3 year old

[swimymummy]

My DD will be 3.5 next feb/march, we are looking at ski holidays. Has anyone got any experience of lessons and whether they are worthwhile at that age?

We went to Flaine last year with Crystal and there were 3 year olds in ski lessons. She loved “skiing” on DHs skis on the nursery slopes. Considering La Thuile with Crystal but they don’t do lessons that young or El Tarter with Neilson for next year.

Any advice or reviews from people who have been to those resorts welcome 🤗

We’ve had our little one skiing since 1.5 and snowboarding since 2. Generally we play around and make it as fun as possible, if you are confident skiers then that might be enough for a first time but ESF will run lessons in their play gardens from 3 years old.

Our local dry slope runs a toddler club every week so we also go there, a few dry slope lessons if you can find them is a great way to get into the gear and used to it.

We’ve had lots of progress and our boy loves it, he can turn and is really stable going pretty fast (just turned 3 last month). I recommend a good adventure harness for when you take them out, means you aren’t grabbing arms etc. Also good to get a strong hold on chair lifts. Definitely lots of snacks in pockets too!

Also have low expectations, some days just aren’t the one but keep trying. Well worth it in my eyes to power through and try again the next day.

Sorry forgot to add the ESF piou piou lessons are what you are after. We haven’t used them but lots of people do for that age (ex chalet host here and guests all liked it).

Or just get an hour or two of private lessons as an intro and go out yourself with the little one in between to get a feel of it.

Look at Snowbizz in Puy saint vincent. They are totally set up to accommodate 3 year olds between skiing and crèche.

I know it is not the resorts you have mentioned, but Leysin in Switzerland was brilliant for my 4. They've got a ski school for very young children (3 years) down towards the Tobogganing Park (which in itself is fab, esp as they have one for older kids and adults, and one for little ones.) Some of the nursery slopes just above Central Residence were also free when we went, the general skiing is also quite good. Of course, Switzerland is not cheap, but flights to GVA are not that expensive, and you can get the train direct from the airport into Aigle, then the little funicular train up to the resort. There is a (public) swimming pool in the resort. All in all, it probably wasn't my absolute favourite place to ski, but with four youngsters in tow, it ticked a lot of boxes. Good luck x

We used the ESF Piou Piou lessons mentioned above for my DC and they worked well. Some little ones don't like to be left though.

I'd probably add that it is "worthwhile". Learning to ski (and to manage the lifts and the mountains) when they are older is so much more expensive and difficult. Although I shook my head a few times when carrying all of the stuff for 4 young skiers, they carried their own stuff early, and they all absolutely love it, and I have never had to pay for lessons.

My cousin taught me the basics of skiing when I was a tot and I remember him just making me fall back and sit back on my bum which he seemed to think was as important as general balance and swerving your skis correctly

Learn how to fall back safely on bum especially I guess if the slope suddenly seems to much

Lessons are worth every penny, honestly! The ESF piou piou lessons would be what you’re after - they’re so good with children! You’ll be amazed at what your DC can do by the end of it. You can request English-speaking instructors.
We go to La Plagne now but have been to other French resorts in the past. ESF are similar in all the ones we’ve been to.

Thank you so much everyone. Will make sure we choose a resort where she can have lessons. We are both confident skiers, but would like to use lesson time to ski reds/blacks/off piste on our own. So will definitely do lessons.

I'd also recommend looking at the Scandinavian Skistar resorts as well - they have a mascot called Valle the snowman who will come out and ski with the children. He's a big hit with the kids in our family!

Definitely look at Snowbizz, small family business, been in business for 30 years. Their target market is families with kids under 12. They have spotted a gap in the market and do what they do amazingly well.
We first went with them 9 years ago after a MN recommendation.

just to add that while there are lessons available, many three year olds do not want to or are scared. Ours was terrified of being left alone with the instructor and the massive boots at 3. At 4 he got it, and loved it. So I would book a mini taster session first.

Our children are older, but we used Evolution 2 in Les Arcs, and they have a Panda Club for 3 and 4 year olds. Half day lessons in their snow gardens. We chose Evolution 2 as it offers all lessons in English and has a maximum of 8 students to a class.

If you stay in 1950 or 2000, where the Panda Club is based, you'll have fast and easy access to reds and blacks for the two hours of lessons, and still get back easily. They also offer lunch club and the option of stating for a post lunch play if you wanted to squeeze in a bit more once or twice over the week.

evolution2.com/en/les-arcs/panda-club

Three is a great age to go skiing but they aren’t super keen to be alone with the instructor. We did a few hours with a private teacher over a weekend skiing with us but only teaching the kids. When we went back the next year they could do the blue slopes with us no problem, so well worth the extra cost (though given that there are two of them the difference between the private teacher and the course was negligible in our case). They say they are happy to do group lessons next year.

Def check the resort teaches 3 year olds. Personally I’d swerve ESF. Loved Oxygene and Evo2. We hired an instructor for the week with 3 other families a couple of years and that was amazing - and cheaper than all in groups. Now they will do a day or two guided.

Do 3 year olds remember much after a year though? Honestly, no. We then took ours to the snow centre every school holiday after the first year, it meant we always started where we left off, not spending 2 days remembering. My DD12 & 14 can now ski double black diamonds, off piste, frankly almost anything. We ski hard as a family now and I bloody love it.

We’ve skied La Thuile, not sure there is that much to keep you amused to be honest. Great little cafes on the runs (it was FREEZING when we were there), but it’s small and not much advanced terrain area. The link to La Rosiere is loooong so you wouldn’t get there and back very easily in lessons.