 Poster: A snowHead
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Finally got round to writing up my trip to La Tania in early January. Thanks to all the snowheads who helped with advice on easy runs before we went. After a bit of persuasion and some research on here, we (me - all mountain skier, mainly Scotland but also 5 week long trips to the Alps over the last 15 years, wife - really nervous, a few days on a previous trip 10 years ago with friends, then gave up. 1 day at CFe a week before the trip, 2 children - 3 and 1) looked at our options for a January trip.
I also considered Snow Bizz, Esprit, MW, Ski Famille, Family Ski Co, Crystal, Chilly Powder and Ski Hillwood and unaccountably forgot about Ski-2. If anyone knows of any other companies doing skiing with childcare, please let me know for next year.
I was quite keen on a Snow Bizz apartment, also thought a Chalet would work for us and initially didn't want a hotel. I didn't think we particularly needed a massive ski area: plenty of childcare, good lessons and short transfers were the priorities. From what people wrote on here, I wanted somewhere that was slope side or a very short walk. I was lead to expect to be dashing back and forth from the hotel and village quite a lot.
After lots of jotting down costings (each holiday covers different things, I spent ages adding all the stuff needed to make a rough total cost for the week) I had Snow Bizz, Esprit to La Rosiere and Family Friendly in La Tania as at least £1k cheaper than the other options! I thought one of the Morzine area options would be good (short transfers) but I searched and didn't find any at a reasonable price. The poor snow especially low in the early part of the season also made me wary. I wanted somewhere with snow at the door for the children's first ski holiday. Of the rest, La Tania with Family Friendly was the cheapest. The downside, a hotel room that was never made to sound palatial, but it still seemed the best option. We felt like we'd be trapped in our apartment with Snow Bizz, having to keep quiet with 2 sleeping children. I could foresee a lot of roadside walking for me in La Rosiere (chalet at the bottom of the village, not piste side). So I booked Hotel Telemark with Family Friendly Skiing, and flights MAN-GVA with jet2 (easy jet were a similar price/time).
The flight was fine. We're used to low cost carriers as we live close to MAN airport. Get plenty of food in you rucksack, buy fluids airside, and supplement it with a few bits off the plane at a hefty price. Pay in £, the rate in € will be derisory.
On arrival in GVA we quickly found our driver, Mark, and he whisked us straight up to La Tania. 10min walk across airport, loaded us into minibus, passed out in Switzerland, awoke near Lake Annecy, then on the road to Moutiers the children started sounding hungry. A small snack and onto mountain roads, unfortunately into claggy rain, all the way into the resort. Just below the FL, yuck! Dead quiet, drizzle, cloud, no ski resort looks good like this. Went for late lunch to Pub Le ski Lodge. OK burger, quite busy, felt decidedly damp. Really not much to do with 2 grumpy kids on a wet afternoon, surely things had to get better. We should have sorted out skis and boots that afternoon (with Mark again) but our young children were in no mood to let us, so we abandoned with daughter sorted, me on some skinny 165s, Mrs w...s with boots I wasn't convinced fitted and twin tip 151s. Having rental in the basement meant we could sort things later and easily swap around skis all week. I had nagging doubts but just needed beer badly at this point.
Kids tea time improved with a happy hour cocktail, and some decent food that they ate with only a little encouragement. Ski passes all sorted, the rain hadn't let up but looked a bit snowy-ish as darkness fell.
After our very early start and a tiring day, the babies went off to sleep ok and we went for dinner. Felt much better, food great and wine not bad. Wifi definitely theoretical rather than reasonable. Could cope with 2-3 people only. Manager Dave told us an upgrade was due to happen (still due when we left).
The next day was much better. Blanket of new snow overnight, sun out. Remained firmly out all week. My next nagging worry was no lessons until Monday. On the plus side, no dash to ski school, but 3 year old keen to ski and needed to be persuaded to wait. It was as close to a powder day as was likely all week and my nervous wife ignored me when I suggest heading to 1850 and decided I had to take her skiing on the nearest green. A green's a green, right. Hmmm, this is why I research this stuff on the internet. I changed her skis for something thinner, flexible and 145 and off we went. Down to La Tania, up the Gondola, down the green. Took all morning. The first section was ok, then there was a section slightly less flat, she got hit gently by another beginner, it was a very, very long way after that. It was lunchtime by the time we got back into La Tania and we dumped the skis back at the hotel and went to Taiga to have lunch. Tartiflette nice but no one else there. There were definitely some challenges to our relationship that morning! But at the bottom we were still together and both in 1 piece. I've written some very detailed instructions on the very easiest greens of the Courchevel valley later on in this report.
In the afternoon I took out my daughter. We worked out a technique for button lifts and skied in the village with her between my legs. I'm not sure I'd count any of it as skiing on her part yet. Then we went sledging, which we did to a varying extent every other day too. There is nothing quite as frightening as your children whooping with delight as they head for a large tree! We both had a 'moment' where a flying leap into the path of the sledge was required but no one sustained any injuries all week. The sausage shop between the Pub and the fancy restaurant does nice hot chocolate. I swapped the 165 noodles for White Doctor FT181s in the evening. I just kept asking for something bigger until the tech said 'these are the biggest ones we have'. 181, 90mm width, not that huge.
Day 2 was ski school (finally). Skied down with daughter, wife walked, the day before hadn't done wonders for her confidence. I then went via Meribel and skied Jerusalem. A challenge in 2 hours. Tetras was unpisted crud so I had to slow down. It was quite tough. Jerusalem was a nice red. Skied back via Ecureuil which seemed the easiest black ever. Went to La Tania, wife called, said she was in Le Praz but would get the bus soon. I couldn't see a bus on the timetable soon but waited... and waited. Eventually called her, said I'd go there, fancied skiing Jockeys anyway. Got myself all confused at the top. Turned left, looked for piste, not there (of course it isn't, it's right then right), skied off-piste down the new lift line, not really enough new snow for this, hit a walking trail, eventually found Jockeys but all taken longer than I'd said, dodgy phone reception, wasn't sure she hadn't actually got on the bus, skied Jockeys, then onto the red at warp speed, only passed 1 other skier, straight lining it into Le Praz. Saw a big coach, gondola base station, town but no irritated lone woman. CRASH... Not sure what I hit but it was a full ejection and face plant. Resorted to dragging skis by the tips and shouting her name. Big scrape on nose, goggles full of snow, felt a bit shaky. At least it got me some sympathy. A great lunch at the restaurant la table de mon pere below the hotel Peuplieres and 1/2 bottle of Gamay and things were much better! Well worth 60€. Back out with the children for the afternoon for more sledging.
After leaving the wee man at breakfast (with his nanny!) all 3 of us skied down to the Gondola, progress!
Daughter off up the Gondola and we waited for wife's group/lesson. Nope...started somewhere else without her and didn't bother telling her. Not good service. So we went up and sneaked a peek at our daughter skiing. Awesome! She was skiing on her own already and even putting in turns. Too busy to notice us, we went off into Courchevel along the Greens. Wife definitely faster and more confident. Bellecote off Jardin Alpin was her favourite but I was getting a bit hot on Gondolas, especially this really slow one. Looked around for a chairlift with a green off it. Nah only blues. Noticed it was a lot harder to stay behind her on these skis though, lots of snowploughing! Went to La Soucoupe for lunch (€100), big group of Russians drinking lots of vodka on the next table (really upset it was Grey Goose, then the waiter flambéed a woman's Bogner jacket!) Almost worth the money for the entertainment value. Plenty of tottering diamanté outside too.
We skied around Courchevel, then got the gondola back to Le Praz. Put wife on bus, while I took the Foret bubbles to assess Arolles for getting back to La Tania later in the week. Easy gradient but a bit narrow (wide cat track). Now I see why they are moving the top station with the new chairlift. Had to wait for a bubble that I could fit the skis into, queue was a few ski patrol having a chat, went through Le Praz often, it was always really quiet.
Day 4 and the prospect of another lesson, more swapping around but in the end the one instructor we had talked to, our daughters, was available to take her out. I went and practiced moguls off Vizelle in the sunshine. No expensive lunch, felt the budget needed a little control. She (wife, not daughter) came back much more confident, wanting to push herself with an afternoon together and ready to not freak out on blues, big progress. Daughter practiced with me in the afternoon with her edgie-wedgie but instructor had already decided she was nearly finished with it.
Day 5 and wife had a private lesson shared with our neighbour in the chalet. I scoped out the easiest route to 1650 before doing the 3 valleys experience with NewGen. Met our daughter skiing down Folyeres with her group. Great for a group of 3-4 year olds. NewGen experience was interesting, instructor was good in that he asked us what we wanted to do, explore with instruction or local side country as the off piste was rubbish (no snow for 4 days, low snow levels generally). Obvious answer was get skiing really and we did make it as far as 3 marches. Then he got a bit stressed about the wind. Nearly told him: this isn't wind, this is almost flat calm! Some good tips to get me skiing backwards like an ESF instructor, carving on blacks and skiing even faster.
Last day and I skied down with my daughter, no edgie-wedgie, no help after she got into her skis until a little pull at the end. She just couldn't get her feet into her bindings on her own, not heavy enough yet. I got a free hour and decided to ski Combe de Vallon. Having been down the Boulevard de la Loze already, I thought I'd go via Saulire and Grand Rosiere. Quite a way from La Tania. I had to stop once on Combe de Vallon. Good long run, well worth getting the 'where have you been?' treatment. Spent the rest of the day skiing together, greens and blues, even the occasional button lift. Lunch at the snack hut below Signal, bagged a great table in the sun overlooking the piste. No problem with the tricky blue cat track to get back to 1850 and together all the way to the top of La Tania gondola. All in all, a great final day.
Thoughts on the various bits:
Childcare
Obviously a really important thing for us and the nannies did really well in keeping the children entertained. Our 1 year old was really happy with our nanny Megan and she was very inventive at using a pretty limited space to look after him. The hotel hasn't got a dedicated crèche, the nannies use part of the bar, then get the children out and about in the village and visit the other Family Friendly chalets. I met up quite regularly with the posse during the week as I skied back to meet my wife or older child and all the children were happy and did lots of activities. Seemed always to be a good nanny: child ratio.
Our 3 year old loved ski school and managed Folyeres (back to the village) by the end of the week. Her instructor (Ben from Momentum) was excellent, good with my wife too. The Momentum children's lessons seemed better than ESF, our daughter certainly loved them and progressed really quickly. Next door's son (aged 4) definitely not as happy in ESF lessons. Her group started on the magic carpet at the top of the La Tania bubble and progressed to skiing back down from there. There were 7 in her class, looked after by an instructor and a skiing nanny. The FFS nannies picked her up from lessons. We were often around as my wife was finishing lessons too and the pickups were well organised every time. La Tania is really well set up for children with minimal exposure to quiet roads only. There is a row of buildings between the piste and the main road. I took my daughter out in the afternoon for some more skiing off the small tow in the village as she was so keen. We then did a lot of tobogganing on the little slopes in front of the bars and shops along the front de neige in the late afternoon. Lots of the ski shops hire toboggans and I doubt our children would ever have got fed up of this.
A nanny came in and supervised our baby monitor for a couple of hours every evening while we had dinner, which was really nice. We could get hit and miss reception on certain tables but not on the bar side of the room.
The Hotel and Transfers
The location is not bad (bear in mind I was carrying 3 pairs of skis sometimes), the road in front of the hotel has about 7 chalets on either side, so not long, then there was a (getting icier every day) path with a wooden rail around the last chalet. I was comfortable carrying multiple pairs of skis or a small child along this, but not both together! This drops you onto an easy piste at the level of the top of the button tow. You ski down through the village on a wide piste to the gondola base.
To get back from the village, there is a public lift in the big apartment complex that take you most of the way uphill, then a short walk up the 1-way road round the village.
Our room was pretty cramped for 4 with and extra cot and a teeny shower room but the water was always hot and powerful. The room was clean and tidy and had big doors onto a balcony, which we often had to open as the sun shone in a lot. This made afternoon naps (for the 1 year old) a bit hit and miss as it was impossible to get it dim enough. There wasn't much space to play but luckily the weather was sunny for most of the week so we spent as much time as possible outdoors. Obviously this is a downside of a hotel rather than a chalet for this sort of holiday. The upside was the evenings. Doug's cocktails were really good, the beer was good, the house red was better than acceptable, the bottles of red were better and worth the money and the company was great. The bar was quite busy before dinner most nights, with a good atmosphere.
The food was really good, hearty staples but cooked with real flair and the chefs (Skye and Dec) went out of their way to cater for us. We had no hesitation in staying put for our night 'out', especially after happy hour.
Ski hire was quite well kitted out and the staff were really helpful, swapping skis during the week and letting me try lots of different skis. Had to push them into giving small, easy skis for my wife and some big enough skis for me, but they came up with what we wanted when I asked.
Transfers were really good. A 10 minute walk though GVA and just us in the minibus on the way out. 1 pickup of 2 people 1 minute away on the way back. With 2 small children and very early starts, they could not have been smoother. GVA was very busy on the way back but we were deep into the check-in queue when they started calling us forward for our flight so despite some slight anxieties that we were a little pushed for time, it was tight but no problem. With this door to door service, transfer times are only about 100 minutes.
The hotel is marketed through Family Friendly and Ski-Inn so there were families, couples and singles and people there for varying times. Most people were British but we did have dinner with a French gut who was there most of the same time as us. All the staff use the bar when off, as did quite a few workers and holidayers. It had a good atmosphere every night which was a big bonus for us.
The skiing
For Beginners
La Tania hasn't got the best terrain, the mountain is steep so the 'green' (Plan Fontaine) into the village is a narrow cat-track with 2 sections steep enough to terrify my wife (easily done). The blue (Folyeres) is tough for a blue but nothing like the infamous Santons (into Val d'Isere). The easiest route is: from the gondola, take the green down to the new Bouc Blanc chair. This section is very straightforward. Go off ahead at the top past 'La Soucoupe' restaurant into 1850 down the green Loze Est, then take Jardin Alpin and do Bellecote. Wide and easy greens suitable for the very nervous. Loze Est crosses a blue and red run but never gets nasty. After Bellecote, try the other greens. Verdons is wide but a bit steeper at the top.
Getting back involves getting the bus or walk across 1850 (400m) to the Le Praz gondola. You can ski back but with some caveats: the green below the Courchevel Croisette (where gondolas leave) is very easy. Plantrey chair takes you to Arolles blue which is a little narrow but not steep, back to the La Tania bubble. Or you can take Epicea, a button lift. The 'green' across the red piste here is unfortunately not that easy but after this first section it leads to an easy blue to Le Praz gondola.
Next year the new Foret chair from Le Praz will run to just above the top of the La Tania bubble so even the most nervous skier will be able to get back to La Tania without the bus.
For experts
Jockeys off the top of La Tania bubble to Le Praz is one of the best blacks in the whole 3 valleys. There is lots of off-piste off Dou des Lanches. Tetras into Meribel is steep and wasn't pisted. All these available off 1 or 2 lifts. 2 lifts will also let you ski directly into the centre of Courchevel, Meribel or Mottaret. The top of Saulire can be accessed in 3 lifts, Mont Vallon just 4. It's an excellent location for the whole 3Vs. Being north facing it could be a bit chilly but it got just enough sun even in January to be pleasant until late afternoon. The sun does go behind the mountains early.
The Price
This was actually the cheapest of this type of holiday I found in November, for travel 2 months later. Half board, transfers, ski hire, lift passes (Courchevel valley, but upgrade only €41) and childcare were included in the 'January Special' package and it was fantastic value. Total for 4 of us £2-2.5K. The staff at the hotel were exceptional and the childcare arrangements were absolutely seamless. Lessons didn't work out so well initially but the team of staff worked out how to fix things and made sure we all had a good time. The transfers were by far the best I've had in the Alps and will firmly tip the balance towards small companies like this, especially FFS, over Mark Warner/Esprit family holidays when we go skiing again.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great report. We have been going to La Tania for a number of years now, so it was good to hear from someone who was having their first trip there. We went with FFS in 2009 in one of their chalets. The kids now are older and I struggle to keep up - you have been warned....
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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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We've been to la tania twice with family friendly (both this year feb and april - first time skiing this year), nannies are excellent, the food in the telemark was outstanding imho, and service was usually very good, rooms are basic though so no tv (we took a laptop and a vpn back to the uk for iplayer which worked 80% of the time).
We've had lessons with Momentum (Ben S), from what I've had feedback on Momentum are very good with kids and the other Ben is really good with them. My daughter has had lessons with Magic and ESF, not had any complaints from her, and she's now a good skier just turned 5 and will definitely be wanting to doing blues with me next time we are there (she has no fear!)
I love the whole La Tania/Couchevel area in terms of the varied runs, only been down to 1850, as it's easiest to get back to La Tania - we did the bus in Feb back from 1850, but in April the first thing we did was find out how to get back skiing to la tania, don't want to get on the bus again with all the ski gear on.
From a novice point of view the greens in Couchevel are easy and wide, perfect for beginners with the odd steeper bit thrown in at the tops of them. Some of the blues are easy too once you've mastered linked turns, but some are very steep to the point I was told later that some used to be red - as a relative new comer to skiing I definitely agree with this 
Back at christmas with family friendly although will be in a chalet this time with friends, having lessons with momentum again, and my daughter will be with them this time.
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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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@what...snow, Have you anything to add since 2014 ? I am like your wife, Technically good, but hate heights and very nervous, husband is technically rubbish, but will throw himself down anything. We are staying in La Tania in a chalet, soon. Have been to Courchevel 1650 & 1850 before, but not a lot of experience of either for runs. Would love some advice on where to go to build confidence without scaring me !!
Thanks.
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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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1850 has lots of easy wide greens and blues.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Welcome to snowHeads @tricialouvel@aol.com, 
The Creux is a lovely run in the morning. Although it's red, it's not a tricky red. It goes from the top of the Saulire (the peak between Courchevel and Meribel) and heads down towards 1650. Great way to start the day!
1650 has lots of nice gentle runs and is usually less busy than the main area above 1850.
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@tricialouvel@aol.com, take the bubble from la tania, take the plan fontain (green) down to bouc blanc chair, then take loze est down to verdons - these are all green into courchevel 1850 - this is an easy start.
You then have options of doing the full verdons, or bellecote for greens (jardin alpin lift to the top)
Building up from there, biollay has varying levels of steep, you can cut round the side of the steep bits using the slope, and as you build up head down the steeper bits, pralong off the side of biollay isn't too bad.
Other ways to courchevel once you are feeling confident, get the bubble from la tania, take dou des lanches chair, and come down col del la loze, this isn't too bad, but you need to keep speed up to get along the flat, then come down anemones, you have a choice to cut onto the green loze est to cut out some of the steeper bits here
As mentioned above Creux (actually marked as a blue, but was a red), is great, nice and wide, but the top bit is steep, once through that a lovely run down to the bottom to get lift to 1650 where there are some good blues. Alternative route there is down prameurel round the altiport, that's an easy blue down, can get there from pralong.
Coming back from c1850 you have a choice of arolles, this has a couple of steeper bits to start then not so bad the rest of the way, or lanches red, this starts off easy, but gets steeper the closer to bouc blanc red you get, you can cut across back to arolles if it's looking a bit steep near the end. You can then come down plan fontain or folyeres back to the village
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@tricialouvel@aol.com, 1st choice is definitely as above: La Tania Gondola to Bouc Blanc (stay to the right of the piste at the top here), then Loze Est, a long meandering run through trees, reasonably wide, no steep drop offs. Onto Jardin Alpin to Bellecote - the widest, gentlest green ever. Tootle around 1850 - no surprises anywhere really, then take Prameruel round the Altiport to Roc Mugnier then round the Blues of 1650. Nothing stressful until the run getting back to 1850 - stay to the right at the end on Gravelles and you'll see a little dog leg reducing the steepness of the red slope. There used to be a slow shorter chair next to Aiguille du fruit, but the lift co have taken that out and 'created' a blue from the top - used to all be red up there, so I'm not sure how easy this section is.
If you have 3V pass, I'd guess Pic Bleu is a better bet into Meribel than Bld de la Loze, a cat track across a steep exposed slope so fairly narrow with steep drop off on your right. It looks very complex getting down from the bottom of Loze to end up at the lifts but I remember just going with the flow and ending up where I expected. Getting back from Meribel or Mottaret, there is some exposure at the top of Saulire and you'll have to get Creux (a detuned red), to the wrong side of 1850 or some steep wide reds into the bowl above Courchevel. I'd recommend getting off at the 1st stage of Pas du Lac or Saulire then scoot across to Loze Express. Then you can get a fast black or a very gentle blue back to La Tania. Col de la Loze is very flat and you'll need some speed to avoid poling though.
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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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Yeah Creux is a blue, bit of a steeper section to start but nice and wide so easy to traverse. The last half of it is really just a quite quick blast to Aiguille du Fruit.
As a small run I actually quite enjoyed the green of Jardin Alpin (or summint like that) which passes a lot of the accomodation in 1850. A lot less crowded than the main run through and quite nice through the trees, even if it is only a few hundred metres. Folyeres into La Tania is a nice run which has a couple of slightly steeper sections too but nothing too bad. The green into La Tania also looks nice but when I was there it didn't have enough snow cover.
If you've got the 3v pass then my favourite run is probably the long green/blue all the way down to Meribel village, a nice gentle piste which goes across the golf course and then down through the trees. Seemed lovely and quiet and just really enjoyable in the sun. I'm happy on most pistes but probably did that twice as much as anything else on my last trip. The only downside is getting to it, you either have to do the Bvd de Loze (which is narrow and can be tracked out) or you have to make your way all the way over to Sauliere and come back over Biche...although if the snow is okay then I suspect they'll be much nicer runs than when I went at Christmas.
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FAQ
