Skiing with teenagers
After having skied in New Zealand, USA, Japan and Europe, we wanted to try South America. Since we wanted to visit Buenos Aires, we decided to go to Bariloche in Patagonia for a few days before we head off to Lima, Peru. Unfortunately, the Puyehe volcano in Chile erupted at that time, and most of the ski resorts on the Andes were closed. We were then diverted to Cerro Castor in Ushuaia, the most southern city on the American continent. Skiing was also very good with many slopes and thick real snow. It is also not as expensive as Europe or some parts of the USA. Fortunately, by this time Liam was an advanced snowboarder and Mika was an advanced skier (I had to “struggle” to keep up with them!), because it would not be ideal for beginners or first time skiers if you do not speak Spanish.
France, Austria and Switzerland
As mentioned earlier, I tend to not take my sons skiing in luxurious and famous resorts because during the holiday season this can be extremely expensive and overpriced. It is better to book way in advance, perhaps more than one year. But the accommodation will still cost you a lot of money. When you and your group are good to advanced skiers, skiing in smaller resorts could be as good or even better and less crowded. These smaller resorts tend to be more difficult for beginners, but very enjoyable for intermediate and advanced skiers.
Skiing in Europe in general is more difficult than anywhere else in the world, but at the same time very challenging and interesting. I suggest if you do bring your children here, especially to the smaller and not as famous resorts, make sure they are at least intermediate skiers. Some of the larger resorts in Europe have ski-in, ski-out. Otherwise, beginners or young children are better off going to large resorts such as Courchevel, Zermatt, St Moritz, Gstaad and others. There are so many smaller resorts but with also good skiing, such as: Filzmoos and Annaberg-Lungotz in Austria; Meribel and Gerardmere in France; and Leukerbad in Switzerland.