Easter 2025 - Club Med Ski

[HertsMum123]

We are a family of four with beginner children aged 8 and 5. We like the idea of Club Med for its convenience and facilities when little legs are weary. We will be going the first week of April and wondered if we should stick to snow-sure Tignes or the likes of Alpe D'Huez or La Rosiere would be OK, given the kids will be on nursery slopes (and I prefer greens and blues too).

Aside from snow, is the location of the Club Med in these resorts good for the slopes/lifts etc? Are they really ski in and out, if you are a beginner?

Pros/Cons to consider about resorts and Club Med generally.

Club Med use ESF which makes me nervous as I hear some harsh things about them, true? I've never used them for myself.

I love a bit of club med, but I’m never convinced about the kids ski lessons. They look like Chinese whispers on snow.
Personally I’d try another option and someone like Oxygen or Evolution2

Tignes for certain.

Oh and no they aren’t always ski in/out if a beginner.

The food is great, it’s great to be AI for a big group, the kit is good, but for a learner, I’d go elsewhere, but I’m fussy.

We only use CM for adult lessons.

La Rosiere is definitely ski in ski out and relatively snow sure. There aren’t that many greens but it’s ok for beginners. Club med is very well set up and relatively stress free, it’s mostly English people at that time. ESF do the lessons - we have had experiences with instructors whose English was not amazing, and they are generally much less sympathetic than the equivalent English sports instructor would be…!

Both Alpe d'Huez and La Rosiere are south-facing and vulnerable to poor snow in sunny conditions. Personally I'd avoid both at Easter and look for something higher and more snow-sure -Tignes or Val Thorens. Club Med has opened a new complex in Tignes Val Claret - it has its own nursery slope and is next to a lift (Tichot) which is the starting point to a loop that a lot of the ski schools use. It's probably a five minute walk to other nursery slope lifts (Bollin - you can ski to it from the hotel but it's flat, so hard work for a beginner). The prices are eye-watering though (haven't stayed there, only looked out of idle curiosity!) so depends on your budget.

Personally I like Evolution 2 for lessons - our kids had a great time learning with them in Val Claret; they made it a lot of fun and gave them a lot of confidence.

Mark Warner and Esprit used to have catered chalets in Tignes.

Unfortunately Esprit no longer exists in its previous form - it's been subsumed into Inghams. Mark Warner is in Val Claret but it's not a ski in/ski out location.

Echo @stringbean comments about going higher. We went to Val Thorens this year at Easter, and had constant snow after the first day. There is a Club Med in Val T which is next to the main slope going through the town, and technically ski in/out.

Either Evo2 or Prosneige are good for kids lessons, look at whether they offer lunch as well (finishing at 2.30) which gives you a decent chunk of the day to ski before you pick them up. PS had our 4 year old skiing blues by the end of the week quite happily.

Having experienced ESF myself, not sure I'd be happy leaving my kids there either.

Club Med can be seriously pricey, but it is AI. I suppose it depends how you plan to spend apres-ski really.

We were gutted when we found out Esprit were no longer operating, and Inghams doesn't offer the same childcare/lessons.

you can keep down Club Med costs by hiring ski stuff locally rather than from Club Med itself. 4 of us saved over £1000 between us that way. Although we had a great time, my other gripe was that the lessons were 9.30 to 11.30, then a 2 hour break for lunch before skiing 1.30 to 3. So only 3-4 hours out of 7 on the slopes.

Probably a bit late to this thread. Alpe D'Huez at the Bergers end (which is where club med is) is pretty good for beginners - there's lots of green runs in a sort of bowl that all come into the same place but it's easy to get higher up for those wanting more challenging runs. As a PP says though, pretty much all of it is south facing so you run the risk of more slush than other resorts at Easter.

I absolutely love Tignes. Been 4 times and going again this year. Not sure how great it is for beginners though. You're paying for a ski pass that covers a huge area when there won't be a massive amount of it you'll ski. There's some lovely greens up Col de Fresse (Borsat lift) although the very top of it is quite hairy for a green run (although it's only the first 50 metres or so) the rest is lovely and wide. Getting back would either involve getting the bubble down tovieres but that takes you into Le Lac which isn't where Club Med is. Or skiing either Henri or Prariond blues. Both are pretty okay blues but, like all runs into resort, they can get a bit busy and stressful especially at the end of the day.

My kids point blank refuse to do ESF again. Although some of that is them not liking group lessons and their lack of patience waiting for everyone. We've used Evolution 2 a couple of times for private lessons and they've been brilliant. Ultimate Snowsports also v v good but they meet in Le Lac.

Agree about ESF. I think their policy is that the less they teach the longer they can keep you in lessons and the more money they'll make Evolution2 much better, in my view, as is almost any non-French ski school.

We found the Club Med ski lessons to be fine - you do need to be a bit on it though, and ask them to move children up a group if they are doing well.