 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Trigger, Welcome to snowHeads 
Skiing is about having fun, you say you're happy doing what you're doing. If you can get down a Black, sure you're safe on Reds & Blues.
It's unfortunate that you had such a poor experience with an Instructor last time. If you're happy not to improve your skiing, do without lessons, if your not, try another Instructor. They're not all boring.
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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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Could always book one or two afternoons with a guide/instructor on a one to one basis, or with a couple of mates.
It's what I've been doing the last couple of seasons.
Hopefully to stop bad habits becoming ingrained.
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Without being daft, I've skied for 40-50 weeks, score myself at level 9 on the Snow and Rock scale (for what it's worth) ski almost solely off piste and I will have at least one lesson for a couple of hours when I'm in Whistler in Jan.
It will be OK for you to ski on your own, but you will get better much faster if you have lessons. Practice makes permanent. I've had some poor instructors as well, but save up the cash and have one private lesson, it will make much more difference.
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brian
brian
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Trigger, welcome to s.
No reason why you can't be safe without lessons. However, most people, especially those somewhat beyond the first flush of youth, will find it pretty difficult to get very far without them.
I 2nd kermit's suggestion, book a couple of hours private lesson, practise on your own for a bit, have another lesson etc. Will probably be more productive than skiing in a class.
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Trigger, welcome
To answer your question if you are happy on reds and if you have some pals to ski with you should be safe.
There are loads of really inspirational instructors out there so it would be a shame if a bad experience put you off altogether, and I agree with kermit, a bit of one to one is much better than quite a few large classes if you dont want the company just, improve your skiing.
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My biggest regret in skiing is that I stopped having lessons at about the same level of experience as you have. I then spent the next 10-15 years perfecting my bad habits and it's been the devils own job to correct those problems. If you were bored with your last instructor I think you can be reassured that they are not uniformly bad - you'll get lots of recommendations for great instructors here on snowHeads. For what it's worth, I now get some instruction (either private lessons or specialised classes) every season and not only do I ski much better than I ever imagined I would be able to, it has also helped me rediscover my passion for skiing.
BTW, welcome to snowHeads Trigger 
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Trigger, welcome! Unfortunately, it's possible to come across a useless instructor, even 1:1 - I happened upon a particularly daffy and inarticulate ESF lady in Avoriaz a couple of years ago, on whom I just threw away a fat fee. But that was before I was a snowHead - now I know to ask fellow snowHeads for recommendations before booking anyone. So, on balance, I'd 'fourth' kermit, flicksta, and brian, have some private lessons with someone good that has been recommended, and you will enjoy yourself more thereafter.
And, now that I have composed all this, I see that rob@rar is saying exactly the same. Only difference is that he's now a good skier, and I'm still crap. 
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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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Welcome to s Trigger.
Good advice from the other guys.
I gave up having lessons too early - primarily because I skied with a group where it was "the done thing" to give up lessons once you could vaguely ski parallel. I only came back to lessons after 6 years after going to Whistler and discovering that there was more to ski instruction than the boring lessons I'd had. And after realising that the group I was skiing with were all slowly getting worse with time.
I qualified as a ski instructor last year. I still have lessons. I still have heaps to learn. I still find some lessons fun and some boring.
I had fun those years I didn't have lessons, but do regret what I missed out on by not having lessons.
Like Spyderman says, it's about having fun and being safe.
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Trigger, all I'd add is that in my own experience, the more technically capable I became, the more fun I had. This doesn't just mean being able to tackle tougher slopes, but more fun elements of the whole experience to enjoy.
But, I'm quite analytical by nature and what suited me won't necessarily suit you.
The other point is that if you do want to improve one generally needs more instruction earlier on. If you're truly happy doing what you can do - and, hey, you are on holiday after all - then absolutely fine, I wouldn't imagine safety to be an issue.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It's ok to not do lesson in every single holiday. Just keep in mind you'll improve faster when you do have lessons. So see if you can schedule a few as suggested by others.
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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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Trigger,
I am sure it is safe..... unless you are flying down out of control..!!!
If you feel you are happy enough in your skiing without them, then carry on, you don't have to have lessons.
Most of us, probably NEED them at some point
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Trigger, I'm about the same age as you, and have been skiing for only a couple of years more. However we do try to get at least three trips in a year so have probably done around 15 - 18 weeks on snow. IMHO if you are happy with your level and don't want to work too hard, then fine, enjoy your skiing.
I certainly wouldn't recommend group lessons once you have mastered the basics. But if you want to get the most from your skiing, maybe improve your style, (how well do you carve?) or get more comfortable on runs that currently are a bit too challenging, then private lessons can be very helpful and are usually (in my experience) very enjoyable.
I KNOW I'm never going to be good enough or fit enough to ski really well, but maybe I can be good enough to make it all that bit easier so I can still be doing it in ten years time?
Our next trip is to Maria Alm in January and I've booked a couple of two hour lessons for the first couple of days. Looking forward to them already 
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You know it makes sense.
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Stop having lessons when you have nothing left to learn.
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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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Trigger, welcome to snowheads.
Safe? Yes. Good idea? No.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Trigger, if you're happy doing what you're doing and don't want to improve any more then don't bother getting lessons.
However if you stop now, then you'll never progress to a level where you can ski powder well, which IMO is one of the absolute pleasures of skiing.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Its a no brainer you have 2x 2hrs 1 to 1 lessons and ski the rest the week as you please.
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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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I think it very much depends on what you're skiing for. If you're just going for the holiday with skis - and it sounds like you're happy with where you're at, then I'd say that you can carry on pottering at your own pace. However, since you've come to a forum to ask about what you should do on your holiday, I suspect you may be a bit more "into it" than just pottering. And if you are into it, then sooner or later you'll want to improve, because you'll see others who are better than you, or you'll want to do something you can't do right now. As others have said, bad habits are hard to break after a longer period.
Not all instructors are good, and not all are bad. I've had mixed experiences - mostly bad to be honest. Funnily enough the really good ones were all on dry slopes in the UK.
Do what makes you happy - you are on holiday after all.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Most people give up having lessons after a few ski holidays. Almost all then stop improving, but many carry on enjoying themselves. If you want to be able to ski more difficult things, and if you enjoy learning, have more lessons. There are lots of specialist ski instruction outfits about - lots of different possibilities. But Snowheads (including me) tend to me a bit obsessive about lessons. If you go to a beach in Spain and watch folk splodging around in the pool, or in the sea, most of them can't swim for toffee. Doesn't stop them enjoying it, though. Equally (I'm a sailor too) you see folk faffing around the Solent in their yachts, with sails all set wrong, getting nowhere very fast, but sitting with a beer and enjoying it as much as I am, up every couple of minutes tweaking at some piece of string or other. Only you know what you want. But if you DO want to ski better, you almost certainly won't do it by just cruising around. I've skied with people who have got no better, and possibly worse, in 20 years of doing just that! But that's what they want. They're perfectly safe - no problem with that - because they are sensible and don't try daft stuff. Don't take lessons to "be safe", but do take lessons to "be better". I am still trying to learn to ski powder, because the few turns I've managed before burying myself have been so fantastic, have given me a glimpse of what it could be like...
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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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Trigger, if you're skiing under control, so that you are able to take evasive action pretty much at any instant you're on the move if necessary, then it's safe as you're neither a danger to yourself nor others. The danger then is to your future enjoyment of skiing as you may be making permanent poor technique and hampering progression which could enable you to enjoy doing more and better in the future!
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| pam w wrote: |
| Don't take lessons to "be safe", but do take lessons to "be better". |
Not quite how i would have put it.
I think many see "be better" as too much like going back to school and therefore a Bad Thing.
Instead I would suggest you say: take lessons to "enjoy it more" or "have more fun".
Just spin I know - you are having more fun because you are getting better - but it sounds so much better.
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| Quote: |
next year, I might revert to group
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you might like to try one of the specialist ski outfits where you can do an intensive course of instruction, with video feedback in the evenings (not as grim as it sounds...). Phil Smith's Snowworks is one, and a very good one, but there are loads of others. I did one with Sally Chapman (to whom Phil Smith was once married, I believe) which was excellent. I did it on my own and saved dosh my sharing with another woman, who was much more experienced and knowledgeable than I, and good company too. We weren't in the same groups though - everyone in the top group, with her, was already a qualified ski instructor! Maximum group size is normally 6, and the instructors are all specialists. And the pupils are all really keen - it was my first experience of people who serviced their skis almost every night!
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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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I'd class myself as advanced, happy on pretty much any terrain, and I still have a 1-2 hour lesson each trip I go on, usualy to give me sometinging to work on that week. Its also a good way of being shown round the resort!
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rob@rar, you sound exactly like Mr Docsquid! FWIW, Mr DS has been skiing for 30 years, and spent almost the first 20 years not getting anywhere i.e. not improving after leaving ski school.
We both have lessons every time we go out. Because of my breathing difficulties, I prefer to have private lessons, which we do together. This means I don't have to worry about a holding a group up by needing a longer time to recover my breath at altitude. It also means the instructor will avoid areas where there is a lot of skatin/poling between lifts and so on.
We always go with a British (BASI) instructor, and have skied with a number of different instructors, including Phil Smith and Sally Chapman mentioned above. All have been absolutely excellent.
I have only been skiing for 3 years but am already happy on most terrain. After a tentative enquiry about getting qualified to teach skiing at the Snowdome, I have just been told (this last week in Tignes) by a BASI trainer, race trainer and examiner from whom we had some lessons that I could pass BASI Alpine Level 1 (new level 1, not the old one), and should aim for BASI Alpine Level 2 (old BASI 3)! I can't believe this and it demonstrates the value of good instruction. However I know this instructor would not say this unless he meant it.
IMO a couple of really good private lessons with a top BASI instructor is better than a week of mediocre ski school instruction. Either that or one of the really top level courses, such as Phil Smith or Sally Chapman's. Mr DS, who is much more experienced and therefore whose opinion probably counts more, feels the same.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Alan Mac Evoy,
Welcome to Snowheads!
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I've just had a lesson with Gavin Crosby of Eurekaski (BASI trainer) based in Monetier this morning. As usual the tuition was excellent, and he knows just what to challenge me with. Today it was choppy off-piste stuff. A few years ago, I decided lessons weren't for me. I was always seemed to be in a group which did nothing to improve my skiing. I also have lesssons with Easiski which have certainly corrected many of my faults, as Gavin noticed this morning.
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You know it makes sense.
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Alan Mac Evoy, welcome to s
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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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Alan Mac Evoy, welcome to
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Poster: A snowHead
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just had a week with ESF classe 2 Montgenevre and loved every minute of it.
excellent instructor who got me skiing blacks.
if i have such good instructors in the future, i would have lessons every year.
Because
1. You always socialise within the lessons
2. improves your skiiing
3. takes you down the best slopes for your ability in the resort
4. shows you the hidden skiing gems of the resort.
5. gives you confidence
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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 lessons at dry slope before I went skiing and they were much better than in resort. Not really lessons as such went to stoke ski slope to the 'coffee mornings' where people just shared there tips they'd picked up from lessons on holiday. I remember spending a while learning to stand up! sounds silly but v important when you fall over as much as me.
Never had good ski lessons abroad only ever been taught to snowplough! Had lessons in Val d'Isere and they were terrible the instructor was awful shouted at everyone (we were all adults) and in Borovets where the instructor didn't turn up most days.
I haven't bothered with lessons since and have enjoyed skiing all the more for it! However 4 of us off to Banff for 10 days in March and are considering one day of lessons.
Haave a read through BEND ZE KNEES try it out at a dry slope then take it away with you!
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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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If you've had a bad ski-school experience -have a look at the post I made under the new thread
'How to get the most out of your instructor'
Skiday
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thank you Beani 1, Helen Beaumont and NickL for your warm welcome to the form
Slanthe' Alan 
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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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Alan Mac Evoy, Berkswell? Good to have another local on board....welcome !!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks Govnor...
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Hi Everyone,
I'm pretty much the same as Trigger in all respects (age included).
I had a few lessons in the UK to get me parallel skiing before I hit the snow last year, these were a pretty awful experience. At the end of two weeks in Les Arcs with two lessons I was skiing most reds and a black, (black with difficulty). I thought I was doing fine though, really enjoying it.
Went back couple of weeks ago and had two private lessons, first one instructor identified many problems / bad habits. We worked on them over two lessons (same instructor). The result, in my view was incredible, I have much more confidence, on the runs I was already 'happy' with also on steeps and at speed.
She finally got me 'looking better', much less side slipping and weight downhill on turns (leaning forwards, calves heavily in front of boots).
I'm back in a couple of weeks and will definately have more lessons, hopefully with the same instructer. if you get a good one, they really do know how to push you on.
AllanM
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FAQ
). My 2nd time skiing I had a brilliant Instructor 'Eliane' Pas De la Casa (take a bow Missus 
!)and she was a hard act to follow, and it did not happen, so I did not improve one jot, so I asked myself the question above. (BTW that was the group concensus too !)
