Is this a crazy plan? Take dcs skiing at Christmas.

[sunnysaturdaydaffs]

DH and I don't ski, and sadly can't start due to dodgey knees.

I'd like to take teen dcs though.

Would it make sense to get a chalet in a nice ski town, then arrange ski school for the kids. I guess I could deliver them there and pick up.

I've read lots of ski threads, we usually do air B and B rather than hotels.

Any suggestions for resorts for ski and non skiers?

I doubt Finland would tick the "not too much" box though.

In Austria you don't need to go high in order to get snow at Christmas. The mountains are further inland than the French Alps, so the climate is slightly different and the key resorts all have extensive snow-making coverage. The "long rides" up the mountain are a thing of the past - the high-speed gondolas in Saalbach have heated seats, wifi (one set has a bluetooth jukebox) and take no more than 10 minutes from bottom to top.

Remember, the OP's teenagers are beginners so they don't need huge amounts of off-piste, steep and deep snow terrain. For their first trip somewhere with good coverage on the easier, well-groomed pistes will suffice. Plenty of resorts would fit the bill - Saalbach, Hinterglemm, Wagrain, Westendorf, Flachau and many more in Austria; Kronplatz in Italy, La Rosiere in France. For a first trip don't bother with the mega-resorts (unless you get a great deal) such as St. Anton, Courchevel, Meribel, Wengen etc. - you'll be paying for the reputation as much as for the facilities. And don't stay outside of the resort - the skiers want to be as close to the lifts and pistes as possible as that is where the action is both on and off the slopes.

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If you're not skiing I would go for Easter OP. Christmas as a non skier can be really very cold, whereas at Easter you can have lovely walks in the valley. This Easter we were joined by my Dad (81, non skier, but likes walking) and we all enjoyed ourselves. It was 27 degrees one day (usually 20ish) in the valley.

We stay in the valley in the Southern French Alps in a town near Briancon and drive up to the resorts (there are some buses). This is much more economical. If you drive, get an Air B&B (perhaps 500 Euro for the week) you keep the cost down. Also I would avoid big resorts - why pay $$$ for a lift pass when it is your first trip? The difference between the prices in Les Orres, Crevoux and Serre Chevalier and Val d'Isere are massive. We pay about 2€ for a coffee, €1 for an espresso...more like €5+ in the big named places.

Some of our best Christmases were in ski resorts. It was a good choice for me as a single parent as friends all disappeared for "Family time". And it's really special knowing you'll have a white Christmas. The chalets and hotels do Christmas very well.

I wouldn't recommend a budget destination. We did Borovets one year and it was awful - disorganised, few lifts working, poor food, 4 star hotel would barely be a 2 star anywhere else. Austria is magical with some very pretty villages (Soll, Zell Am See) or one of the purpose built resorts in France (not so pretty but lots of activity) like Les Arcs. If you're happy to wait until closer to the time, sites such as Igluski do heavily discounted packages. Still an expensive holiday but well worth it.

What do you mean by 'DH likes glaciers'? Skiing on a glacier is not always the same as hiking on them or seeing them in summer. The exception, in my opinion being Saas Fee.. where skiing alongside the glaciers is amazing - however, if he doesn't ski - it's not quite the same, though saying that - there are many locations that are accessible by lift and you can get high and see the views.

If its got to be in the school holidays, have a look at the Eurostar charter service from skiline.co.uk they have a departure on the 18thDecember that come back to London on the 24th Dec... Prices are really cheap, I spotted an apartment in Les Arcs, France with a free ski pass and return Eurostar to the Alps for £500!

That's got to be the cheapest ski holiday over the school holiday date..

Xmas week is normally a lot cheaper than the following week. Slightly complicated this year because Xmas is on a Sunday. Would definitely go for Austria rather than Switzerland - Saas Fee a bad idea because (a) the layout of the mountains means you are in the shade even when the sky is cloudless; and (b) it is horrendously expensive even by Swiss standards.

We went to Quebec a few times via Montreal We hired a car, and 1.5 hrs later we were in M’ont Tremblant. Loved it. Very clean, great food, easy to Air bnb etc.

Then one year we got very fancy, and tried a few mountains in Quebec (all within a two hour drive) and also crossed the border into Vermont to ski in Stowe. We had a wonderful time, found it a little less busy than the European resorts, and reasonable (for Ski) price wise.

For non skiers there is lots to do and see

One caveat - you can get icy conditions in the North East.