 Poster: A snowHead
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Good evening all,
We're a mixed ability group of 7 adults off to La Thuile on 12th January for a week. My friend is a complete beginner and it'll be his first time on snow. I was fortunate in that I learned to ski a long time ago and have been able to ski quite frequently, but that means I am a bit out of the loop when it comes to beginners, and we could use some advice.
I think he will sign up to the ski school offered by the tour operator, which provides 5 days of 2.5 hours tuition, presumably in a group, for £161 - so just below £13/h. Does this represent good value? In my own experience as a learner teenager, instruction given as part of a large group paled in comparison to being in a small group. Is 2.5h of ski school a waste of money that'd be more effectively spent on fewer hours with a personal instructor or small group?
He is open to the idea of spending a little more to get 1-to-1 tuition, or tuition in a small group of, say, 3 people, for a day or two in order to learn the basics as quickly as possible. The official school seems to offer 1-to-1 lessons for approx €36-42 per hour (and €15/h per additional student) - is this a good choice in terms of value? One or two others in our party are fairly inexperienced so I may encourage them to join him for a few hours during the week. Myself and others are of course happy to take the beginner and intermediates around blue runs during the afternoons, but it would be great if they were able to handle (easier) red runs by the end of the week - how realistic is this?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Oh and I should have mentioned that my friend booked on to the trip later than us so missed the lift pass offer, and therefore still requires a lift pass (and equipment hire). Is there any possibility of getting an 'all-in-one' sort of deal for equipment and a lift pass (and maybe lessons, too?) at local ski shop? Thanks
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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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Another question - can anyone recommend activities for the non-skiiers joining us? The Aosta website has a lot of good information but it'd be good to hear the experiences of other holidaymakers. Many thanks.
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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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@sparklingspringwater -- appreciate you are off in two weeks so this may be a little late but l was a complete beginner last year and had 5 days of 2.5 hour group lessons and was ok(ish) on easy reds by the end of the week. I had a quality instructor so that probably made a difference but La Thuile is definitely a great place for beginners and intermediates. My family enjoyed last year so much we're going back in Feb. Hope you all have a great time.
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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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I thought the ski schools in La Thuile were great but I did pay for 1-to-1 lessons. I only had 2 hours but they were quality lessons and I was on blues comfortably by the end of day 1 and a few reds by the end of the long weekend.
La Thuile really is excellent for beginners and I would imagine that if they wanted to get a bit more out of the holiday overall, pay a little extra for personal or small group tuition, and then the blue 14,15, and 16 are good fun to practice on. (14 is my favourite with a good ridge "for a blue" to practice on) Then progress to 9 and 10 Reds that will take you into 14,15, or 16. It really did fill me with a sense of achievement having worked on the lower blues looking up at that Red 9 to be able to do it. Second trip I went I still used 14,15, or 16 to warm up and then spent most of the day around the Argillian Express.
Top of Chaz Dura along Red 7, down 18 and 6 all the way to the bottom is great fun too.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@daleh and @S@mm thanks guys, really helpful 
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