 Poster: A snowHead
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Dear SnowHeads,
I'm something of a newbie to the fine art of strapping a couple of planks to the soles of your feet and then sliding down a hill in a more or less upright position, while attempting to avoid my fellow skiers.
In two days we're off to our first week-long adventure, in the Czech Republic. The choice of destination was motivated by two huge factors: firstly, we live in Central Europe, so Czech R. is only 5 hours away by car. Secondly, it's still half the price of the Alps and we don't have unlimited dosh.
So we're doing it DIY style. A basic B+B is booked already, car has winter tyres already and we think we know how to put on the new chains  , so we just need to find somewhere for gear hire and a ski school, preferably the same place. There are about 6 or 7 ski schools in our resort. One I'm excluding because the website is only Czech, which I take to be a clear 'no foreigners please'. The others range considerably in price from half the Alpine price to two-thirds, I would say (not sure of Alpine prices, though).
I'm thinking of 4 (perhaps 5) 2-hour private lessons each morning from Mon to Thur. I think private would be best because we've had a few lessons in the past and so are not complete beginners (can do turns which even sometimes manage to be parallel), but no way good enough to go into an intermediate group, and I think only three levels are offered here. Then we can practice ourselves in the afternoons. Does this sound like a good plan?
How long on average is it before trainers take people off the nursery slopes and onto a proper lift-based piste of a few kilometres?
It would be me (44) and my 12-year-old speed-freak daughter, who dislikes any idea of carving because it 'slows me down'. So she needs to learn some control - at a fridge last year she loved whizzing down the red, legs and arms flapping wildly, and I feel if she tried that on a piste she'd break her neck.
I'm much more cautious and incompetent, as befits my age. My goal is to be getting down a proper blue piste in the latter half of the week.
My elder daughter (16) is better than me but not so good as younger daughter - but she's recovering from glandular fever and doesn't know how exhausted she'll get. So we'd have to play it by ear, more or less deciding each day whether she could take part or not. Would this last-minute deciding really annoy a ski school? All the schools charge a certain amount per hour (private) for two people, then slightly more for three -so how flexible are they likely to be?
My husband has decided that downhill is not for him, but would like to take a stab at cross-country. He'll obviously need an introductory session - how long a lesson would he need 1-to-1 before he can manage by himself?
Now for the big question after all that background - what questions do I need to be asking a ski school in order to work out which of the 5 is the best option for our needs? I need to work out whether, given considerable differences in costs, there is any benefit to going for the more expensive option, or whether the cheaper option has fewer frills and a fancy office, but the tuition is just as good.
Peace and love, all advice welcome!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Golly, what a lot of questions. In our small French resorts private lessons are €83 for 2 hours for up to 3 people (more in the peak school holiday weeks). Your plan of private lessons most mornings and practice in the afternoon sounds ideal. I don't think the ski school would mind whether 2 or 3 of you turned up.
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How long on average is it before trainers take people off the nursery slopes and onto a proper lift-based piste of a few kilometres?
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my 4 year old grand daughter was taken up one of those on her second lesson ever. Easy slope down, though.
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My husband has decided that downhill is not for him, but would like to take a stab at cross-country. He'll obviously need an introductory session - how long a lesson would he need 1-to-1 before he can manage by himself?
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it depends.... on how confident he is, how good his balance, how much he'll mind falling over and how difficult the pistes are. If they are flat tracks he could shuffle round himself with no lessons but that's not much fun - it's helpful to be taught how to glide and push properly, shift weight onto the front ski etc, and (the most important and most difficult bit) how to slow down, if the pistes are not flat! It's not easier than downhill, IME. I am a competent downhill holiday skier on piste, but find XC challenges my balance! Terribly good for you, though.
Difficult to know what questions to ask the ski schools, if they are offering the same length of time for very different sums of money. Local advice would be much better. I think I'd go for the cheapest, if cash-strapped, providing they speak good english (or whatever language you want to be taught in). If you're feeling cheeky you could ask the most expensive one what they offer that the others don't!
Do report back - it would be nice to have some trip resorts from resorts less commonly visited by snowheads.
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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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@Schneewittchen, welcome to Snowheads 
Without any recommendations from previous clients it's going to be difficult to choose one. If they have websites I would get a look and feel for what they are like and then just take a punt.
The plan to have a private lessons sounds a good one.
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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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Because we had bad experiences with group ski school lessons for our children when they were young (and from various stories from friends) I am very much in favour of private lessons. I also beleive you learn so much more quickly in a very small group of two or three than you do in a big class. There is the added bonus that if you are with the same instructor as your children you can quickly determine the instructors competence. As said above you may just have to make your choice based on what is shown on the websites and any phone calls you feel up to making!
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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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Why not tell us which resort you're going to? Snowheads are a well travelled bunch of people and you might find someone can make a direct recommendation to you.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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"Can you get me seasonaire rate beer at lunch/apres?"
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Hmm, I typed a huge long reply to everyone and it's all disappeared now when I tried to submit. Obviously I have more to learn about the forum as well as the skiing!
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But thanks to all nonetheless. olderscot, it's Spindleruv Mlyn, apparently one of the biggest in the Czech Republic but still very sweet and villagy, from the look of things. Not the place to go for 4,000-people raves, and apres tends to be a meal at 6pm followed by a cheeky pivo.
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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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Without any recommendations from previous clients it's going to be difficult to choose one. If they have websites I would get a look and feel for what they are like and then just take a punt.
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That's the problem, I can't find any in English or German online. Perhaps all the reviews are in Czech!
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@Schneewittchen, welcome to Snowheads snowHead
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Thanks Layne (I thanked you already in the long disappearing post but here it is again), am looking forward to asking people lots of silly beginner questions 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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it depends.... on how confident he is, how good his balance,
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He's not too good, in all honesty. That's why he gave up any thought of downhill. oh dear, I might not pass on your opinion about the difficulty of cross-country just yet.
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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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I might not pass on your opinion about the difficulty of cross-country just yet.
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no, best not then, but make sure he has a nice instructor for a couple of sessions - it can be quite intimidating to embark on a "circuit" on your own when all around you are lycra-clad athletes with perfect backsides.
Oh - most of those godlike creatures are skating. Make sure he starts with "classic" XC - where you have little parallel tracks, made by a machine, to keep you on the straight and narrow, except on the steeper sections, when they disappear. It needs different skis - make sure you rent the right ones, and make sure he emphasizes that he is a beginner and seeking stability rather than speed.
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If you're feeling cheeky you could ask the most expensive one what they offer that the others don't!
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I'd need to have imbibed a bit of the old Becherovka before being that cheeky.
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You know it makes sense.
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Make sure he starts with "classic" XC - where you have little parallel tracks, made by a machine, to keep you on the straight and narrow, except on the steeper sections, when they disappear. It needs different skis - make sure you rent the right ones, and make sure he emphasizes that he is a beginner and seeking stability rather than speed.
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Sounds like good advice. I think I've seen those track things for x-country in Germany before, they're called Loipen, no? We'll definitely be emphasising the beginner element (and possibly the lack of balance).
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lycra-clad athletes with perfect backsides
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This is central and eastern Europe, where dumplings are beloved. You don't get many perfect backsides in this part of the world. Maybe the mountains are different.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks so much for that link, olderscot. That one poster oldskool seems to know quite a bit about the area. SkolMax is the second-most expensive of all the schools for private tuition, but if it's that good we might need less of it.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just to give an idea of the relative costs, SkolMax is 87 euros at current exchange rates for 3 people for a 2-hour lesson, and the cheapest school is 55 for the same thing.
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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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In our small French resorts private lessons are €83 for 2 hours for up to 3 people (more in the peak school holiday weeks)
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Have just seen that the 83 euros for a French resort is the same as SkolMax is charging (although next week is absolutely peak season because of unavoidable school holidays). So not such a good bargain after all! Makes the cheaper school more attractive, somehow!
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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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Don't take that 83 euros as typical for 2 hours in France. That is very cheap. Magic in Meribel charge 160 euros for the two hour morning slot off-peak and 180 euros for the same slot in peak time (and that's for 1-2 people, an extra person would be another 15 euros on top).
PS. I should say that I'm using Magic as an example as I've used them extensively in the past and will be doing the same thing again in two weeks time so consider them worth it, even if they are a bit expensive.
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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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Yes, our prices are competitive, because it's a smaller resort, but you can get private lessons from ESF Val D'Isere (one of the top resorts in the world) from €47 an hour, though it can cost a lot more at peak times.
And you can get a week's course in Les Saisies from €82 (again, more in peak periods). Last time I did that (a cross country course) our group consisted of just 3 people. Some of the super expensive British schools would have charged lot more AND cancelled the course if they didn't get 5.
It's one of those well-worn myths that everything in France is expensive, though it certainly can be.
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FAQ
