 Poster: A snowHead
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ok i am looking to book some lessons for when i go skiiin gin 3 weeks and i cant decide weather to have 1 hour a day private lessons for 3 days or 3 hours a day for 3 days in a group lesson.
What do people think is the best option to go for?
Cheers
Matt
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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No such thing as 'best' option in my opinion, it depends on what you want to achieve. If you have some specific problems you're trying to address, or have a very focused goal (eg bumps, steep off-piste) then private lessons would probably be better. If you're just looking for general improvement across the board group lessons might be good. Perhaps more important thatn type of lesson is making sure you have a good instructor. If you have a recommendation for a particular person you can book them for private lessons, but sometimes with group lessons it can be a little bit pot luck.
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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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You'll get more from a private lesson, I reckon. Spread the lessons and work on what's been taught inbetween - e.g. days 1, 3 and 5. Make sure you as for the same teacher if possible
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Matt_G, I'd go along with rob@rar - it depends on what you need to do. Additional thoughts: a well-chosen school's group lessons allow you to learn off each other as well as the instructor, individual lessons can be very intensive but also very beneficial in sorting out specific points.
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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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I'm also with rob@rar. I'd, perhaps, frame it as 'if you know specifically what you need to improve then a private lesson is useful, if not then you'd be better in a general group lesson".
One thing to bear in mind with one hour private lessons is that you often waste a portion of the lesson getting from the meeting point to the skiing and / or back. A one hour private can also really restrict the terrain that the instructor can take you to. For example, in Morzine you'd generally waste 40 minutes of lesson getting to and from any really good bumps.
BTW, 2 hours is as much private lesson as I can cope with - I get mentally exhausted after that.
nbt makes a good point about giving yourself a day or two between lessons. It makes a big difference to me.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just debating the same. I'd had really bad experiences of group lessons before enough to put me off for 7 years! Last year we went to Banff and had a one hour lesson, there were 3 of us in the lesson, and all of us benefitted and enjoyed it. Though like these guys are saying an hour isn't long enough to go very far. We're booking some private lesons this time.
If you say where you are going then perhaps someone can recommend an instructor in resort, or there's a thread on this elsewhere with some on. Or try and find someone to share your private lesson to reduce costs or have longer lessons.
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| FlyingStantoni wrote: |
| BTW, 2 hours is as much private lesson as I can cope with - I get mentally exhausted after that. |
I agree with that. I stand in admiration of anyone who can do a whole day's private lesson.
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I am going to Tignes in France
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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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| Quote: |
whole day's private lesson
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2 hours of instruction plus 4 hours of supervised practice... waste of money...
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skimottaret, Precisely, which is why I won't do it. Actually, for 1-1 I reckon 1.5 hours is optimum. Even somewhere like here where it's easy and quick to get to any sort of slope, 1 hour is seldom quite enough. I also prefer my more experienced students to have a day between lessons to practise, so Matt_G, if you have skied more than 3 weeks or so, you will benefit more from a lesson every other day. You should certainly expect the same instructor for all lessons - to change 'midstream' as it were is very unsatisfactory indeed.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yeah I have done 3 weeks before and have had lessons over here on dry slope I want some lessons to brush up on some stuff like skiing with legs togeather, do consistant parralle turns and maybe a few moguls.
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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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My husband and I usually have whole days of private lessons - 2hrs morning, lunch, 2hrs afternoon. That's not hard work. 
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Still, you're merely paying for the "supervised practice" in the afternoon. It's your money...
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You know it makes sense.
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I'd advocate group lessons for the first 2-4 weeks of your ski life, depending on progression, then privates after that. I reckon an hour private is not enough generally speaking, but more than 2 hours at a time is too much. Would tend to go for a 2 hour private perhaps day one or 2 and then another with the same instructor on day 3 or 4. Need time to practice in between.
The other thing which really helped me was using the same insructor for all my lessons. He knows my technique, fitness, bottle levels and pushes me just enough. IMHO different instructors teach in different ways and also have slightly different ideas of technique and exercises from school to school and country to country..... this of course means yo have to visit the same resort often which doesn't suit many people.... particularly if you can only get one trip a year in. All I'm saying is that it works for me and my instructor has taken me from being a confident but technically lacking steep red run skier to a competent off piste ski tourer who can carve very well and ski blacks around the fall line in 5 years....
Total trust and respect has developed both ways to the point where if the instructor tells me i can do something i don't even question it... I just do it. This aided speedy progress.
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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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On the Tignes trip last week my friend had booked a 2 hour private lesson but decided to extend it to 3 as she was making so much progress during the lesson. Went from being a little nervous with speed on groomed to doing black moguls, off piste, crawling through holes in the rock to access the Lost Valley and ended up loving powder for the first time.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Scarpa and basis of this improvement was so simple.... the instructor just removed the blindfold she was wearing?????
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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erica2004, Then I'd suggest your lessons are not intensive and targeted if you're not shattered with all that in one day + you can't possibly take in 4 hours of new stuff at once.  Of course if your lessons include a certain amount of 'touring' that would be fine - but why pay for that?
SnowGod, Fair points, but if the groups are 12, then I wouldn't advocate more than 2 weeks of it. smaller groups would probably to OK to 4 weeks though.
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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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SnowGod, She is a Swedish lass who skied a lot in her younger days but hadn't got to grips with modern carving technique and was inexperienced at bumps and off piste. So for her she had a strong base of skills which needed refining. Her main problem was simply that she was attempting to overly control her speed by skidding the turns. Once she got into it (a decent intructor provides a lot of confidence) she found that she was a much better skier than she thought she was.
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FAQ
I've seen that in a lot of people.... their brain tells them they can't do something which their body can clearly do with relative ease... they won't listen to me when I tell them they can do it, but give 'em a good looking tanned instructor in a nice shiny red ski suit telling them the same thing and suddenly they can do it!!! Amazing !! 