There is something about skiing that keeps families coming back.

The first ski holiday might be about ski school, gentle slopes and making sure everyone gets through the week with their gloves still attached. A few winters later, children who once followed an instructor down their first green run are disappearing across the mountain ahead of their parents. Lunch becomes a meeting point. The terrain gets bigger. The restaurants get better. And choosing where to ski becomes less about finding a good resort and more about finding the right one for the people travelling.

It is why our travel designers are always looking beyond the resorts we already know: returning to the mountains each winter, seeking out new hotels and chalets, and understanding which resorts work best at different stages of a family’s skiing life.

There is no perfect ski resort, but there is a resort that works beautifully for a particular family, at a particular time.

When the right resort makes all the difference

For families travelling with younger children, some of the least glamorous details can make the greatest difference.

A shorter transfer after an early flight from Dublin. A ski school close to the hotel. A resort where getting home doesn’t mean shuttles or tired children carrying skis. A mountain where beginners can find their confidence without more experienced family members feeling restricted.

It is why we return to Megève for February mid-term. About an hour from Geneva, the village sits beneath Mont Blanc and combines gentler skiing with a side of the Alps that parents can enjoy just as much. Mornings on the mountain can end over buckwheat galettes at Breizh Café, while an evening might be reserved for Alexandre Baule’s Michelin-starred cooking at La Table de l’Alpaga.

Skiing in Arc 1950 works for a different reason. The village is entirely car-free and sits directly on the slopes of Paradiski. Skis can go on almost outside the door, while spacious self-catered chalet residences give families room to settle in and the freedom to eat when it suits them, rather than shaping every evening around restaurant reservations. With younger children in particular, that flexibility can change the entire week.

As everyone progresses, the mountain can become bigger. Méribel puts 600km of the Three Valleys within reach, allowing confident skiers to head towards Courchevel or Val Thorens while others stay closer to home. It is particularly good during Easter, when higher-altitude skiing extends the season into spring.

The important question is not necessarily which of these resorts is best. It is which one works best now.

When everyone wants more from the mountain

With confidence comes curiosity. The same family that once prioritised the easiest route back to the hotel might eventually start looking at snow reliability, altitude, more challenging terrain and where they can spend an entire day exploring.

This is when ski resorts such as Zermatt begin to make sense. Few ski days start with a backdrop quite like the Matterhorn. From Zermatt, pistes climb high above its car-free village and continue across the Swiss-Italian border, making it possible to ski into Cervinia in Italy for lunch before returning to Switzerland that afternoon. But some of our favourite moments here have little to do with covering distance.

Follow the winter path from Sunnegga towards Findeln and there is Chez Vrony, a former farmhouse still run by the same family. On a clear day, lunch unfolds on the terrace directly opposite the Matterhorn, with Valais dried meats, Alpine cheese and recipes that have passed through generations.

Ski holidays to Lech have a similar understanding that a day in the mountains should not be measured entirely in runs completed. A table on a mountain terrace can be treated almost as seriously as first tracks, while evenings move from fondue at Alte Walserstube to the Chef’s Table at Rote Wand.

These are resorts for skiers, certainly. But increasingly, they are also places people choose because of everything that happens between the skiing.

When a hotel room is no longer enough

There is another point in the evolution of a family ski holiday when the accommodation itself begins to change. For a couple, a great mountain hotel can be difficult to beat. For 10 or 12 people travelling together, separate rooms and restaurant reservations can start to feel like an unnecessarily complicated way of spending a week. A private chalet turns that around.

Breakfast is already on the table when the first person comes downstairs. Boots are warm, skis are ready and the forecast has been checked. By late afternoon, children are back inside looking for hot chocolate while gloves disappear to dry and the chef starts preparing dinner.

Nobody needs to decide where 12 people are eating that evening. More importantly, nobody needs to leave.

The best chalets make having a house to yourselves surprisingly easy. A private chef takes care of dinner, a chalet host looks after the day-to-day and a resort driving service means nobody is co-ordinating journeys to and from the slopes. There might be a private pool, cinema, sauna or hot tub, but often it is the simpler things that make the difference: everyone under one roof, dinner around the same table and nowhere else anyone needs to be.

It changes the rhythm of the week. And for some families, once they have skied this way, it is difficult to go back.

When winter takes you to Japan

Eventually, even the Alps can begin to feel familiar. Skiing in Japan changes almost every reference point. Skiing ends not on an après-ski terrace but in the mineral-rich water of an onsen, a traditional Japanese hot spring facility. Lunch might be a steaming bowl of ramen rather than Savoyard classics. Snow falls through Hokkaido’s forests so lightly and consistently that Niseko has become a pilgrimage for skiers from around the world.

But travelling that far purely for better snow would be missing much of the point. Our Japanese winter journey begins with three nights in Tokyo, where private guiding opens up the contrasts between ancient shrines, tiny ramen counters, contemporary architecture and neighbourhoods such as Omotesandō and Harajuku.

Then comes Hokkaido. Six nights at Setsu Niseko leave time to properly settle into the mountain. A private guide can lead skiers away from the most familiar pistes and into quieter tree runs. Evenings belong to Hokkaido’s extraordinary produce: scallops, sea urchin, sushi and bowls of miso ramen after a day in the snow. It is still a ski holiday; just not quite as most of us know it.

Discover the latest issue of The Orator, Oroko Travel’s ski brochure, bringing together the resorts, stays and experiences its travel designers recommend for the winter ahead. Read The Orator online, or begin planning a ski holiday with one of Oroko Travel’s designers by calling 01 2600 240 or visiting orokotravel.ie