7 Tips for a Stress-Free Family Ski Trip
The annual ski trip. It’s a highlight of the year. That time in winter where you get away, get to the mountains, enjoy the fresh air and the fun activities with all your family. You cosy up by a fire in the evening with a hot chocolate, eat some tasty mountain food and just disappear into a winter wonderland.
It all sounds epic It’s everything you’ve been looking forward to all year. Until…The stress of family ski trips hits. There’s so much to organise, kids to keep entertained and warm, and very quickly, the holiday can turn to a nightmare as the kids start causing problems. You forget certain things, people complain that they’re cold, and everyone wants to do different activities in different places.
What was meant to be a relaxing break ends up being a stressful, tiring experience and you almost end up needing another holiday at the end. If that sounds like you, then here are seven tips to prepare for a stress-free holiday with kids and have that memorable family vacation you’ve always dreamed of.
1. Start with Proper Preparation
Make sure everyone’s got everything they need before you go. Get a checklist that includes all the outerwear, the waterproof clothing, the thermal layers, stuff for apres ski, stuff for the evenings, helmets, goggles, gloves, socks, everything you could possibly need.
Here’s a quick essential packing checklist for your family ski trip:
- Waterproof ski jackets and pants
- Thermal base layers
- Gloves/mittens (pack spares for kids!)
- Helmets and goggles
- Ski socks
- Comfortable snow boots for off-slope
- Sunscreen (mountain sun is intense)
- Backpack for snacks and water
- Swimwear for hotel pools
- Evening casual clothes
That’s going to remove a lot of stress on arrival when you realise you’ve forgotten certain things and you have to run into the ski resort and go shopping, and everything’s triple the expense that it should be back home. Get prepared before you go.
2. Book Everything in Advance
If you’re traveling during the school holidays, turning up to a ski resort with your family and expecting just to book ski lessons or get ski rental is gonna end in disaster. A lot of this stuff is fully booked and you’re gonna be left with the bottom of the barrel if you get anything at all—the worst times, the worst equipment.
You can even go one step further and book services like Snopro who will actually deliver ski rental to your accommodation so you don’t have to faff around in ski hire shops, lugging everyone’s gear back to your chalet or your hotel and just starting the holiday on the first day with a stressful morning experience getting all the equipment ready.
3. Choose a Family-Friendly Resort
Some resorts are incredibly family-friendly, others are not so much. When you’re doing your research, look for resorts that have ski schools, lots of beginner areas, lots of nursery slopes, and are easy for families to enjoy with added family fun things to do. Maybe it’s ice rinks, bowling, things like that in the evening. Avoid more hardcore expert ski resorts which are just for the decent level skiers and lack other amenities around the villages and towns.
4. Stay as Close to the Slopes as Possible
Nothing starts a day off worse than having to trek through a town or a village for 10 or 20 minutes trying to walk your way to the slopes with all your kids, skis and boots and poles on and flying around everywhere. Or having to corral everyone onto a bus. The closer you can stay to the slopes as possible—even if you can get ski-in/ski-out—it’s going to make your life so much easier if you can just pop your skis on in the morning and hit the slopes instead of having to trek everyone’s kit across town.
5. Pack Snacks and Water
Food on the mountain can be expensive in a ski resort, and it can be quite limited, especially if you’ve got kids who are picky eaters. Make sure to pack food, snacks, water in a little backpack for your days out on the slopes.
That means as soon as anyone’s feeling a little tired, you can get them a little energy boost with some food and water. You can avoid long lunch queues and expenses on the mountains. Even think about taking a packed lunch that you can enjoy in the sun if the weather’s looking good. Everyone’s going to have a much nicer time than squeezing into expensive, busy restaurants.
6. Plan Alternative Activities
Some kids might not want to ski all day every day like a lot of ski-addict adults. And there’s usually plenty of other fun stuff you can do, particularly when the weather’s bad. Think about the fun swimming pools that ski resorts have, which can be child-friendly areas and spa areas for everyone to enjoy. There’s tubing, you could go to the movies, you could go and eat some foods, like have a fondue. It’s going to prevent burnout and people getting frustrated with skiing, particularly when the weather’s bad.
7. Plan for Shorter Ski Days
Kids, especially young kids, are going to tire more quickly than adults. If you’re expecting to go out and ski the length and breadth of a huge European ski resort with young kids, it’s going to be quite a stressful experience, particularly late in the day when the snow gets heavy, there are moguls and slush, it’s busy with people getting to and from different areas of the resort.
Instead, plan for a shorter ski day. Maybe start earlier in the morning and finish earlier in the afternoon. Go back and relax in your accommodation and plan some fun afternoon activities rather than trying to ski every single hour of the day and people getting tired, frustrated, grumpy in the afternoons.
Proper planning = Stress-Free Family Ski Trips
Planning… That’s really the key to enjoying a better family ski holiday. Get the right equipment, look for the services that are going to make your life stress-free, whether that’s your ski rental or your ski lessons.
Look for family-friendly resorts and pick fun activities to do alongside skiing. Don’t just expect to ski all day, every day, because people are going to get tired if you’re just on the slopes nine to five. There’s usually plenty of fun family things to do in a ski resort for everyone to enjoy, whether that’s swimming pools, bowling, or ice skating.
Happy skiing!
