childcare for 3 and 5 year old in chamonix

A snowHead

Hi Everyone,

After 5 years off we are really keen to get back into skiing. We are going to spend New Year 2014 in Chamonix with a group of friends and our 3 and 5 year old daughters. Our budget isn't massive but we do want a bit of time to ski together so we are going to pay for some childcare..... Maybe 3 hours a day. Problem is we are going DIY so won't be able to use Esprit etc. I would really like the girls to learn to ski but also feel a little apprehensive about leaving them for 3 hours of ESF (my own experiences of them as a child were they were o.k. but not particularly sympathetic, what if my kids get cold or frightened?) the other independent place I found online sounded quite hardcore. We could shell out for a nanny which I'm sure they would enjoy but then they wouldn't learn to ski........ Does anybody have any recommendations of childcare/ ski school in Chamonix for little ones?

Thank you

A snowHead

Realistically you have 4 options:
ESF (good for skiing and friends have found them fine, at le tour and Argentiere they have nice snow gardens and warming huts). VERY good value if they work for you, and they have minibus collection/dropoff to most accommodation.
Evolution 2 panda club at Argentiere. My 3 yr old enjoyed this but to be absolutely honest her skiing made minimal progress and friends have experienced the same on multiple occassions. They are outdoors the whole time but her skiing progressed more in 2hrs with a private instructor than in a week with evo 2. The staff are lovely and they look after the kids well, but they don't push them very hard with the skiing. ESF definitely push harder. Advantages of evo 2 vs ESF are smaller groups and they have non-instructor 'helpers' to wipe noses etc.
Private instructor. E90-120 for 2 hrs. Worked a treat for us for our son. Yes its expensive but my logic was that because they learn SO much faster, its no more expensive in the long run. My son age 5 was comfortably able to ski all but the steepest blacks with us. Age 6 he got ESF Gold.
Babycham (local nanny agency) - about E20/hr. You could probably persuade the nanny to take them to the nursery slopes to play around on skis, but (s)he wouldn't be allowed to teach. We've had nannies ranging from mediocre to absolutely brilliant from them.

The nice (and often overlooked) thing about learning in Chamonix is that nearly all the learner areas are dedicated to beginners, there isn't a high speed resort run ploughing through the middle. Places like La Vormaine (at le tour) are staffed by incredibly helpful friendly lifties who will teach the kids how to use a poma (as long as there isn't an immense queue!). They smile at the kids, call them by name (its usually stuck on their helmet by the ski school) and help them along. Not what people usually expect from France let alone Chamonix.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

My friend put both her kids on skis in Chamonix. They were the same age as yours. Now they are 8 and 10 and can throw 360s in the park and parents are not worried to take them anywhere. They were using ESF in Cham for consecutive holidays/seasons, they do push hard but results are worth it.

Help!!

childcare for 3 and 5 year old in chamonix

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