Can I talk to you all about ski-ing with Ski2 in Champoluc?

[Heathcliffscathy]

Because we've just got back and it was one of the best holidays we've ever had!

It is a small Italian resort, about 1 1/2 hrs from Turin (2 hours from Milan Malpensa). It is pretty and not crowded, in a valley surrounded by mountains with views of the matterhorn. We didn't queue once for lifts despite it being half term in the UK and an italian holiday too. We stayed at Relais des Glaciers and they were fantastic. One of our party was severely nut and egg allergic and they went totally out of their way to cater for that. the food was fantastic (not a fondue in sight) and I don't think i've ever stayed anywhere where the staff are friendlier (without being in your face at all).

Ski2 are a fantastic outfit, Simon and his wife Ruth run the Italian side of things and couldn't have been more helpful, really listened to our concerns, and put us with an instructor called Nicola who was phenomenal. I am pregnant and was originally not going to ski, but when I got there and saw the enclosed nursery slope I just wanted to so badly...I skied with Nicola every day and she made me feel so safe, had a brilliant time and improved my skiing.

Dh had an amazing time, the Monterosa region is having an amazing snow season, he skied off piste a lot and even saw a (notoriously shy) chamois.

Ds aged 6 had never skied before and finished his week at ski school (which he loved) parallel turning!!!

Ski2 don't do flights, so you book your own, and then are picked up by minibus (only one per group, no waiting around for other people on different flights) with crisps and prosecco (for those not pregnant ) on board, water and babyseats/boosters.

They run a great (by all accounts) creche and like I said, their own ski school is fantastic, all english speaking instructors (ours were english, and kiwi).

I can't recommend this company highly enough and am really grateful for the reviews on mn that made me look them up!

Oh and the UK side is really well run too by Roger and his team, we requested a bath and that we be near our friends and both requests were honoured, and I was very reassured by how responsive they were (to a very hormonal and fretful me) prior to our trip.

I don't work for them by the way and am not getting any kickbacks!@!! just really really rate them!

Thanks for writing that up. I'd never heard of them and will now look them up for next season - do the DC's get all day ski school as that's what we really like?

bump for the daytime massive

We went with Ski-2 this past Xmas and also stayed at the Relais (lovely hotel, great food, lovely staff) with our 6 and 3yo.

I would agree with everything you say about the company, and their staff on the Mountain and in the Creche. And that it is incredibly good value for money, considering that you get a private transfer, and lift passes and lunch vouchers are also included. (And ski rental & helmets are included in the price for the children)

The only thing I'd add is that we thought the resort was great for improvers, (my 6yo was doing all the reds with no probs with only 1 previous week of skiing under her belt) and was ok for me as a first time snowboarder but it was a bit limited in a couple of ways. There were no easy to get to blues for me to graduate to from the Nursery slopes. They have now opened the new Frachey lift up the valley which takes you to 3 linked blues back down to the bottom but you have drive to get there and back to Champoluc. And in terms of pistes it did get a little repetitive for DH and DD1 as they could really only do the same red runs together every day. (DH went off on his own in the morning but came back to meet us for lunches and then took DD1 out in the afternoons.)

The best thing though is how empty it was! There was such thing as a lift queue there! It is a lovely destination and well worth trying, only 90 mins from Turin or 2hrs from Milan Malpensa.

kiwi, ski2 took me to the frachy lift whenever i wanted them to, and lifts back too...all included...

It was good to see this thread as I had just contacted ski 2 for next year. Their set up in champoluc sounds very good.

However their prices seem quite high. Have been quoted approx £1000 per person (slightly more for adults, slightly less for children) for next Jan and that is without transport to the alps.

Are there any ways of brining the costs down?

What hotel are you looking to stay at? I would recommend a family mezzanine room at the Relais des Glacier, and at Xmas it was something like £899 per adult and £399 per child (under 12) for half board. Some of the other hotels are cheaper for children, £199 each for example, if you all sharing the same room. They offered these specials around last July, which is when we booked for Xmas '09.

Might be worth waiting for them to announce their offers, or ask them to honour any special offers they make after you book? They're generally v. flexible and accommodating and keen to get your business so its worth asking.

Oh if you can fly from London we flew from Heathrow to Milan Malpensa on Lufthansa Italia which they do for £49 pp each way. At times though, they offer two tickets for £139 roundtrip, (no blackout dates) which is an excellent deal for a scheduled airline, and no extra baggage charges for ski etc.

transfers are always included if i'm not mistaken..

look at what the cost includes: transfers, kids ski hire, all region lift passes, breakfast, lunch (vouchers) and four course dinner, bus runs to lifts at different locations...

Have just got back from a weekend in Champoluc through Ski-2 and would second a lot of what everyone else said. Champoluc is small and even for 2.5 days skiing for myself and husband, we felt we'd pretty much covered most things and would have been bored for any longer. There is also a bit of a lack of atmosphere too in the bars / restaurants which is a little disappointing.

Ski-2 are impressive and very friendly. Set up also is excellent although our journey back to Milan was very hairy because they weer late picking us up which meant we got to check-in at the airport with only 5 minites to spare before it closed. Not funny at all when you're away for the weekend with your DH and your children are at home eagerly anticipating your arrival!

Mountain cafes are lovely and the pistes / lifts empty. Can't remember who said something about the lack of accessible blue runs, but I would agree and would not think about taking our children there until they could ski better. We are in fact, taking them to Austria instead in a couple of weeks.

All in all though - I would definitely use Ski 2 again. They are expensive but Sophable is right, you have to compare like to like and sometimes paying more and therefore getting a private and hassle free transfer from an airport of your choice (with sparkling wine and crisps provided en route) is worth it as compared to what you sometimes have to go through with some of the standard large ski tour operators. I would also go to Champoluc again but only for a weekend as I think the skiing is limited.