Snow Angel Nannies

Taking a skiing holiday with children can be stressful. Of course it can also be a lot of fun, and the kids will often take to the snow a lot more readily than the adults. You can reduce the stress with good planning, research and a sensible choice of resort, but there are still many things to think of, especially if you want to ensure you have time to ski or snowboard yourselves.

An alternative which people might not consider is to hire a private nanny. Having somebody to else to look after the childcare can take the stress out of the holiday, whilst of course retaining the fun factor. A private nannying service is much more flexible than a creche - the nanny can bring the children to meet you for lunch or hot chocolate breaks, take them to ski lessons (and collect them afterwards of course), look after in your own accomodation, or take them to activities in the village. Basically, this kind of service gives you the peace of mind to enjoy the slopes, whilst knowing your children are well looked after and being able to see them when you want to.

A private nanny might sound like an expensive option but the service costs less than you might think. One nanny can look after up to four children (depending on their ages), so if you ski with friends, more than one family can share the cost. There are things you will want to check before booking - does the company use qualified nannies, are they properly registered and insured etc. - but if you use a reputable company you can ensure a relaxed and stress free ski holiday, even with the kids in tow.

If you are travelling to the French Alps to ski, Snow Angel Nannies are very professional and have an excellent reputation around the resorts they cover. The company was set up by Alexandra Chapman (pictured above), a ski instructor in Les 2 Alpes after she saw how many of her clients struggled to find suitable childcare whilst they were skiing themselves. All the nannies are fully qualified and the business is expanding to cover more resorts each season. You can book or find more information through their website. Unfortunately they don't operate in Andorra yet, so this is not of much help to people visiting my resort, but hopefully a similar service will open in Arinsal in the future.

Ignore the Snow Reports

Many a UK skier spends the winter months avidly scanning the snow reports, either to decide where to book a skiing trip to, or to try and figure out what the snow will be like when they arrive at their destination.

The trouble with snow reports is that things change, often quickly. A lot of snow can fall over a day or two, meaning that those pessimistic reports from the week before are quickly out of date. Compare these photos of Arinsal (one from my window and one Vallnord Webcam image) to the sunny photos of my last post for example.

The other problem with snow reports is that the numbers are not that relevant. People often say things like "Resort X has 150cm of snow and Resort Y only has 90cm, so Resort X is better this year." I have to say that as long as any rocks are covered I have never noticed the difference between skiing over 20cm or 200cm of snow depth on the pistes. Even if it did matter, the snow depth changes constantly as the ground underneath is not flat, and the snow is moved by both the wind and the piste grooming machines. The biggest factor that determines the snow depth measured is where exactly the measuring stick is pushed into the ground. Each resort will use the same spot for their measurements, so it is fair to compare this winter to last winter, or this week to last, in the same resort. Trying to compare different resorts based on snow depth is pretty meaningless though. The cumulative snowfall for the season - i.e. how much snow has fallen - might be a more useful figure to compare resorts for their snowiness. This will be a much bigger number than the snow depth as the light fluffy snow that falls will compact into dense heavy snow over time.

If you live close to a ski area, or a few of them, looking at the snow reports on a daily basis when deciding where to go and what to do is definitely a good idea. If you live here in Andorra for example you have plenty of options for your weekend skiing. If you live in the UK then the Scottish reports are the only ones really worth looking at outside of your holiday. Looking at the reports during your holiday is a good idea as well, particularly if you plan to go off piste. Looking at the reports in advance though is often just going to make you pessimistic ahead of what will probably out to be a great holiday.

The final point I want to make on this is that snowmaking technology has come a long way in the last few years. Here in Arinsal for example, almost every run (95% of the ski area) has been open all season despite a sunny January and early February with a lot less snow that average. Not only have the pistes been open, they have been well maintained and kept in good condition the entire season. For beginners, many intermediates and in fact anybody who prefers to ski on-piste to off, the conditions have been every bit as good as in a really snowy year with the added bonus of being able to ski in the sunshine most of the time. The only disadvantage is that the (fantastic) view across Andorra is a bit greener than people have been expecting.

Saving Money During Your Skiing Holiday

When booking a ski holiday obviously most people are looking for the best deal they can find at the moment. However if you are booking a package it can be tricky to decipher what the tour operators are offering and what extras you need to buy. The tour operators can give out quite misleading information at times, and it is easy to get talked into buying unnecessary extras, either when booking, on the transfer bus, or on arrival in resort. The resort reps are your point of contact with the company and are often very helpful, but remember that part of their job description is to sell as many extras as they can.

Some extras are obviously important - ski pass, tuition and equipment hire are all essential for a beginner and many more advanced skiers will also need the full ski package. However, even here the options can be misleading - in this resort (Arinsal) several tour operators charge intermediate skiers a higher price than beginners for the ski pack. This is for the same ski pass, the same ski hire (upgrading the skis costs more again) but for intermediate rather than beginner lessons. Oddly though, the ski school charges exactly the same for lessons regardless of the level. So if a tour company asks for more money for the same product based on your skiing ability it is worth asking exactly why. In some resorts there might be a different ski pass for more advanced skiers, covering a larger area, but here it just seems to be a case of the companies charging more because they can.

Other extras you might find include trips to other resorts and all manner of excursions, plus various evening entertainments. Again it is worth looking at exactly what you get, especially if you are on a budget. If there is a trip to another resort could you get there for a fraction of the price on local public transport? And if you are a beginner is it suitable for your level of skiing? Are the night time activities really worth the money? The 10 (or more) Euro pub crawl is a favourite of the reps, but you could probably have a much better time finding the pubs yourself, and get the same drinks cheaper.

Of course some of the activities offered will be a lot of fun, but don't feel you have to sign up to everything that is offered to you as soon as you get there. Ask some of the locals for the real story about what is worth going to - your ski instructor or the bar staff are useful sources of information and are not generally trying to sell you anything other that a ski lesson or a pint of beer. If you do want to sign up for anything later, the reps will be only too happy to take your money then.

In Defence of Tour Operators

Our busy fortnight has just finished here in Arinsal, and we are back to normal - the slopes are quieter and the bars are busier. The walk home has consequently become longer over the last couple of days (see the previous post on the hazards of apres ski).

The busy fortnight here is due of course to the timing of the school holidays in England and Ireland. Any families going skiing are forced to come in one fortnight in February (unless they go early at Christmas or wait until Easter). Since a lot of families go skiing, there is a huge demand those two weeks and most ski resorts in Europe will be absolutely packed. There is a similar influx of Spanish visitors here during the Spanish holiday periods.

Because of the demand over those two weeks, the prices increase massively. I have often heard people complain that the tour operators are being greedy and cashing in on families who have no other choice if they want to ski. I am not normally the biggest fan of big tour operators, and have often suggested to people that they find their own flights and accomodation on the Internet instead. However, I do think that in this instance the tour companies are not really to blame. The companies have to employ staff in resort for the entire season, and in order to keep prices competitive they have to block book a lot of accomodation for the length of the season. Hoteliers will not offer cheap prices for the busy weeks if they know they will be empty in other weeks. Everybody working, or running businesses in the resort has to make a living for the whole winter, and in such a competitive industry margins tend to be tight. This means that there are many weeks where the tour company makes little or no profit, and many cheap deals are sold at a loss, rather than have a paid for room left empty. For the company to drop the peak week price they would have to hike up the prices for other weeks in order to make any profit over the season. This would reduce the number of people coming in the quiet weeks, without any gain in numbers in the busy weeks (since the resort is already full). Reduced numbers in the quiet weeks would reduce the profits until the company can no longer maintain the resort as a destination for the winter. Unfortunately for people with children, the industry has to run on a supply and demand basis. Until the UK decides to stagger the holidays more, those weeks will always be expensive.

However, there are options. You may be able to take the children out of school for a week, particularly if they are younger and the school is understanding. I know there are areas where you get fined for this though. Personally I think a week in a foreign country, with exposure to other languages, lots of exercise and a dash of adventure thrown in can only be a good thing. It is a pity more schools do not encourage it. Alternatively, nearly all resorts will still be open when the Easter holidays come around - prices will be cheaper, people scarcer and the weather warmer. The snow will usually be consistent - icy first thing, then pleasant for a few hours, then slushy later on. In recent years the best snow has tended to come at the end of the season, and even if it doesn't the snow that fell earlier in the season will still be there.

Myself, I would like to see all the holidays swapped around, so that the six week break is in the winter. I can't see that happening though, somehow.