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Alpe D'Huez

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
My 12 y.o. son has the chance to go to Ad'H with his school chums in the week before Xmas 06. He's obviously desperate to go, but I'd like some reassurance that it's going to be a good place. I know very little about it. He's a very good piste skier (15+ weeks experience), very limited off piste experience. I assume that Ad'H has a good variety of skiing, including stuff which will suit him.

What can we expect the snow to be like at theat time of year (week before Xmas)?

All day lessons seem to be compulsory. I assume (I don't know why) that they'll be with the ESF; any views?

The cost is £750 all in (travel, accom, food, ski, boot and helmet rental, pass, lessons, some evening entertainment), which seems pretty fair (the daughter's is nearly £1000!); does it sound about right?

All comments welcome.

The daughter's off to Les Arcs with her school over New Year, so unfortunately the OL and I don't get a week off, which is a bit of a shame.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
richmond, the all day lesons will be compulsory to ensure they are supervised all day. Price sounds Ok too if everything is included. Is there anyone going who will have skied as much as him? Otherwise he may have to join a group of less able skiers. A friends 10 year old recently had to ski with the 6th formers as he had skied since he was 4 and none of his friends had.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Helen Beaumont, thanks for that. I don't know what the other kids will be like. The trip is ofr the 1st and 2nd formers only, I think, and there only 20 going, so there is unlikely tobe mor than one or two as eperiened as him. He'll get bored if he can't do reasonably tricky stuff, reasonably quickly, although some intensive technique practice will do him good, and he'll enjoy being with his mates, behaving like an @rse, as only 12 y.o. boys can.
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richmond, If you shout enough the TO that the school are using will arrange suitable lessons for his level. this is really important, as it's hghly unlikely any other kids will have anything like his experience. You will have to make a fuss - but after all, you're also paying for the lessons. Make sure about this before you send the money. It worked for a young race trainee of mine many years ago, but was a big hassle for his mum.

ADH will be fine, but it's very early. They have lots of snowmaking though. Village is at 1800m.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
richmond, Even if the lessons are not prtfecthe will have a great time with his mates and will get great kudos (and possibly chicks) for being such an ace skier.
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Lessons for school groups work like this: the TO books enough instructors for the size of the group (ie max three for a group of 20) and the instructors then split the kids on the basis of ability. In a group of kids that age, you'll probably end up with total beginners, slightly better beginners, and just about parallel. If you want junior to have lessons at a higher level than that, speak to the party leader BEFORE the trip.

Lessons are compulsory because most LEAs won't let teaching staff ski with kids unless there is an instructor present.

Going with SkiBound or Skiplan?
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Thanks, chaps. We'll speak to the master i/c the trip to see if Charlie can get appropriate lessons. Mind you, he'll probably want to ski with his mates as Frosty the Snowman says, but there'll proably be one or two at his level, I imagine. He's not brilliant, certainly not a racer, easiski, although I'm sure he'd love to be.

Chicks haven't really kicked in yet, although they may have by then (in contrast, his twin sister is developing a keen eye for the opposite gender, poor b@stards; they won't know what's hit them).

Lizzard, I don't know the TO name; I'll find out.
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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!
richmond, I seriously doubt that many 12 year olds have 15+ weeks on skis - most will do 1 week per year since perhaps 6??? Good luck though. He will want to ski with his mates, but could easily get very bored and have an accident as a result (I've seen it happen).
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richmond,

my son went away with his school (before we moved to france) he was 12 at the time and had already 4 years of snowboarding exp behind him (inc every week with mk team on tues)

he went riding with the teachers as they didn't have any classes suitable for his standard, infact he snowboarded better than the people instructing the kids!!

i believe it is not legal for the school to let the kids go off piste, so i dont think you need to worry about that.

but ADH is a wicked resort, lots of varied terrain without going off piste.

my son despite being by far the best snowboarder there (inc the teachers) still had a great time and even taught his mates to improve, but he wants to be a snowboard inst so that is typical of him.

let him go he'll have a ball even if he just rides with the teachers
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When I went with the school as a 6th former we had a student about 13 or so who'd been a 3 weeks a year skier thanks to his parents. He spent the entire week skiing with the teachers as he was way too good for the standard of our lessons, and that of most of the teachers as well, he probably didn't gain much skiing wise from the trip but a week away with friends is worth a lot to kids.
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FenlandSkier,
sounds like my sons story and he wouldn't have missed it for the world
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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.
richmond, if your boy hasn't snowboarded before then maybe he could give it a go for at least part of the week - that may help keep him on a more level playing field with his chums and as the main reason for going is to be with his mates ......
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I went with school a couple of years ago and it was ace. We were lucky in that everyone on the trip (bar one) were either complete beginners or had only been on the previous years trip so there were plenty of people to ski with. They find lots of interesting things to do in the evening too, and skiing with friends is always lots of fun.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:

if your boy hasn't snowboarded before then maybe he could give it a go for at least part of the week

Not really a solution - that would involve a whole extra instructor for one child unless they already have a boarding group (not that likely in a group of 20). Remember this is a school trip - they can't go out without an adult, and the teaching staff are unlikely to be allowed to take kids skiing/boarding without an instructor.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Lizzard, I'd disagree. A friend of mines son has just been on a school trip and about half of the kids boarded. Are you trying to suggest that out of a group of 20ish kids there wouldn't be enough boarders to justify an instructor - I'd be flabbergasted if that was so !
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A group of 20 kids will be allocated two, possibly three instructors. If they have a boarding group, this potentially puts all the boarders in one group and all the skiers in the other, regardless of ability. With three instructors, either skiers or boarders are still confined to one group for everything from rank beginner to expert. Party leaders are understandably reluctant to do this.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
When I went with my school, there were 50 students and it was only a skiing trip - snowboarding was not possible. We had four groups. Not so good first timers; better first timers; not so good advanced; advanced advanced! All the beginners had to take dry slope lessons before they went which i think was a great idea.
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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?
That's a more usual arrangement - restricting the group to skiing only allows for more levels and better tuition.
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If that's the case then I stand corrected but do find it archaic that schools would discourage kids from the sport of snowboarding.
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It's for practical reasons as outlined above - restricting the trip to one sport or the other allows more flexibility in lessons. The sport chosen depends on the party leader's preferred way of getting down the mountain, and the ease of selling the idea to parents.

Having said that, I've seen school parties with both boarders and skiers, but they have all been big groups (50+) with one group of boarders (max 8 for ESF lessons) all of a similar ability.
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There's nothing in the blurb about snowboarding one way or the other, so I'll have to check that out. The group size is not 20, BTW; I confused it with yet another school trip (thankfully costing 'only' £75, camping in Dorset next half term).

My daughter tells me that there are several kids on her school ski trip who have skiied 10+ weeks, so maybe the same will be true for my son's group.

He's determined to go on it come what may, and I don't blame him, so we'll have to speak to the master i/c and hope for the best.
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richmond, Your son will have a great time in ADH. There is plenty of skiing for all levels of skier but I also agree with easiski you should make sure that he is provided with lessons that are suitable for his standard - especially if you are paying for them anyway. With full day lessons I think he will start to get bored if he is not being challenged enough. The snow that we had in ADH the week before Christmas last year was fantastic so he should be absoluetely fine for snow. Also, I assume it is probably Skibound that he is going with as they specialise in school trips in ADH. Their hotel is in a great central location with easy access to the lifts. He'll have a brilliant time!
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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!
katski, he's staying in the Hotel Belle Aurore, which is a delightful name, and from what I can see on the web looks OK. Far too good for him and his mates, I'm sure.
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richmond, The Belle Aurore is very near to my apartment so if I see any groups of 12 year olds causing havoc the week before Christmas I'll let you know......... Very Happy Very Happy
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katski, please don't. Any idea what the Belle Aurure is like (the food will be the only aspect of the accomodation of concern to Charlie)?

My daughter assures me that on her school ski trip (she's the same age) there will be a 'black and off piste' class, so with a bit of luck there'll be something similar for Charlie.
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richmond wrote:
My daughter tells me that there are several kids on her school ski trip who have skiied 10+ weeks, so maybe the same will be true for my son's group.
We're not talking Brixton Comprehensive then! Wink

For your daughter if it's the ESF at Arc 1800, if you need any more info I can ask the director how it works, he's here right now having a coffee and a chat...
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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.
Quote:

Any idea what the Belle Aurure is like

Two mins walk from the lift to the main ski area. Has a bar, pool table, games machines. Food will be continental type breakfast (bread and croissants, ham & cheese, boiled eggs, cereal, fruit, yoghurt), basic lunch (chips, baked spuds, pasta, quiche, burgers etc) and proper three-course dinner (lasagne, fish & chips, roast chicken, pork chops etc), veggie option daily. Evening ents will be things like quiz, karaoke, ice skating, swimming, trampolining, pool comp etc etc depending on what party leader wants.
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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
Lizzard, thanks. Sounds fine.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:
The sport chosen depends on the party leader's preferred way of getting down the mountain


Quote:
Evening ents will be things like quiz, karaoke, ice skating, swimming, trampolining, pool comp etc etc depending on what party leader wants.


These party leaders just want it all their own way ! Very Happy
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Are you surprised? Being responsible for 60+ of other people's teenagers all bent on aquiring alcohol and getting off with each other is no joke.

When I was involved in managing the BA I had to complain to a party leader about one of her 13-year-old girls who kept appearing in the male staffrooms and more or less demanding sex. Frightened my boys to death.
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