Long weekend skiing

[Raaaaaah]

We are just back from our first week skiing as a family and I would love to get a long weekend in before the end of the season. It would be for myself and my son, preferably ski in ski out so we can make the most of our time there. We are both beginners so nice nursery, green and blues with great instructors/guides and fairly easy to get to. Any ideas? When you don’t know much about skiing it feels a bit of a minefield!

Only certain resorts seem to offer split weeks. Depending on what time of year (i.e. Easter isn't any good in all places) these are the best places I have found:

Chamonix - la tour is the only easy ski area though, the rest is quite tough
Courmayeur- nice blues over the back
Austria - seems much more flexible
Baqueira Beret - again flexible

I'm sure others have ideas too

Do you want a package, or are you going to DIY?

For part weeks you would probably be looking at private lessons. Most won't teach group lessons on Saturday and/or Sundays or offer just a few days. Tbh a long weekend can easily cost as much as a week. Where did you go?

When we go on a long weekend those that need lessons have private ones.

A friend did a mid week (week long) trip to Flaine and hit the issue with private lessons.

Lessons in Italy seemed noticeably cheaper to me.

Morzine can be easily reached from Geneva by shuttle bus and has quite a few blues. If you put in a request to chaletsdirect.com you can get chalets to tell you costs and availability.
Cost wise - yes my ladies weekend - going on Friday yay- is costing more per person than our weeklong Easter trip, but hey its all good.

Morzine and Les Gets nice short transfers from Geneva for a long weekend - lots of last minute deals available too, try VIP Ski, Powder White etc

Definitely ask in the solutions room on the chalets direct website.

When are you thinking of going?

Morzine / Les gets / Les Carroz are easy for transfers but quite low so not so good for later in the season. Flaine is a bit higher and an easy transfer.

For non-standard weeks then private lessons are probably the best bet but obviously cost a fair bit more.

Chalet Morillon does part weeks, is ski in ski out and is about 1 hour from Geneva.

Sorry for late message....try www.skiweekends.com they have chalets in Morzine and Flaine that might be worth a try...

Thank you, that’s brilliant. Happy to pay a bit more for private lessons and the benefits of ski in ski out. It just seems such a shame to leave it a whole year when you are just beginning to get the knack.

I live in Les Gets which is an hour from GVA. We first came here on holiday aaaaages ago and fell in love with how easy it is to ski here with kids. Obviously I'm biased but for a long weekend without the need for extreme off piste I think it's pretty perfect. I work for an estate agents and we help with absolutely everything around self catering holidays. Obviousy I'm touting for business but I'm more than happy to help with recommendations for everything and further details about LG even if you're not looking for accommodation!

Have a look at Andorra. You can fly to Barcelona and hire a car. It’s not too expensive and great for beginners. If you stay in arinsal you’ll be no more than 30s from the main gondola and they’re having an amazing season for snow fall.

I'm in Chamonix at the moment & we haven't had fresh snow for ages so pistes are hard-packed with a thin covering of sugar....
I'd suggest a last minute deal in March after all the kids have gone back to school. Flights & transfers are cheap, grab an apartment off AirBnB and come to Cham Valley (I would recommend Les Houches, Megeve or Les Contamines) as soon as we have some snow. You will find instructors available on the local Facebook page.

In your position I would DIY unless money no object, and then would consider somewhere quiet and with cheap tuition. Italy would be my choice. Maybe corvara, San cassiano, or a select bit of cortina - namely pocol.

Alternatively (and if you dont feel confident hiring a car) maybe austria, flying into innsbruck or salzburg. You could also consider Auron or Vars/Risoul in France, fly to nice, free bus from airport to resort. I think the main large French resorts offer very poor value for money personally- pricy tuition and lift passes, ditto ski hire.

We've done Cervinia - if you fly to Turin it's an easy transfer. Private lessons (for 3 childten) were about £150 for 3 hours at Christmas. Great for beginners / intermediates. We had an Airbnb which was a 2 min walk from slopes.

Another vote here for Les Gets. I actually worked 3 ski seasons there many moons ago but have also done long weekends since. It is low but you will be fine if you go in the next 4-6 weeks. Towards end of April is getting a bit sketchy.

There are lots of lovely green and blue runs and it's a really lovely traditional chalet resort.

I can't recommend specific accommodation as it's been too long since I was there but there will be plenty of ski in / ski out accommodation.