The other recommendation I would make if you are beginners is this.  Try and get a lesson at the Hemel Hempstead SnoZone.  It would a great experience for you and give you a better understanding of how to use, even put on, the ski equipment.  It's quite different!   A couple of hours on snow with an instructor will help you no end and give you a head start as well as a head's up for your holiday.

To be clear, although I am a ski instructor with over 30 years experience, I do not work or receive any commissions for the SnoZone.  I've just used it many times including with my own family a few weeks ago.

Have fun!

Completely agree with Juliantenniscoach here. You can go anywhere to learn, don’t shell out for the most expensive and largest ski areas (Zermatt, Val, three valleys etc) as you won’t use them. The state of the snow is also less of a concern as beginner areas will be kept topped up and maintained no matter what. I just got back from Châtel, which as part of the portes du soleil was one of the hardest suffering areas for lack of snow over new year. Now it’s a different story, we had two days of fresh powder and sun and the snow has been coming down on and off ever since. Feb is pretty much snow sure and Morzine’s slopes are reopening at the weekend with heavy snow in the village today (the nursery slope remained open throughout). So I would vote for Morzine or Avoriaz still if you are going in early Feb, lots of beginner terrain and quick transfer, good food almost everywhere you go, loads of English speakers. But good luck finding somewhere that suits!

A few posts commenting about infrastructure in Italy. Not sure where you have been but if you go to Cervinia, Sestriere, val Gardena (Ortisei particularly cute but selva also nice), Campiglio and Cortina, you get great and top notch facilities, amazing food and great spas. In some of the above places there are ski lifts that connect several mountains and buses that connect the town and you can ski at a different slope every single day for a whole week. FT even did a piece on it a while back. Granted not for beginners. The only limitation I can see is that English speaking ski classes are limited so worth booking these while booking the holiday and don’t wait till the day of arrival, hotels can help with that.

Totally with Julian on Pila, lovely resort.

Just another point.  If you are a group of beginners then going to the big resorts will be a waste of your money.  You will be paying for a lift pass you'll barely use.  The other thing not mentioned with the resorts of Val D'Isere etc is that the transfers are long, 3.5-4hrs. 

A great place you could consider, where I've taught, is Pila in the Aosta Valley.  Ideal for beginners and lower skilled skiers, good value for money and just over an hour from Turin airport.  Food for thought!

Aim for the higher resorts - Val Thorens, Tignes, Les Arcs, La Plagne. Italy seems to get lots of thumbs up in the responses above and it is rather nice BUT the infrastructure is from another time and, in my experience, can rather spoil the holidays if you're wanting to get around the place fast in order to cover as much of the 'domaine skiable' as possible. Austria has some good options too but ALL are expensive. In my view, Les 3 Vallees in France (with Val Thorens the highest resort) is the best of the best with usually great snow (it snowed tons there earlier this week) and beautiful pistes for all levels. The restaurants there (particularly on the Courchevel side) are excellent, but if Italy is rustic yummy, Les 3 Vallees is fashionable yummy. It's the place to be for well-heeled Parisians (and moneyed foreigners) who want their lobster even when skiing. Everyone looks good and expensive and this can be a little intimidating.

Hi, my take on it is that this weather pattern is predicable as it is a 'La Nina' year.  That means we get warmer and wetter weather than usual.  This affects the western side of the Alps too.  Other regions like the Italian Alps, Dolomites, Balkans MAY get more snow as they can receive snow from the East across the Steppes.  But obviously predicting weather is not an exact science!

Right now, the Alps have had some recent snow but the temperature is the key to look out for, as that could all go within a week or so if it kicks back to +10-15c.

With your group I would take a look at the Dolomites.  The best place in Europe right now is Norway.  Immense skiing conditions.  For help with booking try Ski Solutions who are very good.  Good luck!

I'm not a skier but Zermatt was a lovely time and good for beginners to learn. I think it always gets snow.

I love skiing in Italy for the atmosphere and the food, what lets it down is often creaky infrastructure and depending on the location, lack of English-speaking instructors. One idea is to first check out the ski schools before booking. I would consider Champoluc, Courmayeur or La Thuille.

Agree with another poster that Austria is fab. If money is no object, then St Anton is one of the best resorts in Europe, and very easy to reach from Innsbruck. It has everything: high altitude, great infrastructure, ski schools, and awesome apres-ski. Saying that, it is also one of the most expensive. For another option in Austria, I would look at Serfaus. It's not as big as some of the others but plenty enough for beginners. 
Early Feb you can definitely wait until the last minute to book.

 

This is Courmayeur this morning after a couple of days of snow...

Thanks so much for all of this information. Having considered the options I think that we may very well look to countries other than France as they seem better value and as pointed out we are beginners. Glad to see that there is more snow forecast in general. Enjoy your skiing everyone.

We ski regularly in La Plagne, Les Arcs and Tignes and have just returned from a not very snowy Christmas there. However, there are heavy snowfalls forecast for this week and apart from the lower slopes (below 1800m) the snow is likely to be fine in early Feb. So do choose a resort where at least some of the pistes are at a higher level. I note you are mostly beginners and with young children, so I would avoid the expensive resorts such as Val d'Isere as you just won't make the most of the extensive skiing on offer.

Do also think about the distance from the airport/station to the resort as long transfers on windy roads can be stressful with young children. I recall one awful coach journey from Val D'Isere where we had to keep stopping because of car sick children.

You say you are planning to go in early February and in order to avoid both English and French half term holidays the only week that works is 4th February as from 11th to the beginning of March prices are much higher and the pistes crowded and lift queues long. February can also be very cold for young children. When our children were young we always skied at the beginning of April when although the snow wasn't always great it was warmer, the days were longer and they therefore had more fun.

In terms of hotels you might want to consider companies such as Mark Warner or Club Med as they cater for families with young children. There's a new Club Med hotel in Les Arcs right on the slopes. 
Have fun!

I heard Austria has better snow this year. Austria is my favourite Alpine country - they are really well geared up for childcare and the food is the best. Have a look at Obergurgl - it’s beautiful, quite high and easy access from Innsbruck. Also next door to Sölden which is big (but not as nice as Obergurgl.)

As a ski instructor in a previous life and still a keen skier, I have skied many of the resorts in Europe.  The weather this year is favouring the southern Alps, so think Cervinia, Zermatt, Courmayeur, La Thuile etc.  The temperature is still high there (around 10 degrees), but it is still a lot better than the resorts further north which are in real crisis.  Interestingly enough this is almost the exact opposite to last year where the northern alps had much better snow than the southern alps.

Depending on your accommodation I would agree with SW11er that if you are thinking about hotels then I would leave it till nearer the time - in Italy especially they tend to have more hotels than chalets and it's around 25% cheaper than France (and in my opinion the choice of food on the mountain is 100% times better!).  Hotels will be much more flexible than chalets and you can leave it until last minute.

Otherwise high resorts will be less affected so if you want France then think of Les Arcs, Val Thorens, Tignes etc.  At this point it is very hard to predict whether with further snowfall will sort things out - ski resorts are very resilient, but with quite liteally no base in some resorts and temperatures too high to make artificial snow then it really could be a disastrous year.  That being said, I have known it to dump over a metre in a couple of days so if the weather cools and storms come in it could be a very different story!

Happy to help further if you want to drop me a PM.

Jonny

 

"....  is the lack of snow something that is likely to continue ...." - well, I guess that depends whether you think climate change is something likely to continue.  If you do go, think if going by train rather than flying.  In 2018 emissions from flying exceeded 1bn tonnes of CO2 for the first time and are increasing by 5 - 6% per annum, with no technical solution at all in sight.