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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Don't know if you guys remember, but a few weeks ago I was talking about how my missus wouldn't let me take her son skiing during school time. Well, we were on holiday the other day and she relented. I ALSO put up a post about asking if my 7 year old daughter would be ok to ski, although she was reluctant. Now, she really wants to go skiing. I'm thinking of trying her out at Aldershot for an activity morning during the next holidays, or maybe even the Saturday kids club- has anyone any experience with this club?

The way I thought about doing it was for me and the stepson to go skiing together in the mornings and get the mad stuff out of our systems, whilst littly does ski school in the mornings. Then, after lunch, we all meet up and ski some easier slopes before doing other stuff- snowmen, snowball fights, taboggoning, etc.

Does this sound reasonable? We like Austria, so lean towards that. Is there anywhere that has a good ski school you would recommend? We like Ishgl & Ellmau if that helps?


There is a second part to this as well....

Since I can't take him out in 2016 (important year at school), I am considering taking our caravan over to Borg St Maurice and skiing La Plagne/ Arc. Would there be enough in this area for my zilch interest in skiing wife to occupy her for a week or so?

Would it be crowded enough over the easter holidays as to spoil it (really long lift queues is what I'm thinking)?

Thanks for reading. I'd really appreciate your input.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Would the Jungfrau region (Grindelwald, Murren, Wengen) of Switzerland be any better for us, instead of Borg St Maurice?
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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?
There is a nice campsite in the Lauterbrunnen Valley and the train rides are nice for non skiers as well as a day or two to Innterlaken. I have not been for a while but really enjoyed Wengen last time I was there but hopefully someone else can let you know what the lift/train queues are like nowadays etc. If you have a car then a day in Bern would be a good family day away from skiing so as to balance things out with your wife.

Possibly another option would be to base yourselves in one of the resorts above Innsbruck.
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Your plan sounds good. The Saturday morning kids lessons at Aldershot used to be fantastic so I hope that's still true. They have some great instructors many of whom enjoy teaching the kids and know how to help them make good progress. Like so many things though the parents are the worst element, often wanting/insisting that their little cherub should be doing more/better than they are, and can be quite disruptive.

Can't help with the second part.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Speed098- are you talking about Camping Jungfrau? That is the Swizz place I had in mind.

Tarrantd- I'm not a pushy dad at all. All I care about is that she has fun. I know what you mean about the parents though, we live in Godalming and they're REALLY like that at the schools round here. I can't bear to even talk to any of the parents.
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faithsdaddy,

Yes Camping Jungfrau. If you are going at a quiet time check out Sites Abroad, EurocampDirect and possibly Campingcheque, if taking your own van.

Another option is use the normal camping company's such as Eurocamp and stay in one of the larger static vans.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Ah yes, I've heard of camping cheques. I wouldn't be able to use them over Easter though, would I?
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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!
faithsdaddy, Check out Åre in Sweden, it's a great family resort, and a little outside the box. It may well suit you. The ski schools are excellent, and the whole resort is very family orientated. It is less an adult resort with family add ons, and more a family resort with other stuff.

Hope you find a good trip wherever you go. Madeye-Smiley
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thecramps, Seconded. You can fly to a regional airport only 45 mins from Åre, and up on the mountain they have very well equipped picnic restaurants with microwaves free to use. Saves a lot of money when you have a family Toofy Grin
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faithsdaddy, if you live in Godalming, did you know there's a dry ski slope in Guildford, too?
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faithsdaddy, Re Camping Jungfrau: Some friends and I stayed in an apartment in Lauterbrunnen for a week last year, and we often ate at the Camping Jungfrau restaturant in the evenings as it very good and excellent value. Madeye-Smiley
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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.
Karin- I had heard that it wasn't very good, but I haven't tried it TBH.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
When we lived in Godalming, many years ago now, we used to take our youngest up to Saturday morning sessions at Sandown Park. I didn't know there was a dry ski slope in Guildford. That same son lives in Guildford now himself so I must ask him.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
faithsdaddy wrote:
Does this sound reasonable? We like Austria, so lean towards that. Is there anywhere that has a good ski school you would recommend? We like Ishgl & Ellmau if that helps?


Not sure I'd pick Ischgl for a 7 year old as it's one of the more adult-focused resports I've been to. I'd suggest you'd be better off somewhere more family-friendly as I can't think of anything much for children in the village or on the mountain outside the naff toddler park in the Alp Trida bowl. Compare that to somewhere like Morzine/Avoriaz and there's a few more off-mountain things to do (that don't involve schnapps) and also a childrens snow park and/or adventure trail in each part of the ski area.

Also I don't know if this is the same in all of Austria/for children but the adult ski school in Ischgl is 10:00 to 14:00, which isn't so convienient for the mad morning/group afternoon skiing.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
We have camped at Bourg St Maurice a couple of times, including for a couple of weeks one Easter. (I think our boys must have been about 9, 11 and 13 at the time) That Easter there was little snow in and around the town and caravaneige but plenty still higher up, easily accessed by the funiculaire up to Les Arcs, or by car to La Rosiere, or Val D'Isere. We had lovely sunshine much of the time.

Skiers and non-skiers alike can uses the funiculaire (access from the caravaneige by a reasonable walk, car or navette) to Arc 1600 and one family non-skiing day we arranged to meet skiing friends there for lunch.

There was an indoor swimming pool (a few minutes walk from the site) which I used a couple of times whilst my husband took the boys skiing. There is also a retail centre with supermarkets, ski stuff etc (just over the road and a few minutes walk from the site) and the main town itself is not too far to walk with shopping like any other french alpine town, but its also quaint and you are surrounded by magnificent scenery.

I am a skier but not a hugely keen one and I do not choose to ski if the weather is poor. I found plenty of other things to keep me occupied in BSM on days when I did not ski and I do not even particularly like shopping lol
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
If you can, I'd get to one of the snow dome places, they're SO much better than dry slopes. I went to the one at Milton Keynes recently and had a great couple of hours. It'll probably only take you an hour and a bit from Godalming.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
faithsdaddy, I used to ski at Aldershot now and again. Nice club and good instructors plus welcoming atmosphere. If you have the opportunity to get to Hemel, as suggested, that would be well worth it IMHO. We're a bit further out than you and it took and hour and 20 to get there on Saturday evening.
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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?
Not sure I'd go to Hemel for beginner lessons - £35 for an hour in a group of up to 8 kids, as opposed to £37.50 for 40 minutes 1:1 at Aldershot, or £30 for half an hour 1:1 at Guildford. Not to mention the time and petrol to get to Hemel and back. Good idea once you've got the basics though.
Ok, I have to admit now that I may be slightly biased because I work at Guildford. I'd be interested to hear reasons for thinking it's not that good - market research and all that! And we know that our marketing is rubbish, obviously, if neither faithsdaddy, or Pamski, knew we were there Sad
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karin, whereabouts are you in Guildford?
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Christ's College Ski Club, near Slyfield. It's in the grounds of a school in a housing estate, so not the most obvious place to find a dry ski slope!
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karin, thank you. I will look it up.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
At first glance it looks nice enough, but.... you can only use it at weekends and only after you've done a course with them.
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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!
And they don't list prices.
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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.
I learned to ski at Aldershot in mid 80's, if its the same place it was great, especially when it snowed and you could go super fast and fly off the end into the brambles beyond!
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faithsdaddy, i think you have an excellent plan.

As CaravanSkier says: Bourg is a lovely town. Plenty to do. And easy access to the slopes up the Funicular.
Also buses and trains to lots of other places.
Your wife should find plenty to do.

And your plan for the skiing day looks good.
You have Boys Fun in the morning, and then let your daughter show her new skills in the afternoon.
Just make sure your stepson doesn't be too boisterous and boastful during those afternoon sessions - important your daughter gets confidence and not insults.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
If I were a total non-skier in a caravan I'd much prefer to be in the Jungfrau area than Bourg St Maurice. Incomparably more dramatic scenery and generally more of a tourist set up, I'd say, with the trains offering a more varied range of movement than the gondolas. I've only camped in the Jungfrau area in summer but provided your van is well insulated it should be great. Overall not necessarily much cheaper than a small apartment in Lauterbrunnen, though. Possibly more expensive.
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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.
karin, I thought I was telling my husband something new when I mentioned the dry slope in Guildford - good god, that's been there for years, was his reaction...
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Pamski, yes, it's been there 30 years. The guy who runs it went to the school it's in the grounds of, and when he left school he asked the then Headmaster if he could run the school's slope commercially. Headmaster said yes to him, and he's been running it ever since! It did get an entire rebuild in 2009 though - longer main slope, wider nursery slope, new donutting slope. That winter was really hard work, we did the work ourselves.
faithsdaddy, from your impressions of us it would appear that our website needs a massive rethink. We are actually open 7 days a week, and there is a link to the prices page on the main menu bar.
It's true that you have to have a lesson with us before you can free ski, but not a whole course, it's more in the spirit of the gym induction you have to do every time you join a new gym. We had to bring that in a few years ago after a lady signed the form to say she and her kids could snowplough turn and use a lift, and then 20 minutes later the boss looks out of the window to see her teaching them from scratch on the nursery slope. When he queried with her that the children couldn't ski, she said 'Of course they can, I just haven't taught them how to yet'....!
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