We have never been skiing and I have no idea where to start to look! HELP!

[buktus]

A family of 2 adults and 3 dc's, aged 11, 9 and 6. I just don't know where to start, so confused as to which areas are best for beginners, what are the essentials, how do ski lift passes work, etc. What else is there to do on ski holidays, advice would be much appreciated - thanks

Lech in Austria is awesome and popular with children that age. Baeutiful town (some are like concrete jungles) and wide range of places to ski. Food fab, good mix of different ability slopes and some holiday companies that specialise in families such as Mark Warner. Toilet facilities much better than France

Ski passes are bought per person not as group and you buy pass which covers number of days needed, not a new pass each day. If you go with tour company they will guide you on all that anyway.

You can go for horse pulled sled rides, cinema, most towns/hotels have swimming pool +sauna, but you'll be knackered (tired but happy) anyway so won't need much else. Some places also do skidoo jaunts or canada would do husky sledding (£££££££!)

hth

Most brochures/websites rate the resorts so you can easily see which has the more stars for Beginners or Families. Pick a resort which has a reliable snow record (preferably over 1800m) and other activities advertised like ice skating, indoor pool, access to glacier, sledging and winter walking. Where had you in mind ?

You'd all need lessons so a good ski school is essential, with English speaking instructors - Austria and Andorra are typically good as you get Australian and New Zealanders over for the season. A Uk tour operator can arrange these and you'd probably be put in groups with other UK holidaymakers. You can also book private lessosn but think your dc would prefer to be in a peer group and make more rapid progress than adults. tbh many beginners won't progress far off the nursery slopes in a week so you don't need to worry too much about an area lift pass at first. Some beginner lifts are free or you can buy a pass limited to the nursery area. You scan the pass at the entrance to each lift. It may even be cheaper to buy what is called a Points Card to start with (which is basically pay as you go) if it is offered and upgrade as required.

You can hire equipment (skis, boots, helmets) through the TO or independently from a resort sports shop but you'd need the essentials of a good jacket/salopettes or trousers (waterproof, windproof and breathable), gloves , ski socks (with no seams), thermals if early season and long sleeved layers for underneath.

hth

When DS and I were beginners, we started in Niederau, Austria. You need to find a resort that is listed in the brochure as good with beginners. The Neilson brochures have some sort of star system.The cheapest tends to be the "skier pack", which includes the hire of the equipment, lift pass and lessons. If possible, pick a ski-in-ski out hotel. Walking with ski boots on is difficult, so the closer you are to the slopes, the better. Having to get on a bus in the morning to get to the slopes would really spoil my holiday.

You will need good breathable clothes: underlayer, top layer and jacket. Unless you are going somewhere really cold (minus 10 and under), in which case you might need one extra layer. I know minus 10 sounds like really cold, but once you are up there skiing, you don't feel the cold that much. Good skiing socks and gloves are essential.

Yes some TO's do specific "Learn to Ski" resorts/weeks.

Thanks for your help, how much would be a realistic budget for a week, how expensive are the places to eat out etc...

Lapland might be a good idea too - lots of non-ski activities.
And try a lesson or 2 at a UK slope to see what you feel about it.
I'd go with a big tour operator for a first time, you'll be looked after. Bear in mind though accomodation is about half the cost - passes/lessons/ski hire are about £300 a person at least.

Realistic budget depends on where and when. I would think you are looking at 3-4k with passes, food and flights etc, but you could easily double that, with some resorts.
We go with snowbizz which are very good - they will look after you, sort you out, and have a good kids club and good english-speaking instructors.

Some resorts are more expensive than others. Val d'isere, courcheval in France are expensive. Don't go to chamonix or tignes as a beginner. Switzerland is more expensive than France or Austria.

We were in val d'isere last month and the cheapest place in resort os £15 a head for lunch. You could easily pay £50 a head in some places.

For your first time go with a company that do childcare. Your kids are too old for childcare as such but if you go with a company like esprit or Mark warner their snow rangers will take the kids to lessons for you. Otherwise you'll find that trying to get three kids ready and in boots, carrying skis to the meeting point when you're struggling with boots, etc yourself will be a nightmare. And adult lessons sometimes meet in a different location to kids lessons or finish at a different time so check those details out if you do do it all yourself.

Lessons are likely to be for three hours in the morning. So have a think about what you're likely to want to do in the afternoons. Some beginners are happy to go out on the nursery slopes on their own and practice, others are too knackered or nervous. Your 6yo is unlikely to want to ski in the afternoons. So do you want to book them into a snow club type arrangement like esprit run. But then a snow club is likely to be too young for a 9 and 11 yo, unless they run a teen explorers type snow club where they take older kids off and about.

We tend to ski in the afternoons but if we do have N afternoon off it's nice to find a resort with a pool and go for a swim, or go ice skating.

We're just back from Samoens in France with a group, we had 5 boys ranging in age from 6-9 and 2 toddlers :-) Most of them hadn't done much skiing before and it was ideal. They had lessons in the morning and it was so hot that in the afternoon we sat near a bar attached to a couple of beginners slopes and they went up and down that on their own. There are plenty of nice long blue runs as well. The town is a medieval alpine village with lots of little shops. It's the 2nd year in a row we've been there and I can't recommend it highly enough!