Family skiing in the French Alps

A family week fails on the meeting point and the walk in ski boots, not on the slogan. Look for a nursery slope beside the lodging, a ski school that teaches in the language your child answers, and a plan for the day someone does not ski.

What the resorts themselves publish

La Plagne describes beginner areas, snow gardens from about three years old, and a long gentle fun slope. That is a concrete reason it suits a first week, not a medal we are handing out. La Clusaz publishes a family run and five massifs between 1,100 m and 2,600 m, which is a different shape of holiday: a real village, a shorter vertical, Geneva nearby. Les Houches, in the Chamonix valley, is the gentler area if the rest of the party wants Mont Blanc. Courchevel’s lower villages exist so that a family does not have to sleep in 1850 to use Les 3 Vallées.

Schools

The École du Ski Français works in almost every French resort. Independent schools, some of them English-speaking, operate beside it in the international resorts. Ask about group size and the language of the instructor. A directory of “the best” schools would be a ranking we cannot defend. The longer note is on the ski schools page.

February school holidays and the Games fortnight are not quiet. Book the instruction before you book the restaurant.