Skiing with my 3 year old

[lou258]

Hi. I'm trying to book a ski holiday for myself, my husband and my son who is 3.

My husband and I are avid skiers but haven't been since I got pregnant. My son is energetic and confident and I would really love for him to have a go at skiing but I feel a bit nervous leaving him on his own in ski school at this stage.

I've come across Mum and Me with Snowfocus in Châtel (www.lasonnaille.com/mum-and-me) and I think the set up looks great but just wondering if anyone else has done it and if it is as good as it seems? Or has anyone done anything similar where you are encouraged to stick with your children in lessons? (I wouldn't know where to begin teaching him ourselves...)

Thanks!

[jenster1976]

I would highly recommend |Esprit - they are experts in family skiing - their staff are amazing with the children, mine all went at 3 and the staff and the experience are what makes it fun for them, and in time honoured fashion, if the kids are happy, you'll have a good time.
Mine did a mix of ski school and snow club and we always got a good combination of time and fun with them and skiing by ourselves too.

[usuallydormant]

I'm not convinced about the concept - I know my kids find it much better to be taught separately and are much more likely to cry and not try if a parent is about.

Why not try private lessons for him? Certainly with ESF, 2 or 3 private lessons of 1 hour work can be similar in terms of price to a full week of ski school and there is a lot less time hanging around for the kid.

[sparechange]

At 3, he won't be in ski school - it's more of a snow nursery where they get used to wearing ski boots, and maybe one ski on for some of the days to practice scooting around, and possibly 2 skis for a couple of hours on the last few days to go up a short magic carpet and down a very gentle nursery slope

At that age, the most they can learn is being comfortable in their kit and the snow, and following the instructions from the instructors

[Enb76]

I started skiing with my daughter at 5 - as she could then go into lessons for a whole 3 hours leaving me reasonable time for a bit of skiing before afternoons of nursery slopes, greens and lots of hot chocolate breaks. By the next year she could ski blues and at 9 still does lessons in the morning but will ski the afternoons with me on reds. I do all my hard skiing in the morning and relax a bit in the afternoons with her.

I wouldn't have taken her at 3 purely because the amount of looking after in the afternoons not on the slopes. I'd suggest you give her to the grandparents for a week if you can and have a lovely week skiing without your child.

[Guiltybystander]

Too late to teach him how to ski now. You should have started when he was one..

[Possomcandle]

I know people who have done that course at Snowfocus and absolutely raved about the set up. Contrary to 'normal' ski school set ups, the kids go straight up the mountain with the instructor and parents and get the point of skiing rather than being stuck in a snow garden queue. My friends 3 year old was skiing independently down green runs by the end of the week- completely surpassed their expectations and by all accounts had a great time. I say go for it!

[Aftershock15]

Mine started at 3 in Canada. He had a daily private hour with the same instructor for 3 days, with half a day in daycare around it. Day 2 he was going up the chair lift. Then he progressed to small group lessons - 3 kids for an hour, but still only half a day in daycare. The second week he did full days with an hour skiing lesson in the morning and afternoon in a slightly bigger group. It worked for him and the next year at 4 was happy to join a class of 7/8.

[superking]

Yes I have done mum and me with Snowfocus, also with a 3 year old. We've stayed with them a few times but last year was the first time we've done Mum and Me. It was excellent and my DS (never skied before) was confidently skiing by himself and turning by the end of the week.

They just ski for a couple of hours each morning and then usually go back to the chalet to be looked after by the nannies, so it's not too exhausting for them. Helen the instructor is lovely and works with you to find the best approach for your child. Mine is very independent and was desperate to do it by himself, so he had to be reined in a bit at the start! Others were a bit more shy/ uncertain, but all of them were skiing independently by the end of the week.

The chalet, hosts, nannies etc are all amazing too. Honestly I could rave about it for hours!

[lou258]

Thanks all, it sounds great. Just what we are looking for. I'll get in touch.. Excited now!

[dontcallmethatyoucunt]

Mine both went in lessons at 3. For me it was more childcare, but they enjoyed playing in the snow and were up and pizza turning by the end of the week.

In truth DD1 then didn't ski until the following year and I'm not convinced it had made much difference. She knew she had skied so was confident, but 90% of the skills had gone. So with DD2 when she had her first ski holiday, we then went to the snow centre every school holiday and they each had a couple of hours in a group lesson. DD2 had improved by the following year (so had DD1, but she's a couple of years older so by then was up and off) and so was skiing up the hill and skied with us some afternoons too (although we had a nanny for her and a friend).

We skied between holidays the following year too and by the end of our last holiday she was skiing black diamonds. She's only 5 and can ski all day and bomb about.

I'd def get him skiing, but if you can the real benefit comes from keeping it up. That way the skiing as a family happens much more quickly and everyone loves that.