Tips for a first family ski trip

Even if you’re well-travelled, preparing for a first family ski trip can be a bit daunting – especially if you’re a beginner yourself.

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With lots of extra gear to sort, decisions about arranging accommodation and lessons (without breaking the bank), calming any nerves about learning to ski (theirs or yours!) plus all kinds of practicalities like lift passes, it can feel a bit overwhelming.

So after my daughter’s first introduction to skiing, I’ve pulled together all my tips for a first family ski trip – it’s aimed particularly at families where no-one is an expert; perhaps you’ve skied a little but never with kids, perhaps you’re all beginners.

But whatever you have planned for your first time family ski trip, I’ve got advice on everything from what to pack to how to plan your days – so you can enjoy your time in the mountains.

If you’re planning skiing lessons as part of a Lapland trip, check out my tips for visiting Lapland with kids

Packing tips for a family ski trip

How to save on ski gear

You need a lot of gear to go skiing and there’s no way round it – but if you want to avoid paying a fortune for a few days’ holiday (especially if your kids turn out not to love skiing), there are ways to cut the cost.

Keep an eye out for sales at places like Decathlon and Mountain Warehouse – I managed to get a new ski jacket for less than half-price on Black Friday. If you have friends who ski, you might be able to borrow kit, or you can hire it through companies like Eco-Ski.

If you can’t avoid buying it, look at options you’ll use during the winter at home too – salopettes are rarely going to come in useful, but my daughter has used a ski jacket as her main winter coat, while thermals are always good for days outdoors or cold snaps.

What to pack

There are some essentials you can’t do without on family ski trips for beginners – ski trousers or salopettes, a proper ski jacket and layers to go underneath.

The temperature can vary throughout the season so it might not actually be as cold as you expect, even with snow on the ground, so more thin layers are better than a single thick one. Thick jumpers can also mean you end up getting very hot walking to the lifts carrying skis!

Equally, you don’t want to underdo it as you can find yourself standing around a lot more while you’re learning, so kids in particular can get chilly.

Waterproof outer layers

You can go for ski suits, but a ski jacket and ski trousers is a better option to start off (not least because you’re likely to get more wear out of the ski jacket at home).

Mountain Warehouse has some good ski sets for kids which often works out cheaper than buying the two individually, while Decathlon also has a good range of kids ski gear.

While it’s tempting to look at ordinary waterproof trousers with a thermal layer underneath, ski trousers with elasticated gaiters help stop snow getting inside your trousers – which will keep everyone happier.

Thermal base layers

Merino wool is the best option as it’s lightweight but very warm and dries quickly. It’s worth having two sets of thermal base layers (they’re quick to rinse and dry if you’ve got longer family ski holidays planned) as you can then manage with one set of outer layers.

We’re big fans of Mountain Warehouse’s base layers which come in block colours – including matching thermal pants and round necked top – as well as some patterned versions, which are cute enough to be worn on their own in the hotel. Also available from Amazon. 

Or I love Uniqlo’s Heattech thermals – I have a couple of the thermal tops, which are much thinner than standard thermals and non-itchy.

You can then layer thin jumpers and sweatshirts over these, if you’ve already got something suitable, or a lightweight midlayer.

Snow boots

You need something practical for walking around when you’re off the slopes. Walking boots can also work for kids, especially if it’s not hugely snowy.

My Ohio snowboots (also available on Amazon) have seen me through a trip to Lapland plus ski trips in France and any snowy days at home – as well as decent grips and laces to keep them secure, I love the fluffy trim.

My daughter helpfully wanted a pair of plain black snow boots, which also happened to be the cheapest ones available at Mountain Warehouse, although there are also kids Ohio snowboots and ones with velcro fastening in the kids snow boot range.

Alternatively the Trail kids walking boots are lightweight and waterproof and work well if there’s not a huge amount of snow in the resort (plus they’re easier to travel in than snow boots). If you do a lot of walking at home, Keen walking boots are also hard to beat.

Accessories

Socks – It’s worth buying some proper ski socks – you can take thermal socks but ski socks are comfier in ski boots and tend to be longer than some thermal socks which stop mid-calf.

Tip: avoid having thermal leggings layered over socks when you’re wearing ski boots – it’s best to have a single layer, so go for leggings which can be pulled up above the boots, to avoid them rubbing (something I discovered from experience!)

Gloves – It goes without saying that you’ll need gloves, but pack more pairs than you think. You need waterproof gloves for on the slopes (and for any snowball fights) but it’s well worth having a second pair for when the first pair is drying out (or if you lose one).

Get ski gloves with elastic/loops to go round the wrist too, so that you don’t have to carry them or have to stuff them in a pocket if you’re not wearing them. Younger kids can find waterproof mittens easier than gloves which can be big and bulky, and ones with elasticated wrists or with velcro straps to tighten are helpful.

I’m a big fan of glove liners too – when you’re trying to put your kids’ gloves on, sort zips, use your phone, they’re less cumbersome than the waterproof gloves but they stop your hands freezing while you take ski gloves off. Plus they add an extra layer of warmth as well when the waterproof ones are on.

As well as my own pair, I had a pair of kids glove liners for my daughter, although for younger kids, multiple pairs of gloves can be a bit of a faff, so keep some air-activated hand warmers in a pocket as an alternative. I also threw in some ordinary woolly gloves for the evenings while her ski gear was drying.

Neck warmer – whether you call these a buff, snood, gaiter or anything else, they’re much more practical than a scarf, help keep you warm and stop the snow going down the back of your neck!

My daughter’s thermal fleece version has lasted her for over five years now and is still super fluffy. My own fleece lined neck warmer is a bit less eye-catching but is soft, warm and not bulky – perfect!

Goggles – much better than sunglasses (although it’s worth packing those as well if you’re out in the afternoons without full ski gear), you can find some great adjustable versions which will last for years if everyone falls in love with skiing.

Our Sposune ski goggles had anti-fog coating and would fit over glasses (essential for my daughter) as well as coming in several different styles. In fact, I liked hers so much that I got a similar pair for myself. Alternatively Supertrip goggles are similar. Suitable for kids aged 5-15 years old, they also go over glasses.

You can also find smaller ski goggles for younger kids which are more comfortable on little faces.

Hat – as you’ll be wearing a helmet a lot of the time (walking to/from the lifts and all the time on the slopes), you might find that you don’t need a woolly hat as much as you think.

But it’s definitely worth packing one for evenings, other snowy activities between ski sessions and if you hit a cold snap.

A hat with ear flaps is ideal for younger kids: this wolf fleece hat is a cute choice, along with this patterned option. For older kids, their standard winter hat is fine – my fleece lined thermal pompom hat is superwarm, but anything similar works well.

Slippers – unlike some of the other essentials, you can absolutely go skiing without packing a pair of slippers! But after a day in ski boots (and snow boots, which feel featherlight after ski boots), putting on a pair of comfy slippers is blissful.

It might make me sound 87 to say that, but you’ll thank me later.

Where to stay

Which country to choose?

There’s a huge choice of resorts in France alone, always one of the most popular ski destinations from the UK, quite apart from Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, Andorra, Bulgaria…

When it comes to choosing between them, consider the costs (Scandinavia is more expensive than Bulgaria, for example) as well as the travel time.

There are frequent flights from the UK to Geneva (often the closest airport for many resorts in the French Alps), as well as Grenoble and Lyon, plus it’s easy to travel by train.

Consider how long the transfer will take at the other end as well – most European ski destinations are within two hours flight time of the UK (except perhaps Bulgaria) but you could easily spend another couple of hours on the transfer.

Small resorts are often better for beginners

While it’s tempting to look at the big resorts for all the extra facilities, a smaller resort is often better when you’re learning. For starters, it’s usually cheaper, which is handy if you’re not even sure how everyone will take to skiing.

The smaller resorts may not be ski-in ski-out but that’s not necessarily a problem. If you’re learning, you won’t be skiing in and out anyway, but make sure you aren’t too far from the lifts – a long walk is no fun when you’re carrying multiple pairs of skis.

Some resorts – like Les Carroz – have free ski buses to the gondola. Our accommodation was only a couple of minutes from the stop and we never waited more than a few minutes for a bus, but if you’re facing a long bus ride or ages waiting after a day on the slopes, it’s best avoided.

Resorts with more green and blue runs are ideal as it shows the area is particularly suited to beginners, with some variety and chance to progress from the nursery slopes.

The apres-ski scene is usually a lot smaller as well – if you’re skiing with kids, you won’t be staying out late partying after all, and you’ll want to avoid loud music keeping them awake.

Vaujany, where we stayed on our Ski France press trip, was great as it’s a small village, so nothing was more than a short walk away – Hotel des Cimes, where we stayed, was only a few minutes from the gondola, with the ski hire shop Sport 2000 right by the lifts and the nursery slope at the other end as soon as you get off.

It was was quick to get our bearings (useful when you’re carrying skis), but still had plenty of family friendly things to do off the slopes in breaks from skiing, including a swimming pool, bowling and other snowy fun like husky sledding in nearby Alpe d’Huez.

The same was true for Les Carroz – slightly bigger than Vaujany, it was also very easy to walk around with lots of ski hire shops, restaurants and a supermarket, plus the Aquacime pool and spa centre, an ice rink and fun toboggan slope reached by magic carpet.

If you are travelling with more experienced skiers or just want the flexibility of exploring further afield, look for a smaller destination that’s linked to a larger ski area – Vaujany is part of the Alpe d’Huez domaine, which means there’s 250km of runs connected by the various lifts, while Les Carroz is part of the Grand Massif so you can get to Flaine, Samoens, Morillon and Sixt very easily.

You’ll find similar situations elsewhere in the Alps including the Three Valleys (Trois Vallees) ski area and Paradiski.

Chalet, apartment or hotel?

Both have their pros and cons – a self-catered apartment will be the cheapest option, but consider if you really want to be cooking, or what the options for takeaways/eating out are, as well as checking what facilities there are for storing your ski gear.

Self-catering is always helpful if you’re travelling with picky eaters though – most places we visited did have a kid’s menu, but it can mean a constant choice of burger, chicken nuggets and croque monsieur (plus sometimes pasta).

Catered chalets or hotel will cost more, but if you are staying in smaller villages or resorts, it’s not necessarily extortionate – plus you’ll get afternoon tea (or at least some very welcome snacks and hot chocolate mid afternoon) as well as breakfast and dinner. Even the smaller hotels will have a boot room, and ours at Hotel des Cimes had a play room for children.

If you’re planning to do more skiing than your kids (even if you’re not an expert), a hotel with a kids club or booking via a company which provides childcare is a great option too.

For more tips on booking a family ski holiday with childcare, check out this post

Booking through a company can often get you some great deals on lift passes and discounts on ski hire, as well as helping arrange lessons, plus most have both hotel and chalet accommodation options.

Planning ski lessons

Are group lessons or private better for beginners?

Whether you choose group lessons or private ones, do book some! It’s by far the best introduction to the slopes – instructors will teach more than just how to ski, including how to use the lifts, mountain etiquette and more.

Even if you’re a competent skier, you might find it easier to have someone else teaching your kids too (quite apart from not passing on any bad habits) – plus it means you get out to enjoy the pistes.

Group lessons – if you go for group lessons at ski school, consider how old your kids are. If they’re likely to be much younger or older than the rest of the group, a private lesson might be best.

Consider what languages are spoken too. Instructors usually speak great English so there’s no fear about them being able to communicate during the lessons, but it’s less fun for your kids if they’re the only child speaking English in the group.

Private lessons – Private lessons are pricier but obviously have the benefit of individual attention, so your kids (and you!) may progress a lot faster this way, if you’re hoping to get off the nursery slope and onto the green runs.

Bear in mind that they (and you!) might progress at different rates though.

While my daughter and I both started together, I had managed to remember a few essentials from lessons a decade or so before, so was ready to try the green runs fairly quickly – my daughter wasn’t, so we quickly needed two instructors.

That’s one bonus of group lessons as it’s easier to move them between groups if they need more help or turn out to be natural skiers.

Book lessons for the morning

Whichever option you go for – or even a mix of both – do plan the lessons for the morning and leave the afternoons free.

Skiing is hard work – even just getting around in ski boots, carrying your gear, quite apart from the effort of learning – so you’ll be ready for some downtime by lunch.

You might not want lessons every day

If you’re going for a short break, it’s obviously tempting to fit in as much skiing as possible during your holiday but if you can keep it flexible, it’s a good idea – especially with younger kids.

On day 2, my daughter had a much shorter lesson and spent more time playing in the snow with some new friends, and the break was definitely welcome. If you’ve got a week-long break, it’s easier to space things out, with a few shorter lessons or a day off part-way through.

And if your kids are instant ski converts and want to spend every minute on the slopes, it’s often possible to schedule extra private lessons anyway (especially outside peak season, although riskier during February half-term).

Even if they think they’re desperate to spend every minute skiing, taking it at a slower pace can help avoid total exhausted meltdown by day 3.

Getting ski gear

Get sorted in advance

If you can get your ski gear sorted the day before the first lesson, it makes life much easier. There’s usually a good choice of hire options for skis, boots and helmets, plus the chance to buy other odds and ends you might have forgotten, but they can be busy first thing and it takes a while to sort everything out.

TIP: bear in mind that it will take longer to do everything once you’re all kitted up, so the last thing you want is to be rushing in ski boots or while weighed down with everyone’s skis

Do check that your goggles and helmet work together – we realised that the shape of my daughter’s helmet pushed the goggles down so it squashed her nose, while a different style fitted fine.

Getting kitted up is getting more high-tech too – during our press trip to Les Carroz in the Grand Massif, we got our gear from SkiSet, who have a special machine to scan your feet. You don’t even need to try the boots on (and I came away bruise free, so thumbs up from me).

Save time to get used to ski boots

It’s worth spending a little bit of time practising walking in ski boots too – it might sound strange, but the heel-toe movement you need doesn’t come naturally!

Comfort is key

Don’t be afraid to go back to the shop if something isn’t fitting properly. During a recent trip, my first pair of ski boots left me with a bruise on one shin, which made walking really painful by the end of day 1.

Having swapped them for another pair, I had no problems after that – otherwise I’m not sure I’d even have been able to get to the lifts. (Don’t necessarily expect hired ski boots to be super comfy but they shouldn’t actually hurt you!)

Don’t do ski boots up straight away

Rigid ski boots are great for when you’re actually strapped into skis, less so when you’re walking to and from the lifts or through the snow.

For adult boots, you’ll often find that there’s a velcro strap around the top, as well as the bindings on the calf and foot – one great tip I got was that if you do up the velcro strap and foot bindings, it holds the boot on securely enough but gives you a bit more movement to walk.

Then when you get to the slope, undo the foot bindings, secure the top bindings first before redoing the foot, then finish by tightening the velcro strap so you’re ready to ski.

Kids’ ski boots tend to have fewer bindings as they’re smaller so it’s harder to leave any loose while they walk.

Use your special lift pass pocket

Always keep your lift pass in a left-hand pocket – most ski jackets will have a special little zip pocket by the wrist for this anyway (if you’ve wondered what that’s for).

If not, any pocket on that side means the turnstiles will be able to read it without constantly getting it out.

More family ski trip tips

Pack snacks

You can never have too many snacks. Chocolate, fruit leather, sweets – whatever your kids (and you) prefer, this is one time where you’re going to need all that sugar for energy.

We did pack some mini gingerbread as well but tended to have those as a snack back at the hotel as they’re more easily crushed if you fall over on the slopes – mini bars of Dairy Milk and YoYo Bears would easily fit into a pocket for whenever we needed a pick-me-up.

Be prepared to motivate nervous beginners

Whether it’s your usual parenting style or not, bribery/rewards may well be the answer to getting your kids back on that slope, if they’re nervous or simply worn out.

Obviously it’s a delicate balance between pushing them too fast, but sometimes you know they just need a bit of encouragement to motivate them…

During our recent trip, one tired six-year-old who was reluctant to go back on the slopes was suddenly re-energised by the promise of a snowball maker.

Meanwhile my own daughter was persuaded to go further up the nursery slope with the promise of being able to throw a certain number of snowballs at me per challenge tackled (you may want to negotiate better than me as I ended up being pelted with 71 snowballs by the end of her lesson!)

If you live closer to somewhere offering skiing lessons in the UK, it can be a good idea to build up confidence before you travel – not always cheap though and the old dry ski slopes can be quite different from skiing on snow, so not always helpful.

Always allow plenty of time

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I can’t stress it enough. From our hotel to the lifts was maybe a three-minute walk in normal shoes: when you have to go via the boot room to put on ski boots, get helmets on (to avoid carrying them), carry skis and do that same walk in ski boots, it inevitably takes longer.

And from experience, I can promise that rushing in multiple layers is no fun if you’re arriving stressed and sweaty before you even start a lesson!

Don’t overplan

Don’t overplan your time – by the time we’d had a lesson, lunch on the slopes and headed back down in the lift, it was amazing how much of the afternoon had gone.

You can certainly fit in more activities after lunch, but a bit of downtime (and a chance for a very hot shower to help any aching muscles) is often very needed.

What else to do during your family ski holiday

Make the most of the snow

There’s far more than skiing to enjoy in the snow – a snowball fight and the chance for my daughter to push me into a snowdrift were easily one of the highlights of her holiday!

You can also get toboggans to make the most of the snowy slopes – some resorts will have separate toboggan areas, otherwise just find a quiet slope where you won’t be in the way.

Look out for husky sledding – our 30-minute trip in Alpe d’Huez was another highlight of our holiday, with the dogs whisking us through the snowy landscape (and a nice rest for my own legs).

Other areas have horse-drawn carriage rides or reindeer sledding, while you’ll also find dog sledding in several other places in the Alps.

You can even try tandem paragliding – kids do need to be able to start on skis, although you don’t need to be hugely proficient as the instructor will do all the hard part.

There are often plenty of other snowy activities, like fat biking, but with kids it’s well worth keeping the afternoons low-effort.

For more ideas of things to do in some of the best family ski resorts in France, check out my post

Check out the local attractions

At times you may want to have a complete break from the snow – especially if you’ve just warmed up, or have taken the lifts back down to your accommodation and don’t fancy venturing back up again.

A lot of ski resorts will have their own public swimming pools (as do some of the bigger hotels in larger resorts) so playing on the slides or just having fun in the water is an easy way to spend an hour. From a tired adult point of view, being able to float and rest my legs worked for me too!

If you’re staying in or around Avoriaz, the Aquariaz aquatic centre has a lazy river and splash zone as well as other water park attractions. And in Les Carroz, the Aquacime centre has a heated outdoor pool (two in summer) plus an indoor pool with jets.

You can also find bowling alleys, ice rinks as well as various other little attractions – Vaujany has a fun little interactive museum, while you’ll find a string of other quirky little museums in the Alps, such as the mechanical museum in Les Gets.

At La Tania-Courchevel, there’s indoor climbing too.

Depending where your lift pass allows you to go, it can be fun just soaking up some of the scenery as you cruise above the mountains – we spotted half-frozen waterfalls and mountain goats as we sailed from A to B.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission. My first family skiing trip was a press trip for work but I was under no obligation to write this post and all opinions are my own.

Images copyright MummyTravels

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