 Poster: A snowHead
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We are planning to go to Chamrousse in March.
This will be my daughter's third skiing holiday and she will be 5 a few days before we go. She has done two years of club Piou Piou and I don't feel she has learnt much. The last time we went she seemed to spend most of her time waiting in a long line of children to ski down through an arch...she became quite cold after 2 1/2 hours of this and her skiing hasn't progressed much (due to skiing through the arch and snow plough stop being the only activity).
She is well co-ordinated generally so I don't think skiing will be a problem for her.
Obviously at 3 and 4 piou piou was the only option for her. I've noticed that the ESF chamrousse says club piou piou for 3-5s and proper ski lessons for 6 yrs plus. Should I ask if she can do the proper lessons for 6 yrs plus (having been in piou piou twice) or do you think we should do piou piou for the third time. I suppose they might not let her in the 6 yr plus lessons anyway.
The alternative would be to do private lessons but they look very expensive for 2 hours and as she is quite social I'm not sure if she would enjoy lessons without other children.
Any tips most appreciated. ( I have emailed the ski school in chamrousse but haven't had a reply)
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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 don't know anything about Chamrousse however we experienced a similar problem in Switzerland with our then just 4 year old daughter - 1st week's lesson were a complete waste of time with her being placed in a group of crying toddlers and being left on a small side slope and a short magic carpet... Basically it was a place for parents to dump their kids while they went off skiing (- I ended up staying for the lessons to help the 2 or 3 inexperienced instructors look after the 12 or 14 small children...!). At the end of the week I felt as that my daughter was not progressing much and in fact was being turned off skiing... 
For her next trip (3 months later) I went with a different school that specialises in children's lessons. What a difference. She was taken up to the top of a gentle blue by the chairlift from the very 1st lesson and by the second or third day was skiing with us down the gentle blue run...
We'll be back at the same school over this New Year.
Bottom line for me - choice of ski school matters; particularly with smaller children, so you’ve got to make sure you find the right school...
Good 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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Is it ESF only in Chamrousse? Are there any other organisations doing group lessons?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
choice of ski school matters; particularly with smaller children
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strongly agree! My daughter, as a 4 year old beginner in Austria, got bored and stroppy in the "babies" class (her description) skiing under Donald Ducks. She's 25 now and her lip still curls at the memory.... We spoke to the ski school and they promoted her to a class - still beginners - but for older kids. The problem was that that instructor spoke not one single word of English. She was very nice - but even "that was fantastic, well done!" can sound a bit fierce in German, when you're 4. 
However, she coped, and got on fine - I just had to make contact with the instructor each morning to find out whether they were supposed to have sticks or not, etc. But if the ski school had been less flexible and left her in the babies class I think she'd have opted out completely.
Maybe, if the quality of the lessons for your daughter is a key consideration, Chamrousse might not be the best choice? I'd be inclined to go somewhere she could get into a BASS group or similar.
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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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Thank you for the replies..all very helpful.
There appears to only be the option of ESF in Chamrousse. The reason we are thinking of it is that it is accessible by train, affordable and appears to be good for families. There are lots of easy greens/blues near the accommodation we are looking at. The resort features in several uk tour operator brochures so there would be a good chance of some other English children in the lessons.
Pam - I have looked up the British ski school and it looks as though they have good lessons in places like Chatel (and the large well known resorts) but we are looking at end of march and chatel is low altitude. We would not have time to do much of portes du soleil due to staying near the children and would therefore be paying a lot for a lift pass without using it much.
This is why we have been looking at smaller resorts thinking that they would have more families and fewer dare devil skiiers flying past and knocking the children over.
If you know of any smaller french resorts with good ski schools I'd certainly consider them. We went to Puy St Vincent with Snowbizz and that worked well. We have also tried La Rosiere (Eucharts) - I was disappointed with Piou piou there as La ros has such a good reputation as a resort for families but my daughter did not appear to do much in the piou piou class.
If we stick with Chamrousse maybe we will try the piou piou in the mornings and book a couple of private hour long lessons in the afternoons. I think it will be a good resort for our son who will be 8 and should be doing premier etoile this time.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Bottom line for me - choice of ski school matters; particularly with smaller children, so you’ve got to make sure you find the right school...
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I agree with this and will now choose a resort based on the ski schools it has.
Can't you go back to Puy? I am a big fan of Snowbizz and they would certainly put your daughter into the appropriate class, this was the reason I went with them, I had a skiing 4 year old and didn't want Piou Piou type class.
If you must go to Chamrousse why don't you get her a few lessons at home before you go and then book her into the Flocon class? If you tell them she has already done 2 weeks of Piou Piou I would be very surprised if they insist she does it again.
Montgenevre may be an option, they have a good ski school called Apeak, I plan to use them in February.
Good luck with it 
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sarah,
Could you recommend a good ski instructor from Snowbizz's ski school for the kids private lessons?
Thank you.
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z, Have you booked with them then? What age are the kids? Boys or girls? What level are they at? And what personality i.e. gung ho or timid? Are they going together or individually?
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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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Back in the day we were very happy with the International Ski School in Flaine. Our kids started at 3 and by 5 were really getting to grips with skiing.
The instructors were very nice to the kids.
All day program was skiing lesson in the morning, back to the ski school kiddies room for lunch and quiet time (watching cartoons, drawing, various toys). Another ski lesson mid afternoon and then back to base for milk & biscuits before pick up time.
It must have had some value...that 3 year old is a ski instructor now 
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sarah,
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| Have you booked with them then? |
Not yet, we are going somewhere else this year, Snowbizz is in our plans for the next year.
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| What age are the kids? |
8 y.o. now
boy
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| What level are they at? |
By this time he will have 2 weeks skiing with a private (very talented) instructor
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| And what personality i.e. gung ho or timid? |
fearless
Thank you.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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z, Of the ones I have seen in action Damien or Bob would fit the bill! Damien's the head of the school too, but I had Bob myself and he is superb, I could see him being even better with speedy young boys, probably more fun for him. To be honest you probably can't go wrong with any of the Snowbizz instructors. Will you put him the kids classes too? A lot of people put the kids in their 2 hour group and book them an extra 1 to 1 hour either just before or just after the group lesson. It works well.
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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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sarah, thank you very much for your recommendations.
| sarah wrote: |
| Will you put him the kids classes too? A lot of people put the kids in their 2 hour group and book them an extra 1 to 1 hour either just before or just after the group lesson. It works well. |
I will try to convince him to go to the classes, but at the moment he has a very strong (negative) opinion about this for some reasons. 
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| z wrote: |
sarah, thank you very much for your recommendations.
| sarah wrote: |
| Will you put him the kids classes too? A lot of people put the kids in their 2 hour group and book them an extra 1 to 1 hour either just before or just after the group lesson. It works well. |
I will try to convince him to go to the classes, but at the moment he has a very strong (negative) opinion about this for some reasons. |
That's a shame, their groups are exclusive so all Brit kids and are really good, all the kids (except the tinies) meet in the hall from 10.00 and play games with the Kids Club staff until the start of the lesson at 11.00, so they all get to know each other and have a bit of fun. There are 8 in the group max. There would very likely be other kids of the same age and standard so he would be in a good group. Also they operate an evening kiddie club for 2 hours each evening and they have a really good time, sledging, bumboarding, treasure-hunting, disco-ing, pizza partying etc etc, more opportunity to have fun with new mates.
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You know it makes sense.
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snowymum, sorry for hijacking your thread, hope this information will be useful for you as well.
sarah, thanks very much for your advice, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer. I have more questions about PSV so I will start my own thread here
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Wed 7-10-09 16:29; edited 1 time in total
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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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| z wrote: |
snowymum, sorry for hijacking your thread, hope this information will be useful for you as well.
sarah, thanks very much for your advice, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer. I have more questions about PSV so I will probably start my own thread. |
Good idea! Or PM me if you like!
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Poster: A snowHead
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snowymum, Have you looked at staying somewhere like Les Gets or Morzine? BASS is there too and I can also highly recommend them as my daughter took lessons with them last February. You can then buy a Les Gets/Morzine pass if you don't want to ski the whole PdS.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
I've noticed that the ESF chamrousse says club piou piou for 3-5s and proper ski lessons for 6 yrs plus
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Is this the case for all ESF? I am planning on sending my two children to ski school for the first time this season. They have both had one proper week on snow (and a couple of years sliding around and playing) They skied with us rather than ski school last time and can both snowplough turn down greens and gentle blues quite happily. The youngest will be 4 when we go and the oldest just 6. 4 year old will not be happy in piou piou and 6 year old will not be happy without his sister.
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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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Skimummy, don't put a snowplough turning kid into Piou Piou, they slide about in a flattish garden. He will be bored. Get the school to take them both in Flocon or find a different ski school.
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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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Thank you all for all the information and I don't mind the thread hijack. I have looked up the intl ski school in les gets and chatel but as we are going at the end of march the snow cover might not be that good.
Thank you sarah for mentioning the ski school in montgenevre. I'm wondering if that would be better option for us than chamrousse as the ski lessons look more suitable for our youngest there (international ski school looks good and ESF proper lessons start at 5). I think you are right Pam that chamrousse is not going to be the best option this year for the 5 yr old..although did meet our requirements in every other aspect.
Skimummy - some ESF ski schools do take children from 5 in the ourson/flocon classes (eg. montgenevre as mentioned above). I think the only way to check is to look up each resort you are thinking of and click on the ESF link.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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skimummy - that's good that your 4 yr old can use the drag already. Hopefully she will be able to move out of the piou pious to the proper skiing.
I have taken the advice on this thread and changed resort to Montgenevre - looks fairly snow sure at end of March and good skiing lesson options. Booked this morning! Now just have to sort out getting there preferably by rail.
Thanks again for all the advice everyone.
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Skimummy, the 360 school in Samoens looks to be the best bet, looks like they can go together in Cristal class. Friends of ours used the ESF in Samoens for a brother and sister 3 and 5, every morning they said 'please can you keep them together' and every morning the staff said 'yes fine no problem' and every morning they watched through the fence and saw them be instantly separated, they had a lot of tears that week.
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sarah,
Thanks Sarah - I'll have a look at 360. Like your friends, there would be a lot of tears if they were seperated.
snowymum, Have a great holiday - I hope your 5 year old has lots of fun in ski school
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