The first family ski trip has a reputation for being either magical or a disaster, with very little in between. Having done the research and then done the trip, I think the truth is duller and more useful than that. It goes well when the logistics are boring and it goes badly when they are not.
Small children do not care about the quality of the snow. They care about being warm, being fed, and not sitting still for longer than they can manage. Which is why the least glamorous decision, how you get from the airport to the resort, matters more than the resort itself. Booking Alps2Alps or any door to door option at the same time as the flights means travel day has one less unknown in it.
Choose the resort for the walking, not the skiing
Everyone researches ski areas. With young children you should be researching the five minute walk from your accommodation to the ski school meeting point, in ski boots, carrying someone else’s skis, at half past eight in the morning.
Things that genuinely matter at this stage:
- How far the nursery slopes are from where you are sleeping
- Whether the ski school has English speaking instructors confirmed in writing
- Whether there is somewhere indoors and warm near the beginner area
- Whether you can reach a supermarket without a car
- Whether there is anything to do when someone refuses to ski on Wednesday
A smaller resort with everything within a few hundred metres usually beats a famous one where you spend the week in transit.
Travel day is the actual hard part
The skiing is fine. The skiing is what they will remember. Travel day is where it falls apart, because it is long, it involves waiting, and by the time you reach the mountains everyone has been awake for far too long.
Aim to land in the morning if you can. Feed everyone before the transfer rather than during it. Keep one bag accessible with snacks, a change of clothes for the smallest person, and something to do that is not a screen with a dying battery. And accept that the first evening is for pyjamas and pasta, not for exploring.
If your flight is delayed, and winter flights are, a transfer booked with your flight number takes the panic out of it. That is worth a great deal when you are standing in a baggage hall with a tired toddler.
Ski school: book it, then trust it
Book lessons before you go. Popular weeks fill up and turning up hopefully is how families end up teaching their own children, which is a reliable way to ruin both the morning and the relationship.
Mornings are better than afternoons for the under sevens. Half days are usually enough for the first trip. And be prepared for the fact that your child may be sobbing at drop off and perfectly cheerful ten minutes later, which the instructors have seen a thousand times and you have not.
What to actually pack
Layers, not thick jumpers. Spare gloves, because one glove will get wet on day one and a cold hand ends a session faster than anything. Sun cream, genuinely, even in January, because the glare off snow is stronger than anyone expects. Snacks for the pockets, since hungry children on a mountain are a problem you cannot fix quickly.
You can hire almost everything else. Helmets come with the ski hire, and there is little sense in buying equipment for feet that will be a size bigger by next winter.
Was it worth it?
Yes, though not for the reasons I expected. The skiing was slow and repetitive and mostly conducted on a slope you could walk up. What made it was watching someone small work out that they could do something difficult, and the long lazy afternoons afterwards with hot chocolate and no plans.
Set the expectations low, sort the logistics early, and let the rest be what it is.