Looking for some beginner advice :)

Hello there :)

My wife and I are taking a trip to Switzerland in mid February mainly to travel by car up through France, Belgium and Holland, but being a pretty avid skier myself I couldn't give up the opportunity to see if there would be "time" to ski while in Switzerland (I've read about it all my life). I've been doing some research trying to figure out if its possible or not, the cost does seem somewhat high just for a couple days but I was thinking I'd ask some experts (you guys) to see if it was doable :)

My wife is a beginner, only having ever skied once so a beginner friendly hill is necessary (I've had my eye on Gstaad for this reason, though totally open to suggestions). I think we'll get her into a lesson day 1, and day 2 we can enjoy some time together on some blues (only skiing for 2 days as we've got to get on with the trip at some point!). A ski town of some sort would be nice, I don't think we'd like to rough it to much, so nothing super remote, though I'm not sure any beginner hills would take us to such a place anyways.

We are flying into Geneva as that will be the starting point to our car trip, so please consider transportation to the hill and back. I've seen lots of great train routes that run very often to several hills right out of Geneva, so I don't think that will be a problem.

We're arriving on Feb 12th at 10:00AM if that makes any difference (figured it might as its a weekday).

I should also say that my equipment has gotten pretty dated having not skied seriously in a couple years, my wife having no ski gear herself, we'll have to rent the whole shebang. Ideally coats and pants as well for ease of travel, I found these guys (www.sport2000rent.com), was wondering if anyone has any experience with them or perhaps another suggestion?

Appreciate any and all help, having never ventured out to this part of the world before, I'm excited but also quite confused :S

Thanks in advance!

You're probably not getting replies because there are so many options available. Also, it isn't clear - will you be hiring a car from GVA for your roadtrip? If so, this makes things easier.

On the clothing side, I'd suggest that you consider buying some cheap ski clothing at somewhere like Oschner Sports in the valley. If you already have a good winter jacket then the only bulky item you need to buy is salopettes. Ski socks and gloves can be bought cheaply locally. This'll be all a lot easier of you have a car, as buying in resrt shops is likely to be more expensive.

As a guide, 3 days skipass for the Verbier area is 207 CHF.

If your wife isn't a keen skier, she might consider snowshoing ('racquettes') as a more rewarding use of her time - this is very popular and many resorts have a range of racquette routes, often intermixed with the ski slopes (so it's easy to meet up for breaks). This doesn't necessarily mean a lot of uphill slog - you use the same gondolas and chairs as the skiers but walk along/downhill. We're going out in a couple of weeks and my sister-in-law will be racquetting while we ski.

Also consider a combined spa and ski location. Places like Ovronnaz cater to people who want a more moxed set of activities and although the skiing isn't extensive, it's fine for shorter visits and there are a variety of spa and pool experiences on offer. Although the luxury spas get a lot of publicity, you don't have to spend a fortune - many cater for 'ordinary' families and groups.

Or perhaps you could stay in a valley spa like Saillon (Bains de Saillon) and drive to local ski areas such as Verbier or Crans Montana? Prices will be cheaper in the valley.

Although I've focused on the Valais resorts (Verbier, Ovronnaz, Bains de Saillon, Crans ...) there really a a lot of places to choose from, especially if you have a car. I'm just using these becuase I'm familiar with them.