This week, J2Ski are in Tignes with Snoworks.
We've been invited along to sample a couple of their most popular courses, review them here and give a little feedback from the point of view of a recreational skier.
Snoworks run a wide variety of courses (16 different flavors currently), trips and tours aimed at Intermediate level skiers (Blue and Red run minimum) and above - right up to Pro skiers. We'll be focusing on three of the most popular this week :-
All-Terrain (AT) - intended to build out your skills so you can ski more of the mountain.
Off-Piste (OP) - similar to the All-Terrain but addressing specific skills for skiing away from the piste.
Off-Piste Safety (OPS) - skiing off-piste but with the emphasis more on safety than technique.
For more info, see Snoworks Course Options
Generally, on arrival in resort, there will be a Welcome Briefing the evening before the courses start and ours took place in Cafe Flo in Tignes le Lac.
This is a chance for Phil Smith (founder of Snoworks) to give brief introductions to the instructor team, say a little about their philosophy of "Open Skills for an Open Environment" (more about that as we figure it out!) and cover logisitics.
Phil in full flow... (apologies for the crappy iPhone picture)
As of Sunday evening, it's been bucketing snow and howling winds and we're expecting a slow start to Monday as pistes and lifts are made safe.
Full disclosure
This trip is being supported by Snoworks and we're here at their invitation. That said, a Snoworks course has been high on my personal "skiing to-do list", having met several enthusiastic customers of theirs in recent years (on previous trips to Tignes).
We're being strongly encouraged to give "full and frank" reviews in our reports this week, however, and the opinions expressed will be our own!
Mark Warner are supporting us with accommodation, and SnowLinx Private Transfers from Geneva.