Growing up, my Dad and I skied every winter. It wasn’t just a ski holiday; it was a tradition with family friends. I still laugh thinking about the songs we all belted out on icy chairlift rides, laughing at the times Dad wiped out, and the hot chocolates with a mountain of marshmallows that somehow taste better when your fingers are half-frozen.
Of course, when it is time for a skier to marry, you have to marry another skier for it to work! When we became parents, we both hoped that skiing would hold the same magic for our kids. Will it deliver across the ages: toddlers want snacks and naps, teenagers want wi-fi and independence, and the grown-up “kids” in their twenties aren’t quite sure whether they’re there for the bonding or just the buffet. And then there’s us, the parents, just hoping for a moment where everyone’s happy at the same time.
Turns out, the snow delivers.
Together all day (without it feeling like hard work)
There’s something beautifully simple about ski holidays. You wake up, gear up and head out into the snow together. No debates or whining about what to do that day. Everyone is out in the fresh air, moving, talking, connecting.
When my kids were little, the mornings would start with them heading off to ski school (which is basically a mix of snow play, learning and the most patient instructors I’ve ever met). Which means you and your partner (and mates) get to roam the mountain unencumbered. Woohoo!
As they get older they just want to ski with you and when they are older teens they love to head off with their cousins/ friends. No matter what though, you always regroup for lunch on the mountain, every single day. No arguments, no rushing, just warming up over schnitzels, soups and stories from the slopes.
Less screen time, more face time
The phones stay mostly in jacket pockets. How often can you say that with kids? You are too busy watching each other come down the hill, cheering someone’s first black run or laughing at Dad’s slow-motion fall in the powder.
Après with your grown kids hits different
Après ski hits a little differently when you’re sharing it with your grown-up kids. Sitting in a cosy bar at the base of the run, boots off, sipping something warm (or something stronger) while the teens and 20-somethings debrief their day – it’s one of those rare parenting moments where everyone’s content in the same space.
Ski holidays have this magic formula; there’s structure and freedom, independence and connection. Everyone gets what they need, and somehow, it brings you closer without forcing it.
Memories that stick
From each ski trip, you take home more than just sore legs and an avalanche of laundry. We have so many ski group inside jokes, GoPro footage of wipeouts and the kind of shared experience that nothing else can seem to touch.
If you’re looking for a holiday that works across generations, that gives you time together and apart, that gets everyone off their screens and into the moment, trust me, a ski holiday is it.
Just don’t forget the thermals. And maybe a hip flask.
Dani’s next ski trip is to the snow holiday paradise of Canada.
