I am looking for some tips on recommended skiing lessons for a family around probably the grindelwalden/adelboden area.
Around the christmas period my brother and his family will come over and I want to take them for some skiing lessons.
The family consists of the parents in their mid thirties, wife did ski some when she was 16 but not since, my brother never did in his life... Then three kids aged 11,9 and 5. I took the 11 and 9 year old to an artificial track for two hours a while back but that is all experience they have.
Since the trip will be rather short and the 5 year old is an unknown factor - if she does not like something you can do whatever you want but no way you can get her to change her mind - I am looking for a recommendation that meets the following criteria.
Period: 27-29/12
Within reasonable distance from Basel - they will stay in Basel so I think grindelwalden/adelboden is the max distance for day trips. I love Zermatt but it is too far.
They should be able to get the lessons as a family, ie all 5 of them in one group.
Teachers that are good with kids and if at all possible (?) a teacher that speaks Dutch/Flemish would be great. The parents speak decent English and can understand German so they could translate if needed.
Should be 'real Swiss' even if they probably won't go much beyond the baby tracks, ie Feldberg would seem a great choice at first but I also want them to see the Swiss mountains as it will (hopefully) leave a much more impressive memory for the children.
It's late and I'm sleepy, so a fuller reply will have to wait, but one thing of huge importance is to never try and mix kids and adults in the same group. Especially when it's parents and their own children.
And I recommend you look at Engelberg as a closer alternative to the ones you mention.
1 - Kids and adults lean skiing differently. The instructor will have hands full just getting the 5 year old going.
2- Wife is not a beginner, she may not have skied for years, but trust me, she will remember quickly.
3 - 11 & 9 year old have done some skiing too. Dad and 5 year old have not.
I'm a ski teacher... this scenario sounds like a total nightmare.
Really you need 3-4 instructors for this. One for 11 & 9 year old. One for 5 year old and 1 maybe 2 for parents. You can put them all together, but they will hold each other back in one way or another.
Hrm, I am not so much concerned about them holding each other back, as I am not looking to make professional skiers out of them.
I am mostly hoping to get the 11 and 9 year old enthusiastic about it so they could eventually become decent skiers. I only started at 30 myself and I now regret so much that I did not learn it earlier as I will never be able to catch up compared to someone who started as a child.
I could see the 9 and 11 year old going in a seperate session, but for the 5 year old I really am concerned if she is not with her parents, as she is quite unpredictable, very stubborn and only understands dutch/flemish.
Then again if you have a recommendation for a teacher with loads of experience with those kind of children I am happy to hear it.
She would be better on her own. She will most likely play up more if with her parents ... that is my experience anyway. It is easier if the parents aren't around as then as the instructor you have the child's attention and it is clear that you are in charge and not mum or dad. If you contact ski schools in your chosen resort, they may well have Dutch speaking instructors. I don't know the Adelboden schools.
You could always put them in groups, if you want to ski more than one day (i.e. 5 days/mornings) .. then everyone would be with people of their own ability but for less cost than several private instructors.
At least it reads that way, especially with the categorizing of "those kind of children". Sounds like thenormal behaviour of a child with older sibblings.
As said here, best have the children in separate groups, so you are talking 3 groups, parents, older 2 and child. If you really want to get them going, then you're better off with private tuition IMO. You could try having the same teacher for the whole day and staggering the lessons. This'll then allow the different groups to practice without having to be with the others (or at least the youngest).
Contact the ski schools and highlight the type of lesson you want as the teacher's attitude will be critical, although I've not usually found this to be a problem with private lessons TBH.