 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
I wondered if I can tap into the collective wisdom of Snowheads to see if there is a resort out that gets close to my wish list for family resort? Alternatively, feel free to tell my why I'm barking up the wrong tree and/or being too picky looking for something that doesn't exist.
I'm planning a trip for next season which will be the first time skiing for us as a family, kids will be almost 3 and 5. I'm not sure if the youngest will be skiing or able to do lessons but is very gung ho so will probably want to have a go in some capacity. I'm hoping that a few skier friends will also join us with the similarly aged kids but also for their first family ski trip.
Over the last few years I've been trying to look at ski resorts with my Dad hat on and I think the below is what I'm looking for but not sure where it exists. I really like the idea of smaller resort but they're quite hard to research unless you're in the know.
Catered Chalet accomodation or similar. Key is to ideally avoid cooking and be able to put the kids to bed and then relax as adults together i.e. a big hotel wouldn't work.
Snow sure - We're restricted to school holidays. Favoured trip time would be Easter, feb HT a possible
Good beginner slopes - i.e nice and accessible range of greens and blues to help build confidence
Ski in / Ski out - without skiing striaght into a bottleneck. The purpose of this is to minimise time swapping over childcare and general faffing about
Close to ski school / slopes - same as above
Short transfers (we may well drive but friends will want to fly - would consider the train though)
A bit of town / options for any non skiers and/or little ones that are tired after a morning in ski school. Chocolate box style rather than purpose built prefered.
Somewhere to go and have a drink in the evening. Don't need nightlife just one good bar/pub would do.
Ski area doesn't need to be massive for the purposes of this and I'd rather not pay for one that I'm not going to use
Flexible on country but I do like France
Budget wise is a bit flexible but the more affordable it is the bigger group we'll get and I'm definitely in the more the merrier camp.
Resorts I've been to that are getting somewhere close to this but not quite:
Les Gets - a bit low
Avoraiz - to busy in the holidays?
La Plagne - maybe Aime La Plagne or Mountalbert?
Samoen - a bit of a faff to get on and off the slopes
Also any recommendations for specific chalets, tour operators etc welcome. All intel very gratefully recieved.
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@All the gear...no idea!, I entirely get what you want. Thing is, the answers for half term are very different from the answers for Easter. Easter is much cheaper, much less crowded, longer days, nice weather for little ones. But the places where Easter is "snow sure" are limited. Your "ski in/out" criterion will rule out all those places where you would be down in a valley, moderately "chocolate box", but have to go up in a lift to get to the skiing.
Also, in my (considerable) experience of skiing with kids that age, one of the most important things is having some snow to play in, right outside the door, preferably where they can be thrown out with a bucket and spade or even a stick, without much adult supervision, to make holes.
I would probably swap the "ski in/out" criterion for somewhere within easy level walk of the ski school meeting place. Your 5 year old will not be able to ski in/out of anywhere till the end of the week, and the 2 year old is vanishingly unlikely to be able to do so even then.
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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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Hi Pam,
Thanks for your reply. Neither Easter or ski in out are unmoveable criteria and I realise I'll probably have to compromise somewhere.
Ski in ski out is probably a good one to drop out per your comments. My thinking with this was not so much the kids but making it easy for adults to nip back and/or rotate child care duties but maybe the scenarios where this is just the adult skiing in and out without kids is limited.
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I don't think you have to compromise much - once you've decided whether you're going Easter or half term you can probably find a lot of what you want.
Some places advertised as "ski in/out" are fine for experienced skiers but would be impossible for beginners, and might be quite a long hike with little kids to and from ski school.
My daughter and family went to the UCPA centre in La Plagne Christmas 2019 - their last pre-Covid holiday. They had a family week, and might do the same at Easter. It was good value (all inclusive) and they found it perfect - exceptionally convenient for the skiing and very sociable - with public areas where they met other families, played games etc. It would have the advantage that groups/individuals/families could book themselves in, so numbers would not be critical up front.
It might be worth asking Action Outdoors, who market their holidays in the UK, whether there are any "family weeks" planned for 2023.
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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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Don't know about relative value but The Three Valleys with Le Ski, either to Courchevel 1650 or, given the family angle, La Tania, where they advertise all-day nannies and/or lunchtime supervision, including collecting/returning kids from/to ski school? Quick transfer from Chambéry airport (assuming plane can land)
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We had almost that same list of requirements for skiing with little kids a few years ago. I never managed to get everything on the list and Pam is right, at least for us, that ski in/out wasn’t useable for very small children and sometimes ski in/out are actually less accessible for non skiers so can be a disadvantage.
Are you planning to teach the 2 yo yourself? Very few ski schools will take under 3s and if they do it will just be a short 1:1 with plastic skis in the snow garden - more like snow play than actually skiing.
Some places we have skied with kids that age:
Morzine/Les Gets - fits the nice town, short transfers, good for beginners, lots of chalets and childcare options. Snow can be patchy by mid-March.
Avoriaz is not too busy at Easter but a lot of the PdS is low so skiing outside of Avoriaz isn’t the best conditions. My son loved skiing here (age 4) at La Village des Enfants and he loved the pool which is brilliant for little kids - more of an indoor water park really.
Puy St Vincent - not a pretty town and the accommodation is mostly basic SC but it’s the most convenient place I found for skiing with little kids, especially if you book through Snowbizz and use their ski school and childcare, which is excellent. Also it’s never busy and the lift passes relatively cheap.
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| gendal wrote: |
| Don't know about relative value but The Three Valleys with Le Ski, either to Courchevel 1650 or, given the family angle, La Tania, where they advertise all-day nannies and/or lunchtime supervision, including collecting/returning kids from/to ski school? Quick transfer from Chambéry airport (assuming plane can land) |
Yes, I’d advise avoiding Chambéry at all costs with little kids or nervous flyers.
On a bad day it can add hours of travel and tonnes of stress to your journey. 
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Easter is my preference due to the temperature and hopefully a bit quieter.
Genial, thanks for the suggestion. Courchevel would definitely work but I feel like we'd be paying for a resort both in accommodation costs and ski pass that we wouldn't be using. I'd rather spend that money on better accommodation and/or child care, ski school options.
Budget wise is a very up in the air but targeting around £1000-£1250 per person (a child being a person). Would consider paying more for the right thing, but equally if its doable for less then I'd be very happy.
Ideally if we can get a group to make exclusive use of a chalet viable and private group lessons for the kids that would be perfect but not essential (we've done this before adults only to good effect).
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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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@All the gear...no idea!, with a fairly tight budget, do have a look at UCPA family weeks.
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Reberty, Les Menuires. Pretty much ticks all your boxes for sure.
And certainly under your £100-1250pp budget
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@rick - thanks I'll take a look in a bit more detail. I've skied VT and 3vs fairly extensively but not really taken much notice of Reberty and what it's like for beginners, especially since it's been developed a bit.
Gattabianca - thanks for the suggestions Les Gets would be perfect if the snow holds up and that's really my only concern, probably too much of a gamble for Easter so feb HT only option. Good to know Avoriaz is less busy at Easter so won't write that off, I had done based on how busy it can get and there's a few key lifts that end up with big queues. I've been a few times though and like the resort.
Puy I'd forgotten about but did a week there years ago and really enjoyed it - this was way before kids so i'll do some research. In my mind this is probably about perfect resort size wise enough for the adults to bomb about a bit but not so much that's it's completely wasted.
Thanks for all the pointers. Any tips on smaller resorts welcome too.
Is my budget wildly out Pam?
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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.
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P.s. I love France but happy with other countries too.
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| Quote: |
Is my budget wildly out Pam?
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No - doable for Easter, I'd say, but tight for half term. https://www.action-outdoors.co.uk/activities/snowsports/skiing/family-weeks/ Have a look at this information on UCPA family weeks - not relevant yet for 2023 but you'll get the idea. Far cheaper than a traditional "catered chalet" and as family groups can book themselves in separately you avoid the headache of getting numbers together and persuading people to commit themselves. UCPA provide lunches - in a catered chalet lunch on the mountain can add a lot to holiday costs, and with small kids, I'd usually opt to take them back to an apartment where they can change and relax, and if they don't eat your carefully prepared pasta or beans on toast you won't be too upset.
Self-catering doesn't have to mean hours of labour. Resorts usually have good traiteurs, take away pizza places etc and if there are a couple of families the labour can be shared. I always enjoyed preparing a simple meal, glass of wine in hand, but I realise it's not for everybody.
UK package prices and flights are always high in school holidays but if you drive and book direct with French accommodation providers, Easter is low season.
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You know it makes sense.
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Outside of France - maybe St Johann?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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How about Tignes le Lac?
Minuses are purpose built, 2h transfer Chambéry / 3h transfer GVA.
Pluses are 2100m at resort level so snow sure, very family friendly. Catered chalets are available as is English childcare if needed. Most places ski in / out. A few decent bars.
The guys who run Ultimate ski school run the Tignes chalet company who seem to have decent reviews. As we prefer SC accom in aparthotels, we haven’t sampled chalets ourselves to directly recommend. My 3 year old has had lessons with Evolution 2 who have been great.
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Poster: A snowHead
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If you want maximum ski convenience late in the season "purpose built" is probably the answer. Also, remember that the "chocolate box" valley villages are likely to be full of melting slush and mud at Easter, as well as entailing a lift up to the snow, and down 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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@All the gear...no idea!, for Samöens it's much more of a match to consider Morillon 1100 Les Esserts as same GM area but position is conveniently on the snow https://www.alpsaccommodation.com/morillon-information.htm fulfilling most of your requirements.
Close transfer Geneva, easy road etc, along with decent cost. Mostly self catering (but some catered, just trying to find details of a good one for you that's been there long term) but with really excellent lunch capability in local restaurant/cafe to use through the day, then maybe just evening to cater (or evening restaurant to break that up) along with local area (not including Flaine) pass option. Toboggan and really good nursery ski slopes (easily used by your 3 yr) with two learner lifts. Local nursery located in that beginner area too, all with very easy access for parent swapping etc through the day. A couple of small bars too for that demand.
It's a really great small ski village that we used alot along with other families and our two children in formative ski years. Plus one of the best green slopes in the Alps "Marvel" to let children really find their ski feet. Much to offer I feel.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Esprit ski is hassle free. Champoluc or La Plagne. So easy with kids.
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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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Going with children 3 and 5 it's a holiday with some skiing rather than a skiing holiday. Keep things simple.
Small ski areas work well at that age because you don't need the big km's/acreage. However, using TO's is a restriction. Also probably less options ski school wise.
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