Family first ski Holiday

After a bit of advice we are looking to go skiing next year feb/march- party consists of 2 adults and 2 kids aged 12 and 9.
None of us have been skiing before.

Where would be the best place to go for a begginer?

My 9 year old is very shy and would not go to a ski school on his own (not knowing anyone else)at a lot of places we have looked at this would be the case as my 12 year old would be classed as an adult so would be in lessons with myself and wife.
Is this right?

Are there a resorts that would do family lessons rather than splitting us up for the lessons- can you get these with any packages.

Sorry for all the questions -possibly the first of many as I havent a clue about this sort of holiday.

Many thanks :?:

Hi Jimbob and welcome,

I do understand where you are coming from with children and ski school - I think this is so hit and miss, some kids adore ski school others loath it. My son hated ski school, it was a disaster for him until ...
He went with school and his mates :thumbup:

You can all learn to ski together in a private group - some ski schools will accept this, after all they want your money!! But it is not ideal as children and adults learn in such a different way, but I have seen it work especially in the first few days which is about learning to put your skis on and how to get up when you fall over. Plus your kids will probably adore laughing at the crumblies who will probably be so much slower.
I wonder if the first step is to narrow down what type of holiday you want and which country (any language preferences?) and then to think about budget as private lessons will be considerably more expensive than groups.
Hope this helps?

Thanks for that, no preferences re locationjust somewhere more suited to beginers .
Seems to be so much choiceand I dont know where to start

Well maybe what's your favourite foreign language?
French, German, Italian or Spanish?
Then - Luxury, budget? Hotel, self-catering, catered chalet (which may be a completely new concept to you).
Then - time of year? Presumably school hols?
and see what this leads to .....

I went skiing the first time ever to Kirchdorf in Austria with my husband and three kids aged 15,13 & 8. We all did ski school and I was with my husband and the kids were all in separate groups. As it is a small mountain, we all met up for lunch which really helped. And most of the time I could see my youngest child anyway.

For a beginner's ski hol I can't recommend Kirchdorf enough. On the downside, it is a relatively low resort.

Since then, we have gone to Zell am See which is much larger. They like to split the adults and kids into different ski groups which I am very happy with as the kids have got older. Kids tend to progress much quicker than adults. This year none of us are doing ski school and will be able to ski as a family but I am grateful that I sent them to ski school. They are just much better skiers than my husband and I! Enjoy whatever you decide. Sue

Just thought of something! Why don't you put your two kids together in ski school? The 9 year old may just surprise you. And the adults can then go off and not worry.

Tricky this as the world is really your oyster by the sound of it.

I'd get hold of a copy of "Where to Ski and Snowboard" and have a look at some options (needn't be this year's as long as it's fairly recent)

Things to consider for your first time:

*You probably don't really want a "mega" resort as it may well be too busy (especially in school hols) and as a beginner crowds can be scary

*France can be a good option (though generally held by many to be expensive - I don't think so) as it grades pistes from green through blue red and black - most other countries only have blue/red/black. This means that you have a better idea of what are the true beginners slopes

*Self catering may be a good option - I clearly don't know your kids but picky eating is not too well received in chalets or hotels much of the time :-)

*Location of the accomodation can be very important - walking in ski boots and carrying skis and poles etc is a bind for all of us but that much worse when you're a beginner and can put people off if they have a long walk to nursery slope / ski school meeting point (happened to 2 peeps in a group I took to Pas de la Casa years ago)

*Look at what the resort has to offer outside of skiing - the kids (or indeed you) may not take to it - though everyone on here will attest that we all love it, so a plan B may be no bad thing

*Snow record - the last thing you want as a beginner is to be skiing on slush/ice/bald bits

I could go on and on but hopefully these will give you some hints to narrow your choice and then people can come up with personal experiences why your choices are good or bad for you

Most importantly of all though - ENJOY IT!!! Skiing is great and you'll be doing your kids a real favour by getting them into it young

Looking to go begining of March,Not fluent in any language so this is not an issue.

Half board hotel or catered chalet

Transfer times from airport not over 3 hours

English speaking ski schools

Kid learning french at school so might be good to put this to practice.

So anywhere in France or italy- almost guaranteed snow March -good ski school for beginners.

Cheers

At the top end of the Budget I know, but would definately recommend Courchevel 1850. My youngest, then 6 sounds just like your youngest didn't want to go to ski school a few tears before she headed off but by the end of the 2 hour lesson all forgotten and and did the rest of the week no issues.

Eldest at 9yrs was off and running in her group and this only her second week skiing and was skiing reds, even did the bottom end of a Black by the end of the week, sickenly quite natural and now not bothered about going at all!!

Wife the same as youngest really, nervous about learning but after the fisrt couple of days no issues and by the end of the week we could all ski together locally as there are many easy blues and greens to practice on.

Used Magic Ski School for the youngest & my wife they are French but had English speaking instructors and most of the groups were made up of English people. Eldest Daughter used the local BASS ski school or there is New Generation ski school both British Run.

The downsides are it is expensive to get a drink or something to eat piste side and it is very busy at ski school meet times.