Skiing with young kids in Europe

It's many parent's dream to get their kids on skis and ski as a family, but how easy is it to turn that into reality, especially when coming from halfway round the world?

The dream

When your kid is born it's pretty normal for skiing to take a back seat, at least apart from the odd weekend snatched here and there, but keen snow aficionados want to get back out there as soon as possible. Even more alluring is the thought of your offspring strapping on skis or a board and somehow being an absolute natural (they've got your genes, right?). Somewhere in the back of your mind is the hope that they might be the next Mikaela Shiffrin or Shaun White, and you will be able to spend your twilight skiing years as a VIP, bathing in their reflected glory.

Is this the future for your kid?

The reality

Unfortunately life isn't always like that. When we took our first kid at the age of three she was far more interested in building snowmen than shredding powder. In the Alps it is not uncommon to be overtaken by a chain of local toddlers following their instructor or parents and I had envisaged our little family unit being the same, but once I had accepted that it might not happen in the first year our snowman building skills improved no end.

For our second trip to the Alps with the eldest, we enrolled her in ski school, thus delegating the motivation to somebody else - with the bonus that we could head off for some skiing every morning before meeting her for lunch. For many kids this works ok, but there are several factors to be aware of with a group lesson at ski school:

• If you are there for a vacation period, it will be busy, the class will be full and your child will get limited time with the instructors and limited time practising.

• Classes will be made up of various nationalities, and it might be the case your child will not be able to converse with their classmates.

• Although instructors will undoubtedly have good language skills, if they are talking for the majority of the time in a language foreign to your kid, they will not enjoy it as much.

• In peak season ski schools supplement their workforce with young seasonal staff. They will be good skiers, but won't necessarily have the experience of dealing with lots of kids and lots of different situations, such as loading kids on and off chairlifts and managing numbers at breaks. This can make for stressed instructors and stressed kids, which is not conducive to learning.

This set up wasn't the right choice for our daughter, and while she learnt the basics of how to ski, she became anxious at the thought of going every day, which wasn't the experience we wanted.

The next time we went as a family, now with a younger brother in tow, we decided on hand-picking an instructor with a track record of nurturing slightly nervous kids. Suddenly it all clicked into place. Wanda, a charming lady with several decades of teaching experience, met us on our schedule so we didn't have to rush out in the morning and instantly put our children both at ease by speaking perfect English and by treating them to hot chocolate, although the youngest was initially disappointed not to have one of the cool young instructors looking like they had stepped out of Top Gun. Every morning we would drop them off and come back to spot them zipping down progressively trickier slopes and loving it. The total focus Wanda gave them got rid of any worries and they could ask questions, rest and have a joke around at any point.

As a result we are enormous advocates of choosing the right instructor for your family - the right personality, the right experience, the right skills - and we will work with you to find the best options.

If all goes well you might have a junior map reading buddy for future trips

Off the slopes

You might get more skiing by skiing less

Accepting that your ski bambini can't do laps from top to bottom all day is important if you want to avoid mid-mountain meltdowns. Ski boots hurt, snowboards are heavy and kids get irrecoverably tired at inconvenient moments, normally when you have just gone 200 yards past the last lift to get down the mountain.

Planning to ski in the morning, have a great lunch (kid-friendly pizza and pasta, schnitzel and french fries or burgers are pretty much always in reach) and then dedicate the afternoon to going swimming or sledding can actually get you more skiing in the long run. Lots of Alpine resorts have fantastic sports centers, with pools heated to tropical temperatures, Jacuzzi tubs and activities like climbing walls, and many of the hotels have their own private spa facilities to relax in.

Renting a sled is a cheap and easy way to pass an afternoon in the sun, and in many places the set up allows parents to relax with a drink while the kids let off steam.

On the days you want to do something special there are some memorable activities we can arrange, such as husky-sledding or a mountain picnic.

Travel to the mountains

Flying to the Alps is straightforward, with major airports close to all parts of the 750-mile range. The first thing to think about is whether you bite the bullet and do all of your travel in one go, or take the opportunity to break the journey in Paris, London, Zurich, Milan, Venice or Munich. Ski areas are at best an hour from the closest airport and up to four hours away, so there's an argument for stopping, recharging, taking in some sights and then hitting the mountains refreshed. After a couple of days you can head on however you want, by private transfer, train or rental car.

If traveling straight through, the most relaxing way is to get a private transfer where the driver will take care of the luggage, sort out car seats for kids that need them and negotiate winding roads in potentially snowy conditions.

On the plane itself you can look at getting seats with more space on any overnight flights so you can all get some rest, then if you don't think you need it for a day flight you can fly in seats that cost less - flexibility is something we can help you plan.

Explore some more

Kids will love the memories of seeing Venice by vaporetto or heading up the Eiffel Tower. How about taking in a soccer match or NFL game in London or Germany? The weather in spring warms up considerably when not at altitude, so combining a ski trip with sightseeing in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France or the UK is really easy.

In summary

There has rarely been a better time to take your family to the Alps. The value is huge for lift tickets, tuition, guiding, eating great meals (with no tips) and much else, so you can take your budget and make it go further - while at the same time seeing some of the most beautiful mountains around, and experiencing a different, but very welcoming ski culture.

If you would like to know more or have questions, we have got first-hand experience and are ready to help you make your family trip a reality.

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