Skiing

[Tillysmummy]

Can anyone recommend a good baby friendly skiing resort in France.
Also, im not much of a skiier and will have to have lessons whereas my dh is good. Not sure whether I will enjoy this holiday or not and whether or not I want to waste it on skiing when I haven't done much before but I would like to have a go.

I would be very interested in everyone's experiences with skiing, the creches (dd will be about 18 months then)

Mo2,

In our experience most ski schools in Switzerland take the kids from 4 although we have come across a few that will try younger especially if you are prepared to pay for private tuition. DS tried last year when just 4 and was fine for 3 hours but there was a boy whose parents had lied about his age to get him included(3 1/2) and he had a miserable time and kept wandering off which was rather difficult for the instructor to deal with. It was only because other parents were on hand to help that he could continue to teach the class.

I do know of other parents who have successfully taken the kids themselves at 3 though, so I guess it depends on physical development and temperament.

There are however some great packages around , usually in "kinderhotels"(Austria, Switzerland and Germany mainly) or with companies like Crystal and Esprit which can included a childcare facility whereby they will take those in ski school to lessons and collect them and/or entertain non skiers, full or part time, inside and out, but they may well already be taken up for the peak weeks of this winter season. You will probably have more problem finding appropriate supervision for the babies as many resort facilities only take them from 2 or 3 (often only toilet trained too).

Good luck hunting,

LizS

I've been skiing quite a lot and have done both Europe, The States and Canada.
It all depends where you are looking for?

I would recommend whole heartedly USA or Canada as their service levels are brilliant. They tend to be very CHild/baby orientated. The down side here is the travel time and I'm not sure if you are prepared for the trek.

The ski company Ski Esprit is brilliant. They have great resorts in Europe. They work brilliantly with kids and babies and no request is too trivial. This makes for a very relaxed holiday for the adults. They do chalets and with your numbers I would suggest this would be a great idea - but take heed I do remember a nightmare holiday virtually ruined by someone else's "little brat" ruling the roost and shattering the peace and quiet of the "grown up only time" That is a gamble.

We also used the Crystal Nanny service. The girl was great - but the facilities were not brilliant.

Remember the transfer times from the airport to the resort can often be quite long - check into this. I had another nightmare with DS ( then 10 months ) teething and producing a number of vile nappies - changing on the coach was tedious. That coupled with chain smoking brandy drinking adolescents ... by the end of the journey I was frantic.

I could go on and on forever ....!

Four adults and various children will probably suit a chalet best. The babies will be put up in cots in their parents rooms so you wouldn't need a huge place. The chalet atmosphere is most like home and allows the kids to play normally, make a mess etc. With this configuration you're probably best taking a chalet to yourselves rather than sharing with starngers.
We travelled with our 2 year old to Val d'Isere with VIP last year (www.valdisere.co.uk), stayed in one of their chalets and shared a nanny with another couple with a three year old. The kids were superbly well looked after - taken out tobogganing etc as well as playing in the chalet. Our 2 year old wasn't much taken with the idea of skiing - even in dad's arms - but the three year old loved it and his parents took him out for a little while every day. Just take it at their pace and don't push them into doing anything they don't want or find scary. Incidentally the chalet, food, service etc were all fantastic. They even brought us tea in bed in the mornings!

Check out the free nanny Snowline are offering in La Tania January! Great family resort, stunning chalet and the nanny service is fantastic the girls are reasonabley flexible towards your needs!