I took my grandkids skiing in my 70s – this it what it taught me
As someone who has made a living for the past 50 years out of telling people where to go skiing, it should have been the easiest question of all time.
The best resorts for intermediates? For mountain ambience, for fine dining or for value for money? After visiting more than 525 resorts in 20 countries around the world, I foolishly prided myself on having an answer to all.
But this winter I found myself stumped. “Dad, where do Harriet and I take the kids for their first time on snow, and how do we go about it? And will you and mum come with us?” my son Max asked.
I could only half reply. “Yes” to the last request – a multi-generational holiday seems a sensible solution to an outing where extra pairs of hands would likely prove invaluable – but where and how, indeed?
I looked back to the heady days in the last century, when my wife Felice and I somehow incorporated skiing into our daily family life. It wasn’t easy, but we travelled from country to country, ski slope to ski slope – like the Family von Trapp, but mainly without the singing.
Now the pendulum has swung full circle. Max and his partner Harriet have their own family – Leo is aged four, and his ever-energised brother Arthur is two-and-half. In my book, that’s too young to start skiing. However, the world is changing and all are eager to spend their holidays in the snow.
What my experience does tell me is that to organise a ski trip with very young children in tow, you need to have a battle plan worthy of Alexander the Great.
The complex logistics involving clothing, equipment and ski lessons bear zero resemblance to those required for a simple beach holiday. No matter that the parents – and in our case grandparents – are experienced skiers themselves, you need expert help from a family ski tour operator that runs a full childcare operation, with its own nanny service.
But where there were once dozens of these specialist operators, barely a handful now exist in the post-Brexit era. Even fewer offer inclusive charter flights and transfers. Ski Esprit, the largest of these companies, will cease to exist at the end of this season after 41 years.
Its rival, Ski Famille, began in 1990 and is currently busy hoovering up the slack. This season it opened its showcase chalet hotel on the piste at Les Bruyères, midway between Les Menuires and Val Thorens.
Four-star Hotel Cocon de Neige is the definition of doorstep skiing, which is hugely important if you are going skiing with a young family. The ESF ski kindergarten, where Leo and Arthur spent their mornings on the slopes with instructors, and a Ski Famille nanny proved to be just a snowball throw from the boot-room door.
The idea of spending a whole week’s holiday in the close company of a gaggle of 23 noisy children and their parents who were mostly half my age filled me with concern, if not dread. But from the start, Leo and Arthur quickly bonded with playmates and I found – somewhat to my surprise – that I was enjoying myself, too. The hotel is made up of some 18 suites with up to three bedrooms in each. Ours had its own hot tub and sauna on the balcony.
As grandparents we were by no means alone either, other hotel guests had brought along the elder generation – or maybe the other way around. According to Ski Famille’s managing director Ian Hope, grandparents often foot the family bill for the whole holiday.
“What we do is not complicated,” he said. “Parents want to leave the kids secure in the knowledge that they are being looked after and having fun, while they are free to ski on their own for as much of the day as they want.”
During our week’s stay, a team of 13 nannies was on hand to care for the mainly pre-school children in the hotel. After the morning’s skiing, which begins at 8:40am, they are given lunch, before the afternoon is taken up with a programme of fun and games, including soft play and face-painting. Further babysitting was available in the Pyjama Club from 7 to 10pm.
The formula means that parents, and indeed us grandparents, were free to explore this side of the Trois Vallées for almost the whole day. With the kids happily settled into their first morning of lessons, my wife and I suddenly found ourselves – almost unexpectedly – free to enjoy our own skiing, having left Harriet and Max to watch the boys from a discreet distance.
We meet up with Clément, an amiable and fit 70-year-old instructor who was born in the Belleville Valley. He comes from a dynasty of ski teachers and four of his children have followed in his tracks. Half a dozen turns produced a tacit nod of approval and we headed up La Masse, Les Menuires’ own mountain, on the far side of the valley road. Consequently, while still busy for the time of year, the runs from the 2,800-metre summit were free from the main volume of the Trois Vallées skiing traffic.
After La Masse, we crossed the valley road, but instead of joining the crowded pistes towards Val Thorens, we headed down to St Martin. “If you want to enjoy a good lunch away from the crowds and some great skiing on the way, then this is where you go,” said Clément.
Au Toré is the restaurant of the new four-star Lodji Hotel beside the resort’s gondola. On a busy bluebird day, we miraculously had the place almost to ourselves – the perfect spot for a long, relaxed lunch. Later in the week, skiing with Max and Harriet, we stumbled on l’Alpage, a sunny terrace on a red run above our hotel on the Mont de la Chambre piste. Both were shamefully enjoyed for the absence of small children.
The intense level of childcare available from Ski Famille had allowed us all to enjoy skiing to an extent we hadn’t anticipated. Max, an ex-racer, enjoyed exploring the steeper terrain of Val Thorens, while Harriet, a relative novice, took advantage of her daily freedom from the kids to take a couple of private lessons.
And the grandparents? A lifetime dedicated to skiing has brought so many rewards…and none greater than watching another generation of Hardys vociferously declaring their love for snow and the mountains.
The verdict on the holiday came from four-year-old Leo. Would you like to come back? “I don’t want to go home. Can we live here?”
But the last silent word came from Arthur, who – you’ll remember – I’d declared at just two-and-a-half to be too young to learn to ski. On the final morning, he snaked faultlessly down a blue run from the top of the gondola to the resort with his ski class.
The grin on his face made the whole trip worthwhile.
Essentials
Ski Famille offers a week’s stay at Hotel Cocon de Neige from £1,249 per person, with discounts for children. The price includes chalet board, flights and transfers. Childcare is extra. Daily rental with Intersport costs from €8 (£6.90).
Peter was a guest of Ski Famille, with clothing provided by Helly Hansen
