Organising a skiing holiday!

Is your skiing holiday looming and you haven’t prepared anything yet? Don’t panic! This article will help you to get everything organised calmly.

What do you mean it’s skiing season already? Yes it is! In a few weeks, the kids will be on mid-term break (again) and winter sports require logistics that are similar to those involved in organising the World Cup!

Of course the lucky people who live close to a ski resort already have all their material and their thermal underwear sorted into piles according to size and colour and are chuckling to themselves, but for those of us who get to load up the car for a 9 hour drive with 10 tons of luggage and arrive in our rental chalet to find that it is not equipped with cupboards (have you noticed that rentals never have cupboards, probably because they don’t want us to stay for long!), it is quite another story.

So, to try to add a little organisation to all this and above all to enjoy the holiday as much as possible, because it is your holiday after all, here are the best tips from organised mums.

The skiing holiday countdown schedule: Rental/Skiing lessons/Daily ski passes/Train tickets/Ski hire… of course all this should have been done last year (and now we’re in the final strait). Marie has a reverse schedule with all the websites, and she systematically adds reminders about the dates when tickets go on sale, especially for the trains. “I always used to wake up at the last minute and I would never get good times with the children’s skiing instructors. It’s impossible to enjoy a real day of skiing when your children ski between 12 and 2pm. Now I anticipate!”

The bags of ski necessities sorted by size: While most of us put gloves with gloves and glasses with glasses, what were really need is to sort the equipment by size. “Every year, I wash and sort into full outfits by size. One set for age 6/ one set for age 8… etc. In December I kit out the eldest in a sports shop, because come January there is nothing left. Two weeks before leaving, we hold a trial to make sure that everyone is fully equipped: a bit long, a bit short… it always works.” declares Marielle who has four children.

The luggage:  “Each child packs a case that corresponds to the number of days and I conduct a quick check. They each have their own bag, even the youngest. That way, each one is responsible for his or her own luggage, and I can find things more easily when I need to. Previously I shared one big case and I could never find the right sized tights or socks or thermals because they all got mixed up.”

For the dressing/undressing chore, it is recommended to prepare the under layers the night before, and to always leave each child’s affairs to dry in the same place. It’s a little military, but it’s useful if you are still looking for mittens at 9 o’clock when the skiing lesson is due to begin…

Food: several methods jostle together here, between those who stock up on arrival, and those who plan everything in advance. Ségolène prepares and brings big frozen dishes from home: “One for each night, so I don’t have to think about it! That’s the main thing! Just the enjoyment of choosing the pre-dinner drinks… otherwise I have the impression that I have to think about what we will eat every day. It’s also more economical.”

The babysitter: yes, rather than scrambling to find one when you get there, find one ahead of time for an afternoon or an evening. These are your holidays, and the skiing logistics can sometimes give you the feeling that you are too involved with the kids. So how about a welcome raclette or fondue evening with friends/as a couple?

Well, I’m not going skiing this year, but I’m making a note of everything for next year!