 Poster: A snowHead
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After seeking advice on here for suggestions for me and my 6 year I eventually settled on booking with Esprit in Val d'Isere. We had a fantastic holiday and I can't fault Esprit. As a solo parent (Mrs Gaza doesn't ski and stayed in the UK) the childcare and abundance of kids of a similar age were godsend to me and Oscar. He did very well in the Sprite Intermediates with the instructor even giving the class an intro to off piste. The lessons set-up was very good. The group was "Esprit Only" with small class sizes (max  and an Esprit "Snow Ranger" escorting the group at all times. The latter was very useful as she was able to address some poor behaviour between siblings in the group and feed back to the parents.
I'd go back to Val d'Isere in a moment but there is a major issue stopping me booking; Esprit do not offer the Sprites Advanced" classes in Val d'Isere. It would be utterly pointless Oscar doing the Intermediates class again as he is likely to be doing quite a bit more skiing between now and 2015 and he won't get anything out of it. The alternative of putting him in a general ski school class with a large group of children who may not speak English doesn't appeal to me.
Esprit do offer the Sprites Advanced course in Les Arcs, Belle Plagne and La Ros so those resorts would be an option but I'm not sure how they compare to EK.
The final option is to forget the ski school and for Oscar to ski with me all day. His stamina won't be an issue with this as this year it was me who wanted to head back to the chalet while he wanted to stay on the piste!
Is there any other companies that do what Esprit do? I think Mark Warner offer something similar but they do not fly from Scotland so I won't use them.
If I do bite the bullet and decide to put him in a ski school in Val d'Isere are there any recommendations for schools who have small class sizes and generally serve the english speaking market?
I should point out that the reason why I'm keen on keeping him to a predominatley english speaking class is that the son of a friend ended up in a class of 10 in Austria and he was the only non-German speaking child in the class. He didn't like that one bit. Oscar knows this and has said he never wants to be in a class like that!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If I do bite the bullet and decide to put him in a ski school in Val d'Isere are there any recommendations for schools who have small class sizes and generally serve the english speaking market?
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There are quite a few and I'm sure you'll get several recommendations - BASS is one that springs to mind.
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she was able to address some poor behaviour between siblings in the group and feed back to the parents
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Mark Warner, Club Med, Neilson, Ski Famille are all a similar set up. They do vary in price! We have stayed with Esprit in Courchevel before (has a swimming pool which is fun for the kids). If you wanted to go it alone on the lessons Ski New Gen is an English ski school in Courchevel - our daughter has been with them 3 times and we are very happy with them.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Go to North America. Ski schools work on a different basis there and your son will be assessed each day and placed in an appropriate group. And, of course, everyone speaks English.
Our kids progressed much more quickly in Canadian and US schools than in any European place we took them.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Gaza,
Book Oscar into EV2 ski school in Val. Maximun 8 per group, the same as esprit, and the same ski school/instructors that do the Esprit lessons.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Sprite Advanced is offered in Courchevel 1850 with Esprit. We stayed there for our first Esprit holiday and would highly recommend it. The location is truly ski in ski out and we had a fantastic holiday with them.
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| NickyJ wrote: |
| Sprite Advanced is offered in Courchevel 1850 with Esprit. We stayed there for our first Esprit holiday and would highly recommend it. The location is truly ski in ski out and we had a fantastic holiday with them. |
That is very good to know. The only thing that put me off about the Courchevel property was that it appears to be a bit remote from the main part of the village. The Esprit brochure does state they offer minibus transfers to/from the chalet and village.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Gaza wrote: |
| NickyJ wrote: |
| Sprite Advanced is offered in Courchevel 1850 with Esprit. We stayed there for our first Esprit holiday and would highly recommend it. The location is truly ski in ski out and we had a fantastic holiday with them. |
That is very good to know. The only thing that put me off about the Courchevel property was that it appears to be a bit remote from the main part of the village. The Esprit brochure does state they offer minibus transfers to/from the chalet and village. |
The regular bus stops just outside the hotel. In addition we had no issues getting lifts from the minibus when we asked. Also because it is ski in - ski out, it was also easier if the lifts were running to ski into 1850 main 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We are going with espirit this year to Obergurgl. They only offer the intermediate too and my two kids (8 and 11) are way past that stage *smug parent alert* However, we are going with a group of 4 other families with kids of similar abilities so hoping the instructors will gear the class to the kids abiliites. Our friends went to same chalet last year and said that this happened for thei kids so I'm optomistic otherwise, they will be skiing with us all day
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Gaza wrote: |
After weighing up the pros and cons I decided to opt for Belle Plagne with Esprit and put Oscar in to the Sprites Advanced course. Courcheval was a serious contender but there was nothing in the cost between it and Des Duex Domaines. The latter has better reviews on Trip Advisor so that swung it.
Before booking I emailed BASS as their offering in Val d'Isere looked good. However, a week on and I still haven't had a response.  |
Glad you are sorted. We stayed in their Belle Plagne place last April, had a good time there as well.
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Thanks NickyJ. When in April did you go and what were the conditions like? Thinking we might be able to squeeze another trip in before the season ends.
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You know it makes sense.
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We flew out on the 14th April, last season was exception for snow (I'll try and upload some photos) it was getting slushy on the afternoons especially lower down, but I couldn't ski for much after lunch due to my leg getting tired and my knee injury so it wasn't a problem.
Don't know what this season will be like we are going like.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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This was the view from balcony when we first arrived
link
This was my daughter skiing down the nursery slope in Plagne Bellecote below Belle Plagne on our last day
link
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Poster: A snowHead
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Gaza, I've skied in Val D'Isere / Tignes several times in early April and conditions have always been good. I notice Esprit offering a £999 deal for 1 adult and 1 child in a very nice part of Val D departing 30 March. Their Chalet Rosset in Tignes is good too. I think pre-Easter school holidays there should be plenty of good late deals available. Higher altitude obviously helps snow conditions as the sun warms up.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| NickyJ wrote: |
This was the view from balcony when we first arrived
link
This was my daughter skiing down the nursery slope in Plagne Bellecote below Belle Plagne on our last day
link |
if the snow is that good in April this year I'd be delighted! 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| NickyJ wrote: |
This was the view from balcony when we first arrived
link
This was my daughter skiing down the nursery slope in Plagne Bellecote below Belle Plagne on our last day
link |
if the snow is that good in April this year I'd be delighted!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Last year was exceptionally good in April. We are going in April again this year, and if it's as good this April, I will also be delighted.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Gaza, I meant to add I agree with Stewart Woodward above. We've used Evo2 in Tignes and found them very good for our (then) 10 year old.
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