First family ski trip with Snowbizz - what to expect

[YorkshireTeaDrinker]

Just booked to go to Puy St Vincent in March with Snowbizz. I am starting to get excited, but also beginning to think about packing and logistics.

Party consists of me, DH and 4yo DD. DD hasn't skied before, DH had one 5 day trip to Andorra 8 years ago and I haven't skied at all for 15 years (was a slowish intermediate). We have gone with Snowbizz primarily because of the good reviews here, the price and the quality of the child care / ski school.

But I have no real idea what to expect and how we will manage. What should we take (is one ski jacket and salopettes enough for DD, for instance, or should I have spares?), what do I do if it turns out she hates it? Also, what do I do if she loves it and starts whizzing off down blue runs with me slowly snowploughing after her?! Is it likely she will progress off the nursery slopes within the week?

We are self catering, but I don't want to cook all week, can anyone familiar with Puy St Vincent recommend places to eat in the evening. What are the shops like in the resort ( have heard mixed reviews). Also, what possible non ski activities are there that we can do in the afternoons if DD has had her fill of skiing for the day?

Would love to hear from anyone who has been to Puy St Vincent in particular, but also general advice on skiing with a pre-schooler, so that I can set realistic expectations and also pack sensibly.

Lots of people seem to recommend two sets of salopettes for little ones but I must say we never found them necessary. So long as you have a drying area the modern fabrics seem to dry out fine overnight. Ours started at 3 and were big on digging in the snow so did get wet. We did always take two pairs of gloves, and normally take regular gloves for going out in the evenings.

If she hates it you just have to let her stop and do other activites with her I'm afraid, unless there is a non skiing child care option. I found it much better to let them have the odd day off when they were little and didn't want to go, rather than sending them in tears. Usually a day not skiing and they were keen to go back again.

In a week I would assume she will get off the nursery slopes, especially if she is a co-ordinated fearless child. If you really don't feel safe skiing with her then she just has to do more ski school. Mine have all done lots of ski school just because I would rather pay someone else to take them skiing on the sort of runs they like than have to do it myself! (Any run with cliff or death in the name is not a run I'm prepared to ski!)

We're off skiing with Snowbizz for the first time a week on Sunday, so I'm watching with interest. I promise I'll come back and update with some info!

I'm a firm believer in on jacket and two sets of salopettes after having to buy an extra set in resort one year which was not cheap!

I'm not sure if she'll get off the nursery slopes, DD was 4 last year and didn't. I was very disappointed with ESF though as she had done more in 2 hours at a snowdome beforehand than she did in a week with ESF. I'm hoping Snowbizz will be better.

There will be loads of alternative activities like sledging and ice skating or even just taking them up in a chairlift (assuming there's one suitable for non skiers).

We have been twice with Snowbizz & loved it - only reason we're not going again this year is we can't go until Easter so looking for somewhere higher up. Our DS was 6 when we 1st went - she was off nursery slope & onto chair lift on day 2 & they did have younger ones in the group. DS was 9 & fearless & moved up into next group on 1st morning so off on chair lift straight away! Not sure if lessons differ for pre-schoolers - ours had 2 hours each morning, we then had lunch in apartment (right next to slope) & either back out to ski with us in afternoon (DS every day) or lazy afternoon in apartment & sledging (DD prob every other day). There is an open air pool but not much else in the resort. Snowbizz had DVD players for hire when we were there so take some DVDs or iPad etc for possible afternoons in. Also think the Snowbizz crèche was available all day too.
Ours did pick up speed quite quickly with skiing but we just told them they had to ski behind us & seemed to work ok mostly - apart from a couple of straight down out of control moments!
Ski wear - we have 1 set salopettes & jacket but as previous post 2 pairs gloves definitely a good idea - borrow if you can - always wet at end if morning & easier to swap than try & dry over lunch. All clothes dried over night though - had clothes airer in apartment.
We ate out a couple of nights - not a great deal of choice, but alpine food ( rostis, raclette etc) & pizza, steaks etc available. Also had take out - home cooked casseroles etc rather than fast food, from place next to supermarket. Supermarket was limited & always busy, but good bakery for bread , quiches etc. Take some basics with you if you can - packet sauces, tomato ketchup, microwave rice, breakfast cereal, hot chocolate, mini mars etc.
Have a fantastic time - the Snowbizz staff were brilliant & always on hand to advise on anything & great with the kids.

We went Snowbizzing with older children (6yo to 11yo) last year and had a great time.

zc has already given lots of good advice, but just to share our experiences:

we only had 1 jacket/pair salopettes each, 2 pairs thermals, 3 pairs socks, 2 pair gloves. There are some very nice ski shops in the main building, so if you need anything you can just pop in there. We carried our ski boots up to our room as they didn't dry out properly in the lockers, soggy cold ski boots are NOT GOOD.

I am a slow intermediate too and did lessons myself while my dc's did. DH just blasted around the slopes on his own. We then met up for lunch and went for a ski altogether after lunch. My dc's loved the children's club in the evening and they don't normally like that sort of thing. Not sure your dd will be old enough or awake enough for that but defo give it a try.

I would pack essentials for the rooms - as zc said, pasta, rice, tea, coffee, etc.... maybe dish cloth, tea towel, dishwasher tabs that sort of thing. I always take a spare loo roll . Rooms are pretty basic but clean. Maybe keep some newspaper from your flight to put wet boots on. The outdoor swimming pool was fun so take swim stuff.

There is a nice restaurant that is a short walk up the hill, I think it's called La Chaumiere, you can get the Snowbizz staff to book it but it might not open until 7pm or so. The staff were very friendly and my kids loved it. You must try raclette if you haven't before (yummy melted cheese / potato / charcuterie combo). We found the other restaurants were pretty similar, lots of chips! There is a sweet shop which my children all enjoyed.

there is a place near the supermarket where you can rent a fondue set for cheese or beef (plus other goodies) and they give you the meat/cheese and sauces etc... You take it back to your room and return it next day. That was fun, and very yummy. Ask the snowbizz staff for details. The bakery is good.

If you have ANY problems while you're there just speak to Michel, he is really helpful and will sort you out, particularly as regards your dd's skiing.

I doubt you'll be skiing with your DD, so I wouldn't worry about what standard she gets to. My experience of skiing with a 4-year-old is that you can just about drag them to ski school each day, but they are exhausted after that. When DS1 learned to ski he did ski school in the morning and creche in the afternoon, which worked perfectly because DH and I could ski and have a leisurely lunch on the mountain sans enfants!

Our boys have one ski outfit each, two or three pairs of thermals (particularly thermal bottoms for little ones in case of accidents), two pairs of waterproof gloves, fleece gloves, hat and scarf, and a pair of snow boots for walking around the village, playing in the snow, and to/from creche. Mountain Warehouse have a great sale on at the moment with kids ski stuff really cheap. We got a new jacket, salopettes and two sets of thermals for DS1 for next winter for £65. Aldi also apparently now do ski wear, but I can't vouch for it and I've never been to PSV, so I can't comment on your other stuff. Bon ski!

P.S. Better than a scarf is a neck gaiter - basically a fleece tube that goes around the neck and can't come off/get tangled around anything and strangle them. We got ours from JoJo Maman Bebe, but they're readily available and do keep little necks warm.

Oh yeah and ski socks! Duh. At least two pairs.

recommend places to eat in the evening we had opted for the la chaumiere meals which were very nice. It's a short walk up the hill from the sun vallee appts. There are also a couple of other restaurants in the same building as the appts. We ate in one the first night and they had a really reasonable fixed price menu as well as pizzas, tartiflette etc. earliest opening time for dinner was 6.30.

What are the shops like in the resort We mainly shopped in the Sherpa which was well stocked if a little expensive. There were several other shops selling wine/cheese/meat and also the sweet shop as previously mentioned.

Also, what possible non ski activities are there that we can do in the afternoons if DD has had her fill of skiing for the day? there's a heated outdoor pool and a free ice rink. Play park by the nursery slopes and a bouncy castle by the tourist info. You could also hire skidoos and there are several safe areas for kids to sledge. The chairlifts allowed non skiers up on the hour.

Yet again we used the spare pair of salopettes. DD (5) wet herself in morning ski school, she would have missed skiing with us in the afternoon and her first set were not dry by the morning. I buy spare sets on eBay or in the tkmaxx yellow label sale. £3 DD's spare set cost versus the opportunity cost of missing an afternoon skiing. It's a total no brainier for me!

Oh and we had a fab time with Snowbizz. Only complaint was the tiny beds.

The 4yr olds are in Totons, who would not usually leave the nursery slope but DD was on her second week at 4, and had been up the chair with us, so was allowed to join the main junior groups half way through the week so this might be an option if your DD progressed quickly. I had only been once, 6 years before our first Snowbizz trip, so have just managed to keep ahead of DD for the last 7 years.

We always took a spare pair of salopettes but I don't think we ever used them. The apartments are very warm so things dry quickly and I second taking boots up to the apartment. We usually look like a Mountain Warehouse advert when we ski; my salopettes cost £10 in the sale.

The Snowbizz crèche used to be available in the afternoon for under 6s; we booked DD in for 3 afternoons at 3 & 4, though I think we only used 2. At busy times this had to be booked in advanced but this was quite a few years ago so not sure how the system is now.

Afternoons that she wasn't in the crèche we used to sledge and play in the playground and then meet DH and DS for a drink at the cafe at the top of the main lift. There are marked walking trails but they can be hard work if there is lots of snow. We always went in March and it was always too hot for the ice rink by then.

The Sherpa is fine for basics. We've always eaten a biggish meal at lunch, usually in the Chamois, and then had something light for dinner, often bread and cheese, as DCs could be tired when little (and dashing out to kids club when older).

We had 5 fab years with Snowbizz and have only moved on because it's got a bit small for us now we're all decent skiers. The kids would still like to go back.

we have just got back from our 5th trip to snowbizz. all the advice so far has been good, I would add a couple of other things:

1. you land at Turin airport, which is inevitably chaos. take something to occupy your DD (ideally a book and something to eat) so you and her can wait while your DH braves the suitcase reclaim. It is always like this, so just breathe and smile. The trolleys require a 1 euro coin if you think you will want one. The journey takes a couple of hours, so we always bring sarnies to eat on the coach, but there is a little 'snack shop' thing as you come out the airport if you prefer to buy something there.

2. the mountain road is very windy, and my little one was quite sick. At the very least have a couple of plastic bags for vomiting into, and consider a clean t-shirt for everyone to wear in case the worst happens.

3. you can go and get your ski stuff on the sunday afternoon, so keep a pair of ski socks where you can easily find them so you can wander down to the ski hire place (twinner, the far end of the row of skishops in 1600. the young men speak english and are very charming and helpful). If you go eearly you beat the rush of all the other snowbizz guests, so don't get so flustered.

4)the restaurants are all good, as is the take-away pizza. the chaumiere doesn't serve food till 6.30, if your daughter likes to eat earlier.

5)you asked what to do if your daughter doesn't like skiing? the trick is to make it fun from the beginning. If she doesn't want to ski in the afternoon, don't push it, borrow a sledge from snowbizz, buy her a hot chocolate (+/- a crepe), take her swimming, go for a walk in the woods and look for snow fairies. Take some colouring books etc for the appartment!

6)the skiing is very good. It might be worth your DH having lessons too, becasue the higher groups do off-piste and trees and stuff, so a lot of fun even for good skiers.

7)if your daughter does want to ski in the afternoon, there is a lovely easy green (le chemin) that goe from the appartments at 1600 to 1400 and then up a 6man chair. you could do this route every afternoon - the kids don't get bored, and it is nice and gentle. that way you can avoid the blues if you wanted to. Just after the top of this 6 man chair is a cafe with the best hot chocolate in the resort, so might be worth taking her in there for a treat.

8)the swimming pool is 5euros each for adults, but it is possible to buy a 'multi entry' ticket so it costs less per use. If you want this, ask the lady at the desk.

9)the supermarket often requires you to take your own bags, so take a big shopping bag.

10)take a big shopping bag to carry your daughters ski kit in as well(but with just 1 you might not need this)

11)if you haven't got 2 pairs of salloppettes, don't worry if she is reliably dry. We always took 2 pairs until recently, but i got mine cheap in aldi, so don't spend a fortune.

12)the instructors are excellent, any problems speak to michel. He is lovely and very helpful (and preceptive too).

13. you can have a babysitter (the snowbizz nannies) but book them at the 'welcome meeting'.

My main advice is this: this holiday is the groundwork for the next 10 years of skiing. your job is not to teach your DD to ski, but to persuade her that skiing is a fun holiday. Don't push her into anything, just relax and enjoy the scenary and the sunshine!

almost forgot the chocolate!
buy some mini marsbars (or whatever) to put one in her pocket every day before skischool. this is her 'emergency chocolate' - let her eat it after the lesson while she waits for you to turn up. It's a bit of a treat, and restores some energy!