 Poster: A snowHead
|
skihead, location, location, location - simples!
Ideally no more than 2 hour flight from UK
Resort ideally within 2 hours of airport
Accommodation close to ski school meeting point
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
skihead, you could always just pop a big link to my site on your family skiing page and save yourself a lot of bother .... 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
ctskifam, 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
What a response - thanks so much for your well considered advice. Looks like you have a fantastic community spirit here and one that I look forward to being involved in for years to come.. When I'm writing the family pages of my website, do you think it would be OK to take specific quotes from what I've got here with credits given. ie;
- Advice on the 1st day
"Hand them over to the Kinder hotel snow school and WALK AWAY.
Come back after lunch and watch from a distance."
Thanks to 'nixmap' on the Snowheads Forum
..or should I really check in with the specific users via PM?
Also, can't seem to see a link to PM - is this a right I get with time?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
I am with barry on the whole DVD front... I think it's a bit sad people feel that they are now "essential".
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
On the OP's subject:
From my own experience when I was kid, I think the points made above about:
- letting kids know what their routine will be
- letting them have some time to play (hence location in resort might be important)
- choosing a good school
- letting them get on at school instead of "shadowing" them or coccoon them too much
- make sure you spend oplenty of time with them
are the most important ones...
Points about taking own food, not travel too far, etc. are modern "corruption" and at least partially take away the point of taking kids on our travels..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Kruisler wrote: |
- make sure you spend oplenty of time with them
|
At risk of opening old arguements, couldn't agree more. Though I am partial to the odd morning of skiing without them 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
skihead, PM's are found under the snowHeads banner top right as send/read messages.
A whole thread was once re-produced in edited form in a ski magazine. I guess a pm discussion with Admin is in order first!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
have kids young.. then spend later life watching your mates struggling with the little ankle biters while you go for a pint with yours..
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
I would really recommend going to somewhere like Canada to a resort that has ski lessons for littleys, eg Fernie has 3 and 4 yr olds- no more than 3 in a group.
I would also recommend getting your kids accustomed to the snow environment.
Before moving here , we joined Lions at Castleford to get our kids used to it. Our son (then 4) learned way more in a couple of weeks than he did in a week in France. Our daughter (started 2 1/2yrs) started doing 20 mins most and after a few months got the hang of the plough. But it was mainly about getting her to have fun in the snow.
I would also recommend actually skiing with your kids whilst you can. Not just dumping them in full -time care.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Over 20 years ago I took my younger son (then just coming into his teens) skiing on a couple of weeks in successive seasons. No DVD players or iPodTouch - and he wasn't bored. But I suppose if modern youth now expects these things they must have them. Otherwise the advice I read here still rings true. He learned with the ski-evoutif system then taught at Les Arcs. When the school discovered he could speak O-level French he was promoted into a higher, but French-speaking class - quite a test. Fortunately, we had a book covering the ski-evolutif system, and studied it together each evening to help consolidate the teaching. I skied with him when classes are over. By the end of the first week he was skiing reds - and over-taking me on blue schusses. Happy days.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| CANV CANVINGTON wrote: |
| have kids young.. then spend later life watching your mates struggling with the little ankle biters while you go for a pint with yours.. |
I couldn't agree more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
...but the 20's were just sooo good 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
Re-reading a part of my season blog then I've reminded myself of one CRUCIAL (IMHO) point - Take into account the snow conditions - especially towards the end of season.
If I'd had a euro for every parent that had dragged their young kids out at 09:00 to make 1st lifts around Easter time I could have paid for my whole trip. With the freeze/thaw cycle in full effect the pistes were rock hard before 10:30 and kids would struggle to snowplough stop, and if the fell over it hurt like hell. I saw a lot of these 09:00 kids being taken home come 09:45 in floods of tears. Whereas having a lazy breakfast and heading out about 10:30 for a solid couple of hours would have been so much more constructive for the whole family's peace and enjoyment..
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
skihead, my key advice would be NEVER to put any child, of any age, into ski school until they have begged to be allowed to learn to ski, and then only after a carefully considered show of reluctance. It has to be their idea. And, as advised above, lower your expectations. Make the kids' enjoyment your first priority and put your own ski time way down the list for a couple of years.
Next key piece of advice, also as above, is to take granny. I took granny, and now am granny.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
skihead, my key advice would be NEVER to put any child, of any age, into ski school until they have begged to be allowed to learn to ski, and then only after a carefully considered show of reluctance. It has to be their idea. And, as advised above, lower your expectations. Make the kids' enjoyment your first priority and put your own ski time way down the list for a couple of years.
Next key piece of advice, also as above, is to take granny. I took granny, and now am granny.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
pam w, I can see why you say that (twice  ), but I think it depends on the child, neither of mine begged to be allowed to ski, they just went along with the suggestion that they should give it a try and both got on fine.
The drop the kids and not look back thing, also applies if the child starts to cry. I've watched many a ski school queue and most kids seem to cry for their parents - once left the tears soon dry up as they realise that their is no-one around to impress any more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
skihead Welcome!
Trouble with advice is much of it is different for every child. You know your own children, whether they like DVDs in the car for example (my daughter, now 7, hates the thing and much prefers playing I spy etc. or reading, or making up clubs / rules / fantasy environments from stuff out of the windows, as per earlier posting).
So into school, out of school - dvds / nintendos baked beans / "Foreign" food all highly subjective, and will differ for every family. Go with the gut.
But there are key bits on this thread that I think are generic:
1) Everything will take longer. Expect it and don't stress.
2) For a few years - until the little blighters get better than you, so not long - its not a skiing holiday, its a family holiday with skiing in it. Remember that and you won't stress.
3) Slopeside accommodation is a must: for the ability to get home with the least possible effort when you've overestimated the littl'uns breaking point (and you will - if only through not understanding the affect of altitude on them), and hence reduce your stress levels.
( have I mentioned "don't stress?")
Taking kids on mountain holidays I thought was going to be traumatic, and restrict my own enjoyment - so, so wrong. Its not the same as before - but then what is when you have small people in your world? - but with a little planing it is certainly just as good, and frankly, probably better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Megamum, I told my daughter (4 at the time) that she probably wasn't grown up enough to take skiing lessons, but she could watch the others, and see what they did. When she asked to have a go I said I would hire proper skis and boots for her for one day, and play with her on the nursery slope - I pulled her up the slope, as I lacked the skill/confidence to take her on the button lift, and had her slide down in classic "hands on knees" posture and generally clump around getting used to the gear. I told her that if there was even one bit of tantrum/wimping/moaning during that day, then she was not yet ready to learn to ski and that I'd be cross if I paid for a whole week of ski school only to have her wimp out.
She was fine, even in a totally German speaking class, but she was a child who was inclined to moaning/wimping at times and I'm sure she'd have manipulated the situation if she'd got the initial impression that this was something we really wanted her to do.
We had gone for a 2 week holiday (not much more expensive than one week, entirely self catering and taking loads of basic foods and even a pressure cooker) which gave her time to see what was going on, get used to the cold and the snow, have lots of play time and learn how to say (in German) "My name is Alex" and "I don't speak German".
Needless to say this was before the days of DVDs in cars but having travelled with kids all over the world, often in quite uncomfortable climates, on long haul flights and on difficult, hot and dusty unpaved third world roads I don't see why the poor little darlings can't cope with more than a 2 hour flight!
On the other hand I strongly support the posts above suggesting that you really do have to spend lots of time with them, and not be selfish about your own ski time. We did many years of ski holidays with kids, always on a tight budget and always as cheap as we could make it. At no time did any paid "child care" come into it at all - that would have been out of the question on our budget anyway, and the whole point was to have a family holiday, not dump them and run.
At 4 years old they can carry your sticks when you carry their skis. By 6 they are certainly able and should be willing to carry the lot themselves. If they don't want to ski enough to carry their own equipment, then leave them at home with grandparents or cousins and save a heap of dosh.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
To echo other replies, if you want your children to love skiing as much as you do, you have to be prepared to put your own requirements down the list for a while. I (not so much Mr A, as he can take skiing or leave it  - I know! - but likes mountain holidays) always wanted our children to ski, even before we HAD any children! For the past couple ofyears, our resort choices have been dictated by what would be good for the boys, and we have tailored our week around that. So, lots of long blue runs, some easier red runs, stopping for a break when they want to, and - every now and then - the more able skiers can go off for a blast on some tougher runs, and the boys ski with the others for that hour or two. We always ski holiday with a group of family and friends, so plenty of short-term minders. There will be some sledging or swimming after the lifts close and, as a result, the boys love skiing and are gaining skill and confidence from skiing with able and confident skiers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kids are as tough as you make them. Spare the rod, spoil the child.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
The OP asked about little kids versus big ones. Various posters have noted the speed at which kids learn to overtake their parents' skill on the slope. One issue is what to do when they want to go off on their own, maybe with other kids from the chalet/hotel. Or in our case with their cousins, who often skied with us. We had some years of this and it's a bit worrying. We tried to find resorts where there were not too many places where they could easily kill themselves, but where there WERE lots of "in between pistes" off piste skiing, preferably with some trees, not likely to be threatened by avalanche - ie without big snowfields above them, or on very steep pitches. Obviously we also tried to persuade them to be sensible, but teenagers aren't always.....
One such place, part of our ski area, is Crest Voland - our kids and their cousins, all pretty competent, have had huge fun over there, even though it would probably count as a "suitable for beginners and early intermediates" as far as the piste skiing is concerned. They also had a lot of fun in Valmeinier/Valloire though I don't think I heard the half of what they got up to - on snowblades! I do know that at one point they had to hike out of a big gully. Yes, I know that in theory you can't go off piste on snowblades, but they didn't know that and became very adept at it.
You also need a plan for when skiing together - a very strict rule that they (because they will always be in front) stop at any piste junction, and wait at the bottom of the lift. I suppose nowadays they'd have a mobile phone on them, though of course they hadn't been invented in our day, and those Alpine pigeons are damned unreliable. Walkie-talkies can be useful provided all concerned are aware of their technical limitations (ie that they don't go round corners).
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| pam w wrote: |
| You also need a plan for when skiing together - a very strict rule that they (because they will always be in front) stop at any piste junction, and wait at the bottom of the lift. |
I can't even get my girlfriend to obey that simple instruction (with hilarious consequences).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
barry, British and Irish Lions
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
The thing that we found important with kids:
First class creche, on the slopes, if they're not skiing all day. If they're 3 or 4 (or maybe 5), a crech which offers an hour or two skiing each day.
First class kids ski school.
Allow loads of time for getting anywhere and doing anything.
As they get older, a ski school which will offer them what they want, especially if you can't yourself. It's surprisingly difficult to find off pist group lessons for youingsters, for example.
That's it, apart from remaining flexible and not expecting anything in particular of them at any particular time. In comparison to friends with whom we holidayed, we tend be of the 'Stop moaning and get on with it.', school, skiing or not, which seems to work (for our kids).
We didn't find long flights or transfers a problem, or anything else, SFAIR,
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
Ski Tyke, there is a rugpy thread. Pop in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
mini packets of BN or jammy dodgers in their pockets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
skihead,
There are so many things to consider but I'll give you a single piece of advice that I have first hand experience of. As a kids instructor in Italy and Canada and then running a schools operation in Austria I have seen the good and the bad side of kids instruction. If you can get a ski school/instructor that really knows their stuff it can make the whole experience much easier on parents. The kids come back with massive smiles and very little excess energy. If the instructor is just going through the motions and waiting for apres time the little person will not enjoy the experience and consequently neither will the parent.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Basoid, i think i might know who you are...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
beanie1,
Through Interski???
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
