My daughter's family is living in Germany and will be there for the upcoming winter. There are three skiing young children, ages 7 and 5 (yep, twins).
Looking for a place for a week or so in either January or February. Requirement include a good children's ski school, English spoken easily, and perhaps lodging that permits less than a full week stay.
I have skied in Austria, and am generally familiar with resorts in Switzerland...especially Grindelwald and Murren areas. Reread all the simple requirements and give me advice based on personal experience or what you know to be true, especially the housing for her family of 5, plus perhaps 3 other adults.
Thanks,
The Colonel

Check http://www.skiingitaly.net/ski_hotels_katschberg.html I've skied lots of Germany but when it comes to family fun, Katschberg Austria took the award, just a couple of hours from München. It was totally self-contained and with a kid-friendly atmosphere that most US resorts would envy. Aineck Mountain has a lot for everyone, from above-treeline to groomed greens. Close to Salzburg.

Lou,
Thanks for the info.
Am I reading this right...the mountain tops out at about 7,000ft altitude? Pretty low to assure snow in the Alps, isn't it. Place sounds great otherwise.
The Colonel

They have plenty of snow making and as well, a delicious micro climate. Sort of the same as Canaan or Snowshoe. And above treeline for about 2,000 of the top.

If you are going in late Jan or any time in Feb I don't think the lower elevation will be a problem unless they have an extraordinarily bad snow year.

Colonel, my limited knowledge:

-I think for research purposes Where to Ski and Snowboard is the best website for overviews, info, and resort profiles on European ski areas: http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/

-FYI same authors did this piece (with nice photos) on the most snowsure resorts in Europe: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/snowandski/8073934/Europes-most-snow-sure-resorts.html

-one of the best English language online forums for asking about skiing in the Alps is Snowheads. You'll get good answers to any questions, even now during off season: http://snowheads.com/

-Zermatt has the kind of scenery you'll remember the rest of your life with the Matterhorn dominating the skyline. It's a good sized village with world class skiing, amenities, services and restaurants. Pricey though: http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/resorts/Zermatt/

-Garmisch-Partenkirchen is also very scenic and has good, if not excellent, skiing. If you or family member have US Military or Dept of Defense eligibility you might enjoy the American-friendly environment here and I bet they would do less than full week stays(?): http://www.edelweisslodgeandresort.com/home.html

-Austria: of the limited places I've skied in Austria perhaps the best for a multiday stay was Saalbach/Hinterglemm. It reminded me of Vail; very intermediate-friendly and extensive terrain with many on-slope restaurants and nice base areas: http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/resorts/SaalbachHinterglemm/

-You should review John Sherwood's articles on his trips to the Alps. He visited some of the best places. Good stuff: http://www.dcski.com/columnists/index.php?columnist_id=5

-If it was me and I was looking for one good place I'd probably pick St. Anton as sort of the Alta/Snowbird of the Alps, but it may be a bit intimidating for a family vacation: http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/resorts/StAnton/

Jim

Are you considering skiing in France? I've skied in France almost every year for the past seven years (in March) with my dad and one kid (different kid each year). In recent years, we've been to Les Arcs, Les Deux Alpes, and Les Menuires, but I've also been to La Plagne and Serre-Chevalier.

In terms of terrain, Les Arcs is great. It's huge. If you stay at the highest location (Les Arcs 2000, or Les Arcs 1950) you are above the tree-line and there are excellent runs at all levels. Les Arcs 1800 has a top-notch terrain park and some runs in the trees. There are some very easy connector trails through the woods that are perfect for *very* novice skiers. Les Arcs 1600 is in the woods, although one run (Grizzly, I think) has a vertical of about 2000 meters and starts above the treeline. If that is not enough, you can connect to La Plagne which opens up even more terrain. So basically it would be really hard to get bored at Les Arcs. The village of Les Arcs 1950 is fairly picturesque - you can ski right through the whole village, and it's very family friendly.

I am also a fan of Les Deux Alpes, where we went this year and last, but for different reasons. It's more of a "real" town and our hotel was great (happy to provide info). Les Deux Alpes specializes in summer training, so I am sure to be back there with my kids. They also have the biggest terrain park in France, and the high altitude and glacier ensure good snow. But on balance, I think there are fewer trails that are good for beginners.

It's absolutely no problem to find ski instructors that speak English at French resorts. They get so many Brits that they usually think it's a novelty to teach American kids. And the prices are great - in March I paid 140 euros for 6 days for my 4-year-old, and there were 8 instructors for about 24 kids. (prices will be higher if you're in a peak time, however.)

I've also skied once at Villars in Switzerland, which had a very nice village, great slopeside restaurants, and a train that literally went right up to the ski slopes (very cool). But the limited terrain and less reliable snow probably makes it a less appealing choice, on balance.

Well if they're going to be in southern Germany, I'd suggest going across the Brenner Pass into the Dolomite region of Italy.

Advantages:
1) the Italians know how to make snow. The Austrian's don't. That's important in bad snow years.
2) The Dolimites are the prettiest most dramatic mountains you can ski next to.
3) Since you'll have kids along, unlike Austria, you're not likely to find naked patrons in the hot tubs.
4)I'd look at either Cortina or Val Gardena.
5) Lots of apartments to rent at both places.
6)Italy let's you'll get away from Americans. You'll find lots of Brits there, but not many Americans.
7) It's three hours by car from Munich.oser to

http://www.dolomitisuperski.com/

January would be a better time to ski than February as holiday has not yet started. Since you've already skied Europe, you're already aware of lift line funnels and lift line combat. I've got to admit that I'm biased. If I could only ski one place in the world, I'd pick the Dolomites.

If you want to stay closer to Germany, you might want to think of Salbach-Hinterglem - about 30 kilometers west of Kitzbuhel.

There are 12 areas in the Dolomiti region. You can buy a Dolomiti Superski pass that gives you access to all 12: 460+ lifts and something like 1200 km of trails.

You can ski the Sella Ronda - basically skiing a 360 degree circle around a mountain. Gives you about 30k of vertical and takes you into I think 5 of the 12 areas. That's better started at Val Gardena than Cortina. That might not be best for sub 10 year olds.

An Olympics was held at Cortina, which I'd call the Vail of the region.

Avoid France! Just got back from 4 weeks in French Switzerland (Geneva) and the Chamonix area of France and what a group of rude, unfriendly, negative people! If it'd been a single episode or just 1 week, I'd rack it up to bad luck, but this being my 3rd trip overt to the area with one being to ski and I can say it is much more than that. I was so fed up with the French that my wife and I drove through the Mt. Blanc tunnel just to get to Italy and what a difference. Friendly, warm people and very good hearty food. I want to go there and ski Cormayer (spelling?) in the Aosta valley on the Italian side of Mt. Blanc. BUT for your trip, Austria! Zell Am See was great and easy to get to from Munich airport. Very friendly people, especially in the Kaprun area.

This is funny as I had the TOTAL OPPOSITE experience. I LOVE Morzine and the Portes du Soleil for skiing. Rented a condo one summer in Paris. Now, I did run across the most obnoxious demanding peoples of the world there - but they were all AMERICANS! All the locals I met in the street were nice and helpful. Americans abroad make Jersey Shore look like Andy of Mayberry! However - Italy - you couldn't give me a free ski trip to go back to Cortina.