Skiing + sunny beach holiday in April

[Cobblersandhogwash]

So we have saved and saved and we would like to book a ski holiday followed by a sunny beach holiday in April.

Dh thinks we should go skiing in California for five days and then fly down to Mexico for some beach.

I don't know what to think. It'll be our first family ski holiday. I've only skied on indoor slopes so I'm rather nervous.

Advice please!

Assuming you are in Uk, that seems quite adventurous for your first ski holiday, although could potentially be amazing.
How many days do you have in total? It seems like a long way to go for just 5 days skiing, especially factoring in jet lag. I’ve never skied in California so don’t know what the conditions are like but April is end of season. Spring snow can be hard work.
California is one of very few places where you could have a combined ski and beach holiday in the same place. It seems a bit crazy to waste a day flying to Mexico, when you are already in California.

Apparently the weather isn't that great in ÇA in April. It can be really variable with lots of rain and fog at times.

there’s no such thing as “California weather”. It may be foggy and wet in San Francisco and hot and sunny in LA.

You’ve not given much info but if you are flying long haul, 5 days for skiing isn’t long enough. You need to factor in the time you will spend on travel between airports and resort, sorting equipment and passes in resort as well as the impact of jet lag.

Also it’s a long drive up to the ski resorts from either San Fran or LA. DH & I are avid skiers & did 10 days in Tahoe followed by 4 in SF and it was exhausting.

As others have said, April is late in the season and you might not even be able to ski.

Another thing, assuming there is snow & the resorts are open, Spring skiing is jolly hard work. Snow becomes porridge by lunchtime & it is really heavy going in the afternoons. Not the best really. HTH

I'd consider Sierra Nevada in Spain for skiing. The season runs until April so you'd still have good snow. It caters well for beginners and there is plenty to do off the slopes, including a trip to Granada which is just 30mins drive. www.igluski.com/ski-resorts/spain/sierra-nevada From Sierra Nevada its a pleasant drive to the Costa coast, where temperatures reach mid twenties in the afternoon. April is a dry month so little chance of rain.

Sierra Nevada sounds ideal. Thank you. I'll look into it.

If we were to just focus on skiing for three or four days in the first week in April instead of having a hot holiday too, would countries like Sweden or Norway still have good snow as a rule?

Yes you should be fine in Sweden early April. We saw the northern lights when we skied in Swedish Lapland in March. If it is a special holiday it’s a really nice place to go. The skiing is limited but there are other things to do besides skiing.
Further south Sälen is very family friendly and has lots of good facilities.
Many Alpine resorts will still be open first week of April, but you would need to go high.

I realise this may be a bit late but I would second Sierra Nevada having just come back from a ski/sun holiday (with a slight caveat regarding the weather....).
We flew to Malaga and actually stayed about 30 mins outside the ski resort which was far cheaper. The drive to the village (Gueja Sierra) was fine and there were 2 routes up to the ski resort of wither 25 mins (white knuckle!) or 40 mins (on main roads). But if you have saved up you may want to avoid the hassle and stay in resort.

The skiing was good, beginner friendly, quiet (even at what we were told was their busiest time ever) and the British Ski Center will do lessons, lift passes and help with equipment hire. We spent 5 days there and skied 3 out of 4 (the resort was closed on the last day due to high winds). We then drove down to Marbella (just over 2 hours) via the Alhambra and spent a week by the beach. The weather was a bit mixed, there were a couple of days of rain which is unusual according to the regulars/staff, but when the sun came out it was lovely and warm (although windy on a couple of days). If you look at the weather history for Marbella you will see it is often lovely in April.

You could do Pyrenees + Barcelona. Better skiing than Sierra Nevada, although I'm not sure how hot the beach would be in April. Probably more warm, than hot, tbh.