Anyone who has ever planned and booked a family ski holiday will tell you it’s not an easy game. Booking the annual boys’ trip is easy… even the corporate ski weekend seems painless to arrange. But there’s something about taking the children to the mountains which requires further care, thought and consideration.

For many families with young children the requirements are as long as your arm! Families with young children need to find chalets or hotels close to the slopes because 4 year olds can’t carry skis for long. They need to be within 2 hours or so of the arrival airport to minimise transfer time. They need to have good beginner slopes, decent tree coverage for shelter, the resort must have off-the-slopes activities, the list goes on….! These days more than ever, the Alps have a very wide range of family-friendly chalets and hotels, and decent childcare can now be found throughout the French Alps, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and other countries besides.

We’ve put ourselves in the shoes of every parent trying to plan the family ski getaway, and these tips and considerations may be handy for this coming season, for you to plan the perfect trip…

Parents with infants.

• Short transfer. Resorts like Les Gets and Morzine are within 1.5 hours of Geneva airport. Chambery is a smaller airport nearer to the mountains, and it’s close to a wide range of resorts. Meribel, for example, is within 2 hours’ drive.
• On-site nursery/crèche. There’s no peace of mind like the security of knowing your baby is being safely cared for. Having an on-site nursery is a big step forward in achieving this, and will lead to a relaxed, stress-free holiday.
• All-day care. Although leaving baby with a nanny for the first time is one of the hardest things for a mother to do, families who are used to the idea of leaving baby in all-day care can benefit from a full day on the slopes, safe in the knowledge that their infant is being amused and cared for throughout the day.
• Trained and experienced nannies. In these days of red tape, rules and regs, under-qualified or ill-experienced nannies find it harder and harder to work in the Alps. This is to families’ advantage and any childcare outfit worth its salt can demonstrate clearly the steps it takes to ensure it employs qualified child carers.
• No steps to chalet. Finding the perfect chalet is not easy. Harder still is choosing the “perfect” chalet only to find there are 6 icy steps leading to the front door. Care must be taken to ensure ease of chalet access with a pram. Other considerations like being close to paths for town access and staying close to the town centre for easy strolling are also important.
• Bottle sterilisation facilties. There is now a very wide range of properties in the Alps where this service is the norm, but it’s an important consideration when taking a baby out of the home environment.

Parents with children.

• Good beginners’ slopes. Although pretty much every resort can lay claim to having beginners’ slopes to some degree, taking your 4 year old straight to Solden, Chamonix or Verbier to learn is a bad idea. Many resorts are great for kids, and Courchevel, Morzine, La Rosiere, Les Gets, Val d’Isere and La Plagne are just a few examples of resorts with very child-friendly slopes.
• Close to slopes (or a chalet with driver service.) It’s never ideal to finish a hard day on the hill with a tired 5 year old only to then have to walk 600 metres to the chalet in ski boots, carrying skis. Many chalets get around this with friendly and helpful driver services and Morzine is a great example of this. It’s always worth being open to the idea of a chalet that has a private driver service – it’s far better being picked up and whizzed home in 2 minutes than having to walk 3 or 4 minutes with a tired child in tow.
• Sheltered pistes. Bad weather can turn even the hardiest little ski champion off the snow. It’s worth considering resorts that you know to have sheltered, tree-lined areas for bad weather days. La Tania, Meribel, Les Gets, Morzine, Courchevel, La Plagne and Les Arcs are all good examples.
• Good tuition is vital. Meribel, Val d’Isere and Courchevel boast some of the very finest ski schools in the Alps but they’re far from the only options. Ski schools such as Magic in Motion, Parallel Lines, New Generation and Oxygene are market leaders.
• Off-the-slopes activities. There’s nothing like a good toboggan hill to make sure your 6 year old is ready to pass out by 8 o’clock, leaving you free to enjoy good wine and good conversation. Morzine has the best one I’ve ever seen, and Courchevel 1650 has a proper luge run!
• Tougher slopes for progression. It’s important to keep the kids feeling tested, in order to make progress on skis. Val d’Isere is a great resort for kids to learn to ski, and with Tignes offering steeper pistes just over the ridge, the Espace Killy is a great example. Learning in Merbel’s Altiport area then tackling Courchevel 1850 is another good option.
• Due care and attention regarding transferral of pastoral care. When you take the kids to school, you expect due care to be taken in the transferral of care. Ski schools and kids’ clubs are no different and it’s important to feel comfortable that the administrative boxes are ticked before you ski off.
• Not close to main road. Many resorts are pedestrianised, with no cars whatsoever in the town centre. Avoriaz and St Anton centre are two fine examples of this. This means kids can explore safely, without the risk of traffic spoiling the fun.
• A play area for snowmen is also a bonus, as is a DVD area or games room for relaxation.

Skiing with Teenagers

• Big ski area. Many teens can ski faster than Mum! This, coupled with their seemingly unending desire to explore, means you need a lot of slopes to cater for them. Ski areas like the Three Valleys (Meribel etc), the Espace Killy (Val and Tignes) and Paradiski (Les Arcs and La Plagne) are examples of ski areas which should do the trick.
• Good altitude. Teens can be opinionated at the best of times, and trying to take them to a resort of 800 metres in altitude may not work! Avoriaz, Tignes, Val Thorens, Les Arcs and Zermatt are resorts which ought to give them a nice dose of altitude sickness. (Not really…!)
• Close to nightlife is always a bonus, if they’re older and allowed to party a little. It’s never a good idea to promote boozing in the Alps, and nasty stories seem to surface annually about this, but having a bar or two close by for a nightcap isn’t such a bad thing.
• Off-the-slopes activities like bowling, climbing and ice-skating are great family activities, and many resorts are well equipped on that score. Some, like Morzine and Chamonix, even have professional level ice hockey teams you can go and see play.

In conclusion, there is no cut and dried “best resort for families.” It simply doesn’t exist. There is, however, a massive range of resorts right across the European Alps and beyond, which attract families with children year on year for their facilities, slopes, activities and great locations.

Skiing is dated back to pre-historic times. It is a part of the history of Sami and Nordic people in which skiing was a part of their military manoeuvres, hunting and used as practical means of transportation. Since then skiing has become a professional and recreational sport that takes place all around the world. There are several variations of skiing that include freestyle, dry slope, adaptive, kite skiing, Para skiing and alpine skiing. Skiing has become the most popular sport among all the sports that are a part of the Winter Olympics.

Alpine skiing is also called downhill skiing, but got the name alpine from skiing near a tree line. It was first played in 1861 in Kiandra, Australia and the popularity of this particular variation of skiing has continued to grow rapidly since. Alpine skiing is one of the original sports of the Winter Olympics that took place in France in the year of 1924. It is the sport of riding down the snow-covered mountains on skis that have fixed-heel bindings. Though variations of alpine skiing does have free heel bindings like Nordic skiing and ski mountaineering. There are four different disciplines which are Downhill, Slaloms, Giant Slaloms and Super Giant Slaloms. Downhill being the fastest and Slaloms being the slowest and shortest.

When taking up alpine skiing the main techniques that has to be acquired are the control of the speed and direction of the descent of the skier downhill. Control is gained by making alternate right and left turns while skiing. The snowplough technique is used by skiers to control and maintain a designated speed or to come to a complete stop. This technique involves the skier to point their ski or skis inward and by doing so the speed of the skier is adjusted. Other methods that are used are considered more difficult but more elegant as well are used by skier who are significantly more advanced.

The most famous alpine skier is Ingmar Stenmark. He began skiing at the age of five and became an active skier from 1974 through 1989. Having won forty slaloms and forty-six giant slaloms for a total of eighty-six slaloms makes him the most rewarded skier in the history of all alpine skiers. He holds five gold medals, one silver and one gold.

In a recent study in Austria was named the Salzburg Skiing for the Elderly Study. The study that took place that involved monitoring the effects alpine skiing has on the long-term health of older skiers. The results showed skiers that are 67 who ski 2-3 times a week over 12 weeks has significant improvements in health. Their oxygen intake improves as well as their aerobic capacity. The strength and power in their legs is enhanced and the size of the quadriceps muscle is knowingly larger.

At Interactive Resorts, we’re not just focused on last minute ski holidays and catered ski chalets. We also love pizza, especially down in our IT department (AKA the dungeon). Recently myself and Phil were given the job of dealing with/haggling with/hustling some recruitment companies to get some candidates. Everyone likes a good hustle- especially a London recruitment company.

How to get hustled by a recruitment agency

Step 1 – “Pizza Hut – for two”. Make contact, and get the recruiters terms and of course… haggle! . So the first recruitment company we spoke to stated that they wanted a whopping 30% of the wage of the lucky candidate, if they get us the right person. We’re looking for two people initially. That’s a lot of mozzarella! We got them down to 17.5%, with promises of a fat Pizza hut for myself and Phil for making the deal. Goodwill. Good deal.

Step 2 - “I’ll get you the biggest rib-eye you have ever seen mate”. This is a quote from another recruiter once we told him about our existing deal with recruiter #1. Another player enters the game! We got him down to 10% – unheard of apparently. Now we are confident recruiter hagglers. Guy even offered me the £300 referral fee.. That would buy a lot of pizza indeed.

Step 3 - Waiting. Interviewing. emailing recruiters, looking at CV’s… more interviewing. Throwing CVs in the bin. One poor blighter couldn’t even speak English. Gave him the job obviously.

Step 4 – We found two awesomely talented programmers and it looked like we were going to give them a job sharpish. WHOAH! I realised (to my horror) that we hadn’t carved out a food deal with the recruiter who had gotten us these candidates. Cue the dear Daniel letter to the lucky recruiter…

Dear Daniel
I am very distressed. It’s lunchtime – and I’m hungry. Sadly The same thing will no doubt happen tomorrow. I had a temporary solution in place where I managed to broker some fab deals with one recruiter for a fat Dominos meal for Phil and I should they get us candidates which we hire (and recruiters reap a fat commission). That was my first haggle. The next recruiter haggle was easier (with this recruiter offering us the “biggest rib-eye” we had ever seen.). I was a bit negligent in carving out such an arrangement with you – so I put the question to you – Does your company believe in a free lunch? My dad reckoned there was no such thing as a free lunch. I would like to prove him wrong! Let us know – before it’s too late!

regards
Hungry Niall

The food arrived, it was large, yummy and pretty delish’. Needless to say, us basement dwellers shared our pizza with the rest of the staff, and our poor (after effectively paying £15k+ for our pizza) company directors..

I feel a bit bloated after that

The pizza was so large that it had this effect on me within 10 minutes.. Our company director Liked it too.:)

Recruiters have hustle!

It seems recruiters have some of the best hustle on the planet – with some crazy fees too!, (this SEOer thinks he needs to get into recruitment sometime in the future!!). a BIG Thanks to Dan @ BD Recruitment for the pizza, and of course getting us some excellent programmers.

Over and out, it’s pizza time!

Travellers that are considering making plans for a 2012 ski trip may wonder where the best action on the slopes will be this season. Annually, hundreds of resorts compete for the attention of avid skiers, but only a few are truly top-notch places that are certain to provide the ultimate vacation, thus qualifying as one of the best. Here are three of the most desirable places to consider for the ideal ski destination.

Alpbach, Austria
Alpbach in Austria is such a truly charming village; a real Winter Wonderland of a destination. Alpbach skiing holidays have long been a firm prime resort with fantastic skiing from the many winding green runs for the beginner to the exciting off-piste skiing and black bowls for the advanced amongst us. The main skiing entree is via the Wiedersbergerhorn gondola and is good start for the Intermediates with the stretching tree lined red runs.
The village is very family friendly with charming relaxed après ski and the people you will find are very friendly and accommodating.

Mayrhofen, Austria
As one of Austria’s most popular resorts, this village always lives up to traveler’s expectations. This ski area is part of the enormous Zillertal 3000, so it is easy to access the nearby resorts of Eggalm, Finkenberg, and Rastkogel, and one lift pass will allow admittance to these and many others. Avid skiers get more bang for their buck in Mayrhofen and contributes greatly to its popularity.
Beginners should consider attending the Mount Everest ski school before hitting the slopes, as this area boasts some of the steepest runs in Europe. Numerous wide-open red and blue runs keep moderately experienced ski enthusiasts entertained, while those with expert skills take on the hair-raising black diamond trails. Much to the delight of snowboarders, this resort features one of the most extensive fun parks in Europe.

Soldeu, Andorra
This tiny country packs a big bang, and the inspiring Pyrenees Mountains offer superior skiing for the enjoyment of enthusiasts. Whether they are on the slopes or enjoying activities in the village, travelers will encounter some of the friendliest people in the world. Après-ski is extremely popular in Soldeu, and the resort boasts quite a few hot spots for gathering after the sun goes down.

Skiers of all experience levels will feel right at home on the vast assortment of runs available. With four distinct ski areas that are connected via bus service, travelers will have a plethora of trails to explore. The dramatic half pipe and extensive snow park are ideal for snowboarders to hone in on their craft. Non-skiers can enjoy sled rides, snowshoeing, and side trips to neighboring Spain.

Levi in Lapland, Finland

The Levi resort area lies in the pristine and unspoilt lands of the Arctic and is one of the most extensive ski areas in Finland. Because of its location, some of the most amazing vistas occur in the skies, and visitors may even have the opportunity to view the spectacular phenomenon of the Northern Lights. This area is typically not crowded, which makes it an ideal place for beginners to embrace the sport.

Experience skiers love the short lift lines, and are challenged by the variety of slope gradients that grace the mountains. Plenty of off-piste access is available, and snowboarders have their own alley and half pipe to enjoy.

Edit: Wooohooo! This london web-developer job post has been filled. We’re excited to have some new additions to the Interactive Resorts tech team.

Salary:1p an Hour
Location Fulham, London
Contract Permanent
Sector IT Services

Web Developer £25-32k dependant on experience.

Recognised as an Industry leader InteractiveResorts.co.uk, is a leading UK Ski travel company seeking an experienced in-house web-developer. The candidate will be confident and experienced coding with web-development, scripting and hacking CMS’s (e.g. Wordpress, Joomla etc), as well as competent with databases (SQL) and production of standards-compliant web-sites.
The role will be focused on developing and maintaining the company front-end web-sites / systems and developing custom software tools as required. This role requires a confident, experienced and well-rounded software developer who is comfortable working on multiple projects, self-organised, competent at time-management, ready to hit the ground running and up for a new challenge.
Main skills:

• experienced and confident with PHP, JavaScript, JQuery, XHTML, Wordpress, Databases.
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills are a pre-requisite.
• Able to work alone or as part of a team.
• An effective team-player who is a self starter with a can do attitude and a passion for coding and providing technical solutions.
• Good written and verbal communication skills (essential for reporting to stakeholders, product owners)
• Practical hands-on experience in online web-development with a foundation in computing (a Computer Science or Software Engineering type degree desirable).

Interested? To apply [edit:Don't apply - job has been filled!] , please forward your CV and where applicable, links to samples of your work to us.

Edit: Wooohooo! This job post has been filled. We’re excited to have some new additions to the Interactive Resorts tech team for 2011!

Salary: One Billion Dollars.
Location Fulham, London
Contract Permanent
Sector IT Services

Asp.Net / PHP / SQL Server – Web Developer £40k London, Fulham

Recognised as an Industry leader InteractiveResorts.co.uk, a leading UK Ski travel company seeks an experienced developer to lead technical development. The candidate will be confident and experienced using CMS’s, ASP.net, PHP, databases (MSSQL and MySQL) and web-development in general. The role will be focused on developing and maintaining the company backend systems as well as front-end consumer facing web-sites. This role requires a confident, experienced lead web developer who is comfortable working on multiple projects, is self-organised,competent at time-management and ready to hit the ground running.

Job Requirements:

• Good knowledge of the following technologies: XHTML, PHP, JavaScript, ASP.NET, . NET (3.0 / 3.5), XML/XSLT, TSQL, SQL Server 2005/2008, SQL Reporting Services
• Exposure to content management systems (e.g. WordPress, Joomla) would be desirable.
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills are a pre-requisite.
• Able to work alone or as part of a team.
• An effective team-player who is a self starter with a can do attitude and a passion for coding and providing technical solutions.
• Good written and verbal communication skills (essential for reporting to stakeholders, product owners)
• Exposure to full project life cycle, with knowledge of development methodologies
• Practical hands-on experience, with a good Computer Science, Software Engineering or similar degree highly beneficial.

Interested? Sorry, It’s too late to apply because we just filled this vacancy!

A Eurostar train makes its way to the Alps

The direct services stop at Moutiers for the Three Valleys, Aime for La Plagne and Bourg St Maurice for Val D’Isere, Tignes, Les Arcs, La Rosiere and St Foy. There are two classes of travel, Standard and Standard Premier. In Standard class you have an allocated seat and unrestricted baggage allowance. Standard Premier offers a larger seat with more room and meals and drinks served at you seat. If you book early enough, the difference in fares between Standard and Standard Premier is minimal, making the latter very good value indeed, especially considering the length of the journey and the added comforts in the upgraded class.

The trains, which are available to book as of 9 o’clock this morning on www.eurostar.com, are provisionally running to the following timetable:

Train times: French Alps to Ashford/St Pancras International, London

Adult fares in Standard class start at £149pp return, which includes unlimited baggage allowance and skis and from £229pp in Standard Premier, including baggage and also includes light meals and drinks served at your seat.

Upon arrival in Moutiers, Aime and Bourg St Maurice, local buses wait to transport skiers directly to all the main resorts and most transfer times are less than an hour from the stations. Although it’s not strictly necessary to book in advance for these transfers, they do get rather busy on peak dates and pre booking is quite simple on www.altibus.com. Once it’s all booked up, you simply need to get to St Pancras around an hour before your train departs to check in, then just enjoy the smoothest, most relaxing method of travelling to the major ski destinations for your last minute ski break.

All information on this post is correct at time of publishing, however we would advise checking prices and availability with Eurostar to ensure your chosen services are available before making your chalet booking. For more information on chalets in any of the resorts served by the ski train, please give our sales team a call.

The Interactive Resorts crew out for a hike in the Lake District

We spilled out of the train in Penrith, slightly worse for wear, and hopped onto the bus into Keswick. Within minutes we had entered into a sun-drenched frisbee tournament in the park that quickly became highly competitive, despite the presence of various company directors’ children who also wanted to play! Rupert managed to keep his competitive edge under control and only spat the dummy out a little bit when our team beat his on goal difference alone! Our first night in Keswick needed to be a low-key affair, with big plans afoot for the next day. It wasn’t. Yet again, Nick “Balls” Barlow flew the flag for excess and staggered home in the wee small hours, barely able to stand!

9 AM Saturday, and the Interactive Resorts team reassembled, bright eyed and bushy tailed, for a half day of Via Ferrata along one of the high, steep cliff faces outside of town. As ex-seasonaires we all understand better than anyone the medical benefit of Alpine air in clearing a fuzzy head, but we are happy to report that we’ve found a better hangover cure: dangling 60 feet up in the air, hanging onto iron rungs up the side of a cliff face. It works wonders! Some of us were more scared than others and special mention must go to Sarah “the Reservator” Mitchell who was so terrified at the prospect of a zip wire that she began blubbing, only then to absolutely nail it, smile beaming! For a big lad, Crispy’s concern over the diminutive size of his safety rope was understandable, though watching him slowly fall silent and begin shaking before leaping off the cliff side was a highlight of the day that the other lads relished!

The Interactive Resorts pirates getting ready for a night on the tiles

Safely back on terra firma, our minds turned to the afternoon’s festivities. We hot-footed home and transformed ourselves into the most terrifying crew of pirates never to have sailed the Seven Seas, and headed over to the beer festival! We were confronted by a mind boggling array of local ciders and beers, and did a good job of sampling as many as we could. Rossco “Marmot Man” Dolton and Hardcore Holly tucked into the booze wholeheartedly, and the afternoon saw a good few sword fights too. Rob “Fails” Taylor broke a few swords in the mêlée and spirits were high as we plundered the casks till they ran dry, then dominated the dance floor till we could barely stand. Staffy found buried treasure, Mrs B kissed his parrot and Theo was made to walk the plank for insubordination. Business as usual really! Mustering all our strength for the final attack, we climbed the steps into The Loft, Keswick’s answer to Ministry of Sound, and our ship sank without trace!

…Only then to be awakened at 11 in the morning by Captain Bonington and Lord Staffordshire, the local lads keen to help all us weary sailors get the spring back in our step. A strong team of half-cut ski chalet specialists began the relaxing walk into the hills, and we were soon strolling safely under the cover of tall pines on our Sunday forest walk. Leading from the front, Crispy had no idea which way to go but we made it to the lake for a relaxing sit down at the water’s edge. A rare moment of calm ensued, as we laughed together and pondered on how much fun we’d had as one big team the day before.

After two and a half days of wonderful sunshine, we didn’t mind the rain that fell as we boarded our bus to the train station. We waved a fond goodbye to our dear friends in the North, and were soon on the train to London for work on Monday morning. So it’s back to reality with a bump for this adventurous team of chalet specialists…Anyone fancy a ski holiday?

If you’re part of the Travellers and Bloggers community, you’ve probably heard about the new travel website Simonseeks.com from the entrepreneur Simon Nixon. In one of their recent blog posts, Interactive Resorts has been recommended as a great site to visit when trying to find your perfect skiing holiday. In June 2009, Simon launched this new site which aims to give an opportunity to everyone interested in writing holiday reviews about their trips, a chance to make money from it. You can read a variety of reviews ranging from cheap hotels in Paris to the best hotels in London and a lot more besides.

The guides are written by a range of travellers, journalists and celebrities. So now you can have a look at where Tara Palmer Tomkinson recommends drinking when she’s skiing in Klosters. They’ve also got a range of guides on winter sports for you to have a look at if you need some inspiration for your next trip. One of the most popular Ski guides was written by the travel professional Tim Scrafton called My Top 10 European après-ski resorts. He lists his top 10 destinations and also includes the details of the 5 best bars at each resort. A very useful guide if you’re planning to visit a new resort on your next ski trip. Tim is a keen Skier and this comes across in his guide. It’s is very informative and easy to read.