 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, after so many helpful replies to my previous 'accommodation in Les Gets' post, I did finally book accommodation with a fellow snowhead !
We are staying on Route des Chavannes and was hoping you could help with ski school advice. As the four of us (all beginners) are hoping to have lessons, ESF appear to be the most affordable option as they include the lift pass for les gets/morzine area. Are these ok to go with or would we better booking a couple of private lessons and all learning together as a family ? Would you advise we book some dry slope lessons here in the Uk before we go ?
The lesson times if we go with ESF are 9-11 or 11.15 - 1.15, would one time be preferred over the other or does it not make any difference which we go with ? As we arrive on 24th December would the slopes be quieter if we choose the later time ?
Thanks 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Taybegin, Check the "lift pass" I have come unstuck before assuming it was a full pass, but turned out to be for 2 magic carpets.
I checked myself, and it seems like a deal discounted pass and lessons for only 80 Euros more than the pass on its own.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Tue 13-09-16 13:22; edited 1 time in total
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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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@Taybegin, the later time will be quieter as so many people do stop for lunch at 12. We often ski over lunchtime as it is quieter.
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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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All my children learned to ski with ESF Les Gets and don't seem to be any the worse skiers for it. The lessons are quite structured, so friends who have children less inclined to follow specific instructions preferred LGS ski school, as I understand that there is less of a feel of learning by rote in their classes, plus they are smaller. I would recommend ski school for all of you for the whole week, as this gives you the best chance of making the most progress in your time there, rather than hoping a couple of private lessons will give you sufficient skill to be able to navigate the slopes by yourselves. Because unless you are all amazingly naturally talented skiers, that's not going to happen. I also highly recommend lessons on the dry slope before you go, if only to get used to manoevering with clumpy boots and long planks on the end of your legs.
@Pamski is quite right that the slopes cam be quieter 11.15 to 1.15, but my personal preference (as a morning person) would be to get your learning out of the way at the start of the day while your legs are fresh. You've then got a larger window in which to decide which combination of skiing more to practice what you've learned, enjoying your lunch, or canning it for the day will work best.
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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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My wife and I first skied in Les Houches and had a couple of mornings over a long weekend of private lessons with ESF. The instructor was fantastic and her English very good. We had done a morning at Milton Keynes in preparation and this allowed us to spend zero time on the nursery slopes and we were down reds with the instructor pretty quickly. Would recommend doing something in the UK before you go as it gives you a head start and means you can make the most of your time away.
In my opinion private lessons are better value (although more expensive) because you have more dedicated instructor time. Often in group lessons the instructor (through no fault of their own) has to spend time with the worst members of the group, having said that the schools are pretty good at promoting and/or dropping people out of groups to try and maintain a similar standard across all skiers. If you are all complete beginners this may not be such an issue
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks guys for your help, I think I will email ESF then to double check that the ski pass is for the les gets/morzine area just to be safe @blahblahblah,
I've looked at ski hire and Sport 2000 offers the best prices for us - do you know if this close to the ESF meeting point ?
Thanku
Michelle 
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As far as I aware Sport 2000 and most of the ski rental places in Les Gets are directly opposite (i.e. just over the road from) the main lifts on the non Mont Chery side of Les Gets. I'm not 100% but think that most of the ski schools congregate at the bottom of the lift station there as well. If you have a car you can park underneath the lift station and it's not overly expensive to leave the car there all day.
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@Taybegin, I will double check when we walk down to the village in a bit where Sport 2000 is. We always use Ski Gunship if we have friends or family without all the kit.
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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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I've just googled ski gunship @Pamski, but I can't find them online - Are they reasonably priced as we would need to hire all the kit and would we be ok waiting until we got there to organise the hire ?
Thanks @Ruddster, we will have a car but as we are staying on Route des Chavannes we will hopefully walk down to the village in the mornings and make use of the free bus back up later in the day, that's the plan anyway !
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@Taybegin, private lessons (or your own small group) lessons should be fine with ESF, but their large group lessons are not really worth it. My first experience skiing was in a large (18 people) group ESF lesson in Morzine. We learnt a few things, but there was simply no way the instructor could monitor us all. Yes it was fun being on skis for the first time but I wish now I'd gone with a smaller private lesson for our group of four.
Another option would be to try LGS, another ski school in Les Gets - no great difference in instruction, but they are English speaking which may ease your learning curve a little.
Re ski hire, all of the hire places in Les Gets are within a few minutes walk of ski school meeting point.
Enjoy your trip, Les Gets is wonderful!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Took my son and girlfriend to Les Gets in March and they had the 'You can ski' beginners package. Great price. Fantastic they were both skiing red runs by the end of the week. Lift pass covered Morzine and Les Gets exactly the same as my husband and I bought which meant they could ski with us in the afternoons. Package also included ski hire which they could do from most of the shops in Les Gets which meant they could hire from our chosen shop. Would definitely recommend it and the resort, which was a proper French town. We were lucky with the snow though a huge snowfall just before we arrived in early March. Maybe not so good if snow iffy.
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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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| Taybegin wrote: |
Would you advise we book some dry slope lessons here in the Uk before we go ?
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Yes, definitely. Will make a huge difference to how quickly you progress on snow. The more, the better.
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