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A lot of people with small children (who can't ski very well) would like to spend some time teaching them skiing, but ideally not pay high fees for the ski-pass for this time. Which ski resorts in western Europe (i.e. in the Alps, Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada, etc.) offer a short lift for free for the benefit of families? I am after resorts that also offer first-class skiing for adults, so have a big network and wide variety of ski-runs.

If I recall correctly, Val Claret in the Tignes region had a chair lift for free, but I was there a few years ago, so it might be not correct...

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    A lot of resorts have either free lifts or "beginners" areas which are cheaper than the full domain. – Vince Feb 24 '13 at 18:09
  • I can see in your profile that you are from london so I guess you are not looking for some places in India... – Ugo Feb 24 '13 at 18:51
  • Could you reduce your search area to a country or continent? At present your question is way too broad...presumably you're eyeing up an area to visit? Closing for now, but you're used to the site - please edit and flag to reopen when you've edited the question. Thanks. – Mark Mayo♦ Feb 24 '13 at 19:39
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    @MarkMayo, thanks for your comment. I narrowed it down, hopefully will be helpful for other people now as well. – Grzenio Feb 25 '13 at 9:50
  • I think it's still way too broad. I picked a random resort in France (near Nice) and there is a beginner area, that costs less than the full domain : winter.isola2000.com/daily-pass Also, in France at least, the resorts targeting first-class skiing for adults and those targeting families with young children are usually not the same. – Vince Feb 25 '13 at 12:41
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Val Thorens has multiple moving carpets: Castor and Pollux, Musaraigne and Campagnols. Free, and easy for small kids. Roc is a small draglift, so less suitable.

http://www.valthorensguide.co.uk/beginners-area.html

In the next valley there's Courchevel 1850, which has three longer lifts: Cospillot, Bellecote, and Etoiles.

http://www.courchnet.com/lifts/ski/options.html

Apparently the free lift in Val Claret isn't that nice either for young kids, so Tignes-le-Lac might be a better option.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/snowandski/france/tignes/6762169/Tignes-piste-guide.html

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  • you forgot to add all these resorts have a pretty large domain. As for Tignes, I think the slope served by the Bollin chairlift is good enough, while very busy. And Tignes/Val d'Isere (partnering resorts) have quite some free lifts for beginners: tignes.net/fr/ski-a-tignes/plan-des-pistes-28.html (dashed on the map) – Vince Mar 11 '13 at 10:15

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