There was an article I read in the TCS newspaper saying that the young Swiss are not going to the mountains to Ski, hence there are Swiss children who cannot Ski. Therefore there is a campagne running with some pistes are offering free skiing on a Wednesday afternoon etc. See http://snowforfree.ch for more details. You have to register and the children go on an organised bus from the city, no parents! Sorry only local languages.

That is very true, and the reason is because it is so expensive for kids to ski here. I work in a Ski Resort in Austria for the Winter Season, I take care of Child Care in a Kids Ski School, and I am surprised by the amount of Swiss kids who have never learned to Ski. So thank you for that information I am looking into it.
Cheers

Just had a quick look at the website, and it's for children between the ages of 9 and 13.

Completely free:
- transport from town/city to resort
- tuition / supervision
- ski pass
- equipment
- supervision between town and resort

No good for me now, buta good idea (had to wait until the age of 28 beforeI first hit the slopes!)

Having been a a few ski weekends from work, it's really nothing new that a huge no of Swiss can hardly ski at all. I was verz surprised.

We all learnt to ski when I was a kid- and it didn't cost much at all. Hand me down old wooden skis, hand me down leather boots, hand me down trousers and jackets- hand me down knitted mitts, hats and scarf.
When snow cam we went to the Grande Piste - a hill near the village, and our first job was to go up and down sideways to pad down the snow so it would keep and be skiable - and then we skied down, and walked up, and down again and walked up - all day long. A quick door-step sarnie made with farmers bread and gruyères, a chocolate bar. Cost = zilch Fun = bucketfulls.

At week-ends we went up to Chasseron with seal skins attached to the skis and rucksacks. About 3 hours up - a picnic at the top and a hot chocolate at the Restaurant - and then down to Fleurier again, about 30 mins.

It's a fashion thing. When parents skied, kids snowboarded. Now the snowboard generation are older, it's no longer cool to ride.

Sledging is what kids do. Alarming news for manufacturers of boards, skis, boots and the resorts...