 9) on their 3rd ski holiday. So far we have skied with Snowbizz at Puy st Vincent & loved it, however I'm thinking if we ski at Easter we should go higher as skiing in Puy likely to be limited late in season - also I think we may be too late to book with Snowbizz anyway.

Our preferences are:
self-catering (flexibility for eating & space for us as a family)
doorstep skiing ( avoid walking & can return for lunch or if youngest gets tired as she's inclined to like an afternoon or 2 just reading / dvd)
small resort - don't need extensive runs and will be limited by time kids at ski school so probably can't make the most of a huge ski area anyway

I have looked at Vars, La Rosiere & Vallandry as possibles - also happy to go to Italy or Austria but don't appear to be many self-catering options. Any advice on these or other suggestions would be welcome. We're looking at flying as don't want to drive on mountain roads so would need to take into account transfers to the resort too.

Also any recommendations on ski schools? ESI in Puy St Vincent were fantastic - can I expect similar of ESI elsewhere? I'm wary of ESF as have heard negative reports - ski school would just be for the kids so would like English speaking & ideally other English kids for them to make friends with.

Thanks for any advice.

A snowHead

I'm not sure you need to worry about being too high at Easter. In the last 5 years Easter skiing the area with the worst conditions that we've been to actually had the greater volume of high skiing. If it's a bad season it's a bad season. Generally by now there has been enough snow in most places to keep a considerable area open up until Easter.

What we have found best is going to an area that is busy enough for them to bother keeping things open (like bars, restuarants, hire shops and ski school), but quiet enough for the ski runs not to be cut up and churned into great big mounds of slush when it does get very warm (20C+ here in Serre Chevalier the last few days). I'd just hold off booking anything (apart from maybe flights if you want to DIY) until a few weeks before. Easter is rarely mega busy so there is enough availability to be able to leave it to last minute. That way you can pick and choose where you want to go by the conditions.

If cost may be an issue you might be able to take advantage of an area that offers free lift passes for children at Easter - your youngest would qualify in many areas that have this promotion.

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clarej, welcome to Snowheads.

I think the advice from hammerite is good - I wouldn't book till much nearer the time. Though surely it's not too late to book with Snowbizz - a year in advance!

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clarej, are you sure about being too late to book with snowbizz for 2015. It may be too late for 2014. However a quick look at the ifyouski web site http://www.ifyouski.com/ shows they still have availability for this Easter at a chalet in Val Thorens for £305 pp person catered. A price that includes flight, transfer and half board, about the price of a flight and transfer alone.

For a largely English resort you should be looking at somewhere like Val d'Isere or Meribel, but neither offer door step skiing. Vars is almost entirely French, but the other side of the hill, Risoul gets a fair number of English people.

La Rosiere faces a bit too much south for me to consider at Easter.

Vallandry offers good skiing, but you may need to take the lift up and down. The Les Arcs area is extensive and one of the other centres may offer better ski in ski out access. 1950 may be ideal.

Driving on mountain roads is not really a problem lots and lots of people do it every day, but you are right to consider the transfer problem as in many cases this is more expensive than the flights. However, if you go with a tour operator (there are lots out there) they usually include the flight and transfer.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

clarej, places we had successful family Easter skiing holidays when the kids were young:
Nendaz: lovely self catering chalets in quiet village, but not ski-in-ski-out.
Verbier: great fun town, but not ski-in-ski-out, and runs back to town quite tricky.
Belle Plagne: ticks all your boxes. Would definitely choose over Vallandry.

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I've just noticed that Serre Chevalier this year have got their act together and are finally do some sensible marketing with regards to lift passes for familes.

Though I have not read through everything and no doubt there are some hidden caveats, but for families could be very good. I'm sure more French resorts will finally wake up to buy one get one free, loyalty campaigns etc as it's just so damn expensive taking a family skiing now.

http://www.serrechevalier-reservation.com/fr/avril-vos-enfants-sont-nos-invites.htm

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clarej, we love Vallandry - there are some great self-catering apartments very close to the slopes, which mean is easy to get back for lunches etc. There is also a sledging area in the village for an alternative afternoon, you can also take the free lifts down to Peisey Nancroaix and have a stroll around the original/traditional village

As linked to Les Arcs it gives you a big ski area, but the runs above Vallandry are ideal for families IMO, plenty of easy fun bumps just to edge of pistes, as well as a big wide bowl to practice in.

We always book through the tourist office and they often provide good discounts on lift passes

After all it is free

I agree with John E, I love La Rosiere - but would probably swerve it at Easter as it is firmly south facing and the sun in the afternoon could ruin the bowl and make it one big experience of skiing in porridge.

Easter Sunday 2015 is 5th April

Options id consider if booking early:
Belle Plagne
Les Arcs 1850 or 1950
Val Thorens
Tignes

But like Hammerite says if you can hold off until a few weeks before you could pick a multitude of other results that are lower and maybe North facing........why id avoid La Roz and ADH.

Weathercam, we're here at the moment, but just missed out. Jnr is 12 and it's for 11 and unders. There are quite a few areas offering free passes for children when an adult pass is bought or when staying in certain accommodation. PdS, Espace Killy and Paradiski all have some kind of children's pass offer on. We took advantage of a free pass for Ski Amade last Easter.

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Thanks for these suggestions - I had thought with schools clamping down on no term time absences it may push up demand for school hols & need to book ahead, but we've not skied at Easter before so maybe it's more a problem at Feb half term.
Good tips on orientation of slopes as I was purely thinking height rather than North vs South. Will take a look at some of these options & not feel rushed into choosing just yet.
Any thoughts/ recommendations out there on ski schools?
Thanks.

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clarej, Ski School: if you and your kids are of similar ability, think about having private lessons together.
You and your wife would get more adventurous, and you kids would enjoy being with mum and dad rather than dumped with a load of kids who don't speak their lingo.
I've been skiing nearly 30 years, but still have lessons every season.

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clarej, Easter a lot less busy than half-term, lot of people heading for beach/sun then

In Vallandry we have used New Generation a couple of times and been pleased with them, mind you we also had no issues with ESF and kids had a couple of private lessons with them last year

You know it makes sense.

We have just returned from Les Deux Alpes, had a fantastic week. Good snow with a small amount falling midweek. More due this weekend. It is an all year round resort and the snow held up pretty well. It was very quiet there for school holidays, the recession seems to have hit. One of the restaurant owners says that they were generally about a third quieter than usual. Looking at going again next year.

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

We've had a great time skiing in Alpe D'Huez the past couple of years at Easter. We stay in Oz en Oisans, which is very child friendly. We always do self catering at the Chalets de Neige. I can heartily recommend it! The ESF in Oz are awesome. snowHead

A snowHead

we just got back from a week in Avoriaz yesterday - with a 9 and 6 year old. It's perfect for families. It's got a fun swimming pool (like centre parcs, but samller), and is a nice family vibe. It seems to be basically set up / designed for families. Good cruisy blues and some nice reds and a few blacks (our 6 year old loved one of the blacks so they are stil within 'family' range).
Its part of the Ports de soleil area and we managed to ski chattel and les Crosats (sp?) in switzerland also during the week as the snow in all 3 resorts was fine. Some great freestyle parks also if thats your bag, inluding 2 epecially for the little ones. we spent quite a bit of the week in a couple of the bigger parks as ours got well into the freestlye stuff.
we booked late and got a great deal. (free kids ski passes and a free week swimming pool pass for the kids through pierre and vacances if you booked the appartment direct through them).
We didnt have any ski school as it was our 2nd holiday this year and we just wanted to ski around with the kids, who are now at a level (one ski, one boarder) that they can come round with us. However we came acrross a number of ski school groups in the week and I must say I was shocked by what I saw from ESF. Huge class sizes, their main teaching method (when they were atually 'teaching' as it largelly appeared to be 'follow me') appeared to be shouting - at both kids and adults. And some of the worst offenders for poor piste ettiquette seemed to be the ESF instructors.
The 'jardin des enfants' also had a number of ski schools running that week of different levels (some of them looking pretty damned good!) and although the class sizes seemed large they generally seemed to be more in control, actually doing more teaching and having more fun.
However that is all based on obvservation.

oh yeah - and edit to add, as per above, not a sniff of a queue on any lift, and skiing round in 20 degrees on a couple of days! we are seriously considering bumping our annual ski holiday to easter and maybe doing feb as an extra bonus, rather than the other way around. but Shhh, don't tell everyone about easter skiiing. I feel like i've discovered my own little secret and want to keep it that way!

and edit AGAIN to add, that as per someone else above, we did cost up the ski school and it's actually cheaper to have a private lesson with a family of 4, but that does rely on all of you being roughly the same level and liking the same stuff.

A snowHead

We have just returned from L2A where we went with our 4 & 7 yr old. We stayed with Mark Warner and the girls lessons were with Evolution 2. We were very pleased with what we observed of the ski school. Our opinions of Mark Warner are a bit mixed (I will do full review when I have the energy and a but more time). In a better year for snow it would be ski in ski out, but the advantage of how mild it was meant the girls spent loads of time playing outside on the patio area / garden of the hotel. There are good nursery slopes higher up as well which had lots of snow. The downside is the snow was very hard every where pretty much which isn't great to learn on but that is the risk of Easter rather than an issue with that resort.

Definitely worth considering.

We have booked next year the seconds week of the Easter school holidays in St Anton with Esprit. I am hoping the snow will be better than it was this year that late.

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Thanks for all these suggestions - I'll definitely spend some time looking at options & consider booking late for next yr - interesting comments about ESF, which does make me a bit wary, but also good to have positive reviews, maybe it is variable depending on resort? I hadn't considered a group lesson for the family, but partly because the 2 of enjoy some skiing together without kids for a couple of hours too!

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If its child friendly you're looking for, I would look at Oz en Oisans.
I'm biased as we have a place there, but I picked this place because we have 2 small children to cart round the mountains.
Try to avoid places where you need to get a village bus to get to the slopes, and many of the large resorts have this (Val D, Chamonix, Tignes, Verbier, Morzine to name just a few). That said, if you pick a place close to the lifts, these places can also be great.

I guess I'm a bit scarred from one time in Verbier - en route to ski school drop off, after getting off a village bus (laden with 2 sets of skis, one child walking, one child being carried - by me, and host of other stuff) my then 3 yr old child told me she had taken her lift pass out of her jacket and it was in the chalet - one mile away. AAGH!

This link gives you some details of the child facilities in Oz:-
http://altitude3330.com/page14.htm
In addition to the skiing, you have a swimming pool, ice rinks, village organised activities, late night skiing, and generally its convenient as there's no driving after arriving in resort.
Ski school is also fab, with Piou Piou (a small chicken) having a small garden in the village with hoops to ski through and bells to ring. Also 2 moving carpets at village - avoiding the need for difficult lifts, and keeping the little uns at resort level, where its warmer, and less exposed to the mountain elements.

Wherever you go, enjoy. For what its worth don't book late - UK holidays book up quickly, and you may find the best places are gone. Our place in UK Feb 1/2 term is reserved 18 months in advance. Easter is usually 6 months - one year in advance.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks for the suggestion of Oz - also recommended previously although I had put looking at ski holidays on hold over the summer. I've had a look online & Oz looks to be just what we are looking for - your chalet looks lovely, but booked when we plan to travel so good tip about not leaving it too late. Closeness to slopes looks perfect - anything to make life easier with kids & also option to ski larger areas too. Self-catering apartments Chalets de Neige look to be available through Erna Low so I will call and find out more, but thinking we will fly & I see can book transfers from Grenoble so may be brave & book independently. Just one question - are the slopes back to the village still skiable at Easter or would it be a case of getting the lift back down?
Thanks

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Suggestions for family resort for Easter 2015

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