fast bloke

Very general question for all you skiing bods.

My kids will be 5 and 3 in January. Has anyone had a 3yo skiing and what did they think.


Never been before myself, so any recommendations for somewhere that will be top class at the start of January. Money is not really a problem but I would like to get 4 of us there and back for a couple of grand for a week in case we don't like it

beemerboy

i think most resorts have gone downhill lately

BB

fast bloke

BB - STFU ......... normal 'constructive comment' from BB

mattstant

not taken my 8 month old skiing yet (thought he might try walking first) but the French resorts always seen to have kindergarten classes and they always look about 4 years old and ski like experts.

It was watching these little gits that got me learning so quick 19 years ago LOL

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

We have been the last couple of years with a company called Ski Famille who do catered chalets with a chalet maid to cook and clean, during the day the kids are looked after by nannies who take them to ski school, feed them and keep them busy.

Our kids are now 7,6 and 4, to be honest the youngest was too young but the other two have it sussed, I suspect your 5 year old should be ok but the ski schools generally dont take any younger than 5 anyway but we rented him some little skis and he had a go but wasnt keen as he is lazy little spud and it required effort so he just sat down and looked very forlorn, bit better this year (feb) as he would come down between our knees.

You need so help with kids when skiing as there is no way you will actually do any with small kids around as they dont last long on skis and tend to sit down a lot and whinge , plus if you are carrying your own gear you dont want 3 kids worth to carry as well.

I dont reckon we could have done it without the nannies and chalet host and it gave us chance to get some quality skiing in without worrying too much about the kids, apart from one nanny being a bit dozy and not really seeming to know anything about kids the service over the last two years has been very good.

It is however expensive but I would imagine if you tried to do a cheap skiing holiday with kids it would be miserable.

Ski Famille operate out of Les Get in France, they have a website skifamille.co.uk

NACRO

If you want to try somewhere with good facilities/reasonably cheap try the ski station nr col du somport on the border of France/Spain.
Prices are dirt cheap in the Pyrenees compared to the alps.

mwp

I agree with J4CKO.

I have kids of 16,11 and 7 and the youngest I have taken is 4 and that wasn't too much fun - they get tired easily and it's cold. You need nanny help.

5+ is ok.

I've also skied many times in Les Gets.

neilbbb

my 3 year old went skiing for the first time this year and loved it....ESF in Les Gets were excellent as were the nanny service Snowkids (www.snowkidz.co.uk)

STi-Frenchie

'bout ye !

Both my kids ski (I don't) and both were started very early. The little fella will be 10 and has been doing competitions the last few years but has now caught the snowboarding bug so that's what he'll be doing this winter. My daughter who is 6 has passed her first few stages and loves it - first day out she *hated* it but she perservered over a few lessons and then got into it. I don't think it helped that the first lesson was taken when it was snowing all around, if it had've been one of those nice sunny days it would probably have made a huge difference but we can't choose the weather all the time

The local ski locations have lessons for kids of all ages, and kids starting at 3 years old is not uncommon (they start in a class called 'oursons' - that's bears to you and me. They start very gently and learn how to stand on the skis, stop (!), and use the thingamyjig which pulls them up the hill.

I would echo the comments above regarding how unpleasant it may turn out to be for you guys if your kids don't take to it - my daughter was an absolute nightmare on the first day and luckily for us we live close to the slopes so we could go home and then take her back the next week for the next lesson - I wouldn't want to think about it if we were on holiday and that was the result. Might be a good idea to have a "Plan B" if it doesn't go according to plan.

Good luck !

Ridge Racer

well i'm in my 30's and i'll give it a go !!

Buckrogers

Fastbloke

Before you go skiing, I recommend getting a few starter lesson at your nearest Snow Dome. I dont know if they do kids lessons though, but worth doing yourself. It just gives you a bit of a head start before you are on your holiday. Typically either one hour lessons, but if you live far away it's worth going for a 3 hour lesson.

I did this late last year, before going for the first time to snow board in Feb this year to Bulgaria. Would not recommend Bulgaria for kids, but as a first holiday introduction to boarding / skiing well worth going there. Everything is cheap as chips, beer, food n accommodation. Picked up the boarding bug and now I'm hooked on it!

Since then, went to Mamoth Mountain in California, states, April this year, which is "Awesome". The place is Huuuuuge, hence the name!

Going back to Bulgaria for stag week, boarding, Jan 4th. Then Jan 18th going to Whistler, Canada for 2 weeks!

Brendan Hughes

FB, if you haven't done it before, you might want to think about just how much you can learn while also trying to cope with the kids.

I am AMAZED that someone could recommend ESF - perhaps they were good with toddlers, but for adults I swore I would never, ever give them half a cent of my money again, after my experience. Almost all of the ones I have seen were not teachers, they were narcissistic, stuck-up poseurs with no ability or interest in communicating their skills to other people, but just showing off how good they were and trying to score with the females. I'm hitting the POST button now before I really go off on one...

Brendan

STi-Frenchie

...and that was just the women instructors

fitzscoob

i learnt last year in austria, cracking time, me and the missus had a couple of lessons before hand, but we started from scratch when we were out there.

loads of youngsters learning out there, the younger ones seemed to pick it up well, showing no fear

try a few lessons locally first.

austria was very nice, instructors were very good, everyone was friendly and helpful, going back this january

camk

took our 4YO to Lech, great hotel, she was too small to ski, next year we went to Val D'Isere, pretty much the same story. It could be different for some kids but its cold and sometimes wet so they don't really like it that much when small. We used Ski Kindergarten in both resorts but its tough on you and the kids as they don't really want to go. Language is also sometimes an issue, my daughter speaks German and English so was OK in Austria but dodgy in France. Chalet with a nanny or hotel with kindergarten is probably best bet.

4X4BOB

FB, go to Austria, its excellent.

Can recommend the resort of Saalbach in Salzburgerland
excellent ski schools for kids and adults and a gorgeous Danish instructor called Louise

Bob

Phil

I loved Saalbach excellent Ski School

Better night life in Mayerhofen but not for the kids

Mercury

Try http://www.skibeat.co.uk/SkiBeatResortsval.htm

They have childcare facilities and instruction for kids aged 4yrs and over