Skiing resort for young kids (their first time)
Discussion
Morning,
Me and the wife are pretty handy and happy to ski anything - our go to resort is Val d’isere - fab, but expensive!
However we are now looking to go avec kids, 4 and 7yr old girls to be precise. They have both done a couple dry slope sessions and are getting on ok.
We’ve figured that ski school will restrict the amount of time we can ski and we’ll have a few years of said pain until they can ski with us properly.
Thus my thinking is we should consider a cheaper, smaller, non French alps resort and save a packet whilst the kids learn.
However, I don’t know where to start! We’ve only ever been to the Espace Killy, 3 valleys and a couple other large French resorts.
Can anybody offer advice?
- ski school or cough up for a private instructor for my two girls?
- good value resort with good tuition options.
Cheers.
Me and the wife are pretty handy and happy to ski anything - our go to resort is Val d’isere - fab, but expensive!
However we are now looking to go avec kids, 4 and 7yr old girls to be precise. They have both done a couple dry slope sessions and are getting on ok.
We’ve figured that ski school will restrict the amount of time we can ski and we’ll have a few years of said pain until they can ski with us properly.
Thus my thinking is we should consider a cheaper, smaller, non French alps resort and save a packet whilst the kids learn.
However, I don’t know where to start! We’ve only ever been to the Espace Killy, 3 valleys and a couple other large French resorts.
Can anybody offer advice?
- ski school or cough up for a private instructor for my two girls?
- good value resort with good tuition options.
Cheers.
At 4 and 7 they should pick up the basics pretty quickly. Personally I wouldn’t worry about them learning in Val as opposed to somewhere else - ski school will put them on some fairly mellow terrain.
But from a technical teaching pov I’d steer clear of France. Austria and Switzerland (along with Canada) are pretty much universally recognised as offering the best ski schools in the world. If you like Val, you’ll like Verbier and St Anton, so look at those.
If you can put your kids into full day lessons, do so, then do a few runs with them at the end of the day. If you’re looking at half day lessons it’s trickier. You may have to resign yourself to a few holidays of afternoon gentle/medium skiing. But once the kids have the basics, the very best thing you can do is just let them ski with the two of you and let their chimp instinct take over (assuming - of course - you and your wife actually know what you’re both doing on skis!). Very occasionally give them a tip or small drill to follow but mostly just let them loose on whatever terrain you’re on and let them see how you do it.
For reference: we took ours from when they were 3. They did full day ski school in Canada five days a week. We let them graduate out of ski school around the 7/9 years old mark I think, and then let them ski with us making few concessions to them. By the time they were ten and twelve they were doing multiple double black diamonds in a day with us. One is now an L2 CSIA instructor and the other could be but can’t be arsed.
But from a technical teaching pov I’d steer clear of France. Austria and Switzerland (along with Canada) are pretty much universally recognised as offering the best ski schools in the world. If you like Val, you’ll like Verbier and St Anton, so look at those.
If you can put your kids into full day lessons, do so, then do a few runs with them at the end of the day. If you’re looking at half day lessons it’s trickier. You may have to resign yourself to a few holidays of afternoon gentle/medium skiing. But once the kids have the basics, the very best thing you can do is just let them ski with the two of you and let their chimp instinct take over (assuming - of course - you and your wife actually know what you’re both doing on skis!). Very occasionally give them a tip or small drill to follow but mostly just let them loose on whatever terrain you’re on and let them see how you do it.
For reference: we took ours from when they were 3. They did full day ski school in Canada five days a week. We let them graduate out of ski school around the 7/9 years old mark I think, and then let them ski with us making few concessions to them. By the time they were ten and twelve they were doing multiple double black diamonds in a day with us. One is now an L2 CSIA instructor and the other could be but can’t be arsed.
BlackWidow13 said:
But from a technical teaching pov I’d steer clear of France. Austria and Switzerland (along with Canada) are pretty much universally recognised as offering the best ski schools in the world.
Is there really that much difference?? ESF is a bit stick in the mud but there are loads of independent schools in France with decent English speaking instructors.Our lot learned with ZigZag in Samoens and have got on really well.
And IME you want a decent resort because you can cover a lot of ground in a morning while they're learning and a small resort would just be frustrating.
The French resorts are great for kids learning as the ski in/out is a big benefit. Val D’Isere isn’t the best for beginners but if you want to stick close by Tignes is much better with loads of blues of varying difficulty that are great for improving beginners, and you would be able to ski Val if you wanted.
Most of the French resorts are good for beginners, and pick a slightly less trendy one to reduce costs a bit. Risoul, and Flaine are good at the expense of villiage charm. Valmorel has a nice villiage and plenty for most for a week.
La Thuille in Italy is decent for beginners, has some cheaper accommodation and is extensive enough to keep good skiers happy.
You could perhaps get lucky with conditions in Bulgaria (Borevets) Ok for beginners and just enough for a week for ok skiers
Most of the French resorts are good for beginners, and pick a slightly less trendy one to reduce costs a bit. Risoul, and Flaine are good at the expense of villiage charm. Valmorel has a nice villiage and plenty for most for a week.
La Thuille in Italy is decent for beginners, has some cheaper accommodation and is extensive enough to keep good skiers happy.
You could perhaps get lucky with conditions in Bulgaria (Borevets) Ok for beginners and just enough for a week for ok skiers
We taught our daughters in a combination of Tignes and Courchevel and it was fine. We didnt feel we were missing out or 'wasting money' at all. In fact the few times that we went with friends to smaller resorts is when we felt we really did miss out.
Of the smaller resorts that may be worth looking at, we had a reasonable week in Chamrousse and, as a kid, I have happy memories of family skiing holidays in Wengen.
Also, to your group vs private lesson question, how good are the girls language skills? If they dont speak the same language as the instructor and the majority of the group pretty well, you're better off with private lessons with an English/fluent English speaking instructor.
Don't knock Esprit/Mark Warner type holidays - they may look horribly package-y but they take a lot of logistic pain away from taking little ones skiing and it gives them a ready made circle of friends (and you a whole day skiing ad you drop them off at 8.30 and pick them up at 5.30)
Of the smaller resorts that may be worth looking at, we had a reasonable week in Chamrousse and, as a kid, I have happy memories of family skiing holidays in Wengen.
Also, to your group vs private lesson question, how good are the girls language skills? If they dont speak the same language as the instructor and the majority of the group pretty well, you're better off with private lessons with an English/fluent English speaking instructor.
Don't knock Esprit/Mark Warner type holidays - they may look horribly package-y but they take a lot of logistic pain away from taking little ones skiing and it gives them a ready made circle of friends (and you a whole day skiing ad you drop them off at 8.30 and pick them up at 5.30)
Edited by ClaphamGT3 on Friday 30th December 20:41
ClaphamGT3 said:
Don't knock Esprit/Mark Warner type holidays - they may look horribly package-y but they take a lot of logistic pain away from taking little ones skiing and it gives them a ready made circle of friends (and you a whole day skiing ad you drop them off at 8.30 and pick them up at 5.30)
This Loved our Esprit holidaysEdited by ClaphamGT3 on Friday 30th December 20:41
I went to Reberty in France with in laws and their kids. It’s a small village in Trois Vallees.
The benefits were. A really good ski area and decent altitude and for the kids, ski school was 50m from chalet across the piste. Taking out all the hassle of walking distances in ski gear is worthwhile. This was with the family ski company. They were ok, also had crèche facilities and kids didn’t have to ski all day if didn’t want to.
On lessons, finding a good private instructor is great, if money is no object. But think a group of kids more fun for them.
ETA. Them being genuinely English speaking is pretty crucial. I have experienced some Ecole de Ski that claim that their instructor can speak English when they can’t to a level to convey the nuance required.
The benefits were. A really good ski area and decent altitude and for the kids, ski school was 50m from chalet across the piste. Taking out all the hassle of walking distances in ski gear is worthwhile. This was with the family ski company. They were ok, also had crèche facilities and kids didn’t have to ski all day if didn’t want to.
On lessons, finding a good private instructor is great, if money is no object. But think a group of kids more fun for them.
ETA. Them being genuinely English speaking is pretty crucial. I have experienced some Ecole de Ski that claim that their instructor can speak English when they can’t to a level to convey the nuance required.
Edited by Austin_Metro on Friday 30th December 21:04
A number of the schools at Kitzbühel run kids camps. There’s a nice flattish area that’s great for learning to snowplough
https://www.skiresort.info/ski-resort/kitzski-kitz...
https://www.skiresort.info/ski-resort/kitzski-kitz...
Austin_Metro said:
ski school was 50m from chalet across the piste. Taking out all the hassle of walking distances in ski gear is worthwhile. This was with the family ski company. They were ok, also had crèche facilities and kids didn’t have to ski all day if didn’t want to.
Wherever you choose finding somewhere where the rendezvous point is as close as possible to your accommodation is really helpful. Kids are tediously slow to get ready, struggle to walk in ski gear, drop stuff etc.Austin_Metro said:
On lessons, finding a good private instructor is great, if money is no object. But think a group of kids more fun for them.
An instructor who makes the lessons fun and takes care of them (warm, dry and fed) is the priority in the first year. If they hate the experience, they may never reach their potentialAustin_Metro said:
Them being genuinely English speaking is pretty crucial. I have experienced some Ecole de Ski that claim that their instructor can speak English when they can’t to a level to convey the nuance required.
Also if you get a mixed language class you may find instructor uses their mother tongue for themselves and the majority of the pupils.We fell on our feet booking Fernie (awful journey though) Kindergarten/school in the same apartment block. Small English speaking classes. Sometimes our kids were the only ones in a group lesson so effectively private. A resort with shallow angled slopes available from the first tier of lifts all returning to same point and all sorts of gnarliness available higher up.
We have had some great private lessons too but these are expensive, may run at odd times eg lunchtime and you can't expect the instructor to babysit in the same way you would a group/day lesson. In Canada the kids private lessons are often done by grandma/grandpa types and they are really good.
The age gap with your two may see them separated if you go for group lessons with a big provider eg. ESF. Whilst this may not be an issue for logistics as lessons begin and end in the same time and place,being together might be important, or separating them might be helpful. YMMV
Austin_Metro said:
Oddman, I’m a big fan of fernie. Did you travel independently or does an operator go there now?
This was a while ago when there were Monarch flights to Calgary out of Manchester which made it quite cheap. We went about five times in total. Intitially with major tour operator then an independent. The transfer from Calgary is quite interesting but 4 hours on top of the flight is a challenge - kids sleep through most of it course. It was about 24 hours door to door.We stopped going over ten years ago when schools started burning you at the stake for taking an extra couple of days at February half term.
I can't think of a better place for adult keen skiers and tiny kids. It's hard to convey that a place with only about seven lifts can be so challenging and fun. A great advantage of the compact terrain is you can be back at base in 10 minutes from almost anywhere on the mountain.
It's a lovely traditional mining town which has a sort of wild west feel and most of the accommodation is downtown but for small kids it's best to be up on the hill.
If possible I’d try and put the children in a class where the English is the instructors 1st language.
I appreciate that the likes of ESF do have a “language test” but even so it’s far easier for a child to understand what’s being explained to them and as they get older for discipline if the instructor shares a language.
I appreciate that the likes of ESF do have a “language test” but even so it’s far easier for a child to understand what’s being explained to them and as they get older for discipline if the instructor shares a language.
We've had varying success with ski schools abroad.
In Whistler the coaches were excellent. Kids were in from 9 - 3 every day diidn't see them until pick up
In Bormio the coach was good kids were in from 11- 3 but we had to meet them for lunch and feed them
In La Thuile the coach didn't have the best English, now this could have been due to low season as there were no group lessons available so it was a private lesson.
What do you want out of the lessons? Do you want child care or for them to learn how to ski?
In Whistler the coaches were excellent. Kids were in from 9 - 3 every day diidn't see them until pick up
In Bormio the coach was good kids were in from 11- 3 but we had to meet them for lunch and feed them
In La Thuile the coach didn't have the best English, now this could have been due to low season as there were no group lessons available so it was a private lesson.
What do you want out of the lessons? Do you want child care or for them to learn how to ski?
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