 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi Snowheads! This is my first post here so I'd be grateful if anyone can read this and give me some tips! Finally we've realised our twelve year old can not wait any longer to go snowboarding on some decent white stuff. So we are looking to go in the next two weeks in Europe-prob France or Switzerland.Our needs are a bit mixed so would welcome some input. I know there are loads of articles on family ski packages but would rather hear real experiences.
OH and I are both beginners but have skied in Norway and Scotland-so we know how do do parallel turns but that's about it! Our son is twelve and has had a couple of snowboard lessons and is insisting his Dad snowboards this time with him-so they'll both need English speaking lessons over there. The girls are young and will be skiing-absolute beginners. Trouble is, lots of resorts claim to cater for families but seem very focused on creche care-we don't want to put our one year old in a creche so will be pottering around with her taking turns to keep her happy while the other parent skis/snowboards. So we need other activities to fill our day with the little one. Do any of you know of a resort that would have all of this?
Completely open to suggestions!
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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snowjoker, welcome to snowHeads 
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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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snowjoker, suggest Dad has some lessons before he goes or he will hold son up.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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snowjoker, have a look at La Rosiere, go to www.larosiere.net for full details. It has the Petit Montgnards award for family friendliness. Not a huge amount to do that isn't ski related but there are some good walks that can enable you to meet for lunch in a mountain restaurant. The Ski Espirit nannies seem to spend a lot of time taking their small guests out in pushchairs.
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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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Selva would fit the bill perfectly. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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suggest Dad has some lessons before he goes or he will hold son up.
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Absolutely. But there again, the reason son has insisted they do it together is probably so that he can run rings round his old man.
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why not look for somewhere that has a leisure centre with facilities like a swimming pool etc so you can entertain the little one. Rather than having a morning or afternoon skiing why not have a day each? that way if you have to take little one somewhere that is not in the vicinity that there will be no rushing back to find them on the slope and it means if you go somewhere that has a huge mountain range ie skiwelt, that you will be able to get a decent amount of runs in before you have to get back to hand over.
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Thanks for all the input-yes it is sadly true that the boy will run rings round his father. Daddy does have a bit of a gammy knee which won't help in his quest not to be left behind by his offspring....
One of the places we are considering is Avoriaz-what do people think? What is the queueing like? When we skied in Geilo there were no queues and when we were in Glenshee there was no snow! (but the lifts were open so we skied on rocks).Is Avoriaz a modern nightmare or nicely done-I assume it's purpose built?
And if there's no traffic how does one get there in the first place?
And it is precisely the comment made by davidl about nannies with babes in oushchairs that highlights why I don't want to use a creche-I know there are fab ones but I couldn't leave my little one in one while I'm bombing around having fun-so it's turn taking for us-we might do whole day turns.
How expensive is Avoriaz comapred to e.g Verbier or Chamonix-we did Verbier in the summer (not skiing!) but the prices were breathtaking! 
I will have a look at Selva and La Rosiere as suggested.
Thanks again everybody.
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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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Avoriaz is probably not ideal. It's car free - which has its advantages, but if you want to get out and about with a baby, especially if it's cold, being able to go for a bit of a drive so baby falls asleep on the way can be useful. It's a bit bleak, too. As for queues, when are you thinking of going? That's a crucial bit of information if people are going to make sensible suggestions.
What kind of things will you want to do with the 1 year old? Our 1 year old grand daughter was here at Christmas. Her happiest times, really, were playing in the apartment pulling all our mini choc bars out of their plastic boxes, out of the cupboard, throwing them all round the floor and then getting inside the cupboard herself. she also enjoyed seeing how much of the apartment she could cover with just two squares of shredded kitchen roll. It didn't cost much to entertain her! It was very cold at the outset and she simply would NOT keep her gloves and hat on (though lots of cute little French kids were doing just that) so we couldn't have her outside much. She did a very tiny and gentle bit of toboganning, and quite liked that.
She was still crawling when she was here, which didn't help (she could just do one or two steps, but it wasn't her preferred locomotion). Crawling round on the snow, with no gloves on, was clearly not on and she has a limited tolerance of being imprisoned in a pushchair. Our apartment has a carpet, but be aware that many (possibly most) French apartments have stone floors, which are not very baby friendly. We had a portable high chair thing for her, which proved very useful.
She did enjoy going to the patisserie and making a frightful mess with a very expensive cake - but just about any resort will have a nice patisserie to visit.
So as far as our Kitty was concerned, any old resort would do. She would certainly not have been up to sampling the sophisticated delights of somewhere like Verbier. Anywhere warm, with someone to play with her, would do.
You'll need somewhere where your accommodation is very close to the slopes - not a bus ride away, if you're going to swap child care.
I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions - but maybe a bit more information about what you're looking for - and when - would help.
Les Gets might be better than Avoriaz, but not if you're going late in the season as it's quite low.
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| snowjoker wrote: |
| Daddy does have a bit of a gammy knee |
And Daddies going to take up snow-boarding  Think you'd be well advised to stick with the planks.
Think Les Arcs would be good for you
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I don't think snowboarding is particularly hard on the knees - probably less so than skiing, really. But oldies learn so much slower than kids.....
Yes, Les Arcs probably would be.
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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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snowjoker, if it is any help at all if small one takes the mittens off all the time - longish pair of socks always worked with ours and with our grandchildren, they go a long way up the arm and they just run out of steam trying to pull them off.
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pam w, I'm thinking about all the falling they do on the knees especially when learningsnowjoker, If you must get some knee pads
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You know it makes sense.
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Kel, yes, I found knee pads were a help - not that I generally fell on my knees. You do kneel on your knees a lot, but fall on other bits! And if both feet are strapped to the board the knees don't get twisted they do the way skiing.
Pamski, will have to try that!
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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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have you thought about maybe taking a babysitter out with you? A niece or nephew or a grandparent? your 12 year old will probably be classed as an adult anyway so you will have to pay a supplement. good luck
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Poster: A snowHead
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snowjoker possibly worth taking a look at Les Gets, went a few years ago and had decent experiences with ski schools. Also had my little sister with us (2 or 3 at the time) seemed to be plenty about for her to do (I don't know the details but the baby sitters took her out doing things everyday).
Welcome to snowHeads
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I think Morzine or Les Gets would suit. Plenty of families in Morzine when we went.
Also Kitzbuhel in Austria as it has a leisure centre, and pedestrian town centre. The ski school on the Hahnenkahm side (Red Devils) was also very good with my daughter. Would recommend you try and get accomodation close to slopes, as ski bus and schlepping in ski boots is not to be recommended with children.
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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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Would recommend you try and get accomodation close to slopes, as ski bus and schlepping in ski boots is not to be recommended with children.
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Agreed, though if you have a car, and the resort has easy parking near the slopes, that's the problem solved - and somewhere warm for a baby to sleep. If your accommodation is not near the slopes it's good to have a container for all the spare skis, boots, hats, mittens, toboggans, etc.
I'd be wary of somewhere as low as Morzine/Kitzbuhel at Easter - might have to trek a bit to find snow. But I don't think we know when you're going?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Well I've never heard of Les Arcs but I will look now  I did look briefly at Les Gets but found less accommodation around-we are going at the end of this month(30th)-I know it's short notice but friends who live in France are returning to the UK mid feb and it's our last chance to see them before they leave their gorgeous house.
I'm glad to see there are some people who share my experience of hat free and mitten free toddlers-aaargh! I will definitely try the sock trick-if I can find a pair that is!(always tricky in this house!).
The reason Avoriaz sounded good to me was that it's traffic free and small, so I can almost watch the ski school from the apartment-a definite plus as my girls are spectacular whingers if carrying things and/or wearing clunky footwear. I am willing to trade a picture book resort for something more modern(and maybe characterless?) if the snow is good and everything convenient for muggins who WILL be carrying the toddler and all the equipment.
Many thanks for thoughts on planks vs board-Dh is nervous to try boarding but the 12 year old is insistent-also I wondered if legs going off in different directions a la skis might be worse for dodgy cruciate ligaments then a snow board?
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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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snowjoker, I don't think either sport is brilliant for the knees. From what I understand it's fairly easy to do your ACL on skis, not sure about boards though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I'd recommend Morillon. It has just topped the Guardian's top 12 list of family-friendly resorts - http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/jan/16/family-skiing-holidays-learn-children. As someone with an apartment there who has been out with other families with different age and different ability children, I can say all my friends have come back raving. Most accommodation is ski-in, ski-out so everything is very easy and convenient. It is traffic-free. It can't offer the leisure facilities of bigger resorts such as a big public swimming pool or bowling but, hey ho, who needs bowling when you can go dog-sledging or other snow things that you can't do at home.
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Well thanks everyone for all your input! We finally made a decision and booked to go to Morillon-more based on the fact we needed a Sunday change over and there was a place with spaces that could do that! But also as it seemed compact enough for me to keep an eye on my toddler and little girl skiers while the big boys are off snowboarding(we've booked a private lesson for them so Dad might make enough progress to at least keep up with our son!).
We will let you know how it went when we get back and I'll be here on the forum with other questions later!
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snowjoker, hope it goes well. Yes, please, do give a report back.
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