molly4669

My kids all get a 16th birthday trip somewhere special. DD#1 went to France for a week. DS#1 went to France also for a week. DS#2 is the wildly athletic one and asked to snowboard the alps Feb school vacation 2009. I told him I'd ask you all to help us. He said he realizes the $ stinks right now, and so he ponders going to someplace like Jackson hole or maybe Whistler in Canada. I smiled and said we could probably go to Jackson Hole for a few days and then fly to Hawaii and surf for a few days for the cost of two of us going to Swiss Alps for a week!!! Any advice to get us going?

molly4669

I should also say that this trip idea was hatched by my hubby and I to show our kids europe before they head off to college. Both my hubby and I take turns going with the next kid, and this child loves to snowboard, but with that said, how can I combine the two. Showing him a little of europe and snowboarding for a few days...and do you think we have to go to Europe to have an eye opening experience such as this. Would Canada do for example. And if he's never really been out to snowboard in the US West (except for Winterpark, CO once) maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea. Just feel bad not taking him to Europe as the other two got to go...so I'm eating cheerios as we speak waiting for you all to guide me and saving my money in case it works out.

Robert2533

Most 16 year olds have little or no application of the travel experience unless they are actually living somewhere different and interesting, so why skimp of breakfast unless you really enjoy cheerios.

libssmfamily

Snowboarding suggestions:

Blackcomb/Whistler, British Colombia

Snowbird, Utah

Breckenridge, Colorado

Arapahoe Basin, Colorado

California (you could set up base camp in Tahoe and hit a different resort each day... possibilities are endless. And for a 16 year old who could probably care less about going to Europe, this might a good bet):

Heavenly, South Lake Tahoe, California (Stay at the Mont Bleu Casino and Resort and you may just run into a Pro Boarder!)

Squaw Valley, California

Kirkwood, California


Skiing in Germany:

http://www.skigermany.com/germany/sk...ts-germany.php

Snowboard for 7 days in Switzerland:

http://www.accesstrips.com/sports/sn...d-switzerland/

bozama

My dads french boarding student stayed a Christmas with us in 2006, she couldn't afford to fly home just for 10 days. She was a bit dissappointed since her family always went skiing for Xmas in Switzerland or French Alps.
When she phone her family on Xmas day they were so upset,, there was no snow, so no skiing for them in the Alps.
We on the otherhand had all rented a chalet and were skiing happily away at Silverstar in the interior of B.C. , my family, my dad and his wife , AND his student.. she was so happy to be skiiing in Canadain powder, so the moral of this long tale is,, we have the best snow up here,

Go to Whistler!! LOL

PS Can I be one of your kids, my kid just got an ipod for his 16th,, LOL


Also,we are a family of 5 so we have done the Europe thing with our kids same way, I took first son at 14, then hubby took next son when he turned 14, now I am taking our daugther ( she is only 12, but more mature then boys).
I think the trip to Europe should not be about snowboarding.. it should be a bit more about Europe, I mean it is very expensive to do such a trip, so really they can ski and stuff at home just as easily and most likely even better, so why waste precious time in Europe.

travelgourmet

I guess I have to ask why he is so intent on going to the Swiss Alps. If he is an expert boarder, then Jackson Hole or Whistler would likely offer an experience that is at least as good as anything in Europe. The snow conditions will most certainly be more predictably good. Also, for expert skiing in Europe, France should be the choice over Switzerland.

Don't get me wrong, the skiing in Europe is fine, but if the point of the trip is primarily to snowboard, then I just don't see the point of passing up a trip to Jackson Hole or Whistler for any European resort.

The only reason to recommend Europe over one the top North American resorts would be if you wanted to tack on some European culture while you were there.

molly4669

See this is EXACTLY why I love fodors! I have four kids and a job. And so for weeks as he's approached 16 I've teased him about his upcoming birthday and reminded him of how exciting it is to turn 16, but managed to talk little of the trip because it is so expensive to go to Europe. The first two kids did go and did the whole culture thing, Louve, Eiffle Tower, Normandy etc...but this one spends his free time daydreaming about surfing and snowboarding. So it just seemed to make sense that since I love those sports too that we nix the whole culture thing and just go do what he really loves. But looking back, the other two would not have picked seeing culture etc...and yet they loved it, still talk about it. So maybe I stick with original plan and do the culture, or I nix the culture and do what he so loves. I'm leaning toward the culture, we can snowboard easily here in the northeast all winter, so maybe Europe pre xmas or spring? Hmmmm...Robert2533 great response, I'm still laughing.

swandav2000

Hi molly4669,

Ahhhh, I just love skiing in Europe and think the Alps blanketed in snow are a very special sight. I would definitely go for a skiing/snowboarding trip to Switzerland.

You can get skiing packages at most hotels in a ski area that include overnights, ski passes, and meals. For example, at my favorite Wengen hotel the Alpenrose, you can stay for a week for 1394 chf per person in early Feb (1506 chf in mid-Feb). You could rent top of the line equipment for about $200 additional, for the week.

Some ideas to investigate for Swiss skiing:

Wengen
www.wengen.com
www.wengen.ch

Mürren
www.muerren.ch

Gstaad
www.gstaad.ch
(pretty expensive though)

Zermatt
www.zermatt.ch

Have fun investigating this!

s

bilboburgler

Well maybe you could mix the sport with the culture, so did you know that loads of kids roller blade around paris twice a week in the summer (talking 10k of kids) or bull running in Spain or mountain biking down Mount Blanc.

jamikins

As much as I love skiiing in N. America, and I have never skiied in Europe...I think Europe would be more special. Even if you snowboarded all day, you would be in Europe for the nights.

molly4669

SPAIN! Why didn't I think of it myself! He is taking Spanish 3 next year as a junior and while he'd probably rather be with his spanish class, I don't think they have a trip planned for next year.

So now my question is different, I'm going to start a new thread.

thanks all!