 Poster: A snowHead
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Who:
Family of 5
Dad (me) would go skiing every week if he could, had one week in Jan this year, after a 13-year absence.
Mum, first skiing trip, always wanted to try it, and had a few lessons at the dry slope. Not keen on the cold or heights, and somewhat ‘put off’ skiing by her husbands constant ‘going on about it’. Ooops
7 year old, had a few lessons at the dry slope and enjoyed it, so joined the local ski club in Southampton. Fairly competent snowplough turns, with ‘chips’ in-between.
5 year old who is not keen on trying new things. After a couple of goes on the dry slope he announced that he ‘didn’t like skiing on prickly snow, and wanted to wait until the real thing’. Seems fair to me!
Gung ho 2 year old who would be very jealous that she was not getting to ski like her brother and sister.
After much skiiming as my wife calls it (I prefer the phrase skisearch) we decided on Ski Hillwood in Zauchensee. This was helped by the fact that I have access to cheap flights, and when we added everything up, the price of most of the family specialist were pretty similar for the week we were looking at. I learnt to ski in Austria, and loved the place, and having spoken with Howard (the owner) on the phone he just seemed like such a nice guy that we were sold.
The flight over was painless, and Salzburg (despite a 747 full of Russians landing at the same time) was a dream compared to Geneva. We met Howard approx 20 mins after landing, and were in the car and on our way for the short 1 hour transfer a few minutes later. With kids, the short and relatively smooth transfer was a massive bonus.
I cannot say enough nice things about Howard. He is a kind, calm professional man. Nothing is too much trouble for him, and you genuinely believe that you and your families’ enjoyment on holiday is his main concern. He is also a very good skier and guide.
We arrived in Zauchensee just after lunchtime, and due to the fact that there was some sort of children’s racing weekend going in, it was a busy place. We checked into the Hotel Zauchenseehof, dumped our bags and headed out to get the ski hire. The room we had was massive. In our section was a typical Austrian double (2 twin beds together, with 2 larger then average single duvets. This set up works really well for us as duvet fights are not uncommon at home! In a separate section was a seating area, which for us had been converted into 2 single sofa beds and a large cot. This area could be sectioned off with sliding doors. The hotel ran a buffet style breakfast, with the usual cold options, plus egg and bacon. At breakfast you would choose your meal for dinner. You were allocated a table on arrival, which was a nice touch, as the hotel was full, so it meant you always knew you had a table big enough. There were 2 swimming pools, one mainly for kids, and this was a big hit, plus some ‘wellness’ areas. Where does that phrase come from  . For an extra charge there is also a skittles alley. The hotel is High quality. I stay in a lot of supposed 4 and 5 star hotels with work, and this is right up there. They are also a Famielotel, so children are very much welcomed and catered for. The heated boot lockers are fantastic. I reckon if you left a bucket of water in there overnight it would be empty in the morning!
So after a good nights sleep we were onto our first days skiing/childcare. Our 2 year old was going into crèche run by ski Hillwood, in their own separate room. There was one other child there that week so my daughter had loads of attention, and clearly loved it. A big thumbs up from us for the childcare with Ski Hillwood. The 2 girls were attentive, and clearly enjoyed what they were doing, and we never worried about our daughter. The daily activities were, as you would expect. Painting, stories, Gondola rides, sledging, etc etc.
The Ski school meeting point is out of the back of the hotel, so very easy. It’s a little intimidating as there were quite a lot of kids that week. For the first day, my 2 were the only English speaking children. My daughter was fine though, and was soon off to the fantastic children’s area to demonstrate what she could do before they were organised into groups. She thrived in the lessons and was in a group of 7, joined on the second day by another English girl, which was nice as my daughter is a chatterbox. My son however was more reluctant, refusing to wear his bib. It was agreed that it could be placed in his hood. Every child is different, and I’ve learnt over the years that it’s a fine line with my son. It’s very easy to push him too much and put him off something completely, however if you don’t push at all he will never try anything new. While some of the week was stressful with ski school, I felt that the instructors were very good at talking with me, and we regularly came to compromises that allowed my son to get the most out of the week. By day 3 he was only doing mornings, but he was also going up the Gondola and skiing back down the mountain on the blue run. He also had a large stash of ‘mountain chocolate’ in his pocket to give him super energy powers when he felt tired.
All that to say we were pleased with the ski school, and Ski Hillwood who allowed my son to join the crèche in the afternoons when he didn’t ski. My wife also had 3 morning lessons, which she enjoyed.
Ski Hillwood also offer the evening kids club, which my kids looked forward to, even though they were the only kids in it!
The local skiing in Zauchensee/Flauchauwinkl/Klienarl is great. It’s not massively extensive at approx 60kms, but its very varied. The lift network is also amazing, and I am told this extends throughout the whole Ski Amade region. I would ski the mornings while everyone was in ski school, and the sense of pride you get from seeing your children and wife doing their lessons up the mountain is great. I have several clips of them all snaking around the pistes.
For people thinking about going on their first family ski trip, I would agree with most of the comments on here. Lower your expectations of what you will do, I skied more in 1 day in La Tania (The escapade) then I did the whole week here. However I had my most enjoyable day ever on skis during this holiday. The last day is family skiing day, and while my son decided he would do crèche, the rest of us went off to enjoy the sunshine. The improvement in my daughter was incredible. It was like I had a shadow, every time I looked around she was there, no more then 1ft behind my skis. She also wanted to do lots of red runs, which forced my wife to get over her colour phobia. We did some jumps, went through some trees, had a few ‘races’, ate chips, it was great!
There were other times when the family experience was less enjoyable. Meal times became very stressful for us. To have 3 exhausted kids sit down for an hour at 6 pm was not easy. They were also reluctant to try new foods, which meant my son pretty much lived on bread, chocolate, and bananas for the week! My Mum says its karma. Getting everyone ready for the morning was not that easy either. The area near the boot room was small, and it was very easy to get overheated while trying to get everyone’s boots on.
All in all though it was a very good week, and we are already talking about next years trip. The family ski trip is a very different holiday, and we have learnt a lot about what works for us, and what we would do differently. I would encourage anyone thinking about a trip to go for it, just prepare to be flexible. You will get enormous amounts of enjoyment from situations you never considered before, and soon forget that you have not made the first lift once!
I would thoroughly recommend Ski Hillwood, and certainly consider them again, however I am someone who likes to try different resorts. You may pay a little more, but the accommodation is top class, as is the personal touch of Howard and the childcare team.
I would also consider the Ski Amade for a friend’s trip. It may not all be lift linked, but the transport is great, and once you’ve excepted the fact that you may have to get a bus, or drive to a different area each day, the possibilities are endless!
Sorry it’s a bit long, but I could have written a whole lot more, so any questions please do ask
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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jonkgray78, Brilliant report. Was wondering how you got on.
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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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Wow, sounds like hard work with three young kids, especially your son. Glad you enjoyed it!
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Great pictures and report
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Awwww baby skis, cute!
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FAQ
