FAMILY SKIING HOLIDAYS

November/December 2009 The Travel & Leisure Magazine 31

We were only a yearinto our child-rear-ing project when mywife Val and Irealised that wewere going to have

to start doing family skiing holidays, evenbefore we had a family capable of skiing.We had left our precious one-year-old inthe care of his nanny, and taken off for aweek in Norway. By day three, we were

desperate to get back to him (and to a sup-ply of affordable wine, I confess).

Nine months after, we spent a jollyChristmas in an Esprit Ski chalet inMontchavin. About nine years later, whenboth Alex and sister Laura could get aroundthe mountain with us, we came to realisewhat an excellent family holiday skiingmakes. It has its drawbacks – notably thecost. But to be able to share an exciting,vaguely healthy outdoor activity with the

let’s TRY…????

Slope offwith the family

Skiing offers a rare chancefor families to enjoy an activeholiday together. But wheredo you go? Ski expert Chris

Gill, a long-time family skier,gives the low-down on the

best peaks to choose

■ Toboganning atObertauern, near Salzburg

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whole family is arare thing. And itwhisks you from

the depressing, greyBritish winter to a

fairytale setting of snow-clad forests and mountains,

with a good chance ofblue skies; unbeat-

able.

How to goMost British skiers take package holidays,even though doing your own thing is prettysimple, thanks to an ever-wider range ofbudget flights and internet booking ofhotels and apartments.

For families, packages have particularmerits – especially families attracted to theuniquely British form of ski holiday, thecatered chalet. Strictly speaking, a chalet is asmall Alpine house, though for chalet-holi-day purposes it may be an apartment. Yourtour operator staffs a chalet with youngBrits, and offers either the whole place orrooms within it, packaging half-board withflights or other transport. No-choice mealsare taken at a communal table, with (a key

feature, this) wine included.Unless you take over a

very small place, there will

Learning to skiFirst, will your kids be up to it? They needa degree of determination and resilienceto overcome the inevitable setbacks – thefalling over, for a start. Our kids got to thispoint at about age six.At age four, it didn’twork.Then, how should they be taught? If

you’re competent, you could do it yourself.Our kids got a mix of lessons and parentalcoaching at the start, then a year or twoof proper lessons – but once off thenursery slope there was no way topersuade either of them to take morelessons.A good compromise is classes in the

morning, and skiing together in theafternoon. In many resorts school classesare mornings only – but your touroperator may offer afternoonsupervision/amusement if you want tocarry on skiing without hindrance.Of course, you’ll want to identify a good

school. Where to Ski and Snowboard canhelp you there (see facts panel).M

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■ Ski kindergarten in Avoriaz

■ Break time at a Mark Warner ski school

■ Family fun inAdelboden, Switzerland

■ Young skiersin St Anton

■ Morning lessons leave timefree for family skiing

32 The Travel & Leisure Magazine November/December 2009

Photopress

be other families to provide distractions foryours; in a chalet-hotel (a larger variant, runalong similar lines) you are almost sure offinding compatible playmates. But the killerfeature is that most chalet operators organisechildcare in some chalets, and some opera-tors do it in all their chalets.

Practically every resort has one or morepublic nurseries/ski kindergartens, and somehotels have their own private nurseries. Likemany British parents, we always opted forthe more predictable tour operator childcare.

Most people take flights to the moun-tains, followed by a coach transfer takingone to three hours, occasionally more. It canbe less hassle to drive, especially if you havea lot of baby kit to handle, and a capaciousmotor. Rail travel is enjoying a revival ofinterest. There are weekly direct servicesfrom London to stations close to severalmajor French resorts, and services to Paris

open up many other indirect possibilities allover the Alps. Quite a few resorts are on therail network.

The ideal family resortThere is no such thing, of course: what suitsone parent and his four-year-old will notsuit another parent and her 10-year-old. Buthere is a list of desirable ingredients:● Easy access, without excessively long

transfers from airports, or excessivelywinding access roads.

● Compact, convenient, safe layout (car-free ideally), so that getting the kidsfrom A to B is hassle-free.

● One or more jolly, safe, dedicated kids’nursery slopes (or “snow gardens”).

● Gentle main nursery slopes, free ofthrough-traffic.

● Longer, gentle runs (classified green inFrance) to progress to.

● A combination of sun and good snow onall these runs (beware resorts that get nosun in midwinter, and resorts wheresnow at village level routinely turns toice).

● Opportunities to have fun on the snowwithout skiing – tobogganing and/ortubing, in particular.

● Things to do in the evening or on stormydays when skiing is limited – swimming,bowling and skating.

● A well-run ski school.

Top resorts – country by countryBelow are resorts to consider in the four mainAlpine skiing countries. There are alterna-tives, but I don’t recommend them. If moneyis no object and you think the kids can dealwith the jet lag, consider North America: thetuition and the childcare doesn’t get muchbetter – but it is seriously expensive. Bear inmind that the highest resorts present a risk ofaltitude sickness.

AustriaFor many years the favourite destination ofBritish beginners, and still very appealing.+ lively, beer-fuelled apres-ski starting mid-afternoon; appreciably cheaper than France;plenty of small, cute, family-friendlyresorts.– few of its big resorts are natural familyplaces; many of the most appealing resortsare at low altitudes where snow conditionsare unreliable.Big-name favourites:Lech (www.lech-zuers.at) – near-perfectseclusion up the hill at Oberlech.St Anton (www.stantonamarlberg.com) –excellent nursery slope at quiet Nasserein.Smaller favourites:Alpbach (www.alpbach.at ) – cute, quietvillage with central nursery slope.Ellmau (www.wilderkaiser.info) – acres ofgentle nursery slopes.

FranceNow the dominant destination for Brits, par-ticularly for chalet and apartment holidays.+ lots of huge, high, snow-sure ski areas;many family-oriented resorts with a lot ofvery convenient accommodation right onthe slopes; huge choice of catered chaletholidays.– high prices, especially in the top resorts;huge influx of French families during the

November/December 2009 The Travel & Leisure Magazine 33

“For families,packages have

particular merits”

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February school holidays (which includeBritish half-term weeks)Big-name favourites:Avoriaz (www.avoriaz.com) – car-free, skifrom the door resort.Les Menuires (www.lesmenuires.com) –good choice of slopeside family chalets.Smaller favourites:Les Gets (www.lesgets.com) – pretty vil-lage at foot of gentle slopes.La Rosiere (www.larosiere.net) – goodrange of family chalets in a sunny setting.

ItalyIn the past sold on price but now offerswell-equipped resorts competing withAustria.+ the Italians love kids, and kids love pasta.– few resorts are ideally arranged; there arefew UK tour operators doing childcare;resort childcare is not well established.Big-name favourite:Cervinia (www.montecervino.it) – limit-less gentle slopes starting right beside thevillage.Smaller favourite:Selva (www.valgardena.it) – great snow-sure nursery slope with lodgings beside it.

SwitzerlandWhere we Brits invented recreational downhillskiing, though now a bit of a niche market.+ some exceptionally cute, family-friendlyvillages in spectacularly scenic settings– high prices, especially in top resorts.Big-name favourite:Wengen (www.myjungfrau.ch) – car-free,traditional village, reached by train.Smaller favourite:Adelboden (www.adelboden.ch) – severaltoboggan runs and other amusements.

34 The Travel & Leisure Magazine November/December 2009

Family skiing facts

Chris Gill is editor of leading annual guideWhere to Ski and Snowboard and has writtenabout ski resorts for 25 years.With twochildren now of student age, he has longand intimate experience of the pain andpleasure of family skiing holidays.

TL

Package holidaysLots of tour operators offer childcare incertain resorts, so you don’t need to confineyour search to the firms listed here. Butthese are operators that do childcarethroughout their programmes: Esprit Ski(www.espritski.com),The Family SkiCompany (www.familyski.co.uk), SkiFamille (www.skifamille.co.uk), MarkWarner (www.markwarner.co.uk),Snowbizz (www.snowbizz.co.uk), Ski Amis (www.skiamis.com), Ski2(www.ski-2.com), Premiere Neige(www.premiere-neige.com) and Mountain Heaven(www.mountainheaven.co.uk).

Sample package pricesEsprit has five chalets in Les Gets. Prices range from £600 in mid-January to£1280 at half-term; there’s a complex scheme of free and discounted placesfor kids.The Family Ski Company has two chalets in Les Menuires. Pricesrange from £420 to £1250; again, children pay less.

Other costsLift passes: the lifts on some nursery slopes are free. In other resorts, you pay

for each ride, or buy a special beginner’s liftpass (perhaps costing £15/£20 a day). But insome resorts the nursery slopes are at mid-mountain and you must buy a full pass costingas much as £200 for a week. Children pay less,and go free under a certain age. Many resortsoffer family passes, at a special price.Ski school classes: expect to pay somethinglike £100 for six half-days, between £150 and£200 for six full days, if available.Equipment hire: expect to pay £75 to £150

per week per adult for skis and boots, half that per child.

More information on resortsAustria:www.austria.info/ukFrance:www.francetourism.comItaly:www.italiantouristboard.co.ukSwitzerland:www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html

SPECIAL OFFER:Where to Ski and SnowboardTo maximise the chances of a good holiday, get hold of this,“the skier’s bible”– Britain’s only annual ski resort guidebook, now in its 14th edition. Readersof The Travel & Leisure Magazine can buy thebook online fromwww.wheretoski.co.uk/tlm for the coverprice of the first edition, published in 1994 –£14.99, with p&p free (it is £18.99 in shops).The most important information about thetop resorts is available on the book’s mainwebsite (www.wtss.co.uk). Specialfeatures include links to the other sitesmentioned in this article.●To win one of five free copies of Whereto Ski and Snowboard 2010, see page 36.

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■ Choose a family-friendly resort

■ Italy has well-equipped resorts

■ Ice castle, Les Menuires

■ Snowli kids’ race, Adelboden