First ski holiday for 3yo and 6yo - any recommendations?

[asterixandobelisk]

DH is a v keen (and good skier), I’m less keen and vaguely competent but enjoy going. We want to take our kids next year, either Feb half term or first week of Easter (will obv need to go higher if we go at Easter).

We would like the kids to go to ski school in the morning whilst we skied then we could all hang out with swimming/sledging etc in the afternoon.

Does anyone have any recommendations for ski schools their kids have particularly enjoyed? And any accommodation recommendations?

Thanks 🙏

Be careful when booking that the ski school(s) will take a child before their 4th birthday.

Many years ago we took our two DC to Austria for all of us to learn to ski and were distraught to find that the official ski school that the hotel worked with only took children from 4.00 years, when DD was 6 weeks shy of that. Something to do with insurance or child minding certifications or whatever. But someone gave us a tip about a small school run by a guy who was a builder in summer and couldn't work at that in the winter, so he and a couple of family members gave ski lessons instead, and they were much more relaxed - as long as the child could follow instructions in English or German that was fine with him. DC had a wonderful instructor who had spent a year or two in Birmingham and acquired a very interesting English accent (half sing-song, half Brummie). Within two days they were disappearing up the mountain on the gondola while we continued to fall over a lot on the nursery slopes. On the final day we waited at the bottom for DC to finish and they both did hockey stops and showered us with snow. One of the best family holidays we ever had.

(The builder will surely be long since retired, and I couldn't find the place on a map anyway, but my point was to check about the 3yo!)

I’m sure you will have a great holiday. In terms of advice - snowheads is an excellent website. Your question will have be asked countless times and there are lots of knowledgeable skiers who will have answered with brilliant recommendations!

Flaine may be a good fit for you. It’s a short transfer from Geneva and is in a ski bowl so you could easily ski well and meet the children in the afternoon. Rocky pop is a fun child friendly hotel with a pool. I love the brutalist architecture but it isn’t for everyone.

Obergurgl in Austria is great for late and early skiing and the neighbouring Hochgurgl has a brilliant ski school. It is a quiet resort with brilliant thermal baths nearby.

Hope this helps a little - defo check out snowheads.

Kinderhotels in Austria - Löwe Bär ones for example have ski schools from 3 years: https://www.loewebaer.com/en/activities/winter-spring/ski-school

Thanks @samarrangehad clocked that some of them were from 4. Annoyingly because of their ages they’ll end up in different groups I think (and despite having left them both in nursery since 1, the thought of leaving them at ski school makes me a bit anxious!)

Thanks for the resort rec @KeeponkeepigonI’ve skied in Les Gets before but never Flaine.

@DecafDodgerDH is keen on a kinder hotel but some of them already booked for school holidays next year! Also a bit wary that they may be very German heavy and the kids only speak English and want them to make friends so if we can manage it would prefer mixed nationalities…DH also says I’m overthinking that one!

I took mine when they were (I think) 4/5/7. Unfortunately that specific chalet is no longer there but it was one of those that only accepted bookings from families so everything was set up to ensure parents could maximise their slope time but the kids were having fun as well.

They had ski school in the morning, then the kids ate lunch all together and went on to snow club (building snowmen, playing in the indoor play room etc) in the afternoon. They had a group dinner at 5 and then I collected them. Adult dinner was 7:30 and staff sat on each floor to listen out for the kids while the adults ate. Generally the younger ones were already in bed and they had clubs for older children. It was booked through one of the big ski groups (igluski I think). Obviously parents didn’t have to keep the kids in both clubs - I did because the kids loved it and also I’m a single parent and it was pure bliss!

Because the chalet was catered and solely set up for families I had very little to do in terms of planning. I highly recommend looking for something similar.

Have a look at Family Ski company - we had several great holidays with them, or Ski Famille - a similar set up I believe.

Are you really, 100% stuck to school holidays? The slopes will be much busier and the prices much higher. We went mid-January through primary school.

yes that's true, Kinderhotels are very popular and do tend to get booked well in advance. But you should be able to find availability for next year. My kids are not German-speaking and have always found some English-speaking friends. And classes are always in both languages.

Thanks @DecafDodgerthats reassuring!

That sounds amazing @Snoski- I think in a few years there’ll be a good few families going together but most of our skier friends have younger kids so not quite ready

@MuchtoomuchtodoDH adamant he doesn’t want to take the big one out of school but I think we maybe need to reconsider

@asterixandobelisk our school were more than happy and always told us to have a great time! Our dc were achieving well and rarely had any other time off. It makes a huge difference, not only to the cost of the holiday but to enjoyment too with quieter slopes and smaller lift queues.

Oh it’s was not a shared chalet in that sense, with friends - it was a hotel but only aimed at families. Individual families book a room, but the chalet offers all the childcare options, ski school, snow club, baby sitting, clubs and obviously full breakfast and dinner. But it was individual families, I certainly didn’t know anyone and it’s like a normal hotel with lounges, bar and restaurant. I think this one had 20 odd rooms. They are large chalets.

Any of the family minded online ski companies should offer some options like that. It’s far easier than trying to book a small chalet or apartment on your own.

We filled a chalet with friends and their families several times with Family Ski Company. Sharing with people that you know makes it a real home from home. Nobody cares if you come down to breakfast in your pj’s, very relaxing!