 Poster: A snowHead
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The “Family Snowplough” has just returned safely from its first skiing holiday. Details are as follows, which will hopefully be of use to anyone planning their first family skiing holiday:
The participants:
Mr Snowplough – 39 – Classic “flat track bully” – Not very stylish – Only invited on the trip to carry the bags. Not skied since 2002. Always relied on intensive background of rowing and cycling fitness in the past. Since 2002, attention to fitness has lapsed somewhat, and has “enjoyed” a displaced and re-placed pelvis. Any occasional lapses into passable technique immediately and aggressively “corrected” with some leaning back and / or the “toilet position”.
Mrs Snowplough – 38 – Implausibly stylish, with the Grand Couloir above Courchevel 1850, the back bowls at Whistler and several ski-school race medals on her CV. Also not skied since 2002, when she was 6 weeks pregnant. Still much faster than Mr Snowplough, when taking it easy, even so! Combination of rowing, cycling and good technique in the past has left Mr Snowplough gasping for breath and wishing for a new pair of thighs all too often.
Older Little Miss Snowplough – 5 years 4 months – First foray into skiing – Very bouncy, built like a tank and bigger than a lot of six year olds.
Younger Little Miss Snowplough – 4 years and 1 month – Also first foray into skiing – Bouncy, although mercifully less so than her sister. Quite slightly built.
The venue:
La Rosiere 1850. Chosen because the beginner slopes were high (and therefore less likely to be slushy), close to the accommodation and the weather was likely to be warm and sunny. We didn’t want to put the Little Misses off by requiring long treks to the slopes or with cold weather. Booked before finding how popular La Ros is amongst Snowheads!
Logistics:
Sold remaining grandparents and booked with Ski Esprit. A friend had used them before and recommended them as “good, but not cheap”, which is a fair assessment.
We booked lessons, lunches and childcare for the Little Misses. I was a tad concerned that things could go spectacularly pear-shaped if they didn’t like any element of the arrangements, but Mrs S took a more robust view saying that the Little Misses would thank us in future when they are elite skiers!
We stayed in the Chalet Arnica, which accommodates 8 adults and 6 kids. The rest of the inhabitants were a group, which could have been a nightmare, but worked out really well. The six kids were all roughly the same age and played well, if noisily, together. Even more importantly, all the adults had the same views on what time their kids should go to bed. (i.e. as early as possible, so as not to disturb apperetifs and hors d’oeuvres!) The chalet hosts were superb and churned out a regular procession of gourmet treats.
Adult skiing:
In the pre-children days, Mrs S and I had favoured Espace Killy and the Three Valleys, so we knew that our skiing was going to be different this time round. The priority for this trip was to get the Little Misses into skiing, with any enjoyment we could derive an added benefit.
The skiing itself was actually ideal, given the time since we’d last skied and our reduced levels of fitness. The mainly south facing La Rosiere side suffered from high temperatures on three of the days, with the resulting “frozen porridge” the next morning. The Italian side was much better, being more north facing. We mainly skied in the “bowl”, as our favourite runs were there. The reds and blacks down from the top of the Forclaz chair were great, with a lot of variants possible. Our overall favourite run was the black down from the top of the Belvedere chair. (I might have the name wrong – it’s the chair in the bowl that has a moving carpet to help you get on and it’s not the Forclaz or Picolo chair!)
We skied one day right into La Thuile. The run down through the trees – La Nouva - was very nice and the reds off the top of the Chaz Dura Express were very enjoyable. I’d have liked to spend more time on the La Thuile runs, but the opportunity to boost my ego on the bowl’s blacks was too good to miss!
The runs were quite optimistically graded. I could link my turns without much bother on the blacks, which although steep, were smooth and quite wide. I wouldn’t have expected to link turns reliably on blacks on our chosen terrain before my six year hiatus, and there’s no reason to suppose that six years off and a displaced pelvis has improved me to any great extent!
Highlights:
For me, the aforementioned linking of turns on blacks was a massive ego boost, even though I know it’s all a result of the optimistic gradings.
I’ve always had the yearning to push off from the top of a steepish run and go straight into schussing. The run back to La Ros from the top of the Forclaz chair was not only suitable for this, but required it to avoid a lot of poling. If you say “beep beep beep” to yourself just before you go and imagine the sound of cowbells as you pick up speed, it’s easy to convince yourself you’re Herman Maier!
Kids lessons:
The Older Little Miss went from complete beginner to being able to ski quite quickly linking snowplough turns down greens. She came down from the top of Roche Noire chair on the last morning, which she managed okay, but it was a long way to snowplough! A large hot chocolate was required after this. She also overtook me through the woods, whooping and hollering on more than one occasion. Overall, a resounding success – results and enjoyment! She is well on the way to being a ski-babe.
The Younger Little Miss had a great time, but never quite managed to do any turns under control on the main slopes. Still, she can now manoeuvre herself on skis and get on a drag lift (sadly, she never made it to the top to test her dismount skills!) She has worn her medal with pride since its award, only taking it off at bedtime. I’m sure she’ll be out on the slopes with us next year. She did win the kids’ club musical statues competition and took the starring role in the final song and dance show, so she clearly doesn’t lack the competitive spirit or self-confidence.
Skiing with kids:
If you’re at the front, this is hard work, as it involves a lot of snowploughing in slush. If you’re at the back, it’s easy, as you can ski properly and it also gives the opportunity to practice technique without any “gung ho” urges. I guess that in a few years, the challenge will be keeping up with the little blighters.
Good points – Resort:
No lift queues. Quiet. Excellent hot chocolates. Good value mountain restaurants. Very friendly. The ski hire shop (Arpin Sports) could not have been more helpful. They didn’t mind a self-confessed hacker hiring top quality skis, unlike some places I’ve been to in the past.
Gripes – Resort:
Drag lift to Italian side could really do with replacing by a fast chair. Likewise the Fort chairlift. These pale into insignificance though compared to the fact that the top of the bottom draglift on the nursery slope stops well below the height of bottom of the higher draglifts on the nursery slopes and the main chair out of La Ros. I’m not a big fan of un-necessary poling, side-stepping or that fancy skating thing.
Good points – Ski Esprit / Evo2 (lessons):
Chalet food / service, childcare arrangements for younger kids, kids’ lessons and availability of staff.
Bad points – Ski Esprit:
The childcare arrangements for the Older Little Miss weren’t very good. I think Ski Esprit expect older kids to be skiing with their parents in the afternoons and therefore aren’t really set up to entertain them. (This is not unreasonable, given that Older Little Miss was a complete beginner at the start of the week, the youngest in her group and still skied with us in the afternoon on each of the last three days.)
Very bad point – Ski Esprit:
Somehow, the childcare staff kept getting the Older Little Miss mixed up with another child and therefore they didn’t tell us in advance that the lesson plan for the final day involved a lift that required a lift pass. My breakfast was interrupted by a mad dash to the “Caisse” to acquire said item. (These mix ups also meant we didn’t know what she’d been doing or eating during childcare sessions, which might have been an issue, but was merely an annoyance.) No-one else reported their offspring being mixed up, and I think our issue was just that the Ski Esprit childcare lady assigned to our chalet was a marker post short of a slalom course.
Proud parenting:
Not surprisingly, the Ski Esprit parents exhibited some finely honed “proud parenting” tendencies. We Snowploughs were not immune from this - When you’ve paid the Ski Esprit “entry fee”, you want to know that you’re getting value for money! The old chest swelled with paternal pride as we saw the Older Little Miss snake down the hill after her instructor for the first time. The chest was similarly expanded as the Younger Little Miss took centre stage to sing “Hermy the Worm” in the final song and dance show whilst several of the other 4 year olds stood paralysed with stage fright.
I think we were quite tame, though. I saw one guy following his child’s lesson group around and another haranguing the instructor to make sure that the lesson was exactly suited to Little Johnny’s requirements. The French instructor merely shrugged his shoulders and said that he would teach what he felt was appropriate for the group and offered a private lesson for Little Johnny instead!
Saddest sight of the week:
One couple was trying to get their 4 year old to link his snowplough turns. The youngster was not happy, but gamely took up the solo button lift challenge. Half way up, he fell off, but hung on grimly and was dragged up the hill on his chest. Dad, on the button behind, urged him to let go, whilst Mum skied down from the top of the lift with an aggression not seen since Franz Klammar exploded down the hill in Innsbruck in 1976. Unfortunately, just as she approached the now detached Junior, she caught an edge and did a face-plant straight on his chest. Junior retired crying for the day but was otherwise unharmed.
Seeing someone airlifted off the main blue run into La Ros going up in the chairlift for our second run of the holiday wasn't too clever either.
Overall assessment:
Both La Rosiere and Ski Esprit do what they say on the tin, with the odd exception. I would recommend both for a first family foray.
We are already making plans for next year. Mrs S wants more height and some more challenging skiing for herself, so Les Arcs 2000 is on the radar. We’ll probably go with Ski Esprit next year, just because they offer full day English speaking care for the younger Little Miss. Once she’s able to come out with us for the afternoon sessions and only lessons and lunch are required, we’ll explore cheaper options.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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What a lovely report. Glad that you had a good time. You are quite right in saying that in time to come you will be told by your ankle biters to keep up, and it happens sooner than you expect!
You really have to feel for the "little Johnnys" of this world and I would have laughed my socks off at his mum face down in the snow. I have experienced pushy parent syndrome first hand and you just want to tell them to **** off and leave their poor child to learn at his own pace.
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The Flying Snowplough, Fantastic report, I SO enjoyed reading it! Thank you. 
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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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Frosty - No blacks into La Thuile. Mrs S went solo to La Thuile in 1996 and reported that these were quite hard. I pick my terrain very carefully, so made sure we went nowhere near these! I hope there's some more snow and preferably cold weather before your trip as the La Ros side of things was suffering in the heat on our last day. There's a lot of snow there, and on the days when it was cold, the piste bashers did a great job of moving stock-piled snow to manicure the pistes. Mind you, the draglift over to the bowl redefines cold when the temperatures are low. On one of the days we went over, I'd lost all feeling in my feet and my face was too cold to talk by the time we got off the first of the draglifts. Strangely, not being able to feel my feet had no obvious impact on my skiing. 
Kitty - I'll remember "Ankle biters" - Great expression!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The Flying Snowplough, great report, thanks. You would have been better off in La Rosiere than in many resorts that week - there were a lot of closed runs at lower altitudes, due to the heat.
The pushy parent thing seems mainly a Brit problem. I have seen miserable little kids being harangued by big pushy dads, who themselves can scarcely ski for toffee, being told "Oh come on Henry, it's an easy blue slope". I heard one mother say to a child who had fallen over, and was clearly struggling and unhappy "I TOLD you NOT to fall down".
How I'd love to get them on a snowboard on the top of a blue slope and tell them "Come on, it's an easy blue slope".
The French families in our little resort have the right idea. They often take holidays with grandparents, who can ski well but who enjoy playing with the kids when parents are off skiing, and we see lots of parents too who ski effortlessly, enjoying skiing slowly with little ones, and having a laugh together.
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Frosty the Snowman, does that mean you're in the village w/c 23rd March? If so that's a shame I'll just miss you I'm going back to UK then but do drop in to the chalet, there are a few snowheads out that week who I'm sure would like to meet you, Emma and ryan would be pleased to see you as well and if there's a dump this week as predicted, the Frostlets could do some digging!
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David@traxvax, Yes we are, sorry thought you knew. 25 of us in Chalet Oliver with SO. I shall pop in and see the gang. I suspect I will be misong the food.
The Frostlets may well walk down and clear your sun terrace again. The fun boys can have with a load of snow, a big shovel, and a vertical drop 
Incidently, their friend whop stayed at Mouflon with us, little ED, broke his leg badly 10 weeks ago. Has been in plaster for 9 weeks and although now out of it, is still struggling. Another 6 weeks before he is allowed to ride a bike. He was sliding on icy pavements, and fell accross a kerb and broke fib n tib. The pavement of the uk are much more dengerous than tackling blacks, as he did, on ones first week skiing.
Sorry for the deviation. Anyhow, looks very snowy this morning, and a lot forecast before we arrive 
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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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Pam - Great idea about sending pushy parents down some "challenging" terrain! Some of them deserve dropping off chairlifts as well. The French instructors are ideally suited to deal with this - the insouciant Gallic shrug is ideally suited to head off the pushy British parents!
The Younger Little Miss is still wearing her medal, and proudly tells everyone she fell of the draglift, so I don't think she's been scarred by the experience. Her Elder Sis keeps asking if we can go again next week, but wants a pink all in one next time...
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| pam w wrote: |
| The pushy parent thing seems mainly a Brit problem. The French families in our little resort have the right idea. |
That may be true on the slopes but it sure as hell isn't true anywhere else. In general, the pushiness of French middle class parents, particularly so far as academic achievement is concerned, leaves Brits standing.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| richmond wrote: |
| In general, the pushiness of French middle class parents, particularly so far as academic achievement is concerned, leaves Brits standing. |
No bad thing really, IMHO. Skiing is a "nice to have". Education is a "must have".
The Frenchies are also ruthless in lift queues. 
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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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The Flying Snowplough, I'm not sure that the pushy thing necessarily gets the best results; mind you, I'm pretty pushy (in the sense of pushing the kids hard) when it comes to education, so perhaps I shouldn't talk.
I noticed in St Anton this year that the queues were not too bad from the point of view of pushing and shoving. You have to keep your wits about you, but it was more relaxed, I thought. The lift system is good, few significant queues, which helps.
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Richmond - There's a fine line to draw between pushing kids and motivating them. In my eyes, pushing is when you want them to do it for your benefit (e.g. "Little Johnny could ski black moguls at 7. Poor thing, he was terrified and had his knees replaced at 9."; motivating is when you want them to do it for themselves (e.g. "I overtook my Daddy because he's a slowcoach.")
Lift queue experiences relate to La Plagne in '94, when we inadvertently spent a week there in the French holiday season. There were no queues in La Ros last week. 
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You know it makes sense.
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The Flying Snowplough, Great report mate 
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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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Frosty the Snowman, I'll make sure Fabio at the Rascard is ready for you and I'll warn the Silver Fox (Dave) that there's a big group of tykes ont'way.
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Poster: A snowHead
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The Flying Snowplough, really enjoyed your report. We went to la Rosiere for the first time Feb 2007 (half-term) and were amazed by the lack of queues.
Absolutely agree about the Fort chair and the long drags to la Thuile - but worth it for the bombardinos at the base of the Petit St Bernanrd lift IIRC
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nick L, You would have enjoyed it more, had we not used all the good snow
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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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Frosty the Snowman,
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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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great report we had a similar experiamce in january with esprit staying at chalet schatzi
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FAQ
