 Poster: A snowHead
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How have people managed this?
I now have two children (2yo and 3 week old). Ive not been skiing for probably 4 years now and only 3 times in the last 10.
This Winter is obviously not going to happen.
But looking forward, I'd like to hear how people maintained their passion. Do people just skip it for a few years until they can afford to take the whole family and they are 'ready' for it?
My wife isnt particularly bothered about skiing so it feels like a hard sell to convince her we need to spend x amount of £'000s on a ski holiday.
Have people found away to sans family? Or is that not realistic?
Alll relationships and circumstances are different, but keen to hear other peoples experience
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Ryunis wrote: |
How have people managed this?
I now have two children (2yo and 3 week old). Ive not been skiing for probably 4 years now and only 3 times in the last 10.
This Winter is obviously not going to happen.
But looking forward, I'd like to hear how people maintained their passion. Do people just skip it for a few years until they can afford to take the whole family and they are 'ready' for it?
My wife isnt particularly bothered about skiing so it feels like a hard sell to convince her we need to spend x amount of £'000s on a ski holiday.
Have people found away to sans family? Or is that not realistic?
Alll relationships and circumstances are different, but keen to hear other peoples experience |
We never stopped. Our eldest was two months old on his first ski holiday iirc. Just use a specialist company that provides nanny’s. There are several. You are right about the costs, though.
One alternative is for you to do a solo trip if your wife isn’t so keen. Take a look at the bashes where there is no single room premium for a solo traveler if your wife isn’t are happy to share a twin room. The PSB, pre-BB and EoSB are all particularly good value.
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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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@Ryunis,
Book yourself onto a Bash and make the most of a child-free week, then devote yourself to your family for the remaining 51 weeks of the year.
Eventually your children will be not so needy as a 2yr old and a newborn. Hard to imagine now, perhaps, but the day will come when you can enjoy skiing with them.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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We waited until our little one was 5 then he had a few dry slope lessons before the snow. Few days on beginner's area at Glenshee ( we are 1.5hrs away) with me giving some pointers. Now done 2 trips to les arcs at Easter with some group and private lessons. He obviously loves it, and Les Arcs is his "favourite place in the world" 
He picked up the basics very quick as was sporty and good ballance from biking from 2yrs old.
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Skiing post kids was a non negotiable for us, went with twin boys when they were 14-months. Used a catered chalet with a crèche so we could ski.
Went following year to same place with boys and 2-month old!
Progressed onto a nursery in village and the boys started ski school at 5
It’s easily doable, just takes a little more planning. The only downside is they are all better skiers than us now 
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Thanks all. I think the main obstacle is that my wife, while she enjoyed the one trip shes been on, isnt enthusiastic about it enough to feel justified about the cost, let alone the, let's be honest, faff of taking two young kids skiing.
Realistically I think its either sit it out for a few years and go as a family, or me to go solo. My friends ski, but they are also early in their fatherhood journeys so in similar boats, although some of their wives are more into skiing than mine.
Ive a big birthday next year so think ill aim to use that
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We never stopped. Used family companies as others have said but as soon as youngest was able to ski all day (aged about 7), we reverted to DIY.
With a less interested spouse, I'd suggest you reframe it as a "Winter Holiday". Find somewhere with lots of non-skiing activities, walks, spas, sledging etc and a proper village/town. That way everyone gets to do something different. Ski Amade does a split pass for two adults and infants which might also give you further options. Think about the odd night on a "City break" somewhere like Salzburg as well. If you wait a couple of years it will become MUCH more expensive as you'll be fixed to school dates. Bottom line is it's very doable, but different.
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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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We went S/C and brought a non-skiing family member to help out.
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When ours were tiny (2.5 years and 3 months) I went solo. Dropped the three of them at my parents in law and went off to enjoy myself with two mates. Subsequent few years my non-skiing parents came with us.
You may say you couldn’t do that, but why not? You and the other half don’t need to be in each other’s pockets 24/7.
Quid pro quo you can look after the kids solo whilst OH takes a break.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Grandparents certainly came into their own when kids were a little older. My parents skied into their late 70s, but were happy to potter about in morning and then collect kids from lessons. They would then ski with is in the afternoon while the kids messed about on bumps at edge of piste and they cruised the blues.
Horses for courses but self-catering I think works better with kids, admittedly we went catered first few years, as more relaxed to slob around in PJs and eat what and when you feel like it.
If Mrs B didn't feel the same way about skiing, I would have looked for a solo trip and I don't think that's unreasonable. As long as the favour is returned
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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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| Ryunis wrote: |
I now have two children (2yo and 3 week old). Ive not been skiing for probably 4 years now and only 3 times in the last 10.
This Winter is obviously not going to happen. |
Why not? In many ways these are the golden years for skiing as a parent as you aren't tied to school holidays!
Yes, you need to do some research but a lot of resorts will have a nursary set-up where you can drop them for a few hours through to whole days. Did Oz en Oisans with friends and their U5s and the nursary was basically their 2 plus the ski instructors children!
| Ryunis wrote: |
| My wife isnt particularly bothered about skiing so it feels like a hard sell to convince her we need to spend x amount of £'000s on a ski holiday. |
OK, that's a much harder one to deal with but as you say all relationships are different. Would your wife be up for looking after the children on her own while you going skiing by yourself, for example a SH Bash as others suggested - and in exchange another week in the year you'll look after the children on your own for a week and she can go off and do something? Another couple of my friends did this when their children were younger. As much as they loved their children/each other a week away from both was good for them
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We have always skied with our kids since they were tiny. The best place we went as a family (when they were very young) was probably Levi in Finland as there was loads to do for them when they were tired of skiing....dog sleds, reindeer farms etc
Now only the youngest (now 11 years old) skis and he comes with me. He enjoys spending time with me (I think), spending time family members we ski with and is in charge of paying the tolls when we drive down through France.
Also we ski with other extended family members with kids and take it in turns to keep an eye on them (in reality to try to keep up with them) so that the others can go off to do their own thing.
Mrs H is happy with us going as she then goes away with him or her friends when she wants to.
Grandparents were a great help when our kids were younger but my father has been a bad example over the last few years as he broke his back one year and his tibia the following year. My mother wouldn't allow him to ski after that but he still comes along.
We tell him where we will be for lunch and he then meets us there. So if you see a white haired gentleman reading the Telegraph in a mountain restaurant in Verbier with a carafe of wine it's probably him....
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You know it makes sense.
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We had a fair few years off - think we managed two or three trips as a couple in 10 years, never took the kids until a few years ago.
I now look back on that as a massive mistake, seeing the kids enjoy the snow has been amazing and they now want ski holidays instead of Summer holidays.
We fell into the trap of thinking that ski lessons and childcare would be forever - or at least until they were into their teens - so we just decided it wasn't worth the financial hassle. Nothing comes for free and certainly childcare and lessons in resort are a huge expense that we just didn't have the money for, so it was easier to just not go than work out a way to afford it. We're not from a skiing family and we didn't have friends who skied, so it wasn't really our lifestyle where it was a 'must' in life.
Fast forward to mine being 9 and 13 and we bypassed that unnecessary worry completely; a couple of Snowdome fast tracks in the Summer when they're 40% off, and individual 2hr lessons in resort, and we're all skiing and snowboarding as a family unit and it's brilliant. 'Selling' it to your wife is definitely the obstacle but I think with the right approch - maybe a city-type holiday (i.e. Innsbruck) or multi-sport (snow shoeing, sightseeing as well as skiing) it might be that you find some common ground to help make it workable.
Thankfully my missus skis (and loves it) and we've always skied and boarded together, so it's a shared passion that I'm grateful for. We're at very different levels and we use the mountain differently - she pootles with my daughter, I charge at a million mph with my son - but we love it equally.
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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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We did our first one together a couple of years ago. Albeit my daughter was 7 when we went. My partner wasn't over keen on the skiing (and still isn’t).
Our first one we went to Ruka, Lapland the week before xmas so tied in the Santa bit at the same time.
My partner also took my daughter on a husky trip one day. Was a decent route in to a family ski holiday as had other activities and tied in a Lapland trip for my daughter while she still believed.
Once my partner saw how much people loved it, although she doesnt so much herself, we went again last year and booked again this year.
We tend to look at places that have other non ski options: swimming, ice skating and this time we are going to Solden which has the Aqua Dome which is looks like it a thermal spa type thing.
Reckon my partner might ski 3/6 days we are there. But will probably go to the spa and look at some of the other bits that are about on the days she doesn’t ski.
Seeing the kids love it and get better has spurred her on to try and keep with the skiing so she can see them doing it properly rather than just the last bit of each piste while sat at the restaurant
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Poster: A snowHead
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We didn't ski when the kids were small. My husband liked the idea but had never skied (from southern Africa). I had been on a school trip at 15 and absolutely adored it, but paying for that had used the whole of the savings in my Post Office savings account. There was no way we could have afforded it (or any other expensive holiday) when the kids were small.
Our first ski holiday was with 3 of them - 4, 9 and 11. We went self-catering in Austria for two weeks and took grandma with us. Everybody loved it.
Spells of working abroad meant there was no question of ski holidays every year but eventually that became more possible.
Your kids are very small and dependent, @Ryunis. Any sort of holiday becomes very difficult unless you can afford the luxury of paying someone to look after them at least some of the time. And face it, a ski holiday with small kids is no sort of a break for someone not keen on skiing. In fact, given the cost, it would be pretty selfish of you to drag the whole family on such an expensive break. What if your wife were a keen sailor and wanted you all to charter a boat - where she would be in charge of the boat and you were Number One child minder and galley slave?
However, I agree with others who have suggested that (provided it's affordable) there is no reason why you shouldn't have separate breaks. At least, when the kids are a bit older.
When our kids were small I worked full time and my OH looked after them. Because he was dedicated to his studies and writing, which brought in very little money. But from time to time he went on research trips abroad - southern Africa, or the US, and I brought in various people to help fill the gap. And I travelled quite a bit for work, so we were both used to coping without the other parent. We were often juggling kids and work.
Sometimes when the boys were small and tensions were building up we also took it in turns to take one child away for a weekend, to my Mum's (she was very welcoming about this). One to one with a child can be very rewarding.
So - what I am saying is that for some families it works well to find ways for each parent to continue with an independent life, and interests, but it must work both ways. And start small - a father who has never coped alone with kids for more than a few hours is not going to cope easily with holding the fort for his wife to go away for a week.
From a woman's point of view I'd say that right now, so soon after giving birth, the priority has to be to find just a few hours, here and there, for her to have entirely for herself. I can well imagine what it's like for her right now. Overwhelming. Assuming you're working, it's not easy to manage that - but try to make it possible.
Knuckle down to it now, start in small ways. Then maybe in a few years you might reasonably hope to be able to get away for a week to a Snowheads bash. But my advice would be to aim first to give your wife confidence that you can cope well with the kids for her to have a break - just a few hours, or a day, or ultimately a weekend - and then, at a good moment, you could broach the subject!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Origen wrote: |
We didn't ski when the kids were small. My husband liked the idea but had never skied (from southern Africa). I had been on a school trip at 15 and absolutely adored it, but paying for that had used the whole of the savings in my Post Office savings account. There was no way we could have afforded it (or any other expensive holiday) when the kids were small.
Our first ski holiday was with 3 of them - 4, 9 and 11. We went self-catering in Austria for two weeks and took grandma with us. Everybody loved it.
Spells of working abroad meant there was no question of ski holidays every year but eventually that became more possible.
Your kids are very small and dependent, @Ryunis. Any sort of holiday becomes very difficult unless you can afford the luxury of paying someone to look after them at least some of the time. And face it, a ski holiday with small kids is no sort of a break for someone not keen on skiing. In fact, given the cost, it would be pretty selfish of you to drag the whole family on such an expensive break. What if your wife were a keen sailor and wanted you all to charter a boat - where she would be in charge of the boat and you were Number One child minder and galley slave?
However, I agree with others who have suggested that (provided it's affordable) there is no reason why you shouldn't have separate breaks. At least, when the kids are a bit older.
When our kids were small I worked full time and my OH looked after them. Because he was dedicated to his studies and writing, which brought in very little money. But from time to time he went on research trips abroad - southern Africa, or the US, and I brought in various people to help fill the gap. And I travelled quite a bit for work, so we were both used to coping without the other parent. We were often juggling kids and work.
Sometimes when the boys were small and tensions were building up we also took it in turns to take one child away for a weekend, to my Mum's (she was very welcoming about this). One to one with a child can be very rewarding.
So - what I am saying is that for some families it works well to find ways for each parent to continue with an independent life, and interests, but it must work both ways. And start small - a father who has never coped alone with kids for more than a few hours is not going to cope easily with holding the fort for his wife to go away for a week.
From a woman's point of view I'd say that right now, so soon after giving birth, the priority has to be to find just a few hours, here and there, for her to have entirely for herself. I can well imagine what it's like for her right now. Overwhelming. Assuming you're working, it's not easy to manage that - but try to make it possible.
Knuckle down to it now, start in small ways. Then maybe in a few years you might reasonably hope to be able to get away for a week to a Snowheads bash. But my advice would be to aim first to give your wife confidence that you can cope well with the kids for her to have a break - just a few hours, or a day, or ultimately a weekend - and then, at a good moment, you could broach the subject!! |
Thanks for spending the Rome to write this. I agree and this is why this year is just a no go, someone asked why but it simply isnt an option. Truthfully, I think it will have to be a solo venture once every few years until the kids are old enough where we can make it work. As you say, taking someone who doesn't enjoy skiing and the two kids would logically but unfairly mean they end up doing more childcare and it wouldnt much feel like a holiday.
The key is going to be for us to give each other our own time back. I am a hands on Dad and do a lot with them, often specifically to give her a break. Shes going abroad on a hen do in a few months for example, which we are both looking forward to!
In conclusion. I'll aim to get a trip in with my mates for my big birthday next year and think about a family trip in a couple of years, considering my wife's appetite for it
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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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| Ryunis wrote: |
| My wife isnt particularly bothered about skiing |
Can you elaborate on that?
Could change the answer to some degree.
My wife and I were equally keen skiers so that made it easy (kind of). I had a mate whose wife was less keen but they ultimately made it work - until the kids were older and she stopped altogether.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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When I've asked other families about skiing with young children, the majority have come back to say that it's not worth it until they're older - say 6 yrs+. The caveat is that we're talking about a once/year trip, not if you're living abroad. They won't remember anything much before 5 yrs anyway, and they'll forget their skiing skills between trips. Of course, some people do take them young, and it can be fun. But equally it can be a hassle and waste of time and money, leaving the less keen skier acting as unpaid nursery assistant. Even when our children were older, my partner and I still went away separately, on top of the annual family ski holiday.
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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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| Quote: |
I am a hands on Dad and do a lot with them
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Good for you. Men who don't are really missing out on a lot. My OH was chuffed when our younger son, aged about 6, was asked what he wanted to be when he was grown up. The answer was "A daddy". "What else?" he was asked. "Nothing else," he said firmly "Just a daddy". As he is now a very elderly post-doctoral scientist entirely focussed on blue-sky research (for which research grants are very hard to come by) he does a great deal with his 3 kids, of necessity, as his wife has a rather more solid income!
But - the reality is that spending a lot of time with small children is isolating and repetitive hard work, no matter how much you love them.
My daughter's father-in-law proudly claims that despite having three children, and a wife who worked much of the time to enable him to pursue his non-lucrative passion, he never changed a nappy. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@LaForet, I'll speak up for the minority. We've been going with our now 4 year old every year since she was 6 months old. We've been doing 2 consecutive weeks in January, with extended family for 1 week and just the three of us for the next. We stay in a self-catered apartment and eat out for most meals or get takeaway pizza. My wife is a keen enough skier, but only took it up in her twenties and isn't as obsessed as I am with the actual skiing. We go to Livigno, which we know really well and has loads to do for non skiers, plus a snowy environment and real town. We generally alternate mornings with one of us skiing (or doing something else) and the other doing something with the wee one. Afternoons we generally have together doing non-skiing stuff, swimming, ice cream, riding the gondolas up, messing about in the snow etc. There are loads of sledging areas and even a free soft play area at the top of one of the gondolas. When she was tiny, I loved bundling her up and just walking for miles around the town and the walking routes in the snow. She did her first couple of weeks of ski school last year at 3 and absolutely loved it. The set up and staff were incredible and she was skiing proper turns after a few days. Sitting outside watching her lesson in the kids area from the nearby cafe is a memory that will last.
You obviously have to adjust your expectations (framing it as a 'winter holiday' is good advice), but I've had some awesome powder mornings and done a few really fun short tours that I would otherwise have missed out on. My wife also took the opportunity to do a bit of cross country skiing and has gotten quite into it.
Yes there is a lot of faff, but that's true whatever you're doing with young kids, so may as well get some skiing in. Putting on ski gear beats trying to stop her getting sunburnt on a beach somewhere for me.
They've been some of our most memorable trips. Not quite the same as two weeks in Hokkaido without kids, but every bit as worthwhile IMO.
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Plenty of good advice here. I think that conclusion you have drawn is about right for you by the sound of things, go on your own for long weekend or a week if you are lucky until your family are old enough to go and the kids do ski school etc. Maybe when the little one is about 4, maybe 5. Depends on the child really.
Personally, we never stopped. Our oldest was 3 months when he first went (he was particularly poo-poo at skiing though the first couple of years...). Yeah we didn't ski much that first time but it was a great holiday. Been multiple times each year since and it has laid such a good foundation for him and now his younger brother. Seeing them last year at 7 and 4 was just incredible.
I always send the wife off on yoga retreats, wine tours etc to balance out my skiing habit. She is terrible at organising anything for herself but definitely deserves similar trips and it's worked for us. (She loves to ski but is not interested on doing it as a solo holiday so somehow the ledger has to be balanced IMO!)
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| Quote: |
I always send the wife off on yoga retreats, wine tours etc to balance out my skiing habit. She is terrible at organising anything for herself but definitely deserves similar trips and it's worked for us.
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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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@LaForet, yep I agree, all depends on individual family circumstances. As mentioned our boys were stuck in a creche while we skied, did they notice, care or remember? I doubt it.
As they grew older they enjoyed their time in the snow and they do remember the holidays, at least odd bits. It was to them a nursery in the mountains - at home they were in nursery a few days a week so we could work.
As soon as they could they were keen to ski and have been ever since, we'll ignore the fact one boy had a few years on the dark side and the other seems to be into Biathlon
But every family and child is different.
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@Ryunis, I'm about 3 years ahead of you in terms of kids ages - for family hols we've gone to Kinderhotels for the past 2 years (the kids were 3.5 and 9 months old initially) and going again this year. I can't recommend them enough. Generally the way we split it, the mornings are for creche/lessons and then wrap up skiing around 2-3pm and spend a few hours swimming, playing etc. It feels like a good balance and we all get a holiday (especially now the eldest is skiing).
I also try to get a long weekend with mates in to scratch the long days & apres itch 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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I never bothered taking the kids until they were, respectively, 3 and 4. I didn't, and still don't, see the point in taking a child on a holiday that they aren't able to enjoy/participate. So, whilst they are very small, I'd do what everyone else has suggested and go solo ... and pay the week back to your partner.
I took my son at 3yo and, to be candid, that was too early. We did a week and that was just a bit too much. He enjoyed the first 2-3 days but then had had enough. I therefore delayed taking my daughter until she was 4yo and that worked much better ... in fact, it was hard to get her off the slopes. Funnily enough, even though my son went on to become a very competent skier he doesn't have the same passion for it as his sister.
I can't really speak to skiing as a family since we only did it twice and then divorced. My ex wife wasn't a keen skier anyway so thereafter I was always a lone parent and, yes, it was occasionally hard work particularly when they were smaller. I don't regret a second. It became 'our thing' and the family holiday was, and still is, skiing even though they are now in mid/late twenties.
Trust me, skiing is the very best family holiday particularly when they're teens. Summer holidays, they find other teenagers and disappear and you have breakfast and dinner together. Skiing ? We're together the whole time, having fun and connecting with a much broader age and experience range. I still blame a good friend for getting my son into philosophy whilst trapped on a chair lift. He went on to do a Masters in it !
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We found Kinderhotels to be absolutely amazing...they are geared up for families with young children and have loads to do...plus babysitting services, spa, swimming pool, horse riding etc in the evening. We've done Achenkirk and Buchau on the Achensee in the Austrian Tirol. Fabulous holidays! No idea how expensive now though...
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You know it makes sense.
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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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We took our two from basically birth. Our eldest had his first birthday in Courchevel and both have been steeped in snow through their lives. We did use Espirit and Ski Famille in those earlier years when childcare was a priority (both kids had a whale of a time, neither wanting to leave the nanny services that Espirit and Famille offered and the end of the day), while the boys mum and I would go and enjoy some time on the slopes. When they were old enough (3yo, actually the youngest one was just under) they would go off and do the ESF sessions - Youngest memorably pointed at La Face (the WC black run down into V'dI and said "Wan' go up there!" and soon enough he was, and I'll be taking him to La Plagne next year so he can do his filming for his GCSE PE Snowboarding evidence module. His brother did his last year for skiing.
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Poster: A snowHead
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We've been skiing with our daughter since she was < 3, if you can it's amongst the best things in the world. I think it would be challenging before they are both in ski-kindergarten at least, but there are nanny services available as well, childcare will be your challenge. for many years we went skiing with other families with kids around the same age, which worked perfectly. As @Boris says, if you are lucky enough to have engaged grandparents, even if they don't know it yet, they will enjoy themselves too. My wife and I now help with childcare, last year grandchildren were 2,3,6 - 6 year old has been going since 3 months old, has gone through ESF one star already and can go out with everybody. My wife can't ski any more and (say it in a whisper) I'm not too bothered, I enjoy going out a bit but I'm not worried if I don't ski the mountain. Toboggan is a must have, likely one for each, we still have the one from our daughter 34 years ago, and the plastic is still fine, lord help the planet.
No escaping there is additional cost, but if you can find ways round that (a) you will have a good time (b) so should everyone else (c) you will have to come to terms with your kids getting the bug, too.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Surely take a week or a couple of long weekends solo and trade them back with the missus. Obviously people have recommended sH bashes but there are plenty of parents or those with non-skiing partners who fly solo on those.
I understand it can be a challenge to get a non ski enthusiast partner to buy into the expense of a family trip when kids are little and not able to do much so don't bank on being able to do family trips too soon.
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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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Said it several times. If you try going when they are very little, set your target to ski one day out of the five, or two hours per day. Anything above that is a bonus.
I went thinking I was going on a week ski trip. Resented it for a year or two after. Keep expectations really low.
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@Orange200, hence the week off trade with spouse is more efficient.
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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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And quite apart from any consideration of skiing, it's healthy for partners to retain some activities of their own. No need to be joined at the hip. It irritates me at local social things when everybody seems to assume that people will sit right next to their beloved. Would never happen, of course, at any properly organised dinner table!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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This may have already been mentioned as it is a long thread and I haven't read it all, but there's nothing wrong with you doing a weekend (as a start point) boys ski trip and letting your wife do whatever she fancies herself on another weekend later in the year.
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I reluctantly had one winter off, due a newborn in December. I knew it really wasn’t broaching the subject.
But all the other winters pre and post new offspring, I was persuasive enough to get to go on ski weeks with my brother and ski clinics too.
Regarding taking my family including toddlers, skiing was much cheaper 15 and 20 years ago [I expect some here will argue about that]. Enabling us to go on packages in a small French resort in that period, the kids were too young to ski but had an okay time in the operators club, and the holidays didn’t break the bank.
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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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My wife was never very keen, had only been once before kids. We went first when the kids were 3 & 1. Now organising trip 12 (only missed 2021, for obvious reasons). Wife stopped skiing after COVID and a knee injury. Our daughter is in her GCSE year now and my wife asked her if she wanted to go away with her for a week’s holiday after her exams or a less than a week skiing trip with me just before Christmas. She chose skiing, of course. Been with small British family friendly company, kinderhotel, Crystal, DB&B with someone off Snowheads, a Family Bash and self organised. 4x Italy, 3x Austria, 2x France, Andorra, Finland.
I finally got all my leave sorted this week, explained my plans to my wife and she’s suddenly decided she fancies coming too  after telling me “definitely not” for the last 3 months.
Her favourite ski holiday was Ruka, Finland. Cold snow, short runs and lots of other activities (husky sleds, snowmobiles etc). Everyone loved it. Recommend for young kids, we went 2017 when they were 6&5.
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When our younger kids were babies we did the family companies (never been to Austria but I know people rave about the kinder hotels for similar reasons). I was also still learning. Now we do our own trips, have found good ski schools for the kids. We found repeating where we visited helped for this. We also each have our own trips with friends since they’ve all been school aged. I was never really into skiing before the kids but I could definitely see the argument that they should learn young and avoid the hassle of adult learning that I’ve endured! Surely your wife (once she is through these initial postnatal months) will get that too? Congratulations on your new baby by the way!
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FAQ
