Has anyone been to France/Austria with a toddler learner ?

[Pecker20]

Has anyone had a successful ski holiday with a 3 year old in ski school ? Apparently there are only a handful of resorts that take 3 year olds for ski school/ kindergarten. Apparently the choices are France Alpe D'Huez, Morzine or a few Austrian resorts such as Ellmau area, Niederau, Zell am See etc. Help would be much appreciated as it will be our first ski holiday together as a family. Has anyone had a successful ski holiday with a 3 year old.

At Easter we were in Saalbach (Austria) and DS2 was 3 on the first day we were there. The ski-school (Snow Fun) were a little dubious about signing him up, but he joined in and had a great time. He did get a bit upset when half-way through each (2hr) session they went for a ride around the village on the "train" - he just wanted to ski!
The ski-school was very busy that week which meant he didn't get moved off the nursery slope into the next group as quickly as he should, but he enjoyed himself immensely nevertheless.

Hi,

We went to Alpe D'Huez with 3.5 yr old twins in Feb 2009. We put them in the ESF Piou Piou club which is based on the east side of the resort (important if using it as it's a bit of a trek from the the village centre). They had an hour or so on skis each day in the snow garden and the rest of the time was indoors. They hated it to be honest and the ESF staff spoke little English.

Have a look at www.snowbizz.com if you want to go skiing. We have just booked with them anbd they look after little kids in an English speaking creche with the option to ski too.

We skied in Bad Gastein when DD was 2 3/4 yr old. They normally take 3s and overs but made an exception for her as she was with her siblings. When I've looked around for next season, it looks like most Austrian ski schools cater for 3 yr olds upwards.

We drove every day up to Angertal which is in the centre of the system and has a purpose built restaurant, ski school and ski hire place (where kids' equipment is free if parents rent and can be left freely every night so you don't have to carry it all around). The snow garden where littlies learn is good and the tuition seemed to ensure all three children we took learnt well.

However, we took our eldest three children so although they were quickly moved into separate ski groups because they learnt at diff speeds, they did all eat lunch at the same time so the youngest,DD, saw her brothers and wasn't too lonely. (She skied both morning and afternoon.) Will your 3 yr old be on their own all day cos if so, it might be good to use a tour operator so you get a ski creche where the nannies and other children are English speakers (presuming yr child's not bilingual ...?).

We took DD1 when she was 3.5 to St Anton with Esprit. She had a great time, although the first day was very cold (-13). Once we had got her some thermals she was fine.

The thing is that compared to other children her age she is quite physical and was really up for skiing so I wasn't surprised she liked it.

She had a 2 hour skiing lesson every afternoon and in the morning sometimes went to the kid's club. We hadn't booked her in in advance of the holiday but she asked to go because she wanted to be with the other children.

This year for first time I put DSs in ski school. DS2 was 3.4 and went into Piou Piou in Les Orres. He wasn't thrilled about it, but he was only there for 2 hours, 4 mornings, and once I went and hid round the corner, he was fine! By the end of the week, he was skiing independently!! We taught DS1 ourselves, and this year he went into ski school which was a huge success.

There aren't many English people in Les Orres, but we asked for English speaking teachers, and found Ski Ozone were a lot more helpful than ESF.

Hi Pecker20, there are hundreds of places in France where you a 3 year old can go to ESF. In fact only a minority of resorts do not take until the age of 4.

The 3 year olds tend to stay in the "jardin des neiges" area which will often have its own magic carpet or hand tow. This area is also referred to often as "Club Piou-Piou". The elder or more advanced 3 year olds go out further.

The British seem to prefer the use of nannies to look after their young ones when they are not skiing, but many resorts have links between the local creches and ESF ski school, so that the children can do half-day ski and half-day at the creche or so that the children ski in the morning, go to the creche for lunch, get picked up later by the parents who have more time to ski.

Look up resorts with FAMILLE PLUS status, they have the best child facilities, there are over 40 in France with this status, but many more who have great facilities without the FAMILLE PLUS label. We stayed in one, Val Cenis where the ski school start, jardin
des neiges, creche, ski lifts and apartments were all next to each other. This year we went to Les Houches and stayed at Les Hauts de Chavants, fantasti again with young children, apartment on the slopes next to ski school and creche.

www.skifrance.fr/index.php

The holiday company VIP do special small classes for 3 and 4 year olds, and liaise with ski schools to get english speaking instructors who are happy to have breaks during the lesson to play a bit. It depends on the resort as to which ski school they use; ESF in Alpe d'Huez and Oxygene in La Plagne and Val d'Isere. The classes are short (90minutes) and if you have a nanny booked with them they can stay and help out/wipe snotty noses/help pull them up the slope!

We did Esprit to la Rosiere when dd was 3. She did their lessons in the morning and then went to the snow club in the afternoon. By the end of the week she could ski a green run but couldn't stop easily but could manage a pomma tow.

We have just booked Courcheval for Christmas and they also have offered lessons from 3 to the other dc

In my experience (I run a family skiing company ...) very few 3 yr olds make it through to the end of a week of lessons (even ESF Piou Piou). It's just too much for them.

One or two short, introductory private lessons (maximum one hour per session) will give them a fun and stress-free introduction to the sport. Happy to be shot down by those for whom it has worked but I think that children are too young for group lessons at this age.

This doesn't mean they can't go to the mountains and have a great time though!

sorry to hijack the thread, but wiblingdad, would you say (in your vast experience) that 3 yr olds do ok in private lessons then? my twins are nearly 4, and i am considering booking them private lessons instead of group lessons - prob separatly - while there's a special offer at the indoor slope in the uk.

Private lessons usually fine at that age but keep it short and fun. A good instructor will pitch it right.

thank you, we shall see what happens!