OH Wants To Learn

A snowHead

I don't think that anyone can really give advice without knowing the OH involved; and neither of you will really know what will be best without her first having tried skiing (so an intensive learn to ski day in a dome is a good start) and then experiencing it for real in a real resort.

One big tip: make sure her boots are comfy and right, else that's ruined holiday one way or another and enough to put anyone off.

I would book a week in a resort with many easy runs, and plan for a fun week with your OH, full stop. Most novice skiers who enjoy the activity will gamely, and hopefully safely, attempt and make it down any reasonable run - not technically well, but that's all part of the experience. You job is to encourage, laugh at the appropriate times, support, reassure, patiently wait, carry equipment, provide advice that will be expected (don't care if you don't want to, she will most likely expect you to help and answer questions - you are after all the 'expert' here) and generally keep her within her comfort zone. She might even end up wanting to get down that lovely-looking black run on her 1st day (as I did - but I was only 17, wouldn't do that now...) Or she might want to practice her snowplough turns or spend a lot of time in the restaurant or bar (or not). Who yet knows?
If she wants lessons in resort then that's mornings or specific slots (depending on if group/private) where you are alone, otherwise you probably will be enjoying her company all the time as you enjoy the mountains together in whatever manner suits you both. Then again, she might be heartily sick of you and tell you to P-Off whilst she enjoys her own thing (if it was me, that's depend on tiredness and frustration levels). I don't know her, you or your relationship now, never mind when the almost-inevitable 'tantrums' of learning kick in.
If on a bash, though I've never been, I bet she'll find people whom she can ski with too, of varying standards, and will improve quickly.
If with you, and has an aptitude and love for it, I bet she'll improve quickly too.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks for all the responses... my thoughts:

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Echoing @jjams82, point; Be careful what you wish for.

A friend of mine a few years ago talked her none skiing partner into booking a ski holiday. He to a fridge to learn on a one day course and did a few practice evenings and got to the point of being almost parallel turning before they went. He spent most of the first day in resort falling down the mountain but by the end of the week was doing OK and was hooked. They went away 1 or 2 times a season after that and after a couple of trips was getting around the mountain as well as her. They had a great time. She hasn't been skiing for the last 5 seasons though and I did five weeks last winter... Toofy Grin

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@dp, thanks, that is good to know about Chamonix I had got that impression from the piste map and had been thinking it might be a good place to take the our girls... probably not. Happy

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@NickyJ, it's a nice resort and the town is brilliant. It's a very genuine town that doesn't feel manufactured like the big-name ski resorts, and there's lots of nice restaurants / shops / etc.

There is lots of good skiing nearby, so if you take a car, it's totally plausible to stay in Cham and ski around it. You could do a day or two in Chamonix easily (especially if you drive and can avoid the buses) as there's still plenty nice things to ski. But realistically, I think offerings are far better in Courmayeur (half hour drive maybe, through MB tunnel), Evasion MB (St Gervais, Megeve, Les Cont) and Verbier.

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After all it is free

Drop the fear of skiing on your own. Pick a resort with a good english speaking ski school and you can always take lessons yourself (if the have a ski warranty speedster group) or find other sHs in resort that week or just ski on your own - it really isn't that bad particularly if you ski to use my current most hated term with "mindfulness".

But doing this with a TO chalet as suggested above increases your chances of finding some people to ski with.

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Like you, I'm not high income, hence my joining the CF to save a few quid (30%). They have deals on at the moment for the three courses they do. They're offering their all day (6 hour) courses for £75. As you know these prices will go up as we head towards winter. That's why I squeezed them all in during the summer.

Once I'd done the three courses; which were all around £50-£55 with membership discount; I only went to the CF once a month for a four hour stint, and being a member that only cost me between £19 and £26 a month, depending upon the time of year.

The big plus she has is that you can ski; and are there to give her helpful little pointers, as you gave me at the ski test.

It doesn't matter if you (as you say) have a few bad skiing habits. As a noobie I never really bothered to study and copy how other people skied. Put a 100 people on the slope and chances are you'll have 100 different styles. The big plus is you know "how" you should ski, and what you "should" be doing. Putting it into practice is something else.

All the best with it and I hope she takes to it like a duck to water. snowHead

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Will add my experience here, as my OH and I were in a slightly similar situation a few years ago – he was a snowboarder with many weeks under his belt, while I was going on my first trip.

I know it's been said a lot on this thread already, but from personal experience I'd also recommend the Chill Factore all-day beginner courses. This time of year is perfect for learning the basics there – as Awdbugga says, it will be very cheap both for the lessons and also the monthly passes, which I found handy as I went a few times to practise after I'd completed the courses, and is also pretty quiet. I was really grateful for the stuff I'd done there because it meant I could enjoy the easier slopes straight away – although had a bit of a surprise when I went on my first lift in resort, a button that was much more violent than the tame, slow Chill Factore one, and it promptly spat me off Toofy Grin

that particular lift has now been replaced!

We picked Alpe D'Huez for a number of reasons (big enough for OH to have lots to do, and also a new place for him to try; loads of green runs in the bowl just above resort for me; other activities in case I didn't want to ski all week*; not as expensive as some of the larger French resorts) and it was perfect for us. Those green runs are really wide and forgiving and don't take you too far from resort, so I felt comfortable skiing on my own straight away – when I got more confident later in the week, there were lots of blues and reds to progress to, many of which led to other small satellites/villages so you got a nice sense of travel. Think I had about three small group lessons with Masterclass, who come highly recommended on here – I believe they don't take complete beginners, but Stuart was happy to take someone at my level. I was in a group of three (all of a similar standard) and we had a great time/skied together outside the lessons on at least one occasion. I also remember one of the other people in the lesson had a partner who was much more advanced and had lessons with one of the other Masterclass instructors (Mel?) at the same time as our lessons, so that worked out well for them – from what I recall, Masterclass also weren't very expensive considering how small the groups were.

Generally my OH and I spent some time together and some time doing our own thing, meeting up at various stages throughout the day – which we still do now, as I'm a slow, on-piste pootler and he's much faster and likes to go off-piste – it suits us fine (neither of us mind skiing/snowboarding on our own for part of the day) but from what you've said, perhaps that wouldn't work so well for you and your partner. So if not going on a bash or similar, I'd agree with Layne's suggestion above of staying in a chalet – we did that in ADH and it was easy to find other people to ski with – also added more of a social element to the evenings and we were with a brilliant group of people, so had a great time.

*I should note that despite our deliberately choosing somewhere with plenty of non-skiing activities available, it turned out I actually just wanted to ski all day when I was there!

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What is your budget for lessons please?

Taking less 1-1 private lessons will be far better than taking more group lessons in my professional opinion.

A good instructor will have a fit, athletic adult 'never ever' making linked turns after 1 full day (or 2 half days) of private instruction which is difficult to achieve in 2-3 full days of group skiing in a group with more than 3 members.

I'm not sure what the price differential is on that in the resort(s) you're considering but if the priority is to get your OH to try, enjoy and succeed at learning to ski then putting her in the best boots, on the best skis, with the best 1-1 instruction for less days stands more chance of getting the job done than more time on snow in a group learning environment.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

If I was in your shoes I'd be looking for a smallish resort with good British instructors that she could get one to one lessons with in the mornings. I'd also want a really good hotel with a decent spa area - remember that beginners get tired and sore more quickly, so she'll need nice surroundings for afternoon/evening relaxation. Check out Ski2 at Champoluc. They're not cheap but you'd be well looked after with their rental kit, boot room at the gondola, good instructors and mini-bus to take you around the village if you're too knackered to walk.

Getting your partner into skiing is a wonderful thing, so it's well worth making sure she really enjoys her first week, even if it means that you're not getting to do everything that you want. Play the long game.

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not really sure a spa hotel will be in budget. since when did people need spas to "relax"? When I was learning all I wanted was a drink and a meal. I was high as a kite having fun with the group so didn't need anything more. sorry...off topic, but if DP could afford a spa hotel he could afford private lessons.

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@Mike Pow, with no disrespect meant, I disagree with you.

I understand the hypothesis completely that solo lessons can be more productive. It's obvious. The instructor has far more time for "each" person in a private lesson. And yes this means that they can potentially advance faster, covering more ground in the same time. What I am not certain about is that the factor by which they improve equals or exceeds the factor by which the price increases. In fact, I highly doubt it.

What's more, and something I've been trying to get across this whole thread, is not everyone in the world needs to be a ski legend in order to enjoy skiing. Not progressing at the fastest possible speed doesn't have to be unattractive. I appreciate that if we spent £3000 on solo ski lessons this winter we could probably go skiing next winter and spend £0 on lessons, but I also think that if we spent £500 a year on group lessons for 6 years running, she could be an equally good skier at no greater expense.

For solo lessons, prices I've seen advertised range from 60-90 Euros an hour. Even if we're at the bottom end of that scale, then the two half days you talk of are still going to cost us 500-600 Euros. So even if they were the only lessons we had all week, and we spent the rest of it skiing together, I could probably get her in a whole week of group lessons for nothing much extra.

In my opinion, learning a skill is made up instruction and practice. And in my personal experience, the practice often plays a more important part than the instruction. I think the thing about a group lesson is that you're learning and practicing. And spending time with others in the same boat as you - which is important. Sometimes you can be taught a skill til your instructor is blue in the face, but what it really needs is just a bit of time for you to do it until it makes sense.

Basically, I don't have a fixed budget but it definitely won't cover any sustained amount of private tuition. I am reasonably convinced that I would like to have her do group lessons in the mornings, then in the afternoon she can ski with her newfound friends or ski with me, or I can ski with all of them. Maybe there is scope for a 2 hour private lesson on a mid-week afternoon to catch any bugs, help her with anything not making sense, etc... but I'm also reasonably prepared to do that myself if she will tolerate it! But principally if I hadn't made it clear already, I was looking for suggestions on how she can be doing group lessons and skiing with the group, with some time for me to ski with her but also options for me to ski in company around her schedule too.

After all it is free

@dp, have you taken a look at the Club Med offerings? There prices include everything even lessons except ski hire.

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@NickyJ, I haven't. Do they offer a price for people which doesn't include lessons, too?

Edit: I looked and it doesn't appear that they do. So I'd have to proactively want to have lessons myself, to make the trip worth it (not saying this isn't an option).
I'll have a think about it. VT in PreBB-week is £1500 a person at the moment, inc lessons and passes, which on the whole doesn't seem unreasonable - providing I'd want the lessons.
But if I can go without, it's probably quite an expensive way of putting her in group lessons.

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Shame that Livigno doesn't really work any more as the MYASH bash was really neat and clearly effective (I had two non-bash trips last year and both included people I met in Livigno

and to really prove it works, two of them had never properly skied before going on a bash but are now so keen that both did 3 ski holidays last season

Resort-wise somewhere like Avoriaz would be good for a beginner, a) transfer isn't too long, b) because there's a decent number of greens and gentle blues and c) the lack of traffic means it has a nice feel and will make the ski holiday experience. Downside is that there possibly isn't enough gnar for you to get an anecdote of your usual standard in the 3 hours she's in a lesson...unless you venture towards the other areas of PdS, but then risk not getting back for the end of her lesson. Dunno what ski schools are like because I'm clearly too good to need them.

I've been making enquiries recently about the cost of one to one tuition using In Depth Snow based in the CF. It's three guys from the CF who have set up their own little business. £140 for 4 hours, one to one. £240 for a full 8 hours. That includes your ski pass, boot and ski hire etc. Not sure about the clothes. Apparently they use an ipad to video you and give you instant feedback. Just thought I'd throw that one in, so at least you've got some idea of 1-1 costs for the CF if you were ever considering it. Awd.

You know it makes sense.

I entirely agree with you @dp about group lessons for never-evers. At that early stage it’s a good use of money to have lots of supervised practice. Even beyond that, with the right group, group lessons can be great. Private lessons can be a bit intense.

Do CF do any mountain trips? Hemel have
a setup now where you join a ‘coaching club’ on a Tuesday night where you get to meet a bunch of people at the same stage of learning as you, and become familiar with a set of instructors. Then they run a trip to the mountain where you’ll ski with a set of familiar faces and the instructors you already know. She could go on a trip like that and you could tag along and find ways to amuse yourself.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@SnoodlesMcFlude, ? “Not enough gnar”?

You don’t know Avoriaz.

A snowHead

If my partner wanted to do gnarly skiing when I was in lessons in the morning I'd encourage him. But if he didn't want to ski with me in the afternoons either (as the OP said) I'd tell him to get knotted. Another idea - if you have never snowboarded, take beginner lessons. Will wipe that patronising smile off your face. wink

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@under a new name, I don’t, although you also don’t know dp’s usual anecdotes Wink

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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When I introduced my girlfriend to skiing she booked into 3-hour morning groups lessons, for six days of the week. Selected a Brit ski school which I knew had a good reputation. I booked in to more of a performance camp, 3.5 hours in the mornings for six days of the week. Stayed in a cheap hotel in a decent location in a big resort. No spa facilities, food pretty basic but it was comfortable enough and not too far to walk to the ski school meeting point, which I think is a big deal for beginners who are unused to clomping around in ski kit.

Jane had a great week, loved the social side of her group as well as learning to make her first turns on snow. I got plenty of skiing on my performance camp, a mix of technical instruction and charging around. In the afternoons the plan was to ski together, pottering around on the same pistes she had skied in the morning with her instructor, which we did mostly but on a couple of days she was tired so she had a long lunch with a couple of girls from her class and I headed off to ski by myself. One of our most enjoyable holidays, not least because I was pleased and relieved that she enjoyed her first skiing experience. The afternoons we skied together were a pleasure not a compromise.

For a beginner, especially an adult who might be a little nervous, I think the quickest way to make or break your first ski holiday is the quality of the ski instruction. That would be my priority, everything else secondary. Pointless being in the nicest hotel, in the perfect resort, surrounded by lots of lovely people if you hate skiing, where every morning is a chore or worse (you won't ski in the afternoons), and you are fearful of your instructor's obvious frustrations at your inability to progress (even though it's his fault for not finding a way to help you improve).

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@Awdbugga, that's useful to know. Can't see it on their website (in fact no courses at all except group high level or gates ones). Also says they start at 9am, which is no good for me travelling. If you know or find out any more (performance, or at least not quite beginner level) could you pm me? Cheers.

After all it is free

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@dp, well said...internet eh?

FWIW I thought your OP was very clear and straightforward...just sorry I can't give any ideas

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OH Wants To Learn

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