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Ski course for family.

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I have no idea what next season will offer for us Aussies. We may not be able to leave our island prison for all I know but it doesn’t hurt to muse.
I’ve read the threads about ski courses. It seems Mark Warner, Snoworks etc are all good but I couldn’t find anything relating to courses that may suit a family.
We’re 40 something parents and what will be a 16 and 14 year old teens. We haven’t ever had any lessons but experience has left us with the ability to safely navigate all groomed slopes and a lot of off trail runs too. I’m sure technically our skiing is not great. We’ve had no experience skiing ‘off piste’ in Europe but we go pretty much all over the mountain in North America. We don’t have beacons or that kind of gear.
Any recommendations for us as a family. It would be likely my more risk averse wife may want a different lesson to me and the kids but we would like to be able to easily meet back as a group after morning lessons do we can lunch and ski the afternoon together. Do these courses have different levels?
Thanks in advance.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
It’s quite likely that your kids will learn at a faster pace than you so whilst you might be ok in with them to begin with, you may also hold them back after a while!

Most of the ski schools in Europe work on the basis of 6 lessons in the morning in a week with a view of you achieving a set standard by the end of the week.

If money isn’t a problem I would recommend finding an independent ski school and get 3 private instructors, one for your kids, one for you wife and one for you. 3 or 4 x 2 hour sessions in a week will take you beyond what a week of 6 group lessons will do. If your wife is more timid then a private lesson will be far better for her as she won’t feel pressured to keep up with more keener members of a group lesson.
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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?
sbooker,

I've not used their services, but the Ski Club of Great Britain offers a range of holidays and courses under their "Fresh Tracks" programme. They might offer what you are looking for.

https://www.skiclub.co.uk/ski-club-holidays/off-piste
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Why not just get private instructors (as above) in North America? Look around for good deals, as in my Banff TR (get up very early and lessons are nearly half price) and book accordingly.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@sbooker, All ski schools have different group levels. I suggest you choose where you want to be and then ask for recommendations on schools and/or private tuition to narrow down your search. Snoworks are a good bunch though if you choose that route. Warner better for younger families.
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
@sbooker, we have done a variety of lessons and courses,@Timmycb5, is right your children will progress faster than you, ours did, we moved from small group lessons to having private ones for a few days as there are only three of us the instructor was able to give extra attention to our daughter who was improving at a far faster rate than us.

We then moved on to the Warren Smith Academy, they will split you into groups based on your ability and needs, we have done two of these and can highly recommend them, not sure what their minimum age is. (Snoworks is similar though I have no experience of them), Mark Warner use the local ski schools. We found Warren Smith to be challenging and really good for developing confidence and technique.

The recommendation from @Bergmeister, is a good one as well, we are considering doing a trip with them on the fresh tracks programme.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
What's your end goal?

Are your kids going to enjoy lessons, or would they just prefer flying around the mountain doing their own thing?

How many weeks per year do you plan to ski?

Are you happy sticking to pistes, or would you prefer to be getting off trails?

Would your risk-averse wife be uncomfortable with the idea of skiing avalanche terrain?

Would you be happy losing potential ski time to focus on avalanche safety? I.e. how to beacon search, dig out etc.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Quote:

We don’t have beacons or that kind of gear.

You can easily rent it if you need it but not much point if you don't intend to do that kind of skiing in future.

You could think about one of the UCPA Centres - for example the one in La Plagne has family rooms and will run groups at all levels. You could supplement their group lessons with some "extra" private sessions. My daughter and family went there last Christmas - and were impressed. The immediate surroundings are not exactly picturesque but it's very central and convenient for the skiing and ideal for meeting up together if family members do different things during lessons. Might be fun for the kids to be with other teenagers rather than parents. And it's super good value.
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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.
Quote:
I’ve read the threads about ski courses. It seems Mark Warner, Snoworks etc are all good but I couldn’t find anything relating to courses that may suit a family.
Mark Warner? I'm not aware of them doing courses. Don't they just do package holidays?
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
I'm not sure where you're thinking of going, but would the TDC offerings work for you? (http://www.tdcski.com/) I've had lessons from a couple of their instructors and both were excellent. The clinics also get good reviews, which might work for you. With 4 of you I'd be tempted to hire a private instructor. @Steve Angus, the main poster on the Val d'Isere thread works for them and may be able too advise on what could work.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
sugarmoma666 wrote:
I'm not sure where you're thinking of going, but would the TDC offerings work for you? (http://www.tdcski.com/) I've had lessons from a couple of their instructors and both were excellent. The clinics also get good reviews, which might work for you. With 4 of you I'd be tempted to hire a private instructor. @Steve Angus, the main poster on the Val d'Isere thread works for them and may be able too advise on what could work.


Thanks for the recommendation!

Hi sbooker. Whilst I understand your thinking I personally would stay away from a 'family' style session if you can! Well perhaps a session or two max but not a whole week of sessions or anything like that! Using a 'family' session to be shown around the mountain may be one thing but developing performance and goals is usually best being split up! If you do find yourself in Val d'Isere then myself or my colleagues as British Instructors out here would be happy to help!
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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.
At both ends of the scale club med or UCPA family weeks. I’ve not done either with the family, though have done UCPA myself and enjoyed it
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Thanks for all of the replies.
@Timmycb5 I like the idea of the kids being in a group of other kids. I don’t know about the private lessons. Maybe we could check that out.
@Radar Warren Smith was one of the courses I had read about. Not Mark Warner. My mistake.
@Boarder2020 No real end goal. We love skiing and myself and my wife will end up doing about 4 weeks per year. We’ll wedge a full season in at some point too.
We enjoy piste skiing but enjoy off trail more. We’ve had experience skiing powder so we of course want to do that every ski day but that isn’t practical. When not skiing fresh powder the next preference would be getting out of our comfort zone skiing steepish terrain with ‘packed powder’. It’s true my wife would probably prefer cruising groomers but she is willing to try the steeper off trail stuff.
@Pam W The UCPA thing sounds perfect. I didn’t know the catered for families.
@sugarmoma666 I’ll check out tdcski. Thanks. And Steve Angus.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:

I didn’t know the catered for families.

They don't always, I think - depends on the week.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@sbooker, Warren Smith is popular here in Verbier for focus on technique. If you want to ramp it up a bit Powder Extreme do off piste camps with different level groups where they will find you the best terrain and snow conditions available
https://www.powder-extreme.com/camps

Some examples here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKrGq9-ofdw/?igshid=bc5wl57cduil
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