 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm sure some of you have followed my thread re a family/group based holiday for mixed abilities but wife and kids are complete novices and I am only used to "boys trips"!!
I have established we are either going to Alpe d'Huez in a self cater appartment in les bergers area close to ski school or possibly a full board option at Terra Nova Hotel, La Plagne Centre.
I have learned to ski by self teach and some great instruction form expert friends so have no experience whatsoever of ski school. So my question is what will best suit my wife (we think week course half days then spend afternoons with me?) and what will suit kids? Kids are 11 & 5 at time of holiday and have never set foot on a ski. Will they be best off in full day ski course and then spending a little time skiing with me or like the wife half day only.
I am really really keen that they use this holiday to learn so that next year is much more flexible in a slope chalet with friends so they will not be spending time in a kids club or babysitting etc but out skiing! All the kids I have seen on holidays look like they really enjoy the ski school with a group of same age ability kids. Whilst I love time with them I might bite off too much trying to oversee wife and two kids on the slopes and that isn't necessarily best for them. Might they be better off full day ski club?
What's your thoughts on a couple of visits to a dry slope beforehand? We don't have a snow dome anywhere near us at all and I've heard differing opinions re value of learning on carpet. Need to balance cost of it too as not that cheap and might that money be better spent on say a private lesson in resort?? So many questions but I really want to get this trip right and maximize their enjoyment of skiing!
All advice welcome based on greater experience than mine re ski school.
Kind regards Jason
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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jirac18, Ski school in France generally isn't full days. 2 hours a day or so is more common. Choose a school on recommendation, possibly an english one, and avoid those where there is a danger of really big group lessons.
My daughter is 15 now, started when she was 7, and has skied 15+ weeks. She skis far, far better than me. She did have some lessons at Tamworth before we first went and it helped I thought as she was able to start in the 2nd group the first time in the mountains. After 2 or 3 years of group lessons in a variety of countries she now mainly has very small group lessons (4) with the same instructor in Les Deux Alpes at Easter, effectively the group is chosen and is often the same kids each year. She doesn't normally have lessons on our other trips now.
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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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jirac18,
My wife did the learn to ski in a day at Tamworth which was excellent for her. It meant when we got to France and onto the white stuff she was comfortable. I cannot recommend this highly enough. The prices are almost 50% in the summer.
As per my suggestion in the other thread, the Hotel Terra Nova in La Plagne could not be better placed for your group due to it's 0m proximity to the green run the ski school's use. The hotel is actually half way down the green which is served by a chairlift so no walking for any of your group.
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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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Cheers Snowmonkey, I am becoming ever more drawn to the Terra Nova deal with Crystal. we can get a week full board for the four of us for £1700 which is only a tad more than most of the self catering appartments. I think I am gonna have to accept we are not gonna get the perfect trip for everyone and book something more specifically designed for the newbies and look at that as an investment for future trips where we can then have greater choice of chalets etc etc. Thanks for your help.
Only trouble with the snow domes at tamworth or Hemel are they are so far away as I live south of exeter and doing it in a day is tough.....that said it could be money and time well invested.
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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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Learn in a day is probably too tiring for children, my daughter did it in two double sessions a couple of weeks apart. The dry slope option is worth considering too.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We have a reasonbly good dry carpet at Plymouth so will look into that
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jirac18, My children now aged 16 and 12, each had a go on a dry slope (Rossendale) prior to the first snow ski holiday. This only really gave them the experience of trying boots and skis and how to move about on them - that alone was a useful exercise, as it did help when they reached snow - it's easy to forget, when you've skied for a while, how alien ski boots can feel! They then, when we went on holiday, had a 2 hour private lesson, on each of 5 days. The afternoons and last day, were spent either practicing, or chilling out, with us. We knew before we went, that we were unlikely to ski as much as usual and that was fine - it was all about getting them hooked and having a great first experience. I'd echo others above in saying that two hours lessons are probably long enough - it's tiring both physically and mentally, and you don't want to put them off!
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Njirac18,
Definitely go and do the plastic stuff and now is the best time to take them, the class groups now are smaller as opposed to the start of the season typically 2-3 in a group instead of 10 etc. They will get more time skiing and more feedback in the time spent.
The only disadvantage I can see with them learning on plastic is they might get hooked and want to continue all year long, it can also be very beneficial, you can "get away" with a lot on snow but time spent on plastic will in my experience make the transition to snow very simple. 
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