Travelling and skiing with children - Part 2

Tip 5 and one we only discovered recently, bring bottles of squash to drink in your room if staying in a hotel, as being at altitude will ensure both you and your children are much thirstier and you really don’t want to be paying hotel prices for glasses of juice and fizzy drinks. We also used the empty squash bottles for drinks during the return journey which was useful

The same goes for snacks, such as crisps, biscuits and chocolate, Tip 6 would be to recommend bringing a small selection, just in case, although we did find on this most recent trip to Val D’Isere, that we didn’t really need  them, as food was plentiful at meal times, including mid-afternoon cake.

With regards the skiing itself, and appreciate we went right at the end of the season, dress yourself and children in lots of lighter layers, so they can strip off as needed. Our children found they needed less clothes when on the nursery slopes, than when they went up higher, therefore sweatshirts tied around the waist first thing in the morning, were later put back on when skiing from the top.

Tip 7, something we learnt the hard way, provide each child with a small bottle of sun cream and a lip salve that contains a sunblock…although siblings may start off their day together, this may not remain the case and one might have the sunscreen, whilst the other is off somewhere else….

If attending Ski School, Tip 8, children should also be given some money to purchase drinks and snacks as some ski schools will provide these, others won’t.

Tip 9, if children are going to ski school and particularly beginners, find out when they will need their ski lift passes, to ensure money is not wasted on the first few days when they might not venture off the nursery slopes. The same applies to ski poles, they may not be required at all for beginners and you don’t want to have to lug them around yourselves, if children do not require them.

With regards to helmets, people often ask, “should I buy or should I hire in resort”. Personally I would always buy my own helmet, for both myself and my family. This is the only way you can be sure of the history of the helmet and to ensure it has not been involved in any collisions or accidents that might affect its performance.

Finally, if you have any tips that you have discovered yourself from your own experience, please email me, lesley@alpinepropertyinvestments.co.uk, as we will collate a further list to publish at the start of the skiing season 2015/2015.