Oxygene / La Plagne - feedback on ski class levels ?

A snowHead

Morning all,

First post after some extended lurking. It's T-8 before we hit La Plagne 1800 for the first time, and getting very excited by all the reports I'm seeing posted. We've pretty much decided to go with Oxygene for children's ski lessons, after all the positive feedback - a touch more expensive than ESF (210 vs 180 for the week, or 320 vs 270 with pass - times 3 for mine), but sounds like a better service.

One question though - our eldest daughter (12) seems to be stuck between their Bronze and Silver levels. According to the very nice lady I spoke to, she'd be back to basic snowploughs in Bronze, ending up at stem turns, while for Silver you're supposed to already be able to ski parallel. She already got to that bronze level last holiday, and perhaps I'm missing something, but where do they then teach transition to parallel ?

I know the standard answer here is that they will find the right level for her, but just wondered if anyone else had been in the same situation with Oxygene. Just a bit worried if they're a smaller operation they might not have the flexibility to have the right class mix for her, and she'll end up being bored for the week with all the younger kids repeating what she's done before.

(FWIW, she's done 2 1/2 weeks, and got to the top categorization of the Blue Star level in Nendaz last time round - basically one before moving onto Red in the Swiss system).

Any input appreciated - promise I'm not trying to be the pushy parent - I remember only too well the misery of being the worst in the ski class as a kid, at the same time being bored would be just as bad !

A snowHead

Has she skied recently? This might make a big difference between her starting a few steps back from where she got to before, and starting at the level she was at before. If you have time this weekend and a slope nearby it might be a good idea to get her a short private lesson and see where she is. If she can do plough-parallel, and is someone who responds well to a challenge, then I'd go for the silver group. If she has reverted back to a straight-forward plough, or is someone who doesn't like to be in a situation where others can do things she can't, I'd go for the bronze. Most important thing is that they have fun, and I think the ski school will make sure of that whichever group she's in - they will be used to coping with a spread in abilities.

In answer to "when is the transition to parallel taught?" question: it's often not really taught. Once you've got to plough-parallel the transition to parallel is all about confidence, practice, a bit of speed, and perhaps a few pointers along the way (ideally through fun activities with kids), but it's very much a gradual transition rather than a step change. And you'll often find people who, while they're going through this process, will ski parallel on one slope, and then plough-parallel on something more challenging as they go back to what they are most comfortable with.

The approach I would take is briefly describe your daughter's ability to the ski school and see which lesson they recommend. Then if she's not happy there after a day or two (note she, not you!) ask if she could be moved.

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

I have no experience of Oxygene in La Plagne but in VDI they were very quick to harmonise the groups so everyone ended up in the appropriate class. It is likely to be a reasonably busy week so I really wouldn't stress about them not having enough classes to provide a sensible level of tuition.

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Thanks for the input both. I had another quick chat with Aurelia at Oxygene (though had pretty much made up my mind based on your feedback) - she was confident they'd find the right level for my daughter.

Result - three sets of lessons/ski passes booked for the kids! Now just the ski hire to sort out - but I'll leave that for a different thread.

Thanks all! Now I just hope there's not *too* much snow by the time we get there. Very Happy

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hi

We've just come back from Belle Plagne where our 2 girls (5 and 6-nearly-7) had lessons with Oxygene, both second weekers. Very good instructor and they had a group of 5, but there were 2 complete beginners-including one 4 year old boy who didn't really want to be there-which made it a frustrating week for my elder daughter who said she spent a lot of time waiting for the two beginners to be picked up. I reckoned that in a quiet week they only wanted to run one class at that age/ability end but I thought it was a bit off. In addition to the instructor, they also had a picker-upper in the group. The Oxygene classes out of Plagne Centre looked pretty full though.
In the end, they both made excellent progress though technically and the instructor said that trying to do the right thing slowly will pay off in the long term-the older one parallel turning nearly all blue slopes, the younger one the same on greens and easy blues, but going back into her snowplough comfort zone on steeper blues. I'd agree wth Kieranm..the transition seems to happen naturally when they gain confidence at higher speeds-instead of turning one ski, they turn both together and to slow down go across the slope instead of snowploughing.

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An update from my experience - the three kids loved the Oxygene lessons, and I was impressed with the instructors attitude and way they dealt with all the children - they seemed to really enjoy teaching them. As you all suggested , the levels worked themselves out. They had at least three groups at each level (this was Easter week so quite busy), and the groups were balanced out. There were 10 or so in each class, which worked fine, and seemed less than the ESF groups we saw around.

I took a private lesson one day with Oxygene, and then another with my wife with ESF. Tuition was good in both (though being an intermediate I'm no expert in this), but the ESF one (with Thomas, director of the ESF Plagne Village operation it turned out) was much better value 'euro for euro' - I'd def. recommend him.

We also hired our equipment from Oxygene - again no issues, and was nice to be able to switch skis to some longer ones later in the week at no extra charge. The pick up bus service was also nice - only the kids were in lessons,but we all got a lift at the start of the day, and at the end if we needed it.

So all in all, very happy, and with great weather and chalet, a perfect holiday! Roll on next year!

Help!!

Oxygene / La Plagne - feedback on ski class levels ?

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