NSW snow holiday

Our family and another family are considering a snow holiday in NSW this year or next.

For it to be any kind of actual holiday we will need two apartments. Apartments must have cooking facilities due to dietary intolerances. We would prefer on snow.

Please tell me what you recommend or don’t recommend. Which location, which apartments. Must haves or must avoids.

At this stage of our lives convenience is more important than cost. I went to the snow as a kid on the cheap and it was cold wet and unpleasant. I want this to be fun, relaxing, and with good equipment so we enjoy ourselves.

Kids will be 7, 7, 9 and 10.

I can’t tell you the name of the apartments, as that is DH’s role, but we stayed twice in Thredbo on the snow side, right near Friday Flat (which was great for DD and ski school). It was a quick walk in the morning. Makes it much easier than walking or catching the bus down (and up in the afternoon) the steep other side. I can’t compare to anywhere else in Australia as I haven’t been anywhere else. Fingers crossed we can get there this year!

I happy to help as much as I can (I live here).

Can I ask why you need two apartments? Or is one HUGE 5 bed house enough?

And if you do want two, how many bed in each? I am aware of a building that has 2 distinct rentals, a house with a smaller unit underneath.

One apartment per family. My kids and I are introverts and we will need space to recharge and recover to play nicely the rest of the time

We want to stay on the snow, not travel in each day.

By “stay on the snow” do you mean ski in/ski out? Or just that you want to be able to walk ? Or is a village bus OK?

If “ski in ski out,” that rules out most of Thredbo and you’re better off looking in Perisher.

If you are happy to walk or take a village bus Thredbo probably has more apartments.

Walk or village bus is likely to be ok. I don’t want to stay at jindabyne though and have a long trip up to the snow. Did that as kids and it wasn’t great.

I want to be able to have a morning session, come back for lunch to feed little tummies and give little legs a rest, then be close enough to do an arvo session of some sort if kids are up for it.

Does that make sense?

You can laugh at me if that is not remotely achievable.

ETA clearly we aren’t skiers. So a couple of hours at a time in classes or just having a go is likely all we will be up for before we all want a break.

Walk or village bus is likely to be ok. I don’t want to stay at jindabyne though and have a long trip up to the snow. Did that as kids and it wasn’t great.

I want to be able to have a morning session, come back for lunch to feed little tummies and give little legs a rest, then be close enough to do an arvo session of some sort if kids are up for it.

Does that make sense?

You can laugh at me if that is not remotely achievable.

Very much achievable.

i'll put together a list of various options. Give me a few hours.

When you say per family, is it two families And how many people per family? And could you do a one bed plus say a loft?

Oh and will it be NSW school July school holidays? A lot of properties are already sold out.

2 families. Each family has two kids.

Our family would want 3 bedroom ideally due to children’s needs.

Other family much more likely to do a 1 or 2 bed place.

We are open to taking kids out of school for this experience.

We are open to taking kids out of school for this experience.

Okay, my suggestion is to do the last week of July, maximise lower costs than August, but maximise the level of snow cover.

Have a look at Thredbo Apline Apartments. There is a mix of number of bedrooms.

also Lantern apartments - although the convenience of Lantern is a lot less that the Thredbo Alpine Apartments, which are an excellent location, however is a bus ride to Friday flat. (Where beginner lessons start)

Here are some links.

https://www.lanternapartments.com.au/search/

This shows a good map, see the "Thredbo Snowsports"? Thats where lessons start.

Also look at these

Kara's Apartments

Inala

Mowamba, very centrally located above the supermarket.

The apartments that are ski in ski out for real, are actually called that. they will not suit a family of beginner skiers. you would need to ski down and then catch a bus to lessons.

Thanks Ozgirl. That’s really helpful to get me started in the right direction.

Also here is a great village map. to look up locations on,

https://www.thredbo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Thredbo-Village-Directory-Map-2020-Low-Res.pdf

My other advice is that if you have dietary needs, stock up before you get to the snow. The mountain supermarkets are pretty limited with what they stock.

My other advice is that if you have dietary needs, stock up before you get to the snow. The mountain supermarkets are pretty limited with what they stock.

A million times this.

You can do a click and collect for the jindabyne woolies on the way through. But would bring your preferred stuff.

the best thing at the thredbo supermarket is my dads honey!

I want to be able to have a morning session, come back for lunch to feed little tummies and give little legs a rest,

Just to clarify do you mean lunch at the base (or slopes) or back at where you're staying?

If you would like to go back to your place feed kids, I just don't see having 2 sessions, feeding people off the slopes as doable.

I make my peace that when we're skiing, my kids will pretty much eat chicken tenders with tiny tots and mac&cheese for pretty much every meal. We stay on the slopes all day, pretty much early birds and often last off (and chased off by ski patrol hee hee)

I want to be able to have a morning session, come back for lunch to feed little tummies and give little legs a rest,

 

Just to clarify do you mean lunch at the base (or slopes) or back at where you're staying?

If you would like to go back to your place feed kids, I just don't see having 2 sessions, feeding people off the slopes as doable.

I make my peace that when we're skiing, my kids will pretty much eat chicken tenders with tiny tots and mac&cheese for pretty much every meal. We stay on the slopes all day, pretty much early birds and often last off (and chased off by ski patrol hee hee)

We have definitely done lunch back at the accommodation and then back to the snow for a bit more in the afternoon, with a 3-4yo. But I don’t ski (thanks to a nasty ski injury) so DH can keep skiing and then meet us later, and I don’t miss out.

I want to be able to have a morning session, come back for lunch to feed little tummies and give little legs a rest,

 

Just to clarify do you mean lunch at the base (or slopes) or back at where you're staying?

If you would like to go back to your place feed kids, I just don't see having 2 sessions, feeding people off the slopes as doable.

I make my peace that when we're skiing, my kids will pretty much eat chicken tenders with tiny tots and mac&cheese for pretty much every meal. We stay on the slopes all day, pretty much early birds and often last off (and chased off by ski patrol hee hee)

In thredbo it it very easy to go back to your lodge for lunch,

Kids in all day ski school get lunch.

However can easily do half day ski school, go back to accom (which as OP said on snow lunch may be difficult with dietary requirements) then go out as a family in the afternoon for a couple more runs.

The new gondola makes this easier too.

My child and I have coeliac disease. Returning to a self catered lunch is a necessity. If we have to miss out on an afternoon of skiing that wouldn’t be the first thing we’ve missed out on. It’s not an option unfortunately - most mass catering is completely unsafe for us. I’d be delighted to be wrong.

The kids aren’t going to want to ski for 8 hours straight anyway. Maybe one day. Not on our first trip.

I thought I had managed to attach an image of where we stayed previously in Thredbo - mountain drive - Riverview terrace area. We always stay in self catering accommodation as it means I can make food the kids will eat.

My child and I have coeliac disease. Returning to a self catered lunch is a necessity. If we have to miss out on an afternoon of skiing that wouldn’t be the first thing we’ve missed out on. It’s not an option unfortunately - most mass catering is completely unsafe for us. I’d be delighted to be wrong.

The kids aren’t going to want to ski for 8 hours straight anyway. Maybe one day. Not on our first trip.

It very hard, i agree.. I dont eat gluten - and if i didn't get access to on hill cooking facilities (as a ski patroller) i would def struggle. I can give you a couple of ideas for lunch on one day or two. but yeah its hard,

(am lessons, back to apartment for lunch and then a couple of runs in the afternoon if you feel like it.

Hey OP how is the research going?

Thought I'd pop in and give my 2c worth as we go to Thredbo every season with the kids (ours are now 10 & 15, but have been going since they were babies). A few things to note:

1. It's really expensive. A week in late July for a 3 bedroom apartment will set you back $7-10k. Most people squeeze into less space than that. We (family of 4) usually get 2 bedrooms or 1 bedroom plus a loft. That costs closer to $4k for 7 nights.

2. Last season there was no ski school due to covid, only private lessons ($$$$). Also, lift passes were limited. Even if you had accommodation booked you weren't guaranteed to get on the snow. This season is still up in the air as far as I know. I'm waiting to find out the situation before thinking about booking.

3. Ski school is either all day or afternoon only. There are no morning sessions. If you want mornings you can pay for all day and pull your kids out at lunch. Cost is around $150 per day per kid. All-day ski school is not 8 hours on the snow. Usually start 9.30ish (closer to 10) and pick up by 3.30ish with breaks for lunch (1 hr) and younger kids also morning tea and afternoon tea. They are quite experienced in dealing with dietary requirements, and you can send your own food if preferred, but I completely understand if you wouldn't risk it with coeliac.

4. Assuming money is no object and you can afford private lessons for your children in the mornings, it is entirely possible to ski for a couple of hours in the morning and then head home for lunch.

5. Lantern apartments are terrific, there is a bus stop at the door and they are reasonably priced by Thredbo standards. The people that run it are lovely. We get 1 bedroom and loft when we stay there. When we go with another family we request two apartments next to each other. We do sometimes get a bigger house and share with a family but like you prefer to have our own space.

6. Other good accommodation options include (as OzGirl mentioned) Thredbo Alpine Apartments, or little chalets in the Woodridge area. Woodridge is walking distance to the ski school area / lifts. We have stayed there a few times. So convenient as you can walk home for lunch and then pop out again for another hour in the afternoon if you feel like it. About a 10 min walk into the village.

7. Look at Smiggins - the village is all walking distance to the lifts, not very big but it might suit you.

Oh wow, thredbo has changed since i sold kids ski school!

I thought it was morning (with lunch) or afternoon. or all day.

Family private might be an idea though. If you are all beginner's.

Then home for lunch - you will all be shattered!