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Original poster

OK - Skiing roll call - who's going this year - where, when and who with?

60 replies

Mo2 · 28/01/2006 11:21

Having spent half my ski holiday last year eyeing up other Mums in the chalet, thinking 'she sounds like someone on Mumsnet' but too embarrassed to ask, thought I'd get a heads up here as to whether we might bump into any Mumsnetters on the slopes this year...

So here goes...

We're goind w/c 5th March, to Tignes, France and with Esprit....

Anyone else?

OP posts:
Original poster
Mo2 · 31/01/2006 10:23

Hattie - did they get the little ones on skis at all? I can remember watching DS1 at about the same age trudging painfully up and down the nursery slopes (there was no magic carpet.... )

We deliberately went for Tignes because I liked the fact that the nursery slopes were so close. Last year, during half term week, I saw little 3 year olds being herded up the mountain in the busy gondela and I'm sure some of them were really scared....

OP posts:
wilbur · 31/01/2006 10:51

Pollyanna - that's so cool, we should meet up! We're in ferme D'Elisa in apartment Arnica (good for skiing bruises ). Glad to hear you've been before and it's nice. This is our first family ski hol - ds1 is 5 and is doing spritelet beginners + snowclub and dd will be in the nursery. Dh I think will snowboard the first part of the week and switch to skis if we want to ski with ds1.

prettybird · 31/01/2006 12:52

.... so no-one going to Meribel for the half term then?

purpleturtle · 31/01/2006 12:57

Shouldn't have opened this thread.

A note to those of you treating your kids to ski holidays. Remember they will become addicted. And when they're grown ups with kids of their own and can't afford to go ski-ing they will resent you. Especially if you continue to go once or twice a season.

Bitter? Moi?

As you can tell. Not going. My parents are going to Ellmau at half-term with what seems to be half their village. Annual pilgrimage!

prettybird · 31/01/2006 13:03

purpleturtle.

(whispers) We're even being bad parents and taking ds out of school for a few days, as the Glasgow schools don't get a full week.

We are fully prepared to hate him by the end of the the week, as he scoots off down the hill at speed.

I can remember watching little ones in the post scooting dwon mountainous mougle fields and thinking "B@star@d!". But only becasue I was that they had been aable to learn when they were wee whereas I only started age 20 and had to go through all the pain and effort of the trnastion from beginner, to internediate, to "plateaued" intermediate to advanced (but not really off-piste in powder without the instrucotr). So I still, 25 years later, still have one more transition to make!

purpleturtle · 31/01/2006 13:09

I was 7 the first time I went. Dad taught PE and we all went on one of the school trips, as soon as my youngest sister was old enough. Dad had been going every year for 20 years by then. (He's not a stylish skier, though)

AFter a while the LEA changed the rules so that school trips, deemed educational, could take place in term time. We went as a family at half-term.

Dad stopped teaching nearly 15 years ago. This week he's on the school ski-trip from the school he left!

prettybird · 31/01/2006 13:17

I introduced my now dh to skiing when he was 34. Created a monster, as he is now more obesseional than me about ensuring that we get a ski holiday aevery year!

He's not very sylish either - uses his strength to get him out of problems.

The little tyke, aka ds, I am sure will end up very stylish, thnaks to starting at 4. This will be his second week on skis.

Hattie2 · 31/01/2006 13:20

Mo - all the little ones were on skis. The more timid ones started off with one ski for the first day! They have a carpet for them to shuffle up until they get the confidence to try the little drag life and then they get told which colour rabbit to get off at! Mine only got to the yellow rabbit (about 10m from bottom of drag!) but seemed v please with herself.

Pollyanna · 31/01/2006 17:27

Wilbur, I've been in the Ferme d'Elisa chalet before - it is very nice. We are in Schatzi - it's the only one that will fit us all in. You will have a brilliant time - we all went for the first time 3 years ago and have become addicted. my dd is 5 - maybe she'll be in Spritelets with your ds? Where are you flying from?

wilbur · 31/01/2006 17:48

Flying from Gatwick to Chambery on the 8.40 flight. Has your 5 yo dd skied b4?

Pollyanna · 31/01/2006 19:08

I'll see you on that flight! (we're the mad family with 4 children!).

yes, she has skiied twice before. the first time she was 3, so didn't do much, but she was quite good last year.

Eve · 31/01/2006 19:13

ME!!!

going to Rocarasso in Italy. No you will never have heard of it, its between Rome and Naples and mainly a weekend resort for the above cities.

Which means during 1/2 term week it is nearly deserted. Went last year and there wasn't a single lift queue!!

DS(6) is desparate to try snowboarding this year.

MrsMills · 31/01/2006 19:25

went here for a look on Sunday afternoon. None of us has ever skied before, so we're going back next weekend to give it a go, mind it will only be cross country to start with.
HELP!

wilbur · 31/01/2006 19:58

Pollyanna - I'll look out for your brood! I'll be the distracted-looking woman wondering why she feels like she's missing something ie ds2 who is staying behind with Granny!

wilbur · 31/01/2006 20:03

If you've got any tips for good places for lunch in La Rosiere and on the pistes, would love some ideas.

ggglimpopo · 02/02/2006 13:28

Message withdrawn

ggglimpopo · 13/02/2006 09:51

Message withdrawn

anteater · 14/02/2006 00:10

Sound like a hit ggglimpopo!
Much snow?

LIZS · 18/02/2006 11:42

Back from the first one. Great weather on Tuesday, dh and ds had a ball ! dd hated her ski lesson though and howled so I had to stay and help her or they 'd have ignored her (not that I blame them really, as I would have done given the choice! and they had 7 or so others to cater for). ds then enjoyed 2 days skischool but the weather broke and it snowed/rained. Spent a couple of hours with dd getting her skiing on Wednesday and she enjoyed it and could snowplough and turn by the end - yeah. She can now go independently and hopefully will be more willing to have lessons next time. Main lifts were closed on Thursday due to high winds and heavy snow/rain so we spent time walking and playing in the snow with dd while ds had his lesson on a lower lift. Have to say snow wasn't that good this year and it was really mild so hope it holds out until April.

ggglimpopo · 18/02/2006 12:40

Message withdrawn

LIZS · 18/02/2006 14:53

There was lots of snow, just heavier going than normal as the temperature was so mild , and the rain had washed a lot of the slopes in the lower villages during the week.

Nbg · 18/02/2006 15:02

Oooooh am so

I should be boarding with dh in Austria at the begining of April but can't go now due to being preggers!!!!

I'd bought all new gear too

Original poster
Mo2 · 12/03/2006 21:17

SadAngrySadAngrySadAngrySadAngry

Oh well - back this afternoon from Tignes with Esprit and feel duty bound to say that we had a fairly crap time SadAngry

It will be the subject of a long complaint letter to Esprit tomorrow, but basically, a number of things (some unavoidable, others totally avoidable) compounded to make our week fairly miserable...

Unavoidable (Acts of God?)

  • there is just SO MUCH SNOW AT THE MOMENT - lots of problems with travel/ transport
  • On our outward journey the road to Tignes was closed due to avalanches and we couldn't get to the resort Sad. After leaving the UK at 8.40 am we travelled all day, got stuck in long traffic queues up the mountain road, couldn't turn around and eventually ended up in a car park at 7 pm, having not eaten since 10 am with seemingly nowhere to stay. Eventually we were bused back to near Chambrey (another 2 hours) and got to a hotel at c. 10 pm, tired and hungry.
The Esprit staff were totally incompetent; there was no information/ communication about what was happening, and they just didn't understand that the kids (and babies Shock) in the bus desperately needed food/ drink) So we missed the first day's skiing.

The totally avoidable things:

  • attitude of some of the chalet staff - seemed like the guests were getting in the way of their social life
  • breakfast food/ lack of various items: juice/ fruit/
  • crap organisation & communication about where the kids, their skis etc were meant to be for lessons etc; when ski guiding was on; what activities were available - everything in fact
  • staff were pissed and noisy in the chalet (c. 2 a.m.) after coming in off the town on their day off...

Anyway, I could go on...... but i'm too tired! Suffice it to say, I'll be amending my previous glowing recommendations for Espirt from now on.... Angry

OP posts:
LIZS · 12/03/2006 21:36

Sad Mo2. The recent onslaught of snow was unpredictable but sounds like they could have done more to mitigate the inconvenience. Angry at pi*sed, and presumably hung over the next day, staff.

picnikel · 14/03/2006 16:26

Another Esprit nightmare here, Mo2 - we got cuaght by the same weather problems the weekend we left but were treated v badly by Esprit. We were in Les Arcs and were late leaving the resort due to the access road being blocked so missed our flights home. The information from the reps was dismal, nobody seemed to have aclue what was going on.

We were stuck on a flight to Gatwick and by the time we got there had already been on the go for 12 hours. We were then told it would be a 12 hour bus journey back to Edinburgh - via Birmingham & Manchester airports to drop off other passengers - with no provision of food and drink. All the Edinburgh passengers had small children with them. We ended up forking out for Easy Jet flights but am about to send off a rude letter and have contacted Watchdog. Family friendly my *rse, won't be booking with them again Angry.

The whole week was pants really - dd got gastroenteritis and there was no skiing due to blizzards by the time she was better Sad. Not esprit's fault admittedly but the chalet was dirty and the reps useless.....Wish I was rich enough to go with Ski Scott Dunn!!!

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