Family skiing: teenagers

Powder Bryne is leading the way, with its Snozone clubs for 10-14 year olds during the February half term in resorts such as Courchevel and St Christoph. Their 'Ultimate Zone' at half term in Zurs and Zermatt is ideal for adrenaline junkies aged 13 and over who want to learn tricks in the snowpark and halfpipe. Teenagers eager to ski off-piste can join their Mountain Zone course in Grindelwald during half term and Martin Bell runs an Easter ski camp in Zermatt for wannabe racers. The Oxygène ski school in Val d'Isère has a teenage ski program run by Snowline and VIP.

North American resorts have looked after teenagers for longer. Fishski runs ski clinics just for teenage girls in Crested Butte. Aspen Snowmass and Vail both have an all-season instruction program for teens with lessons for beginners to freeski coaching camps.

Après-ski is a vital part of a teenager's ski holiday. At the upper end of this age range, local licensing laws come into play. In European resorts, the drinking age limit is 18, though most bars adopt a relaxed approach to it, while the opposite is true in the US where the age limit is 21, and strictly enforced. In Canadian resorts it is 19. Parents wanting to distract their teen from hitting the bottle should opt for a resort with lots of other activities. Smuggler's Notch has two supervised evening teen centres with various activities from Xbox and DVDs to pool tables and table tennis, similar to Vail's Hangout Centre.

• The basics
• Babies & toddlers
• 4-12
• Top tips