The rise of the British-run ski school in the Alps shows no sign of abating, and we are now thinking of running a feature chapter on these outfits in the next edition of the book. As a rule, they generate excellent reports from readers, and as another rule the only schools that generate really, truly exceptional reports are British ones.
 
Does everyone share this positive view?
 
Chris

i may be wrong as this is just my observation,when skiing i often see groups of learners with thier instructors (as does everyone else)and it seems to me the british instructors are more interested in teaching others to ski rather than thier own skiing,but often i see foriegn ski instructors who are more interested in enjoying thier own time on the snow with the teaching of others secondary to this.
But again this is ownly my opinion from my own observations and i am sure it is not something that happens across the board,as there are many excellent instructors worldwide who take the responsability very seriously indeed.
Also i cannot speak from personnal experience as i am self taught and have never actually had lessons.I think aswell that poeples experiences of lessons maybe tainted slightly to the language barriers between tutor and pupil,someone will usually have a better learning curve if the information between the two groups is communicated more effectively.
jon.

More views on this would be welcome.
 
Chris

Unfortunately I have had no experience of ski school, be it British or not. I have however been putting my kids into ski school for the past 3 years and I have yet to be impressed (Belle Plagne, Claviere and Oberlech).
 
I had considered going to Morzine last year and using the BASI school there, but as usual British tour companies seem completely inadequate at accomodating a family of 5, so we plonked for Oberlech.
 
I put my kids into ski lessons at one of our local ski sloped here in Glasgow and found the tuition excellent and the kids always really enjoyed it. This allowed us to spend time skiing with our kids when away - with only our 4 year old going to ski school.
 
I have to admit that I would choose a British ski school over a local one any day of the week, despite the fact I have had no experience of one. For me though the language barrier seems an issue for my kids, who have usually been the only English speaking kids in their group.
 
In addition I really do not understand how an instructor can teach kids to ski with the follow my leader technique that seems the norm. How can they tell them what they are doing wrong when they don’t even look at them. At least on a dry slope the instructors show the kids what to do then wait for them at the bottom and shout them down one by one and appraise each kid, each run. I know that dendex does not replace the real thing, but I think our kids have learned more on a 12 hour course (12 x 1 hour sessions) than they would had they been at a foreign ski school.
 
If I have learned anything from the ski school experience, it is to bin ski school and get a private instructor for a day or possibly two - usually works out cheaper and you learn much more out of it. That said, if there was a British alternative I would definatley put my kids in.
 
Bob

Speaking from the Tour Operator Platform! i get to see it from both sides.
Having chalets in the 3 Valleys - we are lucky that we have some great UK ski Schools - namely Magic Academy (previously know as Magic in Motion), New Generation, Supreme Ski .... They are all very good and all offer slightly different lesson timings so there is usually one to suit clients requirements.
Although they are UK run - contrary to what most uk clients think, the instructors are usually a mixed nationality (not all english!)but will be required to speak excellent english. The main advantage as i see it is that they offer smaller groups - so usually a max of 8 in a group and have thought about what parents want with regards to lesson timings. for example Magic Academy offer 2 full days and 4 long mornings to 1.15pm giving parents time to ski all day!
However the prices are fairly steep and they can be very busy and book up quickly in peak weeks.
I think you need to do your research on local ski schools as it really does depend on the resort. For Example La Tania ESF is very good and very good value for money. Group sizes are not too bad - perhaps max of 10 in a group and there are some excellent instructors and 2 of them are english!! so my advise is to speak to the tour operator and or speak to the local ski school to dig out the best and get what suits - which may be goverened by age, price of lessons, length of lessons….
Pip - Ski Power Ltd

There’s very little in this forum so thought I’d mention Keith Marshall of Momentum Snowsports. We were taught by Keith this year in Courchevel 1850 and found him to be an excellent instructor. It’s definitely an advantage being taught by someone who speaks the same language; it enables thorough explanation and allows for the exchange of good humour. A much better experience than our Austrian instructor who told us to ‘shut up and listen’ if we asked anything.

As mature learners we were not the easiest of clients but Keith gave us sufficient confidence in our technique to enable us to ski independently albeit on wide gentle slopes but that’s enough for us in one week.

Interesting thread. I would certainly welcome more British run schools, particularly for children. I have a couple of young children who have been through a number of ski schools in the last few seasons and I can definitely see the benefit of what can be loosely referred to as the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ approach. By that I mean the more North American approach to teaching which I understand that British schools have. Through my kids (and my own) experience, the best ski schools I have seen are in North America (especially Canada) and Norway (who also have the same pupil-focussed approach as in North America, I suppose this may extend to other Scandinavian countries too).

There are great instructors in Europe, but from experience you get the most out of the teaching in private lessons, as many people above have stated. Luckily, I have always tried to give a lot of thought as to where I have taken my children skiing, so have yet to have a bad experience, but I have gone past numerous ski groups in other resorts and thought how grateful I was my children/wife weren’t there. Once you get to the more advanced lessons things seem to be better, as presumably the instructor is less likely to be ‘bored’ plus the students are less likely to object to being pushed harder.

All in all, taking private lessons for a day or two (which won’t cost much more than a week in a group) seems to be the safest way of guaranteeing quality, wherever you are. This applies even for children, especially if you intend to ski with them. This way they give up a day or two to lessons and then can spend the rest of the week with you practicing what they have learnt. A telling comment from my eldest last season, still only 8, was that she wanted to learn to ski better not just follow the trail of skiers/instructors round the mountain for 3 hours – she could just as easily do that with me! So from now on, unless there is a British school (or local school with very good feedback) it’s private lessons all the way.

I really follow the comments in the book regarding people’s experience of ski schools – maybe this could be included as an added area on the website, focussing on ski school feedback specifically. I will contribute – I have about 3 seasons worth of resort reviews I keep meaning to send you but never get round to!

Our experience of 4 years in ski school for 2-4 weeks each year from 5-9 in Lech am Arlberg was very positive. The Lech ski school is well organised and reasonably priced if you are in for a prolonged period. He was well taught particularly skiing in control in any snow, on any slope. it was ideal for the first 2 years and then gradually became harder to find kids of equivalent ability. The ski school kept up the standard at the higher levels by bolstering numbers with infant local kids who are given access to free lessons when ski school is quite. Dan really enjoyed himself and skiing with other children (this isi the main problem of a private lesson, its not just about learning to ski). Now he is older a private lesson shared with the rest of the family seems the better alternative, though when he is old enough to join an adolescent group I suspect he will enjoy skiing with his own age group again.