Gloucester kids lessons - any good?

A snowHead

Can anyone give me their thoughts on what the quality of children's ski lessons at Gloucester Dry ski slope?

Do they manage to develop children's skills effectively?

Is the school properly organised with a programme for progressing children and are the instructors effective and supportive?

How big are classes and how long do they last?

I'm wondering about all of this because my daughter had a very bad experience at the Avon Ski centre near Bristol at the weekend. She started going there last season but her progress there has been very slow indeed and the quality and effectiveness of lessons IMHO very patchy.

I've observed that there seems to be little sense of how to progress her, the effectiveness of lessons seems to be purely down to individual instructors rather than any ski school strategy. Her skiing has developed mainly because she's had a week of lessons in France, time with me on the Cairngorm at the end of last season and a great session at Tamworth Snowdome a couple of weeks ago (sadly it's too far for regular weekly lessons although once a month might be possible).

The situation with Avon ski centre came to a head at the weekend when she joined a group session and was literally kicked out after about 20 minutes, it turned out she'd been put in the wrong group for her ability but despite the group session she should have been in running at the same time, and it only having one pupil, the instructor in charge wouldn't take her (he's actually usually good so I don't know what the heck was going on).

The result was one *exceptionally* upset little girl and I have to admit I'm pretty angry about what happened, something like this could put someone off skiing for good, and I'm loathe to take her back there when this has happened and I already had reservations about their teaching.

My daughter is just seven so still needs a fair amount of support and encouragement but the major problem for her is using the tows. She loves Tamworth because there are no tows apart from the rope tow which she coped with okay but used the 'travelator' most of the time'. At Avon she's been struggling with the tows for quite a while now and I've seen not a great deal of improvement, it was the same with her turns and stopping until she went to France and she's since been far more confident and able. I discovered, once she was off the slope, that one of her boots (rear entry, single buckle) had unbuckled at some point so I'm not surprised she wasn't skiing to the best of her ability - am I being unfair to expect the instructor to double check equipment before kicking a child out of his class if said child is having problems and performing under par?

Oh, I should also mention that the children's equipment at Avon is at best poor and the slope is not terribly well maintained IMHO.

So there you go, one very unhappy daddy looking for decent slope lessons and well p*ssed off at the Avon slope!

A snowHead

Why not wait till you are on real snow, she is only seven.

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Hi Roger - havent spoken to you since 2 Alpes last spring. Hows it going? Did you get back out to see Charlotte in the summer?

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Hiya Paul - haven't been back out unfortunately but hoping to get over in the not too distant future Smile

Hope all is good with you Paul

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roga, Hi, I recall from a previous post that Derek Jackson's child skis at Gloucester. He might be able to give you some info.

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

My school used to insist that all newcomers to skiing did sessions at Gloucester dry-slope before the school ski trip (I'm still towing this line heavily since I've left). Personally I wouldn't go near a dry-slope anymore, but that's because I personally don't like them.

Whilst the school does book groups, so we have one instructor for the school group, there have never been any problems. We have people going to the lessons on different days so not everyone progresses at the same rate, but the ski-school are very adept at dealing with this, so I would extrapolate that with more regular (as well as the irregular) they would be very well versed in how to manage a childs skiing progression. The instructors I've have contact with (a few years ago now) were all enthusiastic and were able to support those requiring some extra confidence whilst in no way neglecting the rest of the group (very good time/group management).

So, from my dealings with the centre, I'd say it's good for children's lessons, and would definitely recommend giving it a go if your daughter wants to get back on some skis!

After all it is free

Both my kids had their first "taster" on our local dry ski slope at about 4 years old I think. Didn't do them any harm, and got them used to the feeling of sliding.

Loads cheaper (and usually warmer) than the snow domes.

roga, I can't directly answer this question, but I go to Gloucester quite frequently with my daughter who is taking an ASSI course there. We also belong to Gloucester ski club which is based at the centre. I haven't taken any lessons at Gloucester, but the coaches who work with my daughter are very good and very patient with those who need more attention. There are other groups there at the same time and they all seem to get on well with the instructors. I haven't seen any coaching for children with the centre's instructors, but the website says there is coaching for 6-10 year olds.

What I would suggest is that you arrange sufficient coaching for your daughter to get her used to the tows and to get her beyond beginner level (i.e., a little beyond snowploughs) and then join one of the clubs where she will get coaching almost for the cost of the slope time. Gloucester ski club has several youngsters of a similar age to your daughter. Both Gloucester and Slalom Plus meet on Thursday and Sunday evenings (Sundays are 6-8 pm) and have the slopes to themselves. Personally I would recommend Gloucester because they have the training slope on a Sunday whereas Slalom Plus are on the main slope that day and you are most likely to be able to go on a Sunday rather than a Thursday.

I can't tell you much about Slalom Plus, but Gloucester has children of a wide range of ability from those not much beyond beginner to those who are among the best in the country.

I don't get to go very often on a Sunday now my daughter can drive, but let me know if you think I can help.

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Thanks for the info folks.

skisimon, good to read your positive experiences and I'm impressed by what you say about the time/group management skills of the instructors, sounds like what we need.

marc gledhill, yes, I think there's no harm at all them learning young, I started learning properly when I was 12 and I always wished I'd done it younger!

It is cheaper than the snow domes for sure but she loves Tamworth it has to be said.

Derek Jackson, that's all good to hear and your advice seems very sound to me. I'll look into coaching and see what they offer and once she's progressed will look into the club.

Thanks again, great advice Smile

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I have to say Gloucester are not very good at answering their phones - been trying to get them for a couple of evenings and no joy!

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roga, did you manage to get in touch with Gloucester. There should have been lots of people there last night.

Derek Jackson, I did manage to get hold of them last night thanks.

They run sessions Saturday and Sunday which is good and were very helpful, the person I spoke to suggested I put my daughter into Polar Bears first off to see how he gets on.

I'm tied up Saturday and on Sunday might go to Tamwoth because they're having a French resorts weekend which sounds quite good, if not I'll take her to Gloucester for the session between 1 and 2. If we head to Tamworth I'll definitely take her the following weekend.

You know it makes sense.

Once she's past beginnger stage (i.e. can reliably use the lift the do snowploughs from the top), then I'd second the suggestion of joining the Gloucester club and joining their coaching sessions: they cater for all levels for all ages and I've seen lots of kids who've substantially improved their skiing with them.

I wouldn't recommend Slalom Plus unless she become extremely competitive.

Another possibility is to try the Pontypool slope: although you do have the toll to pay to get into Wales.

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

A snowHead

Just to update everyone who was kind enough to respond to this thread.

We popped up to the snowdome last weekend and (both) had a good time. My daughter, Gabriella, loves the snow anyway and the travellator means she doesn't have to worry about tows. She joined Junior Club for a two hour coaching session and was up and down the slope like a pro with seemingly very effective support and advice from the instructors.

They do the Snowlife ski awards and they ticked off most of the level one skills and activities for her by the end of the session. I'd guess the next session she'll manage to most or all of the rest and the good thing is they get badges for each level they accomplish. She was very pleased to get all the ticks and prety proud of herself by the end and it semed to banish the memory of the other weekend at Churchill.

With her problems with the tows in mind, and not wanting to travel from Bristol to Tamworth every weekend, I booked her into a lesson at Gloucester this weekend because she'd been asking to go skiing again all week. On their advice after discussing the problems we'd had I booked her into the Polar bears One session on Sunday (today) which lasts for an hour, rather than the half hour or so we got at Churchill for pretty much the same price. In fact the sessions at Gloucester look to be culled from the Snowlife awards too although ironically they're a level down from what she was doing at Tamworth the week before. However, it meant that there was plenty of time for her to practice the poma and I was astonished, and this I'd suggest shows how superior instruction is at Gloucester compared to Churchill, to see her starting to master the tow within half an hour - this after maybe 10 or more lessons at Churchill with little or no progress! I suppose this shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise given that I'd seen a similar thing with her being stuck on a plateau with her snow plough turns until some lessons in France where her progression was stupendous in comparison to what I'd seen before. Anyway, by the end of the leson she'd done everything in the level one list and had ticks in all the boxes for Level 2 practice. To be honest she can also do all of those but I guess they'd rather she did them at a paid for level two session, LOL can't blame them I guess. Anyway she'll sail through that next time and will be on to Polar Bears level three which I expect will not be a problem and it all builds her confidence again after the Churchill debacle thank goodness.

An interesting comment she made to me after she came off the slope was that she was doing some exercises that were similar to what she'd been doing in France, but they hadn't done that sort of thing at Churchill. My interpretation was that she was saying she was being taught in a properly structured fashion with excercises (such as sking down the slope between coloured markers which were gradually extended up the hill) designed to boost confidence and build her skills... such a contrast to the ad hoc stuff at Churchill that got her nowhere apart from frustrated and bored. She also told me she wanted to go back to Gloucester but not to the "other place" - she also wants to go back to the Snowdome too, she loves it there!

You may wonder, as I do now, why I kept taking her back to Churchill, I guess it was partly because I didn't want to think too badly of them and hoped tha I was just being too critical of their teaching. I can now see clearly how poor the instruction has been there and I wouldn't take her back for any more lessons now if they were free to be honest.

Any parents in the area take note - my advice is to go the few miles further to Gloucester (or even sometimes to Tamworth for the snow) because it's just not worth using Churchill IMHO, in fact I'd go as far as saying it's money and time wasted and might put your child off skiing!

Lastly, once she's through all of these levels and totally happy with the poma I'll look into ski clubs. I've had some advice here about Gloucester and some chats about one in Bristol. I'm not sure which we'll decide on but whichever meets at weekends will be best, which I think is Gloucester. The fact she doesn't want to go back to Churchill is another reason why we might decide on Gloucester but she might mellow on that one, we'll see. All the same thanks to everyone here who has given advice - it's very much appreciated and has been very useful indeed Smile

A snowHead

Fantastic to hear that she had a good time! When a child says they want to go back somewhere, it's a good bet that they thoroughly enjoyed it - they tend to give it to you straight in those instances! Confidence is everything (especially at a dry slope), so if the confidence is there, then a job well done.

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

I'm really glad you've got it sorted. Once she's ready to move on don't be afraid of trying one of the ski clubs. They can take her to levels you can't imagine and still give her the opportunity to enjoy it all. It's just a lot of travelling for the parent. Perhaps you should persuade her that you should ski too.

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roga,

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Our daughter has had skis for use on plastic for about 18 months and they are virtually undamaged. As Ski says, you would need to wax them regularly to protect them, but as has been said elsewhere here many times, all you need is an iron with a flat base and some very low temperature wax and it only takes a few minutes. You will also need to keep the edges sharp - I find the plastic dulls the edges in no time. I second the advice that most ski clubs will have second-hand skis for sale.

My skis have some gouges in them, but this is more from unseen rocks under the snow than damage from the plastic slope. The problem I have is that I fill the gouges with Ptex, but it must be softer than the base material because the plastic bristles scrape the filling out very quickly. At present I tend just to fill the gouges with wax to minimise water penetration.

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

Derek Jackson,

After all it is free

ski, thanks for that - I might give it a try.

Derek Jackson, it's actually called Metal-Grip. They sell it in 10m rolls for £10 (IIRC). It will need a separate heat source to melt it though as I'm told it doesn't burn/drip well (so spyderjon sold me a Base Doctor gas thingy a bit like a soldering iron to apply it). I have a roll of the stuff I've not actually played with yet, although I did have some very similar stuff given me by an S&R tech which burnt just about well enough. The main thing I found with that was that trying to scrape off excess just pulled out the whole patch, so you were better off paring it down with a knife and finishing it flat with sandpaper.

A few at our club though reckon that the only thing that really works for dryslopes is Araldite. I have quite a few gouges in my dry-slope skis from bits of metal Dendix ties, which I did once fill with P-TEX (but that all came out in less than an hour) - but nowhere near the damage I've inflicted on my snow skis from rather too adventurous off-piste escapades Sad

.

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GrahamN, I think I feel a need for some new equipment coming on, so I might well just relegate my current skis to snow where I am sure the P-Tex will stay in place. After 18 months of watching my daughter on dry slopes and practising by myself from time to time over the summer, I have joined the Monday night club (Western Counties) at Gloucester. Where it will lead I do not know, but the evening starts with a session of runs doing a range of exercises before moving on to the gates. With only a couple of weeks of this I have a great deal to learn, but the coaches are very helpful. If only I had known of this 30 or more years ago.

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GrahamN,

snow reports

GrahamN, yes I have seen your reports. I would seriously consider joining in if there was ever another training session for masters.

We had the last of our regional races last weekend, although I wasn't there. Two timed runs in the morning with the fastest counting and points (up to 20) based on age-group placings and three parallel slaloms in the afternoon with three points for a win, two for a dead heat and one for a loss. The lower levels seem to be the over 50s (my group!) fighting it out with the under 10s.

You know it makes sense.

Derek Jackson,

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

ski, we seem to be going off at a tangent here. I don't have any problem with the group I train with at Gloucester, but GrahamN promoted a training session at Aldershot specifically directed to the older skier (there is a report on the britski website) and I was simply saying I would seriously consider going if there was another such event. I shouldn't have hijacked this thread without a proper cross reference.

A snowHead

roga, I'm glad to hear Gloucester was good - I went there a few years ago and it stuck in my mind as a nice slope with friendly people there. Also glad she's getting regular instruction - I only had about 2 lessons in a year (usually 6 months apart) when I wa syounger and now none at all, so as a result my skiing is somewhat scrappy Laughing

Totally sympathise with her about the tows - I used to find all ski lifts horrific, scary and impossible experiences. Once she gets used to the Pomas you should bring her to some of the snowHead events - we had a couple of young 'uns at the PSB (pre-season bash) and they were out-racing most of the adults!!

Help!!

Gloucester kids lessons - any good?

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