Ski Famille / Family ski company; 5 & 8 yr old kids

[Farrings]

We're planning to take a week's ski holiday 3rd - 10th Jan and are looking at ski famille or family ski company

Does anyone have experience with these companies?

Our daughters are 5 and 8, english speakers and have never skied or even worn skis, so we're keen to make their first ski holiday as good as possible

DH is a competent skier, and he'll teach me, so we're sorted, it's mainly the kids i'm thinking about

We have a good budget set aside, so i'm prepared to pay for better services where needed, if it helps them

Ski Famille offer childcare all day (lessons in morning, play in afternoon) - is this too much for the kids or do they love it? Would the 8 year old get bored?

Any advice hugely appreciated, thank you so much😊

I’d seriously get some lessons for yourself. Being a competent skier does not mean you are necessarily a competent or even adequate instructor. 2 hours a day from a professional and then DH can coach you.

Thank you - anyone else and I'd completely agree, luckily he's an experienced ski instructor (sorry should have said that first) and has taught me a bit in the past, he honestly has the patience of a saint! So we should be ok.

He has wisely said he doesn't think it best that he teach the kids though, and we'd love some time alone too. So i'd really like to get it right for them

Ski Famille and Family Ski Company both get good reviews on Snowheads, and are usually flexible enough in terms of skiing and activities to ensure that the kids don't get over-tired or bored.

I'm a former instructor and I totally agree with @Radiatorvalves - get yourself some private lessons with an instructor rather than expecting your husband to teach you. It's probably years since he learned how to ski and he will have forgotten how difficult it is for beginners for the first few days. I'd go further - trying to teach/learn with a spouse is the fastest way to a divorce. Over the years I've seen countless couples arguing, falling out, tears, and skis, poles and punches being thrown when one person has been trying to teach their beginner partner. It's just not worth it! I even worked in one ski school where we had a policy of splitting couples up and not allowing them into the same group lessons if we felt that they were on the point of falling out with each other.

[Edited - having seen the update regarding OP's husband being an instructor I'd still advise a degree of caution! None of my colleagues would teach their spouses, and when my partner wants a tune-up session we ask one of the other instructors. We have a simple rule - never criticise your partner's driving and never comment on their skiing!]

Thank you, that's great to hear they get good reviews :)

I'm going to take my chances with DH's ski instruction, he's honestly such a gentle soul...but if you spot a thread here in mid january seeking advice for divorce after a ski holiday, you'll know it's me, and I should have heeded your advice...😅

We used Family Ski Company when our kids were exactly that age and - with the caveat that it was some years ago - they were excellent. Used them every year for a few years, until our children were good enough skiers to ski with us in the afternoon so didn’t really need childcare.

My goodness I was so glad to read the update your DH is an instructor 😂
I only ever hear great things about ski famille but the timing never really worked for us so not a personal recommendation. A number of small childcare companies have stopped operating so they must be doing well if they are still going.
My only thought is an 8 year old should ideally be skiing a bit more than just the morning if keen, but if yours is super keen you’ve got your DH on hand so that’s fine!

I’ve seen but not used ski family in action several years in Les Gets and they seemed brilliant with the kids in their charge. Les Gets a great place to learn as long as there’s snow. It’s short transfer and small village but lots of English spoken. Both my girls learnt at the same age as your kids m, in Les gets as did my husband.

We’ve been with Family Ski a few times but the kids were younger than yours. It was fantastic but I actually found it difficult not seeing them all day every day on our family holiday. They had loads of fun though. Kids are now 6 and 9 and we go with SnowBizz in Puy St Vincent and it’s so perfect for kids! The resort is small and its ski in/ski out. The SnowBizz apartments are next to the lifts. The apartments are very basic and are self catering but that works well for us as we usually have a big lunch when we pick the kids up from their lessons/kids club and so we only really want something light in the evening. The food with family ski is immense and a real treat but given the incredible food you get in the resort restaurants it really wasn’t necessary

thanks so much , so helpful 🙏

we’ve used Ski Famille twice (2022 and 2023) when my youngest son was 7 and then 8, and Snowbizz last Christmas when my daughter was 4.5 years. Ski famille are fab but pricey and we wanted to self-drive and cater last year. The childcare of Snowbizz was amazing, PSV is great for skiing with kids and beginners (and intermediate but I did hanker for a few more pistes by the end). I’d recommend both, Ski Famille are great for the first few trips because having your breakfast and dinner sorted makes life so easy when trying to get to grips with the logistics of skiing with kids. Snowbizz’s accommodation is basic but they win on service and childcare.

Thank you - we are really drawn to ski famille, as you say it sounds like a great way to reduce some elements of stress on our first family ski trip

Skibizz sounds fantastic too though!

One thing that worries me slightly is the coach transfer after the flight; I’m not great on a busy coach as I get travel sick, and reading some reviews it seems if you’re unlucky with traffic, it can take hours?

We had wondered about using the train instead, going Eurostar to Paris, TGV down to Lyon then on to Moutiers, then Taxi the last stretch. Maybe adding an extra day to stop over and keep the journey relaxed

There is an alternative to travelling with a Tour Operator, which is to organise everything yourselves and stay at a Kinderhotel in Austria. Normally I wouldn't suggest this for a first time ski holiday, but as the OP's partner is a ski instructor he presumably knows how things work regarding getting to and from the resort and booking ski school lessons, hiring equipment etc. in resort.

As the name suggests, Kinderhotels are geared towards families with children, so just like the specialist family ski companies, there are specialist staff to look after the kids, the children are taken to ski school every day and collected at the end of the lessons, there are indoor and outdoor activities run by play leaders - and for the adults there are spa areas, a pool etc. Everyone speaks English.

As an example, look at the Ellmauhof in Hinterglemm, which as well as being a hotel also has a working farm attached so the kids can go and see the animals, ride ponies, pet the goats and small animals in the petting farm and so on.

Transfers from Salzburg airport are also easy and short. Public transport is free for tourists, but with small children it is probably easier to book a private transfer minibus. The big advantage for the OP is that Salzburg to Hintergemm only takes about 90 minutes and the journey is along valley roads (no scary hairpin bends or steep roads).

We booked a private transfer a couple of times from Geneva to Ardent (family ski resort) and it was great! My son gets very travel sick so we were able to ask the driver to stop for fresh air when necessary and my son could sit up front which really helped. Our friend booked it so not sure who we used or how much it was as it was a few years ago but worth looking in to x

We get the train (I hate flying). It’s fine, travel across Paris can be a faff although if you’re used to London then it’s no different. Lille is easier if you can get the trains. Taxis can be pricey - it cost us €120 each way from Bourg St Maurice to Val d’Isere - but there are also bus services from the main stops (Moutiers, Aime la Plagne and Bourg St Maurice) to the resorts, which will be cheaper. Although you will then need to get from the bus station to your accommodation. You can find bus services on the Altibus website and they are generally timed to meet the main services.

If you’re planning on doing it in one day it can be a long day though.

We have used Skifamille the last few years and going again in Jan (will be our fourth with them).

We had a really bad experience with Family ski and they have since changed their set up so they don't fall under the package holiday regulations.

I would say if its their first year skiing then the afternoon club is perfect. We would also meet them for some of the afternoon activities like ice skating, the apres party etc. You can sign then out if they are not out and about.

My children are 3 and 6 the 6 year old can ski so comes out with us after supervised lunch which finishes at 2.

If you pick one of the bigger chalets there is more likely to be a greater age range.

We loved Ski Famille. Very child centric. Are there other kids in your chalet and what age are they?

we loved it as it removed all the stress. They get them dressed and out of the chalet. You grab your stuff and just go.
they had a nanny with the ski classes to offer toilet and hot chocolate breaks.
in the afternoons they had a blast.

highly recommend ski famille. Have a fab time!

Btw we always drive when we go skiing in france .
avoids the hassle of weight limits on luggage. Avoids horrible transfers.
avoids hanging about with other people’s annoying kids!!!

And door to door it won’t take any additional time to drive via the tunnel. At least In our experience. (Friends left les gets ski famille chalet at 430am on the last day. We left after a leisurely breakfast - so around 930am. We got home as they arrived home!!!)

Also means you can up and go on the last day or hang around and enjoy a quiet morning on the slopes as a family. At your own pace rather than being dictated to by a school prefect!!!!

I nearly did get divorced after a ski trip.

never let a loved one teach you to drive or teach you to ski. Recipe for disaster IME
also consider your OH is going to be knackered if he is supporting you as well as your kids and this could impact his usual sunny soft demeanour. Skiing is tiring when you usually do a desk job and not doing hyrox every week!!!!

highly recommend going to the snow centre in Hemel (or wherever your closest indoor with snow place is in Uk) and having a few lessons 1:1 with one of their instructors. Before you get to the mountains.

also recommend your kids join some of their group lessons over a weekend or during the Christmas break.

Just means it is not all new to them when they get to the actual mountains. Reduces the stress anyway. On all of you.

This is how we introduced our kids to skiing. Thank goodness They love it (now age 9 and 14).

For future reference: in resort we now go self catering and we do not use ESF for the kids. We tend to choose a ski school operator who offers a 9am-1pm small group lesson in English every day. Means we get to ski where we want before lunch and then we can have a family lunch followed by a play in the afternoon. The play has got more hardcore as the years go by!!!!

occasionally I will get myself a 1:1 lesson in resort to work on technique or for an instructor to guide me to some where different on the mountain.

we also favour Easter break skiing. As it is warmer and sunnier than January can sometimes be. I’m a fair weather girl and so are my kids!!!

enjoy your break. Will be awesome!

Wow, such generous replies, thank you wonderful people. I need to delve into these one by one, but you have given us so much wisdom 🙏

@Farrings re the transfer time this really depends on when you go and what's happening. Our first year going was no issue just over 2 hours pretty plain sailing.
Last year there was a accident main motorway was shut for hours. There was a avalanche last year as well everyone was stuck!

If avoiding French and English school holidays then mostly ok (accidents aside!) We haven't had too many issues. But most of the resorts all end in a bit of a wiggly road.

You can get the train to a few nearby Albertville or Bourg St Maurice depending on resort then private transfer the last section.

Snowbizz fan here. Something daft like 8 or 9 times with snowbizz over a period of 12 years, missed a couple due to baby 2 and 2021 Covid.