 Poster: A snowHead
|
Had a fab morning at Tamworth yesterday. It was planned to celebrate little sis's 40th birthday - she has skied 3 separate weeks over the last 25 years, the last one being 3 yrs ago. She was worried about going to an indoor slope as being profoundly Deaf has no warning of anyone being behind her. So when I went down there with Docsquid a few weeks ago, I booked a 1:1 9am lesson for her with Stefan. It was great. Stefan was really patient and supportive and the slope was REALLY busy - sis & Stefan, joined by one snowboarder for about 10 mins!
Well I was open mouthed (and more than a bit green with envy) as in the hour sis progressed from a tentative descent to confident parallel turns - she could not stop grinning all day. In all her previous lessons (groups) she had been totally unable to understand anything an instructor had said, relying instead on watching and copying what other students did. Yesterday she had specific teaching for the 1st time ever and was ecstatic about the amount she learned. After the lesson we had coffee and then skied for 2 hrs together. Stefan was taking the over-50s group and continued to give sis and me tips when he saw us, including inviting sis to try the cone-slalom down the steepest bit round the bend that his group was using. She did it in style - I was so proud. He said she was good and has potential to be very good. It's just a pity that with 3 young kids, money is of course tight. However Tam have a good offer this summer of 30% off all lessons, so we are planning to take the family there for a morning sometime in the school hols. [If you're a member you get 30% off normally and the summer discount is on top of that & membership gives you 4 friend vouchers.]
I rather think priority might be on trying to find an affordable family skiing trip if not next season then the one after! Anyone got advice on the best way to do it on the cheap? There'd be her & husband with 3 kids (now 6, 8 and 10), plus possibly 4 other adults (a couple and 2 singles). If a bigger group was more cost effective, I have some friends who might be interested too - parents plus 10 & 14 yr old boys).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
NewSkier, I am really glad you and your sister had a great time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
We have had some really good and cheap ski holidays in Slovakia and Slovenia, I have put trip reports in the resorts section under Rogla and Jasna. I have also been to Vogel in Slovenia and stayed at Lake Bohinj where we had a lovely hotel for £120 half board for a week. Pm if you want any more advice as I have loads of websites stored in my favorites for these 2 countries. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
NewSkier, sounds good for your sister.
Things to consider for getting cheaper prices:
Go off-peak (avoid school holidays), early/mid Jan is usually cheapest.
Get a last-minute deal (again, better prices in Jan/March than other times)
Bulgaria is probably the cheapest, but IMHO Austria and Italy are cheaper than France and Switzerland
Self-drive/self-catering would be cheaper than flying, overnight coach would be cheapest (and isn't that bad).
DIY you can get some cheap flights but factor in the cost of transfer (car hire) as that can add up. Erna low are good for self-catering apartments.
Avoid the big places and go to the lesser known resorts. Or go to the satellite villages adjacent to the main resorts.
One church-based company that I have used that are very good value for families is gold hill holidays. Their prices are fully inclusive (including transport, ski hire, lessons, lift pass, full board etc) http://www.goldhillholidays.co.uk/
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
NewSkier, so when's she joining snowHeads?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Nice one - the instructors at Tamworth are pretty good IMHO, at least from the POV of my daughter who has progressed well with them over the last year.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
spyderjon, be good if she did join SH but it's unlikely as finding time to deal with email and the occasional msn chat is about all the computer time she can manage! She's just acquired a webcam for work (teaching/assessing British Sign Language & wants her students to be able to experience work via webcams) and 10 year old daughter's comment was "At last someone's listened - I have soooo much need of a webcam to use when on msn with my friends!"
Thanks for the holiday on the cheap suggestions - will pass them on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
NewSkier, to be honest, there are no really cheap family ski holidays. It's always a relatively expensive option compared to sitting frying on an overcrowded beach in Spain, or even compared to the much more expensive option of a holiday cottage in Cornwall. But so much better value! For many families (including ours, all the time our kids were growing up) the ski holiday has to take the place of a "paid for" summer holiday. But if the motivation is there, it can be done. Have a look at Snowcoach - they have some good deals for kids and the overnight coach saves a fortune and is no more uncomfortable than the long flights people pay a fortune for, to ski in North America. Easy with kids, as you get taken straight to your accommodation with no airport hassle. I booked one of theirs at the Ski Show, some years ago, and the discount for booking at the show included free insurance, and free equipment hire and big discounts for kids sharing a 6 or 7 bed "dormitory", which worked fine. That was at their chalet hotel in Valmeinier, France. Some people, when this has come up before, have said that their kids "would never agree to go by coach". Spoiled brats they must be, "No Daddy, I insist on flying to a top end chalet in Val D'Isere, or my school friends will laugh at me". I'd leave the little b**gers at home.
Actually, leaving little ones at home is not such a bad idea, as organising a first family ski holiday is quite complicated, as well as expensive and to be successful you need to organise things like ski lessons round the children's needs, especially the very young ones and that means adult ski time might be seriously compromised. Maybe you should look after your sister's kids so she could go without them?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
pam w, Thanks for the suggestion about Snowcoach. As for me looking after the kids so she can go away, I would, but the one time they did go, she got so much pleasure out of seeing the kids ski she would not want to leave them behind! She would prefer a larger family group to go, to share the childcare while there. Last time her two stepsons went - both adults and accomplished skiers who dote on the younger 3 kids and that worked well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Linds,
| Quote: |
Quote:
I have soooo much need of a webcam to use when on msn with my friends!"
This very much depends on who you spend time with on MSN
|
Don't tempt me 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
NewSkier, one of the big costs is ski and boot hire. If they stay in a smaller hamlet then these are often so much cheaper. The place i stayed at I was able to hire proper good skis, boots and helmets for 3 of the kids for just over £70 for the week! The couple who own the chalet have a wide selection of skis and boots and so eldest daughter and MrsPeteMillis were happily kitted out for free. Lift passes on the local slope were cheap. Instruction was excellent value with a qualified English instructor - private lessons worked out about 30 Euro/hour. Airport transfer in chalet owners minibus was a bargain and we had free use of vehicle while there. Biggest cost was flights which we could have got a lot cheaper if we booked earlier. Excellent fully catered accommodation was £200 each for 7 nights
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Quote: |
Last time her two stepsons went - both adults and accomplished skiers who dote on the younger 3 kids and that worked well.
|
Yes, that sounds like a winning formula.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
petemillis, where was this idyllic location?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
NewSkier, I'm only just catching up on the news here, and I'm so very glad your sister had a good time at Tamworth and made so much progress. You must be very pleased for her. I'm planning to do some more skiing there during the Summer now I've passed the aerobics instructor exam and don't have to practice that every day. I've been impressed with the more senior instructors at Tamworth - Brian gave us a good race lesson last year, and I think they enjoy doing more advanced stuff outside of group lessons. I might try and get somebody there to help me get to grips with my new race skis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Unfortunately (for you) Brian is no longer there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
docsquid, good to hear from you. We're planning another trip the last week in June we think and then might take my sister's kids in the school holidays sometime.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
NewSkier, Great - I should be around, we could meet up again. I popped down there this morning for a couple of hours. Although it was 1/2 term it was still relatively quiet and it only costs £11.50 for 2 hours at this time of year for members. I am really getting to grips with these new skis now - a huge improvement over the time I went with you! I enquired about the race training evenings and it seems a group called West Midlands Race Training go every Weds night. This is not the same as the Tamworth race training, but that is suspended over the Summer. Might be worth a crack to see if I can actually ski a slalom course on my slalom skis
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
