Where to Ski And Snowboard - Crystal Ski reinstates ski guiding in France

Crystal Ski reinstates ski guiding in France

20th September 2013, by Abi Butcher

Crystal Ski and Evolution 2 will offer social skiing in La Plagne and other French resorts

Crystal Ski Holidays has teamed up with ski school Evolution 2 to offer social skiing for its customers in France.

In February British tour operators withdrew ski hosting or guiding from their programmes in France after a court in Albertville ruled that Le Ski was acting illegally by offering the service. Le Ski, along with a group of British ski tour operators, are appealing the ruling, but it looked like “social skiing” as it has since been dubbed, was off the agenda.

But in July, Simon Cross, managing director of Crystal Ski, said customers valued the social skiing service offered by the UK’s largest ski holiday company, and that they were looking at ways to re-introduce it in France.

Now, instructors from Evolution 2 will ski and snowboard with Crystal Ski customers every Sunday from 10:30am to 4pm in 11 French resorts — Avoriaz, Chamonix, La Clusaz, La Plagne, La Rosière, Les Arcs, Les Menuires, St Martin de Belleville, Tignes, Val d’Isère and Val Thorens. Crystal Ski reps will also be on hand at various points during the day to assist and share their knowledge and expertise.

“The main aim is to assist skiers and snowboarders to discover the ski area in a fun and safe way giving them some tips along the way if needed,” said Hervé Favre, founder of Evolution 2. “We are delighted that we can show our expertise and guide Crystal Ski customers through our beautiful mountains.”

Customers will meet the Evolution 2 instructors at 10am on the Sunday morning — the first day of their holiday — to discuss a plan of the day which will take into account the snow and weather conditions as well as the ability of the group. It will aim to include all the key routes and lunch hot spots in the resort, experience the best runs in the ski area and provide tips on how to make best use of their time as well as avoiding bottlenecks and queues.

“With this new service we are providing a more comprehensive, flexible ski school product to our customers as well as days out on the slopes for those who don’t want instruction, but want to discover the ski area as part of a group,” said Crystal Ski overseas director Nikki Hooper.

The news will be a further stab in the back for the Ecole de Ski Francais (ESF), which supported the court action against Le Ski, claiming that UK tour operator hosting causes them lost business.