Smug with a recent snow dump and already aglow with fairy lights and flickering chalet windows, the pretty family ski resorts dotted across the Alps are polishing their skis and warming up their boots for a season to remember.
Scandinavian skiing has been in full swing for some time – courtesy of their longer winters – while Canadian and American resorts are stoking fires and oiling chairlifts in the same anticipation of a return to pre-pandemic levels. But where to take smalls or the teens? Some of the world’s most alluring, snowglobe resorts simply don’t cut the mustard with multi-level broods in tow.
Zermatt may have guaranteed snow with its cannons and its Hans Anderson charm, but there are scant ski-in, ski-out options (if you’ve ever tried to dress tots in ski gear before hurling them into a transfer or herding them and their ski clobber to the lifts, you’ll appreciate the insider tip). Similarly, Chamonix may have upped the ante on its family-friendly pistes and areas with the Mont Blanc Legend area on Flégère, but the resort remains largely geared towards the serious skier, with steep, challenging runs (teenager territory). In short, all ski holiday ingredients change quite abruptly with sprogs: hotels and chalet options, mountain lunches, small group skiing, viable routes on a piste map… As with life, there is skiing before and there is skiing after children.
So, from the best nursery slopes and ski schools to winter afternoons of huskies, sledge rides, and ice skating en famille, here’s our guide to the world’s best family-friendly ski resorts (which will make for an actual winter holiday).
