PLANNING
A FAMILY SKI HOLIDAY
Written on 29 April 2013 by Susan Dun
Skiing is an ideal holiday for all the family! It’s healthy, exhilarating, you don’t have to be particularly good at the sport to enjoy it and parents and children of all ages can ski together.
When to start them skiing
Toddlers can certainly have fun in the snow and may enjoy the first sensations of sliding about on skis, but up until the age of 4 to 5 they are probably too young to start seriously learning to ski.
Younger children tend not to have the ability to learn and put into practice a sequence of movements as you need to do when you’re learning to ski. Many younger children also don’t have the social skills needed to interact with a ski instructor or other children in the class or can’t cope with being left for hours with strangers.
If you start them too early, you may just end up putting them off and having to spend years afterwards convincing them that skiing is fun. Let your child take the lead, but if you’re not sure they’re ready the best advice is possibly leave it for another year – leave the children at home with the grandparents and enjoy your last child-free ski holiday for at least 10 years!
When to go
If your children are school age, you may well be limited by school holidays – Christmas, Half Term and Easter – though if you can manage to get away outwith these periods you’ll generally get both cheaper prices and quieter slopes.
Christmas skiing can be magical and your children are certainly assured of a White Christmas and all the seasonal festivities. It can however be very cold this early in the season, especially in higher resorts, and the days are short. New Year week is usually busier and more expensive than Christmas as a lot of people prefer to spend Christmas at home, but then the same might apply to you too.
By February, the weather is generally a lot kinder in most resorts but half term tends to be the busiest period of the season, especially for families with children, so the slopes can be crowded and you may need to book ski school, childcare and so on a long way in advance to ensure availability. Half term is also usually the most expensive period of the season.
Easter can fall any time from late March to late April and the conditions to expect do depend quite a bit on how early or late Easter is though by this time of the season you can normally expect some very sunny days.
A late Easter may restrict your choice of resorts – lower resorts are often struggling for snow by mid April, so if your priority is skiing make sure and pick a higher, snowsure destination. There can be bargains to be had at Easter, and the Easter weeks tend to be the least expensive of the three school holiday periods.
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Where to go
It goes without saying that you need to choose a “child friendly” resort, but most resorts nowadays are child friendly in one way or another, whether it’s plenty of easy runs for the whole family, great childcare facilities or lots of off-the-snow activities.
Ask your children what they want. Some resorts are renowned for the quality of their children’s ski schools, others for their chocolate-box prettiness. You can even combine a skiing holiday in Lapland with a reindeer trip to visit Santa.
You might also want to choose a resort based on the childcare options, the quality of children’s instruction available or the distance from the nearest airport.
Where to stay
Your accommodation options are basically:
Self Catering
Self catering at least on paper often looks like the cheapest option. Bear in mind however that either Mum ends up doing all the cooking just like at home, or the cost will go up drastically if you eat out every evening. In some resorts self catering apartments can be pretty small too.
Catered Chalets
Catered chalets are a very popular option with families.
Again standards vary from the basic to the ultra-luxurious but generally the atmosphere is more of a home from home and therefore more relaxing for both parents and children.
Meals are included meaning extra costs are less, and most do early high tea for children if required.
Many chalets are large enough for two or three families to share. Some operators only sell the whole chalet but others will sell by the bed so if you don’t have another family to travel with you book only the rooms you need.
Hotels
Hotels vary from basic to five star luxury, with prices to match. Some are very family friendly while others, especially at the higher end of the market, can be quite formal and therefore not necessarily ideal for small children.
Some hotels are privately-run and open to the general public but others may be taken over entirely by one Tour Operator and run as a “chalet hotel”. Many of these chalet hotels and some of the private hotels too offer child care facilities, crèches or kids clubs.
Accomodation Location
The other thing you may want to consider is the location of your accommodation.
Especially if your children are small, you’re probably going to be the one having to lug their kit around!
Some resorts have ski lockers close to the main lifts and some ski shops offer overnight storage if your hire your equipment from them – especially useful if they’re close to the slopes or ski school meeting points.
Some tour operators operate a courtesy transport service to and from their accommodation to the slopes morning and evening. Otherwise you’ll possibly want to look for accommodation close to the resort centre, lifts or ski school meeting point or bus stops.
Checking Fit
Once the helmet is on and adjusted, gently roll it backwards and forwards and side to side. The skin on your forehead should move as you roll the helmet. If the helmet moves without your skin, it’s too big and won’t protect your head properly.
Don’t be tempted with children to go for a bigger size to allow for growth! Children’s heads grow slowly so they should get at least two winters out of a properly fitted helmet.
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Warning!
Your hair can interfere with the fit and comfort of a helmet, make sure it’s lying smoothly under the helmet. Ponytails and so on might need to be undone.
Helmets and goggles
Helmets and goggles
Most helmets have a channel to hold the strap of your goggles in place - sometimes there’s a security clip too – and most goggles now have articulated outriggers to fit comfortably with the helmet. If you’re buying a new helmet, it’s best to try it on with your goggles to make sure they fit comfortably together.
And watch you don’t wear your helmet too low on your forehead, if you do it can block the ventilation of your goggles, making them more likely to fog up.
Older Children and Teens
Small Children
If you have a child with a very small head, you may have problems finding a helmet small enough.
These days the smallest size most manufacturers make is 50cms and that can be too big for a very small child.
If your child has a very small head and you can’t get a helmet small enough, your only option is to put a hat underneath to pad out some of the space - it’s not ideal but it's better than no helmet.
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