 Poster: A snowHead
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Taking my daughter and family for the first time sking. Need advice on the children grandchildren is Katie 8 and Joseph 3 Katie is having lessons as we speak but what facilties for Joseph what do we do with him.
What resort hotel ,chalet caters for youngsters .Any advice welcome.
thanks in advance
vinny
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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hi, the more practise that they get before hand, the better. katie will go to ski school i pressume to allow free time for you and your daughter to ski around in the mornings before you meet her? then she will continue to ski with you both in the afternoons. As regards to the 3 year old, you will also have to put him into ski school but he will be a beginner so im not sure if a full days skiing (morning ski lessons, then afternoon on the slopes with you) is a good idea, those litttle legs will get very tired indeed!!! as regards to resorts, Alpe D'uez has extensive green slopes fanning out in all directions from above the resort, this could be a major bonus for you. here is a snip from where to ski and snowboard 2010 (skiers bible) http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/resorts/AlpedHuez/
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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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ESF run a kids club for age three plus. Most resorts have creches, and some TOs offer childcare - try Esprit, Ski Famille, Mark Warner, TUI.
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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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yinkymoka, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I've used this company about 6 times and would recommend them. They have a UK creche for Joseph, and will pick up/drop off Katie at ski school, give her lunch, and look after her in the afternoon if you wish. They are very flexible and even met us at the top of the La Tania bubble with both our kids so they could ski with us in the afternoons.
http://www.familyfriendlyskiing.com/
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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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yinkymoka, Joseph can ski too at 3! From our experience I would really recommend Snowbizz for beginner children www.snowbizz.co.uk Also try Ski Famille, Family Ski Company, Family Friendly Skiing, Kinderhotels, Esprit.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
As regards to the 3 year old, you will also have to put him into ski school
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 No you won't. Ski school isn't compulsory. You might want him to go into a "ski kindergarten" sort of arrangement where they do a little bit of playing, a little bit of skiing, and are "looked after", for a couple of hours a day. Most ski schools properly so called won't put 3 year olds in proper lessons, even for a couple of hours, let alone all day. We have our son and family out with us at Christmas for the first time. 3 and 6 year old kids. I have booked 4 private lessons for both kids but we're not convinced that 3 year old Edward - who wants to have a go but has no idea what it's about - will have the attention span/focus to continue with it. We will be looking after him much of the time - indoors if it's fearsomely cold and horrible - but otherwise some snowballs, some very gentle toboganning, hot chocolate and cakes, walks in the snow etc (bashing snow off fir tree branches with a ski stick and watching them spring up is one of the very best winter sports activities for 3 year olds).
Look at the specialist operators such as snowbizz and ski esprit who specialise in children and will take much of the burden off your shoulders, if you are not keen to look after the grandkids yourselves, or don't feel up to it (I sympathise with that - am feeling nervous at the thought of taking a little one up even a gentle draglift, even though I am an OK skier and loads of people do it all the time).
Our aim is that they all have a good time and want to go skiing again - gently does it. 
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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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yinkymoka, Have you booked flights, thought about resorts, decided on a package or DIY just yet? Are you tied to school holidays or taking Katie out of school outside of the crazy weeks? If the latter, plenty of us here do it (including moi) and it can make a difference as to where we'd advise you look at. If all the adults are planning to ski, Joseph may be happy in a ski kindergarten such as pam w, mentions. This can be a full day or half day, the latter meaning that you can take it in turns to look after him the rest of the time. I'm not aware of any French ski schools which run all-day classes, it tending to be two hours or so, a.m. or p.m. This does give the adults a chance to ski together, and then collect the children from ski school/kindergarten and 'practice' together, or just play, go to a cafe, build a snowman etc.
If flying, you can get to a number of family-friendly resorts within an hour or so drive of Geneva - St Gervais, Les Gets, Les Carroz, Samoens, Morilllon, Morzine, Le Grand Bornand (although I haven't skied there so can't comment on the accessibility and proximity of lifts, slopes, ski school etc., to the village or accommodation which are big factors when skiiing with children). If you want this trip to become a regular event, the important thing will be that the children have fun and enjoy the experience - once they are hooked, everything is easier 
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sarah, thanks. Am just trying to envisage that. I've done rope tows with little ones (though they didn't feel little after a while...). I think we'll be OK. We have a tiny little free beginner rope tow just near our apartment. There are usually some little ones there enjoying themselves and it's extremely unthreatening. We're planning to spend some time there, just moving around on the skis, sliding "hands on knees" and getting used to it all. They don't have any lesson booked for the first couple of days. I saw a little girl of about 6 there one year - going round and round on her own, obviously loving the independendence, and humming happily to herself. It was a lovely sight - I'd be very happy if we can get our 6 year old doing that and her mum and dad would be ecstatic. She is, it has to be said, a bit of a wimp.
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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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especially when she sees her little brother whizzing around
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yes, that's what we're hoping! The whole thing about skiing for small children is quite difficult, I think. People don't know what to expect - the kids certainly don't - and for every confident 5 year old bouncing off to spend all day in a ski school with a bunch of strangers or tackling black runs with proud dads, there are half a dozen snivelling miserable cold bundles who Don't Want to Do It Ever Again, wetting their pants, clinging weeping to mother and begging not be sent back to ski school etc etc. We had to take it very easy with our 5 year old, even though she'd had quite a successful ski school experience in Austria at 4. It all worked out OK in the end, but en route it involved quite a bit of careful psychology and quite a bit of time spent gently playing with her on small hills, pulling her up the nursery slope in order to slide down again and getting her ski boots on and off (I was not supposed to be skiing that year, having just had a hystectomy, though a few mogul runs a day would probably have been less effort  )
It's a great holiday with kids, and I'm really looking forward to Christmas with the grandchildren. But it's hard work, especially if you can't afford one of the specialist family operators or don't want to go down that route for some reason. The OP's family is lucky to have grandparents involved - it's a big help.
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we have got a six year old who we have to keep up with, she has always skied with us. We are always fortunate to ski in large groups, this meant one of us staying and playing with our daughter whilst the other had a couple of hours skiing, we took this in turns. However she now has the ski bug worse than us! We have put this down to the enjoyment of skiing with the family
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You know it makes sense.
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| kitenski wrote: |
| They have a UK creche for Joseph |
Well that solves the problem of what to do with the kids - I guess that's like a boarding kennel for dogs where you leave them in the UK...
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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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bertie bassett, I think there are already a couple of threads dedicated to that line ...
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Poster: A snowHead
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pam w, Taking little ones up the drag can't be that difficult if I can do it! My 3 year old could do it perfectly well on her own but refused most of the time. She's a bit of a chatterbox and I think felt a bit lonely on her own. I really enjoyed having a rest at the side of the nursery slope with the 3 year old, watching my 5 year old go up the drag on his own and come whizzing back down, avoiding the snakes of ski school with great skill. Like you say - he loved the independance of being allowed to do it alone. You'll have a great Christmas, I'm sure 
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