 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm finally going to take my family skiing, and we are looking at Morzine in the week before Easter. Fingers crossed that there will be some snow left!
My wife and children haven't skied before. I'm a boarder and haven't skied in far too many years, so it's back to square one for me. I'm looking for a recommendation for a school who might accommodate 2 adults and four children who are absolute beginners.
There seem to be lots of British schools advertised on the web. Has all the unpleasantness over relevant qualifications and bans on Brit instructors been put to rest, or is this still an issue?
I've nothing against ESF, but happy to have native English speakers if they are available!
Cheers
Tom
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 5-03-15 22:46; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Has all the unpleasantness over relevant qualifications and bans on Brit instructors been put to rest, or is this still an issue?
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No, it's still an issue, but there are lots of British instructors teaching legally in France with the right qualifications etc
You might correct your thread title - there's a typo which reminds me of the rubble at the end of a glacier.
You might get some advice about Morzine in the week before Easter - it's pretty low - might be better, if you want to go to that area, to be up a bit higher. Avoriaz? It's very helpful with beginners, especially kids, if the ski school meeting place is very near your accommodation, not a hike up a mountain.
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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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Thanks Pam! Autocorrect took me right back to 'O' level geography!
You're right, Morzine is low and we may well end up skiing in Avoriaz. Might find ourselves driving from one to the other if the accommodation deal is better in Morzine.
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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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hi there, we've been skiing in Morzine the week before Easter with our kids for 4 years now and it's never let us down snow wise. Last year, they had a terrible season, easter was late and you could still ski down to the bottom of the pleney, they did close the Pleney slope in the second week of April mind. They genuinely do an amazing job of keeping the pistes well groomed until as late as they can and have won awards for their work.
In terms of lessons, I would highly recommend, the snow school or easy2ride, our kids now 7 and 9 have had lessons with both and they have been excellent, the only reason we went from one to the other is that they didn't have availability. The are mostly ex ESF instructor, but mainly english groups and they're smaller than ESF, so slightly more expensive, but the kids got a lot more out of the lessons. All the groups meet at the bottom of the Pleney in the morning, then up in the lift to the nursery slopes for lessons, then meet at the top at lunchtime, it really couldn't be easier particularly if you hire and leave your kit in one of the shops at the bottom of the slope, Francois Baud is a good choice.
Best of luck, happy skiing.
C
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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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Does it have to be skiing? Why not get them on boards? mint snowboarding in avoriaz are brilliant at teaching tiddlers
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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 to you both!
I don't know why I assumed they had to start on skis... I had two school ski trips as a teenager which I loved, but then strapped on a board twelve years later in my twenties and never looked back! My twelve year old daughter will be fearless no matter what is between her feet and snow, the 10 year old lad and the two younger ones are a bit more cautious and might prefer to have the control that you get with a snowplough!
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We had a Snow Park Lesson ( small jumps amd boxes ) With Switch Snowsports.
They are based in Les Gets, but we were in Ardent / la Chapelle.
Really nice guy, great lesson. Would reccomend them.
http://www.switchsnowsports.co.uk/default.html
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Sorry to hi-jack post
@identifi, Interested in your experience with The Snow School and ESI. How young was your youngest when they started with these schools and did they do private lessons or go into groups?
Cheers
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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'm a bit late to this thread but can recommend BASS - we had a 2 hour private family ski lesson with Tom last weekend when in Morzine. He was able to deal with our varied needs - myself (cautious & focused on perfecting my turns) Mr 3vski (more speedy & requiring more technical detail than me) my 16 year old daughter (cool with no wish to be anywhere near her parents in public) & 12 year old daughter (who is really quite easy going) in the same lesson. He very quickly identified what was needed for us as individuals and the lesson involved separate periods of his attention and exercises specific to what each of us need to improve. He even managed to raise a few laughs from the teenager! I would not hesitate to book another session with BASS when we return to Morzine. The fact that Tom was English and developed a rapport very quickly with us all was a huge benefit - there was no need to struggle with the language barrier in explaining what we needed or what he needed us to do. He also said that a 2 hour lesson 2-3 times over the week is ideal rather than daily lessons because it allows you to go away and practice your moves. Good luck on your trip. 
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@tomj,
I forgot to add that we used Mint last month for my boy (35 months old at the time) and his friend. The instructor Tony was brilliant and both children just popped on the boards (hired from The Trees) and perfectly slid down the mountain first attempt - took my husband 2 weeks to do that when he learnt as an adult! Although he loved snowboarding, my son has declared he wants to learn to ski like his mummy now so keen to hear people's experience of the local ski schools
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Some great recommendations here, but sadly the late booking drastically reduced our options to ESF. I've had generally OK experience with ESF in the past, apart from my first ever snowboard session when I was taught to stand as if serving tea on a tray to the place I wanted to go. A bit bizarre, maybe he thought it was the best way to get through to an Englishman? 
If all goes well, and my wife lets me spend the family holiday budget on skiing for a second time, then I'll be sure to book in plenty of time and. Get my choice of schools!
Tom
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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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Our then 4.5 yr-old went into Piou-Piou with ESF Morzine as a complete beginner at Xmas 2012 and loved it. He skied in the morning, had lunch and then played and did crafty things in the afternoon. He then skied all day with us on the last Saturday. He came back laden with what he'd made every day and it well exceeded our expectations.
I know the quality of staff can vary but we've never had issue with any of the 3 ESF ski-schools my son's been to and has progressed at least as well if not better with them when compared to other ski-schools.
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