skiandgolfnut
Member
These forums have long been my source for all things Europe and I am hoping I might find some feedback in deciding where to ski next year (and subsequent years.)
Some background–my wife does not ski (enjoys food, villages, apres, spa etc) and I have a 3 year old and a 2 year old. The 3 year old got on skis for the first time in Aspen a few weeks ago. No ski school but we had a great few days using straps etc. I grew up learning to ski each year on our annual presidents week trip at various western resorts, Steamboat, Keystone, Beaver Creek, Park City, and ultimately later on Aspen yearly. I’m a big believer in ski school and definitely will have the 3 year old (next year 4) in it next year. Typically the school that the kids will attend gives one week off for presidents day. While eventually short trips out west are an option on MLK etc, this week is the big ski trip and most likely their only exposure to skiing other than a day or two in New York/Berkshires etc.
Our trip to Aspen this year was more or less a giant clusterfuck. We go there every year because the women like it and its typically not crowded even on holiday weeks but the logistics of children–ski school at buttermilk, skiing at AJAX/Highlands, made staying in town a pain in the ass for Dad. Lots of driving, not easy. Not to mention, its probably the most expensive option there is and the vibe/culture of the place in my opinion has gone to shit over the last ten years. Too much money in, no character, really not the kind of place I want my children to grow up skiing.
We’ve been discussing moving the trip to be based in Snowmass, somewhat of a compromise, the girls can be in town in 20 minutes, and the ski logistics become easy. But Aspen airport remains undefeated at wrecking vacation plans and the two daily NYC-Eagle flights presidents week are typically $1000+ for a coach seat. Leaving the Aspen bubble, perhaps to Park City, probably would result in huge crowds and similar expense for that week, and going somewhere remote like Big Sky is not something my wife would tolerate.
Which brings me to Europe. In the last five years I have done trips to Zermatt, Arlberg, and St Moritz. Without my wife or kids. From my perspective, there is no better experience in skiing and the logistics of getting there from NYC, especially in relation to getting to Aspen, are shockingly easy. I’ve found it to be cheaper, better, certainly tastier and in many ways easier. And to boot no one bothers me with work until I’m done skiing because of the time zone change. I completely agree with the consensus on these boards which is that a NYC based skier should definitely be going to Europe far more often than is typically realized.
All of the above was a long winded way of figuring out what a Europe trip would look like with young children. My main concerns are:
Based on all of the above, are there countries/particular resorts that fit the bill more than others? Ideally we’d choose somewhere with a great town/village for my wife, with easy ski logistics so that she can meet me for lunch easily and can easily pick up the kids from their ski lessons without her herself needing to get on skis, within a couple hours drive of Geneva, Zurich, Milan, possibly Venice, with great ski schooling that does not get slammed during the February break.
I think making this an annual tradition versus either raising them in Aspen or somewhere else in the US will offer them culture and something unique that I think could be very additive to their upbringing. And I’d certainly enjoy the skiing a whole lot more!!
Appreciate any wisdom.
I should add, my general ski level is I enjoy going off piste with a guide but try to avoid fall and die steeps. I was perfectly content with the off piste options at Zermatt/St Moritz. At the end of the day, Ill go where is best for the kids and hope there is some good skiing for me. It seems to me like the posher/more remote the resort the best/longest lasting the easy access off piste is with a guide.
Some background–my wife does not ski (enjoys food, villages, apres, spa etc) and I have a 3 year old and a 2 year old. The 3 year old got on skis for the first time in Aspen a few weeks ago. No ski school but we had a great few days using straps etc. I grew up learning to ski each year on our annual presidents week trip at various western resorts, Steamboat, Keystone, Beaver Creek, Park City, and ultimately later on Aspen yearly. I’m a big believer in ski school and definitely will have the 3 year old (next year 4) in it next year. Typically the school that the kids will attend gives one week off for presidents day. While eventually short trips out west are an option on MLK etc, this week is the big ski trip and most likely their only exposure to skiing other than a day or two in New York/Berkshires etc.
Our trip to Aspen this year was more or less a giant clusterfuck. We go there every year because the women like it and its typically not crowded even on holiday weeks but the logistics of children–ski school at buttermilk, skiing at AJAX/Highlands, made staying in town a pain in the ass for Dad. Lots of driving, not easy. Not to mention, its probably the most expensive option there is and the vibe/culture of the place in my opinion has gone to shit over the last ten years. Too much money in, no character, really not the kind of place I want my children to grow up skiing.
We’ve been discussing moving the trip to be based in Snowmass, somewhat of a compromise, the girls can be in town in 20 minutes, and the ski logistics become easy. But Aspen airport remains undefeated at wrecking vacation plans and the two daily NYC-Eagle flights presidents week are typically $1000+ for a coach seat. Leaving the Aspen bubble, perhaps to Park City, probably would result in huge crowds and similar expense for that week, and going somewhere remote like Big Sky is not something my wife would tolerate.
Which brings me to Europe. In the last five years I have done trips to Zermatt, Arlberg, and St Moritz. Without my wife or kids. From my perspective, there is no better experience in skiing and the logistics of getting there from NYC, especially in relation to getting to Aspen, are shockingly easy. I’ve found it to be cheaper, better, certainly tastier and in many ways easier. And to boot no one bothers me with work until I’m done skiing because of the time zone change. I completely agree with the consensus on these boards which is that a NYC based skier should definitely be going to Europe far more often than is typically realized.
All of the above was a long winded way of figuring out what a Europe trip would look like with young children. My main concerns are:
- February crowds–All of my europe trips have been in January/March. I know the European schools all have breaks right around Presidents week. So I guess my question is, are they really that bad? Are there areas, Switzerland, Italy, Austria etc that dont get as bad as the French mega resorts? Is it so much worse than being in USA presidents week?Can you choose a location every year that optimizes based on when each school holiday is?Is this enough of a reason to avoid going to Europe entirely?
- Ski school-Is there any reason to think the ski school quality for young kids would be worse in Europe than in USA? Are there countries to favor or avoid based on such a thing?Is there any reason to think a 4/5/6 year old will wind up worse at skiing or like skiing less as a result of learning over there?
- Flights/jetlag–Obviously me taking the trip alone is easy, is putting young kids on that sort of travel schedule a recipe for disaster? Given we have essentially 9 days Id think it can be mitigated by just not skiing on arrival day but as a new dad I might be wildly underrating how annoying this could be.
- Daycare/Babysitting–Most American resorts are set up with some sort of daycare facility during the day and offer fairly reliable babysitting services at night. I’d be concerned with the language barriers etc and would not want the trip to wind up being exponentially more work for my wife and I.
Based on all of the above, are there countries/particular resorts that fit the bill more than others? Ideally we’d choose somewhere with a great town/village for my wife, with easy ski logistics so that she can meet me for lunch easily and can easily pick up the kids from their ski lessons without her herself needing to get on skis, within a couple hours drive of Geneva, Zurich, Milan, possibly Venice, with great ski schooling that does not get slammed during the February break.
I think making this an annual tradition versus either raising them in Aspen or somewhere else in the US will offer them culture and something unique that I think could be very additive to their upbringing. And I’d certainly enjoy the skiing a whole lot more!!
Appreciate any wisdom.
I should add, my general ski level is I enjoy going off piste with a guide but try to avoid fall and die steeps. I was perfectly content with the off piste options at Zermatt/St Moritz. At the end of the day, Ill go where is best for the kids and hope there is some good skiing for me. It seems to me like the posher/more remote the resort the best/longest lasting the easy access off piste is with a guide.
