Our first family ski holiday!
We stayed in Les Arcs 2000 in France in a chalet with 2 other families. None of the six children had skied before and it was ideal as they were all placed in the same ‘learn to ski’ group.
We were extremely lucky with the weather (with it being the first week of the season) as it had been snowing a lot in advance of us arriving and the 2 days before we arrived they had almost a metre of snow according to the forecasts! We had a mixture of clear, sunny and windy days for the first 4 days. The wind was a challenge but thankfully not every day and it didn’t stop us skiing, it just meant there were restrictions on which lifts were open.
Me and hubby had lessons as it had been such a long time since we last went and it was brilliant as we were taken all over the resort of Les Arcs and managed 19 miles in one of the 2.5 hour lessons! I think if we went again we’d have lessons again but maybe not for the full week!
The kids loved the skiing and all passed the beginners class and can’t wait to go again.
In the afternoons we did a variety of things. The first few days we didn’t take them out skiing as they were still learning the basics so we took advantage of the hotel’s swimming pool, built snowmen, had snowball fights and just generally enjoyed the snow. One afternoon we took the gondola and cable car on foot up to the top of Les Arcs at 3226m where the views were spectacular – this was included in our lift pass too.
The last couple of afternoons after lessons we took the kids out and did a few short runs and it was absolutely amazing to see how they’d conquered the basics!
Over the last day or two, we had heavy snow for quite a lot of the time – this was amazing to see and I’m so pleased the kids were able to be out with it snowing properly!
Having a chalet was ideal and meant we had our own bedrooms but also a large lounge area where we could relax, eat and play games. It was nice not to have to dress up for meals and for the kids it was perfect, I’d definitely recommend this for a group particularly with children and we’d definitely book a private chalet again!
Everything went brilliantly until the last morning of skiing when my eldest fell over and broke his leg! He is in a full leg cast and we are 2 weeks in of the 6 he has to have it on! Even now though when people ask if he wants to go again, he enthusiastically replies “YES!”. He is hopefully on the mend and I’m so pleased it hasn’t put him off as we had such a good week otherwise!
If you’d like to take your family skiing please do get in touch, I’d love to help!