This February French half-term we had our first ski holiday with our two adopted children, in the small, family friendly resort, La Rosiere, on the French-Italian border.
We had a sneaking feeling that our kids would enjoy skiing. They are active kids with bundles of anxiety generated energy that needs has to be continually burnt. Added to the mix is a skewed sense of fear.
They are willing to take more risks than your average child. Just see them climbing trees and jumping off climbing frames, it is heart in mouth stuff.
Another reason for enjoying ski holiday, there is a fixed routine:
• Breakfast
• Ski school
• Lunch
• Ski
• Back to the chalet
• Snow ball fight/ build a snowman / movie
• Supper
• Bed
• Repeat six times.
• Go home.
The ski holiday had the right amount of routine, physical exertion, relaxation and sleep. Lights off 7.30pm every night with little complaint. Wonder Boy even ate a bowl of spaghetti for the first time. Ever.
One of the guests was a family with a 21-month old toddler. Both Wonder Boy and Super Girl were enraptured with Toddler. Super Girl would read stories and Wonder Boy and Toddler became best buddies; every time he walked in the room Toddler’s eyes would light up, and Toddler would gurgle and babble.
It gave Wonder Boy a chance be a carefree toddler again, a time of his life that he had so obviously missed.
They played peak-a-boo, and he taught Toddler to high-five the other chalet guests. It was nueroplasty in action. This is the same little boy who erupts when external environment gets too stressful. Teachers who describe him as aggressive should really see him in action here.
We booked children into ski school. Lessons were two hours, they went out in cloud, thick snow and deep powder after an immense overnight downfall. For the kids it was just one big adventure. Falling over was just part of the fun.
By the end of the holiday, Wonder Boy was coming down blue runs like a little pro, and Super Girl was whizzing down green runs. They have out skied me, and they are catching up with King of the Mountains.
You know where we will be next February – back up in the Alps.
Ski holiday Q & A
How did you travel? By train, from Gare du Lyon on the TGV direct to Lyon where we changed to a local service to Bourg St Maurice. From there we took a coach to the resort. It was a slick operation, journey time about five and half hours.
Eurostar run a service from St Pancras International to Bourg St Maurice, with a journey time of eight and a half hours.
Which resort did you go to? La Rosiere. It’s a small family friendly resort, on the French Italian border. When the conditions are good you can ski to the Italian resort La Thuile for lunch and back to France for supper. Pretty cool!
Resort height: 2642m, 8667ft
Highest lift: 2610m, 8560ft
No. of lifts: 39
No. of slopes: 74
Total piste length: 150km
Where did you stay in La Rosiere? In Chalet Pedrix, run by the British tour operator, Skibeat.
Our chalet held a total of 12 people, we had the family snug, two rooms sharing an ensuite bathroom, very convenient and very comfortable.
Did you take ski lessons? Yes. We booked this with the French ski school ESF.
What else does the resort have? A bowling alley, ice rink, cinema, supermarkets and lots of family friendly restaurants. We really liked Le Flocon.
How much did it cost? I won’t lie, ski holidays can be pricey, but there ways of keeping the cost down. Check out this article for ideas on how to minimize your costs.
By the way, this was not a sponsored post.
