Skiing with kiddies....

Trencher wrote:Not that I would recommend it for kids, but I've had some luck deterring squirrels from trash bags with Chinese chili oil. The one I saw, started rooting around in the bag, suddenly jumped several feet in the air, and shrieked all the way back to the trees. I later saw him frantically washing his face in the bird bath. Anyway squirrels it seems learn quickly.

Sorry to go off topic, but I had a problem with squirrels climbing up a metal pole to get to my bird feeders. I hit on the idea of oiling the pole with olive oil one afternoon. I then sat and waited for the little buggers to come and go for the feed.

The first one ran across the patio, and jumped 2/3 of the way up the pole, where it promptly froze and began sliding backwards towards the ground. The look of panic on it's face as it scrabbled away trying to climb the slippery pole had me in absolute stitches. It really was one of the funniest things I have ever seen :twisted:

To demonstrate how clever they are, within an hour of this, it had worked out that if it climbed the ivy at the other end of the house, then run along the gutter and finally, it could jump down to the bird feed without having to climb the pole :shock:

Hi - we took our children of the same age to La Rosiere with Esprit and had a great time. The resort is so child friendly we have been back with Esprit twice. Everything dries really quickly but I would suggest several sets of gloves etc - we use the ones that have velcro tabs to attach to the ski suits so they don't get lost. With a good ski suit and layers on underneath your children should be fine - they will use a lot of energy getting up from falling over, so tend to overheat if anything.

By the end of the first week our 5 year old could ski down a long blue run (Tetras) and the 3 year old was going up and down the green run right outside the Esprit chalets using the drag lift. The lift staff at La Rosiere are so good with kids - they run with them up the slope helping them balance, so you don't need to worry about them. I'm sure you will all have a great time!

Huuraaah, seems like made a good choice to takes the kids there. Cant wait and with Christmas in the way what could be better.

V funny re squirrels.

Cookies72 wrote:Just back from the kids lessons at the Chill Factore; all good L&H now snow ploughing (a bit).

Small shopping trip resulted in additional kit for the kids.

Tried the mustard - he liked it - but each time he tasted it he remembered that he should not be chewing, so minor success. Will try Marmite and Chilly sauce for tomorrows lesson.

What are the detachable chairs Andy?

Detachable is the name given to newer lifts where the chair isn't permanently attached to the cable - it simply has a "grip" to it. When the chair comes into the station a "thingy" in the mechanism flips the cable grip open so that it slows down to next to nothing as it's only being moved by the pulleys in the station, no longer at the speed of the cable.

All this means that loading and unloading is much safer as you have more time but conversely the lifts themselves are faster as the cable can be moved at faster speeds as you don't have the unloading speed factored in

Simples

If you're an anorak like me then you may find this article fascinating: http://www.answers.com/topic/detachable-chairlift

If you're not then you'll point and laugh at the Geordie idiot who has a sad life looking at ski lift technology as a way of getting thrills ahead of his actual trip....... :oops:

All of this however may well be moot as there's a reasonable chance you'll not get as far as chair lifts with a 3 year old in your first week!

But I do like the squirrel stories - keep 'em coming (said Esther Rantzen.....)

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned ski school yet!

While it is lovely to ski with the tiny tots, the novelty can wear off pretty quickly, especially if there is loads of fresh powder up high :twisted:

I put mine into ski school from just under 4 years old. They are a lot less inclined to whinge and moan with an "official" teacher than with their own parents :shock:.

Most of the ski kindergartens are really well set up with lots of little tricks to keep the kids amused and distracted from the fact that they are learning (properly - are you sure that you are sufficiently knowledgeable to teach the kids yourself :!:)

Most importantly, the kids usually have great fun and enjoy the company of other kids their own age.

Provided you get a good instructor, preferably with good english, it can be a good way to go and leaves you free to enjoy the mountains. :lol:

Hi Cookies72
Glad to read some of the reviews on here as well, that why we chose La Rosiere ! We're staying in Les Eucherts, 2 year old to young to ski so will be in the nursery and the 9 year old is better than us!! We'll keep an eye out for you by looking for chewed up clothing!! lol