‘Polar bear’ kids group lessons in Zermatt 

For those sending their little ones skiing, we know you often have a lot of questions! Here is a guide for our youngest group lessons, for those aged 3-5 years, so you know exactly what to expect. 

Quick Guide to ‘polar bear’ kids groups in Zermatt:

• Times: 9h00 – 12h00 
• Running: Sunday – Saturday most weeks of the winter
• Starting point: Outside the bottom of Sunnegga Express lift station (at Zermatt town level)
• Pick-up point: Same as meeting point 
• Language: English 
• Who can join: Children aged 3-5 years of all ski ability levels

Is my child ready for group ski lessons?

We have been running lessons for children for over 20 years. Our group lessons for those aged 3-5 are in small groups, and our instructors are hand-picked to be part of our ‘polar bear’ team as they love making skiing exciting and fun for our youngest skiers!

We do ask that all children are at least 3 years old, are fully toilet trained, and are confident on their feet. Lessons are in English, so its great to have a basic understanding of English words (such as stop, go, and asking to use the toilet). 

We accept children from 2 years old in private lessons if this would be a better fit for your child. 

What to bring?

Before you leave in the morning, make sure your child has the following with them: 

• Is ready to ski and dressed in appropriate ski wear with ski/snowboard boots on
• Has all their equipment including skis and poles or a snowboard, helmet (compulsory) and goggles or sunglasses
• Has CHF 5 – 10 per day for a hot chocolate or snack during the break 
• Has a valid ski pass in their pocket (left hand side) valid for the Zermatt ski area. This is free for the under 6’s!  

Arriving at the meeting point : 

Our meeting point is located at the bottom of the Sunnegga Express in Zermatt, outside the lift station (at Zermatt town level). 

Try and arrive around 5 – 10 minutes early to the lesson to allow time to meet the instructor and for the lesson to leave on time. Our instructor will be happy to chat with you about your child’s ability level, exchange contact details and let you know the plan for the morning. 

Getting to the slopes

Once the instructor has everyone joining that morning, it’s time to head to the slopes to join your kids lessons in Zermatt! Your child will take the Sunnegga Express with their instructor and the rest of their group to either the ‘Wooli park’ if they are beginners, or the easy slopes around this area depending on their experience.  

We still split our kids lessons ‘polar bears’ into ability level groups, as some children have more experience than others, and we even have groups already confident on red and even black slopes by this age! 

Morning skiing 

If it’s the first morning, the instructor will get the group warmed up and ready to ski with some quick on-the-snow games, so everyone can get to know each other, then it’s time for skis on! On the first day this will involve assessing the skiing level of all the children in the group, and making sure they are able to ski at this level. There may be some group changes to make sure everyone is matched up to ski with others of a similar ability. 

The daily content of each polar bear lesson will vary depending on the ability of the group. However, the focus is always on safety, fun and then learning.  A similar daily structure is followed for each group level and our instructors make sure the skiing is kept fun and that the children leave each lesson feeling they have learnt something new, made some new friends and had lots of fun.  

Morning break and more skiing!

After a good ski, it’s time for a break, so an opportunity for a quick snack, hot chocolate, and toilet break! In the colder months this is always inside as an opportunity to warm up is very important. Then it’s time for some more skiing! 

Home time 

At 12h00 the group will ski back down with their instructor to the meeting point or take the bus or lift if they cannot ski down due to their ability level, where children are collected by parents/guardians. In Zermatt this is the same location as drop-off