School ski trips are a great adventure and definitely a highlight of the school year. But for the fun to take place, a bit of organising behind the scenes is necessary. These are some simple useful tips for your school ski trip to keep in mind, whether you are a teacher planning your first or organising a returning ski group:
-Pick a resort that is child-friendly
There are many wonderful winter resorts across Europe but some of them are particularly designed to be family and children friendly with plenty of easy runs, great facilities for younger skiers and quality ski schools and instructors.
Our travel experts have selected child-friendly resorts for our school ski tours and they will be able to advise on the advantages of each winter resort.
-Leave the logistics to your trusted travel agent
Leaving the logistics to your trusted travel operator like JWT Sports can take all the heavy lifting out of the travel organisation and planning.
From advising on the best resort for the group to organising the logistics of transport and accommodation, and a complete programme of activities… It will make your planning stress-free and the experience so much easier and enjoyable.
-Assess the abilities of your group
Before travelling it is important to know if you have mostly beginners in your group or if some students have good ski knowledge so groups for ski lessons can be organised accordingly. Having lessons for different groups adapted to their abilities will make the trip more gratifying.
-Daily lessons
Having daily lessons for the group with qualified instructors is an indispensable part of any school ski trip, as they will give students solid skills, build on their abilities and improve their confidence.
We would suggest having two sessions of approximately 2 hours each: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Alternatively you could have morning lessons only and keep the afternoon free for other activities, depending on the group’s preferences.
-Combine with other activities
It is also important to include other fun activities such as ice skating, torchlight skiing, sledging, karaoke, or sightseeing in your school ski trip programme, as well as factoring in some relaxing time, as a full week on the slopes can be tiring.
-Share a checklist
A few months before the trip is due to take place, share a checklist of essential clothing and gear students will need for skiing, such as ski jackets, salopettes, mittens, hats, ski socks and goggles.
This will be particularly useful for beginners but there is no harm in reminding all students, whether newbies or seasoned young skiers. You will find some suggestions on our blog post: School ski trip packing list.
-Travel Insurance
In addition to taking their European Health Card which gives European citizens access to local medical services, it is essential that the group has travel insurance covering winter sports, in case of unexpected disruptions to the trip or emergencies.
At JWT Schools we can include travel insurance for the group as part of your school ski trip package, ask our travel experts for advice on this.
-Consider transfer times
Keep in mind flight times and distance to the resorts, so you can make the most of your trip and avoid very early mornings. Our advice would be to favour winter resorts relatively close to the airport, particularly if the students are quite young.
-Fitness
A week’s skiing can be quite demanding physically, particularly for newbies so we would recommend including some basic fitness preparation for students as part of their PE lessons ahead of the trip, for instance.
This would be a great way to get them into shape, learn about the importance of stretching and warming up, teach them some useful exercises, etc… so they are ready for the slopes.
Find travel inspiration for your next school ski trip and details on our great school tour options here: SCHOOL SKI TRIPS.
We hope you found these travel tips useful, for more information or assistance planning you school ski trip, contact our travel experts at JWT Schools
Contact Us
