 Poster: A snowHead
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Anyone tried the ski schools in Alpe d'Huez. Looking for a couple of hours private tuition...can you recommend a school, or even an instructor?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I had a fantastic time with Masterclass there, can't praise them highly enough. They're an English ski school & concentrate on technique - they have a website http://www.masterclass.f9.co.uk/ (sorry, can't do links...) &, if you're a member of SCGB, you should get a discount (they did when I went!). Even if you go in a class, they group you according to ability after they've watched you ski, and only have about 7-8 in a clas max. Have a great time 
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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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Thanks Cathy (and whoever converted the link!) I've got the details off their website and will see if they're free!
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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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great thing about this site is that if you type a web address it seems to convert it automatically!
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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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MasterClass really is/are fantastic. I agree with Cathy cannot recommend them highly enough.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I back up anything with Masterclass. I have been taught by a couple of their instructors Stuart and Olly (a lovely Frenchman  ) Well worth using.
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When are you going Hompx2 we are out there from 28th Feb for a week.
Slowplough
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I'll be on my way back! Heading out 21st for a week, 8 days and counting... 
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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.
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Steer clear of ESF lessons if possible, it's a bit of a lottery as far as the qualities of the instructor go, and as the 'biggest' they take themselves too seriously. What's more their idea of 'fluent English' often entails mastery of less than 100 words, in no particular order. That said there are some great individuals, but you have to know who they are.
Smaller independents are always the best bet - more motivated, they want you to come back. Still, the bigger ESF schools in the main resorts such as Alpe d'Huez/Courchevel/Tignes/Les Arcs etc are fairly good on the whole, it has to be said - mainly because they can pick and choose the people they want to employ...
Always go for individual lessons if you can afford it, especially if there are 2 or 3 of you of a similar ability who can take lessons together, it works out pretty cheap...
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A small note of exception to your post PG - the ESF in La Rosiere is superb, due in no small part to the Deputy Director who's English. Evidently there is a large emphasis on English as a consequence, and all I've heard is good reports
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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My sister's first ski instructor (I think it was ESF) had mastered English to the following extent:
"And zen you, er... and zen you, er... and zen you, er....okay?"
Admittedly my French isn't much better but then I'm not being paid to teach skiing to the Brits.
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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.
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Points all taken on board...have emailed Masterclass but they haven't got back to me yet.....maybe they're fully booked!
Any comments on ESI - used them once in Flaine and they were excellent so I'd probably pick them over ESF...any experience in Alpe d'Huez? I assume they've got at base there.
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| Mark Hunter wrote: |
| A small note of exception to your post PG - the ESF in La Rosiere is superb, due in no small part to the Deputy Director who's English. Evidently there is a large emphasis on English as a consequence, and all I've heard is good reports |
Evolution 2 in La Rosière is excellent too, genuine enthusiasm shown by the instructors, rave reports by the punters on the whole. Perhaps the ESF is trying to live up to the standards of the opposition I know I shouldn't generalise - and some of my best friends are ESF instructors - but on the whole this and other large organisations here in the Hexagon suffer from that all-too-prevalent French disease, a combination of disdain and the attitude 'the customer is always wrong'. Small resorts rarely get the fluent English-speakers - perhaps La Rosière is an exception?
Over a long period I spent between 2 and 3 months on the slopes of the southern French Alps each year before moving to Bourg St Maurice, using mainly ESF instructors for individual tuition for my daughter (no choice in most resorts down there as there were no other schools operating). The instructors themselves weren't too bad on the whole, but then again we didn't need Anglophones. Technique isn't everything, instructors attitudes were average, and as for the receptionists, they were mostly dragons or trainee dragons  !!
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You know it makes sense.
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Mark , I'd agree with you. ESF in La Rosiere is brilliant. Simon, Nicolas, and Christophe were good for all of us respectively. My skiing improved enormously.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Just reporting back....had some fantastic lessons with the lovely Olly! Anyone off to Alpe D'Huez should definitely check out Masterclass!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Glad the tuition went well - I thought you couldn't go wrong booking with them after seeing how they brought me & others in my class on
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Isn't Olly lovely? For a bit of fun in one of our lessons, he took all our poles and had us playing rugby on skis, passing a pair of rolled up gloves between us down the piste in a blizzard. The downside was trying to identify your poles at the bottom where he dumped them all in a big pile!
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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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We had more fun playing "spot Olly" - for two out of our three lessons you couldn't see your hand in front of your face for the thick fog! He still had us doing funny things with our poles though! Lovely man!
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