Resorts for kids

"Joe" wrote in
:

Helpful comments appreciated.

Next year [alas we were not able to go this one] we are thinking of
taking our 2 children on a skiing holiday, they will be 4 1/2 and 2.
Wondering where would anyone suggest. We would need creche for the
little one and creche with a little ski garden or similar for the
other. Have read Val Thorens has ESF thing for people that age, anyone
used them?

Also we are contemplating the snow train to get there - anyone done
this.

Thanks in advance
Joe


Joe,

Look into the specialist companies, I haved used Ski Esprit once and
Mark Warner once. I'm going back with Mark Warner with a 4 year old and
one year old a week sunday.

Regards,

Greg

Joe wrote:
Helpful comments appreciated.

Next year [alas we were not able to go this one] we are thinking of taking
our 2 children on a skiing holiday, they will be 4 1/2 and 2. Wondering
where would anyone suggest. We would need creche for the little one and
creche with a little ski garden or similar for the other.
Have read Val Thorens has ESF thing for people that age, anyone used them?

Also we are contemplating the snow train to get there - anyone done this.

Thanks in advance
Joe


Our son used the ESF kids club in VT when he was 4 or 5 and it went ok.
He wasn't that keen on the club (I think the Russians were the only
others who spoke English)but the ski instruction once they got out of
the pens was fine and he enjoyed that. As for your little one I would
definately go for an British run Creche. Many operators run them. We
used one in Courchevel 1600 (Ski Olympic IIRC) where they also looked
after the older children, taking them to and from morning and afternoon
lessons and giving them lunch. This worked very well.

You will find it very dificult to get ski boots for a 2 year old so I
would not contemplate having them skiing unless they are large for their
age.

Val Thorens is not a bad resort for little children but there are one or
two drawbacks: make sure that your accomadation is near the ESF, or at
least ski in/ski out, the busses are not very frequent, the resort can
be very cold (take very good gloves). I can still remember the walk back
from the ESF to the balcons with a very tired boy on my shoulders and 2
sets of ski equipment. The best I managed was with only 4 breaks.

We have gone on the snow train with our son since he was one. He finds
it a great adventure with first of all the ferry and then sleeping on
the train. It has always gone well even though I developed a habit of
forgetting bags. Once again the problem is carrying the little one when
tired/fast asleep off the train to the waiting bus. IMHO it goes much
easier and more enjoyably than flying. The easiest way, however is to drive.

John

Helpful comments appreciated.

Next year [alas we were not able to go this one] we are thinking of
taking our 2 children on a skiing holiday, they will be 4 1/2 and 2.
Wondering where would anyone suggest. We would need creche for the
little one and creche with a little ski garden or similar for the
other. Have read Val Thorens has ESF thing for people that age, anyone
used them?

Also we are contemplating the snow train to get there - anyone done
this.

Thanks in advance
Joe


Joe,

Look into the specialist companies, I haved used Ski Esprit once and
Mark Warner once. I'm going back with Mark Warner with a 4 year old and
one year old a week sunday.

Regards,

Greg

Many thanks Greg, hope the holiday goes well.
Joe

Joe wrote:
Helpful comments appreciated.

Next year [alas we were not able to go this one] we are thinking of
taking
our 2 children on a skiing holiday, they will be 4 1/2 and 2. Wondering
where would anyone suggest. We would need creche for the little one and
creche with a little ski garden or similar for the other.
Have read Val Thorens has ESF thing for people that age, anyone used
them?

Also we are contemplating the snow train to get there - anyone done
this.

Thanks in advance
Joe


Our son used the ESF kids club in VT when he was 4 or 5 and it went ok.
He wasn't that keen on the club (I think the Russians were the only
others who spoke English)but the ski instruction once they got out of
the pens was fine and he enjoyed that. As for your little one I would
definately go for an British run Creche. Many operators run them. We
used one in Courchevel 1600 (Ski Olympic IIRC) where they also looked
after the older children, taking them to and from morning and afternoon
lessons and giving them lunch. This worked very well.

You will find it very dificult to get ski boots for a 2 year old so I
would not contemplate having them skiing unless they are large for their
age.

Val Thorens is not a bad resort for little children but there are one or
two drawbacks: make sure that your accomadation is near the ESF, or at
least ski in/ski out, the busses are not very frequent, the resort can
be very cold (take very good gloves). I can still remember the walk back
from the ESF to the balcons with a very tired boy on my shoulders and 2
sets of ski equipment. The best I managed was with only 4 breaks.

We have gone on the snow train with our son since he was one. He finds
it a great adventure with first of all the ferry and then sleeping on
the train. It has always gone well even though I developed a habit of
forgetting bags. Once again the problem is carrying the little one when
tired/fast asleep off the train to the waiting bus. IMHO it goes much
easier and more enjoyably than flying. The easiest way, however is to
drive.

John


Many thanks John, appreciate your comments
Joe

It depends whether you are going skiing *with* the kids, or *despite* the
kids. i.e., do you want to just dump them in a creche/ski school all day, or
spend time in the snow with them?

I don't have any experience of creches in ski resorts, so I'll just comment
on the second case, from experience (kids now 7 and 4, both started skiing
at 2 and a half).

.. The most important point is to make sure that they will be warm - either
go to a "low" traditional resort (e.g. Megeve) or go late in the season
(after mid-March), in which case you should go high (e.g. Zermatt)

.. Choose a resort with lots to do apart from skiing - playgrounds, swimming
pool/ice rink, horse carriages etc.

.. Choose a resort where the top of the pistes is accessible to non-skiers
(cablecars, trains) - You can meet for lunch, take turns with the kids, have
a *family* holiday. Better still if the nursery ski slopes are close to the
main pistes - you can then take it in turns to do some nice runs while the
other half "skis" with the kids. Even better, take the grandparents! In
which case the comment on extra things to do is even more relevant.

We are lucky enough to live close to the snow (Geneva) so our kids have
learnt during day (or even half day) trips in the best possible conditions,
mostly skiing with us. They only spent a few hours in ski school at the
start of each season, just to get the basics, but never more than a couple
of hours per day.

We love Megeve for day trips (we would probably love it for a week also, but
we are too close to make it worthwhile...). When the girls were younger
(4+1, 5+2) we spent Easter week in Zermatt (with the grandparents), which
everyone enjoyed - not a piste-bashing holiday, but a good break for all the
family.



"Joe" wrote in message
...
Helpful comments appreciated.

Next year [alas we were not able to go this one] we are thinking of taking
our 2 children on a skiing holiday, they will be 4 1/2 and 2. Wondering
where would anyone suggest. We would need creche for the little one and
creche with a little ski garden or similar for the other.
Have read Val Thorens has ESF thing for people that age, anyone used them?

Also we are contemplating the snow train to get there - anyone done this.

Thanks in advance
Joe