where is SNOW SURE in APRIL??

[noonar]

hi. i'm planning this year's ski trip with dds who'll be 6 and 3 yr 9 mo.

we have to go during school hols, but dont want to spend a fortune. thought april might be a wee bit cheaper.

also, as dd1 is only 3, i think that the later we leave it, the better, in terms of her enjoyment/ ability to (possibly)have a go at skiing.

any ideas about resorts? pref somewhere with snow at resort level in april( am i being ridiculously optimistic??)
tia

[Anteater]

Saas Fee should be fine.
Excellent for young children starting out and very pretty.

Book low cost flights to Geneve and transfer by train and post bus and save £££

Many of the high French supermarket resorts should also be fine.

[noonar]

thanks anteater . any idea about tour operators to saas fee with creche etc.? esprit go there, but its nearly 1000£ ppn in april.

[Anteater]

Hi,
no idea which operators go as we booked everything ourselves. I think the MN review section rec a hotel in Saas Fee, not cheap but they may have an open creche. So you could find a small cheaper hotel and use their bits!
Try to go for a hotel at the slope end of town, there are some on the slope side.

[LIZS]

Basically aim above 1800m/2000m and preferably glacial and north facing. Saas Fee (we've done the Alphuebel, as in MN review section, in the past, great fun ! but Esprit are based nearer the slopes if that is your thing) There was snow in the village in April 2005, due back in the area next Easter. Skischool won't take a 3 year old though iirc, afternoon session ofr 4/5 year olds , main skischool from 5. Alpe d'Huez had snow last Easter (not great for kids though). Maybe Tignes, Zermatt, St Anton, Avoriaz/Morzine ?

[LIZS]

Oh and don't book the Alphubel through an operator , serious rip off ! Under 6 's stay, eat and cared for free.

[LIZS]

oops last skied there April 2006 ! dh and ds went summer skiing in the July too, our last stay at the Alphuebel.

[Anteater]

I noticed when we went in 2004(?) that people who were not connected with the ski school but had young children were just using the magic carpets and magic roudabout tow thingy at Saas Fee... nobody seemed to mind.

We stayed in the Schweizerhoff which was excellent. Kids went to a party in the Alphuebel which was a little 'Germanic' actually I thought it was nearly military!

Our 6 and 7 yo did well with the swiss ski school.

There seemed to be some really nice smaller hotels down near the slopes, one we had lunch in most days looked perfect for smallees but can not remember name.

If you choose Zermatt (which of course is the best resort in the world)look at Ski Summit ski school for the 6 yo, brill. Do not be tempted to book your nearly 4yo into Stoked, not impressed with their small child care!

As ever tho, I defer to LIZ for the final words..!

[kookaburra]

LizS is the skiing guru!!!!
We were lucky in 2006 @ Easter and had snow in Morzine where we were staying on the mountain, tho' the runs to the village were patchy - in 2007 we had to go to Norway to get Easter snow. (Norway good for easy runs, not challenging for itermediate, but the DC had fun jumping over the snow-board ramps, and was not crowded).
Next year as school aster holiday are not actually @ Easter we will probably go to Canada.

[LIZS]

ah tis very , er , Swiss in parts. Think Europop kids 80's disco, DJ Oetzi, oompa bands, alphorns, zithers, fireworks... We got to know the family who run it fairly well, the DIL is British and runs the creche/kids club. If you do book ask for a family room, 2 interconnecting rooms with extra space well worth the supplement.

[noonar]

liz ( agree, she is ski guru extraordinaire)and others, thanks so much. have followed up your suggestion re alphubel. have started another thread about it as i have some specific questions about the hotel

[tortoiseSHELL]

We go to Scotland every Easter for ski-ing - generally fairly reliable for SOME snow, if not the whole mountain! The children had their first go last year in April, and it's much cheaper than Europe!

[tomps]

Norway. Geilo for example brilliant for children and beginners. We went with Neilson but might be cheaper to arrange it yourself. Geilo ski school absolutely excellent and very good creche. We also chose it partly because they do lessons for very young whereas resorts I was looking at in austria and switzerland didn't do lessons until eg 8years old.

[noonar]

ah, thanks again, all. have booked the alphubel in saas fee for feb 1/2 term, so hopefully no snow worries.

[Lilymaid]

Flaine has excellent snow record in April. If you register (free of charge) on the Ski Club of GB site you can get some historical information - just last year I think - though if you join you can get the full historical information for the resorts it covers.

[kookaburra]

tomos - agree about Geilo - vey pleased with the ski school there.

[noonar]

thanks folks.

we've booked to go to switzerland, but am sure your tips will help others

[Anteater]

Noonar, we are going to zermatt for that week so may see you on the train!

[noonar]