Top tips for a successful family ski holiday

After years of ski holidays as a couple or with grown-up friends you have decided to go for the family ski holiday. There are so many benefits, you tell yourself. Quality time with the kids; the chance for your youngsters to learn a new skill; health and fitness for all the family. All these points are true and a family skiing holiday can be hugely rewarding. But there are also a few less rewarding points to take on board. [caption id="attachment_1226" align="alignleft" width="283" caption="Follow our tips for a great family ski holiday"][/caption] A skiing holiday – but not as you knew it Less après ski, more après sleep: This one you might be able to deal with. Afterall as we get older the attraction of drinking until the early hours and then getting up late morning to ski with a hangover seem less attractive. But on a family holiday you might never actually make it to the bar after a day on the slopes. How to cope: Take it in turns as a couple to do the bedtime routine. While one of you puts the kids to bed, the other sneaks off for a quiet drink with their book. Or buy wine and beer from the supermarket and enjoy a glass or two in your apartment while the kids go off to sleep. The advantages: Less après ski drinking time means more sleep, which equals earlier rises and more skiing time. Mornings of phaffing: Not only will you have your own clothing and equipment to sort out but the kids will need your assistance, too. By the time you have ensured that everyone has skis, boots, gloves, sunblock, ski pass, tissues, sunglasses, ski school tickets etc, it could easily be lunch-time. So to ensure the kids make it to ski school at 9.30am you’re looking at a 6.30am rise. How to cope: Lay out all the required clothing and kit the night before. Try to get the kids (if they are old enough) to be responsible for their own list of essential skiing items. Have a check list ready before heading out the door of the apartment. Get up earlier than normal. The advantages: Never again will you curse your partner for arriving at the first gondola of the day minus their lift pass. You will simply understand why. Afternoons of nursery slopes: Unless your children are older and you're all at roughly the same level, it's unlikely that you'll be able to ski together all the time. There will only be so much green slope skiing that you and your partner can cope with. How to cope: Give the kids, and yourselves, a break by booking them into childcare for a few afternoons of the ski holiday. They will enjoy themselves, while you have the freedom to have some quality grown-up skiing time. In the years to come you’ll find that the children progress enough to join you on more difficult skiing afternoons, and before long they will be better than you anyway! The advantages: A holiday should include some adult-only time so don’t feel guilty about taking advantage of childcare for a few afternoons. Do you have any great tips for successful family skiing holidays?