Ski, sledging and snow camp in Albiez-Montrond

Six days of skiing paced to the child, with a helmet for every participant. Two hours a day are taught by instructors of the French Ski School (ESF) and the rest of the day is skied with the animation team. Children are free to ski all day or not, and star tests are taken and awarded at the end of the week. The camp takes beginners through to confident skiers.

An eight-day residential stay for children aged 6 to 13, run by CESL in two age groups, 6–10 and 11–13. Travel is by train and then coach. The camp takes 50 children with one group leader for every seven participants.

A well-kept house, comfortable and carefully maintained, with bedrooms of four to nine beds, each with its own shower room and toilet. Several common rooms are available to the children. The chalets stand a few steps from the activities.

Meals are cooked on site and served in a large dining room, at tables of seven to eight children. The organiser describes the cooking as home-style.

Skiing over six days at each child’s own pace; two hours of daily ESF tuition; sledging and snow games without limit; and an organised evening activity every day.

Bedrooms have their own shower room and toilet, and several common rooms are available to the children. The dining room is large, with meals taken at tables of seven or eight.

The camp’s motto is “each at their own pace”: from the complete beginner to the confident skier, every child finds their place, and the team lets them decide how much of the day they want to spend on the snow. Albiez-Montrond is a small mountain village below the Aiguilles d’Arves and their well-known “cat’s head” peak, a family resort above the Maurienne valley with 45 km of pistes for all levels and fourteen lifts, five of them chairlifts.