 Poster: A snowHead
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I have just had to cancel my New Year trip to la Plange due to my young son falling over and breaking his elbow and arm the other morning.
The whole family is really upset and now we have to go through all the planning again and try to book a holiday for Half term if possible. The lad is fine and sporting a couple of screws in his arm and copping very well.
Can anyone recommend a good child friendly resort to look at?
Cheers DRM
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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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drunken rock monkey, do you think you could define that a little more? What other criteria is also important?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Well i suppose that i am am looking for some where with good English speaking childcare and ski school and that it would not be to cold so a south facing resort if possible.
Also non skiing activities are important like swimming pool or ice skating.
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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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drunken rock monkey, I almost hesitate to mention it for the fear of the usual groans, but La Rosiere may fit the bill - certainly the resort has awards for it's family friendly nature. I don't recall an ice rink, but the linked site suggests a range of activities that may suit.
From personal experience, I'd recommend the resort.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Alpe D'Huez would fit the bill.
I've never been to La Rosiere but isn't it largely north facing?
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Colin B, no, pretty sure a lot of it is south facing.
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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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Nearly all in fact....
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Have you looked at Les Gets? They have an ice rink, no pool that I know about. I was in ADH in feb, and it was bloody freezing!! Les Gets has English ski school and nice easy blues back to town, but enough red/black runs for non children. Town centre is "Chocolate Box" look and feel.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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can you not just book to go to La Plagne again?
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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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Not been there with children but Flaine seems pretty handy.
Although having said that for our first family trip this year (with a non-skiing wife) I've booked Saas Fee. I thought the non-skiing activities and "pretty" village would be a good start in order to get the wife and children onboard with skiing, and so I would sacrifice skiing terrain to keep them happy. Having a boys ski weekend earlier in the year helps!!!
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ALpe d'Huez has two pools (inside and out) and big ice rink.
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You know it makes sense.
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drunken rock monkey,
You could try somewhere like Val d Issere
Quite a big town so lots to do - not sure about a swimming pool.
Nice ski area
Also, for much of the same try Zermatt which is small than VdI but still plenty to do
If you're going at half term maybe the cost will have a big bearing on where you go.
Do you have a buget? How many of you are there in the group?
Most resorts in Austria tend to be really nice looking so you get the views as well as good skiing
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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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drunken rock monkey, check out La Rosiere, has the Famille Plus award for child friendliness, go to www.larosiere.net for details. Hope your son recovers soon, youngsters are remarkably resilient, my youngest broke his arm, throwing himself off cliffs, in Chamonix and he carried on skiing and boarding with his arm in plaster, hardly stopped for a day.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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 Have you lost your deposit as well?
Is it the February half term you are wanting to go? You are spoilt for choice for resorts this time of year because it's middle of the season, but will your lad be able to ski within 3 months? It sounds like a fairly serious injury so would it have fully healed by then? I'm not a doctor by any stretch of the imagination but if he was to fall on it before it had healed it could cause lasting damage.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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drunken rock monkey,
Sorry to hear about your son's accident. You don't say if you're losing out financially.
I had an accident 5 weeks' ago and I can't go skiing in 10 days time (early December).
To reduce the costs I postponed my trip with the same tour operator until later in the season, they simply charged me a small admin fee because I was simply changing my booking.
I think Val d'isere is a good place offering other things to do. It also has gentle slopes up on the mountain which you can come down from on the lifts to avoid the more difficult runs.
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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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drunken rock monkey, I likewise hate to mention it but Wengen is very child friendly, a lack of traffic on the roads, and Ice Rink in the center of the village (next to the nursery slopes) and the whole lot on a lovely south facing terrace 4000 ft up.
A couple of the more expensive hotels have indoor pools, but I believe non residents can pay to use the one in the Victoria Lauberhorn
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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drunken rock monkey,
Hope your son recovers well and you enjoy another holiday.
I go to Zell am See in Austria. This resort is very family friendly, has good skiing, ski schools etc. English is widely spoken and the people are very friendly. I don't really know much about child care - I'm well past that stage I'm afraid!
For non skiers this is a small pretty town which is located next to the Zell lake - great for walks on or by the lake. There is a large indoor skate rink and a swimming pool which is open to the public. The town has a railway station which links to Salzburg and Innsbruck.
Only negative is that the runs back into town are quite difficult - however the bus system into town is very good and free to ski pass holders.
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You don't mention budget, but if it's not tight, Megeve ticks the boxes including swimming pool and English ski school (BASS now have a centre there). Simon Butler skiing also provides all you need but I suspect they're fully booked for half term.
Another option would be to wait till the Easter hols and go somewhere high - Tignes has a pool which is free with the ski pass I think. That would give more time for the arm to heal and be much, much, less expensive and crowded.
If you are planning to book for half term probably best not to leave it too long.
There might well be Austrian or Italian places with all the things you're looking for and fewer crowds than France in February.
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A chap I know over on STW (MTB equivalent of snowheads) is rather keen on Le Grand Bornand for his family trips with kids. Not familiar with the resort myself but it does market itself as a family oriented place
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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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La Rosiere would be fine except for lack of non-ski facilities. I don't think Les Gets has a pool, either? Haven't been there for some years. It's a very nice resort for families, good ski school (BASS) but I would not call it "chocolate box". It's not high rise concrete barbarism, but it's hardly Heidi country either.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Cheers for all the well wishes guys.
The lad is back to normal as if nothing had happened.
Well there's lots of info here to think about and i have had a little think myself.
Budget wise i think we are just going to pay whatever it costs given that we really want the kids to have a great first time skiing.
The 2 kids are 4 and 6 and it's the 4 year ol;d who has hurt himself.
We are going to have a word with the consultant but he did say the pins will be in for up to 5 months so we will ask when it's ok to think about skiing again but we are thinking that Easter would be a better time to have a family holiday and the wife has all ready mentioned a boys trip away
Cheers Kev
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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 wife has all ready mentioned a boys trip away
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I bet she can't wait to keep the boys entertained 
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To throw something slightly different in the pot how about Åre in Sweden? OK, it's not as big as La Plagne, but the lift system is very efficient, and there's lots of tree covered gentle runs that would be great to do with your children as they get confident to move on from Nursery slopes.
Being Sweden, the standard of English is generally excellent, which is especially important to young children learning, and they have a great area for them too. If your budget isn't a big issue then staying at the Holiday Club (http://hcresorts.com/en/resorts/ore/introduction/) is a good bet. They have a fun indoor pool, bowling alley and various non skiing facilities to entertain the children.
There's quite a good review at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/snowandski/7241887/Skiing-Is-re-in-Sweden-one-of-the-worlds-top-10-resorts.html
Also, being almost in the Arctic circle it has a long season, so if you do go for Easter rather than half term you can be confident of good snow cover.
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You know it makes sense.
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Morzine? Big town with lots to do apart from skiing, it does have a pool and i think it has ice skating. There are a few snowheads who live there i think so they will clarify this up, i love the place and im sure you could do a lot worse, less that 1 hour transfer time aswell now!!!
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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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less that 1 hour transfer time aswell now!!!
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Really? Cool, but how so?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hemsedal....? It was brilliant for our boys to learn there. Lots of beginner slopes at the bottom and a very long green starting at the top of the main chairlift that they can graduate to.
Lift queues are really easy and if the kids like hotdogs then they will love the food. Downside is the long transfer at 4 hours.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Les Gets is great with kids especially at Xmas (if there's enough snow), Zell am See is great with kids and both are lovely for adults too IMHO.
However if you now plan to go at easter, which is quite late this year, you might want to look at higher level resorts, perhaps even ones with Glaciers - I don't think there's skating but Tignes has a decent swimming pool and is high (if not very beautiful) and if thinking further afield and more picturesque (as in Austria) Mayerhofen has both and has the Hintertux glacier up the road (perhaps not so great for beginners though and it is a bus drive). There is a glacier up the road from Zell near Kaprun though, so again, although a bit of a drive it's worth thinking about.
Best of luck
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Bad Hofgastein has a vast public spa and large swimming pool, nice caffe's, pubs and a good ski area linked to the huge SkiAmade area
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FAQ
!!! hope the wee boy is alright 
Ok then
as well.
