Organising a School ski trip - any recommendations?

A snowHead

I need some inspiration for a good resort to visit on a School ski trip and was hoping that the wise ones of snowheads could give me a few more options to look at.

Key requirements:
Good size ski area with range of terrain (although there will be some beginners, most students can ski and around 40% are decent skiers, looking to dally in park/race or travel around the challenging pistes, etc.)
Convenient location in a village/town with a few apres ski facilities suitable for teenagers that is also slopeside
Short transfers from a decent European airport (we would fly from London airports)
Competitive price for a school trip - so Italy/Austria more likely?

We have previously visited the milky way and enjoyed it but want to explore new areas. Hit me with your ideas..

A snowHead

Ziller Valley?

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

My first thought was Montgenevre but looks as though you have already been to that ski area. I saw several school groups when we were last there.
My daughter is going to Folgarida with her school and it sounds very nice but haven't been there myself so not sure if it matches all your requirements. A friend's son went to Alpe D'Huez.

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Serfaus Fiss Ladis. Fly to Innsbruck.
Schladming. Fly to Salzburg.

Both would be excellent. Schladming would be my recommendation.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Both my nephews went to Saalbach/Hinterglemm on their school trips - so must be a "business" set up their for that (travel by coach - shudder)

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@carettam, Innsbruck and Salzburg airports are simple options out of Gatwick, so most of Austria should be reachable. For places with a short and easy transfer to avoid excessive coach travel, I'd be looking at the Zillertal (more Zell am Ziller than Mayrhofen, but the lifts are not in the centre of town) or Serfaus out of Innsbruck, and the Ski Amadé region out of Salzburg with Flachau or Wagrain or Schladming particularly suited to your requirements, or Zell am See though that tends to get very busy at half term which is when I assume you'd be looking to travel. Slightly longer transfers but worth considering would be Saalbach, Ellmau/Scheffau (though the lifts are out of town), or maybe somewhere in the Hochkonig such as Maria Alm - big enough for an adventure without the premium of the large resorts.

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@carettam My cousin is a PE teacher and they usually go to Pila in the Aosta Valley and it seems to be great, although they go by bus from Scotland! I think this is where https://www.interski.co.uk/Schools/resort.php?rId=3 are based and help organise things.

After all it is free

I was also going to suggest Interski. Very large presence in the Aosta valley. Pila itself directly above Aosta, + some other resorts. Groups stay in various 'hotels' in the valley. Usually by coach but think they offer a fly option.
The aptly named The Ski Company, do all inclusive to Crans Montana.

obertauern, area is big enough and vaied enough for a week, good snow record from early to late season, plus you can get a couple of day trips to zauchensee, schladming, Mauterndorf if you want.

Oh, and its only just over a hour from Salzburg.

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Equity Ski are schools ski specialists and feature an impressive range of resorts. (I have no connections with them, I must point out!) You should find something suitable for your pupils in their programme.

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The choice of resort is much less important than the choice of tour company. Interski, Skibound and Ski2 are all worth talking to. Interski and Ski2 both have a well established school's product that you really can't go wrong with. They tend to use British instructors that get on well with British school kids and will ensure that they make rapid progress with their skiing and have a good time. They also offer all day supervision which means they look after the kids at lunchtime and they get maximum skiing time. This gives staff plenty of independent ski time (if they want it) so that they're fully relaxed in time for the evening entertainment programme Smile

The only problem is likely to be availability at peak times - book early.

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@carettam, I've worked with and seen many "School" ski companies over the years and my recommendation would be to talk to Dan@snowslippers.co.uk (www.snowslippers.co.uk). 30 years of experience in the Ski Amade Area in Austria. Coach or Air travel options and client base mainly in SE England and South Wales. Groups are usually accommodated in Family Run Chalets/Pensions in and around St Johann-im-Pongau. Those I've seen are of good standard and serve hearty food. He does Military Groups too so the food has to be good! Ski Hire Packages and Lessons are through a single provider, usually with dedicated British Snowslippers instructors. 45 mins from Salzburg Airport (Jet2/Ryan Air and others) and as they provide a coach to get you to and from your hotel, you can ski the whole of the Ski Amade Area (760km) on a single lift pass. Good Luck

Not sure where you are based, but I've worked quite a few times with TM Ski and Travel - www.tmskiandtravel.com. Based in Norfolk but work with schools across the UK. Many years of experience operating in Passo Tonale, Bormio and Livigno.

Good hotel accommodation, half or full board options, 6hrs skiing a day with British instructors or English-speaking local ski school. Most schools seem to choose coach travel from the UK but several opted to fly this year. Passo Tonale is an easy sub-2hr transfer from Milan Bergamo. Marcus Bishop is the owner and sure would be happy to chat about options.

You know it makes sense.

Les Deux Alpes.

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

Can't go wrong with Interski. I did 20 years of school ski trips originally using other companies and once we found Interski we went with them for about 15 years. I'm now retired so no longer involved but the package they offer covers everything.

A snowHead

We’ve often used SkiBound with our school and they’ve always done a good job for us. Usually to Les Menuires, the Piolet and Skilt are both in a great location. Also Frejus in Serre Chevalier. Have also used Skiplan but their chalet hotels aren’t quite in the best locations. With loads of kids I would prioritise ski in/out or as close as possible which will minimise faffing hugely. If they are good skiers then a decent sized area is a must otherwise they’ll get bored. For older kids and teenagers, keep them skiing hard during the day and they won’t cause much trouble in the evenings! Week before Xmas is a good bet-relatively cheap, go high for the snow and does not interfere with Easter revision for public exams.

A snowHead

Interski. Stayed on a Short break this year

They have a good set up with their own ski hire at the base of the gondola, a hotel close, but far enough away from Aosta to avoid high jinks, include lunch and with The Pila lifts starting and finishing at one point, difficult to get lost.

Pila has good nursery slopes but challenging enough for all

Nice people too

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

We have done Interski too. They offer a great package - the lunch vouchers really make a difference. Don’t be fooled by the ‘supervised evening activities’ though. It’s by no means all evening - our ‘course coordinators’ (don’t dare call them reps) were an older married couple who were locked in their room after 9pm.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

The key consideration is budget. The more you pay the better the choices available. Assuming that the Head Teacher will not allow a 1st week of Jan ski trip you will be choosing between Feb HT or Easter. If looking for “value” then seriously consider Easter. There will still be good skiing available at quality high altitude resorts and crowds will be much less of an issue than in February.
Tour Operators. Ultimately the person who sells you the trip will be different to the one on the ground delivering it. The trip will not be exactly how you imagined it so an element of faith and flexibility is required.
Be aware that the ski trip will be sold to you (the school) well before many of the key components can be booked by the Tour Operator with their 3rd party suppliers (flights, accommodation, ski lessons etc). It gets interesting the closer to departure when flight times (dates maybe!), accommodation and sometimes even resorts unexpectedly change. The T&C’s in the contract allows the Tour Operator to do this. Obviously it depends upon what the changes are as to whether this is a serious problem or just a small irritation to you. This is more of an issue with some Tour Operators than others...
Lastly do check the detail on what is being offered. For example if you go to Folgarida do not expect the group will automatically be able to ski over to Maradona because they won’t. You will all get the local area lift pass. If you want a combined area ski pass, specify it then check the final itinerary so it’s there in writing if you need to have a conversation with the Ski Rep.
Also think about lunch/ski lessons. Where is lunch, on slopes or back at resort? How long is lunch? Two or more hours for lunch can be a very long time to hang around on a mountain with kids who will usually eat in less than 15 minutes. If it’s cold where to go, if sunny can they ski next to the magic carpet and if not who will supervise them throwing snow at each other?
All the above is the boring stuff for the Party Leader to deal with. Almost all kids come back from their School Ski Trip having had the very best of times even when some of the components didn’t work out as well as they might have. It’s great to hear that the OP is prepared to organise a school ski trip. Sadly there are now a lot of schools that don’t offer a school ski trip either because there is not a teacher prepared to put in the work to organise it or the academy board won’t allow it. A real shame really because for a lot of kids it’s the one chance in their lives to go skiing.

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The key consideration is budget. The more you pay the better the choices available. Assuming that the Head Teacher will not allow a 1st week of Jan ski trip you will be choosing between Feb HT or Easter. If looking for “value” then seriously consider Easter. There will still be good skiing available at quality high altitude resorts and crowds will be much less of an issue than in February.
Tour Operators. Ultimately the person who sells you the trip will be different to the one on the ground delivering it. The trip will not be exactly how you imagined it so an element of faith and flexibility is required.
Be aware that the ski trip will be sold to you (the school) well before many of the key components can be booked by the Tour Operator with their 3rd party suppliers (flights, accommodation, ski lessons etc). It gets interesting the closer to departure when flight times (dates maybe!), accommodation and sometimes even resorts unexpectedly change. The T&C’s in the contract allows the Tour Operator to do this. Obviously it depends upon what the changes are as to whether this is a serious problem or just a small irritation to you. This is more of an issue with some Tour Operators than others...
Lastly do check the detail on what is being offered. For example if you go to Folgarida do not expect the group will automatically be able to ski over to Maradona because they won’t. You will all get the local area lift pass. If you want a combined area ski pass, specify it then check the final itinerary so it’s there in writing if you need to have a conversation with the Ski Rep.
Also think about lunch/ski lessons. Where is lunch, on slopes or back at resort? How long is lunch? Two or more hours for lunch can be a very long time to hang around on a mountain with kids who will usually eat in less than 15 minutes. If it’s cold where to go, if sunny can they ski next to the magic carpet and if not who will supervise them throwing snow at each other?
All the above is the boring stuff for the Party Leader to deal with. Almost all kids come back from their School Ski Trip having had the very best of times even when some of the components didn’t work out as well as they might have. It’s great to hear that the OP is prepared to organise a school ski trip. Sadly there are now a lot of schools that don’t offer a school ski trip either because there is not a teacher prepared to put in the work to organise it or the academy board won’t allow it. A real shame really because for a lot of kids it’s the one chance in their lives to go skiing.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@hudds7, I was uttterly amazed that the first I heard about my daughters school 2021 ski trip was in March 2019 to say it was full!!!

Turns out my daughter did know about it and didn’t want to go which is fine as she will be coming with us then but I was shocked they were able to book stuff that far in advance.

After all it is free

@hudds7, Quote 'Assuming that the Head Teacher will not allow a 1st week of Jan ski trip'. It would seem the rules which apply to parents not being allowed to take their own children out of school in term time, DOESN'T apply to schools themselves. The teachers can arrange these school ski trips whenever they choose, usually when it's most advantageous to the teachers, IE how many free places they get per pupil paying. I'm not just being cynical, I have seen this in action.

Usually tour group numbers are based on the number of teachers prepared to supervise so as to maintain pupil:teacher ratios. The added complication is the number of seats on coaches since flying invariably involves a coach transfer at some point.
Yes some Party Leaders will design the trip around which resort they want to ski and each morning teachers will put the kids into ski school then ski off for a couple of hours by themselves. Teachers also do not pay for their trip. Their costs are covered from the price charged to the kids.
But what is the issue?
Yes, the teachers usually do get to ski BUT they are also in loco parentis for up to 150 kids 24/7. The Party Leader puts in an extraordinary amount of work (out of their own private time) to book the trip and sort out all the arrangements prior to departure as well as dealing with all issues along the way. Sometimes this involves attending the local hospital/clinic every day and dealing with anxious and emotional parents at distance after they read something on Facebook. Not a lot of teacher skiing gets done on those trips and they do happen.
Obviously teachers are human and some might turn out to be quite useless which puts more work and responsibility on the teachers who are competent. Just the same as it is back in school really...
To book a term time ski trip there must be some “curricular” element. This is not impossible to construct since the ski trip can easily involve learning about the sport, the environment and the local culture. It also ticks the “outdoors, adventurous activities” box for a school. If the trip takes place last school week of December or first school week January then there is no impact on exam factory results either. Since the cost is a lot less this should make the trip even more accessible and inclusive too. The challenge is to get the Head Teacher/Academy Board to agree.

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As a dreadful pessimist I would also look at the financial stability of the comapnies you are deciding to use . There have been some much publicised failures and the security of deposits and baalnced from parents hard earned money should be carefully examined.

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@hudds7, 'But what is the issue?' My only issue is that if it is OK for schools to remove pupils for a holiday then why are they constantly fining parents who do exactly the same thing? All the points you make about the 'educational' content of such holidays are made by parents and inevitably ignored. I've done my share of siting for hours in hospital waiting rooms while poor little Johny gets seen to for a sprain or other minor bump because teachers these days are forced to be over cautious due to pathetic parents willing to sue at the drop of a hat. The teachers usually get almost full days skiing in rotation in all the groups I've been around. It is a PERK, no matter how teachers dress it up as 'hard work'.

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@carettam, increase your public liability insurance to equate to £20 million per child on your group list.
ensure that each child has their own passport
photo/film each child and parents as part of GPRD compliance
expect problems.

You know it makes sense.

@Old Man Of Lech, sorry mate but you have no idea. Sounds like you've been reading the Daily Mail again.

It's 2019 and school teachers are the only ones responsible for taking Little Johnny to the hospital and sitting with him if discharged or accompanying him back to the UK in case of medivac. Dumping the responsibility onto anybody else (other than the parent/guardian) to go off skiing is a pretty much guaranteed way of getting the sack because this is a SCHOOL ski trip. That is what the parents pay for.

The overwhelming majority of teachers delivering the school ski trip are people who actually like kids and care about teaching. So much so that they are prepared to sacrifice their own personal time to enable some kids to have a once in a lifetime experience.
Freeloading teachers?
Hardly, I've seen teachers start marking at 10 o'clock at night after they've finished the lights-out routine for the nth time. Some perk! Laughing

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

@hudds7, There you go. Who has no Idea? Who do you think takes little Johnny AND the teacher to the hospital in the valley? You have your car in resort to get there? NO of course not, because you arrived by plane/coach. You rely on a member of the company's staff to take you, if not transported by ambulance in more serious cases. Try and deny that. That member of staff usually has to hang around waiting just as long as the teacher accompanying the child. I get a lot of reading done and not necessarily the Daily Mail but rather that the the Guardian!
As for the claim it's their 'free time'? If they are there in term time, then shouldn't they be working anyway?
I've seen teachers making absolutely complete idiots of themselves getting drunk at the bar and behaving like uncontrolled teenagers they are supposed to be in charge of!
1 or two have practically begged me not to post film/pictures of them in that state, when their colleagues have told them they were filmed.
I worked for one ski school trip provider for a season. That was enough.
Stop trying to be a martyr. I appreciate that teachers have a lot of crap to put up with from both pupils & parents, but in this case term time ski trips which they get for FREE during what should be working hours are a perk worth having. Just admit it

A snowHead

Little Johnny et al normally go to hospital by ambulance or taxi. The cost is recovered through the group’s ski insurance. A Tour Company might have a car in resort (the overwhelming majority do not) and this might be used to ferry a teacher + injured child to/from doctor/hospital but otherwise it’s by taxi. The Rep helps support the teacher get to/from the hospital and with any information they might need so the teacher can deal with the hospital or medical establishment, i.e. dealing with these problems is ultimately the teacher’s responsibility and not the Rep’s. Sounds like you were a bit surprised to discover that Resort Reps had to put some skin in the game too rather than skiing around for 6 hours every day...

Yes, a teacher might get drunk/behave badly BUT this is only an issue if this teacher was supposed to be on duty that evening, engaged in criminal activity (use your imagination) or caught/seen by the children acting like idiots. Isn’t this the same as you would expect if working back home here in England?

Teachers. Free Time. Try talking to some and actually listen to what they have to say. Work does not end at 330 with the final bell. They still have to do admin, marking and attend pointless meetings just like any other job. Teachers get paid enough so if they wanted a ski holiday they could probably afford one. Taking somebody else’s kids on a trip across Europe is work and 24/7 responsibility. No it’s not 12 hours down a coal mine but it’s work nevertheless. They are not Heroes of the Universe but they are giving up their holiday (free time?) to do it. The vast majority of teachers who do organise the school ski trip are conscientious and do a very good job. So yes, using the bad behaviour of a few to extrapolate a dramatic story about freeloading ski trip teachers is pure Daily Mail. Obviously you don’t read the Guardian quite as often as you think. Very Happy

A snowHead

@hudds7, You are so dismissive of the role of reps, which I have never been BTW. Most reps do long hours as well.
Behaving badly? Yes of course it's the same as being at home. The only way not to look like an idiot when drunk is not to behave like one in the first place.
How is going on a ski trip in term time, 'giving up holiday'?
I would agree that most teachers are as good as you say, and it never was my main beef. That was the use of school time by schools for holidays when parents are vilified for doing exactly the same thing! If schools can do it, why shouldn't parents?
As for your pathetic references to other peoples reading habits, completely irrelevant. However it worth pointing out that the Daily Mail has far more buyers/readers than the Guardian which doesn't even feature in the top ten by circulation. IE a minority publication.

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

The majority of school ski trips take place Feb half term or Easter. If a teacher attends the trip then they are forgoing their holiday time. To set up the trip there is a mound of paperwork, meetings and presentations to organise and attend. This is done in the teachers' own personal time and not on “company time” i.e teachers are doing this in addition to their regular job not as part of it.
If a trip takes place during term time then the teachers must make provision for any children that don’t go on the ski trip and the teachers will need to be back filled so as to cover their absence from school. This too needs to be paid for. Whilst a curricular time ski trip could be construed as a teacher’s day job it is in reality still extra work that they could avoid by simply not volunteering to be part of the trip in the first place.
A teacher on any ski trip is on call 24/7 and must be in a fit state to respond to whatever happens. This is not a corporate jolly. If anything goes wrong, even through no fault of their own, then their role will be forensically examined to apportion blame justified or not. Despite the personal and professional downside risk each year thousands of teachers still put themselves out to organise and deliver school ski trips that the kids thoroughly enjoy.
Focusing on the fact that supervising teachers’ trip costs are covered by the participants and thereby suggesting some inherent moral bankruptcy by the teachers for this is unhelpful at best. Furthermore all this debate, banter or whatever you want to call it is in no way helpful to carettam, a Party Leader who is simply looking for some helpful information on which resort to take their group, which company to go with and some of the pitfalls to avoid along the way. This has been done to death now, let’s get back to the original thread. Puzzled

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@hudds7, Still trying to justify yourself? Seems like it to me.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Dear Mr Troll, nobody likes you.
Go back under your bridge.
rolling eyes

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@hudds7, Quote 'The majority of school ski trips take place Feb half term or Easter' Maybe in your limited experience. Get real.
Schools take kids on ski trips throughout the winter. No schools ski TO could survive on only 1 or 2 weeks booking in an 18 week season.
Try a season yourself instead of just your limited 1 week a year.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Troll alert!

After all it is free

@carettam I wonder if it might not be more useful for you to do this another way? Namely to work with some school trip organisers and talk to some other schools/teachers who have done this first? Then come back to the forum seeking feedback about specific resorts on your shortlist? Otherwise you will get retty random thoughts, and as shown, drift into logistics and liabilities as opposed to choosing the best location.

As for logistics and liabilities etc. I assume you're going internally within the School/teacher community to get the information you need? If not, then I'd say do that first, before focusing on the actual location. You have a legal liability in the UK and the host country and you need to be sure that you're covered in terms of liability if anything untoward happens. I say this because a relative of mine organised a school trip in which, sadly, a student was killed in a skiing accident. As you'd expect, the pressure on them was huge. They needed legal advice/representation at both UK and Austrian inquests, and had to return to Austria twice to give evidence. The only upside was that it was clearly the ski school's liability and one of their instructores was arrested and prosecuted. A worst case scenario, obviously (well, the worst case would be if they'd been found liable) but it's a factor. Hence the suggestion to perhaps come back to the forum when you've got all that sorted, and some potential destinations identified, and then ask for advice of the destination pros/cons.

Help!!

Organising a School ski trip - any recommendations?

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