Private lessons

For my wife's 3rd (and final) attempt at skiing she is planning to take lessons at Xscape in Glasgow prior to the real thing in January - this year she is fitter than ever, feeling confident and has seen a new jacket that can only be purchased for a skier.

Options that seem to be available are 1 hour private lessons @ £150 (!!!!!) or group lessons @ £25-£35 per hour.

In the past she has had some lessons in resort and a few on a dry slope - each time she has failed miserably probably down to a lack of confidence rather that an inability to snowplow.

Does anyone have any recomendations based on a knowledge of Xscape that would give her the best chance of catching even a mild dose of the ski-bug?

Although she is positive, she is not really too desparate to ski but feels that she is missing something not being able to see our daughters (6 & 11) speed their way down an isolated mountain without fear.

I've not had experience of Xscape but I can offer some experience of private lessons. There has been huge discussion on here in the past about pos and cons of group & private but I'll leave that aside.

As a price comparison my wife and I had 3 half day private lessons in Switzerland for approx £350 for both of us.

So far as the benefits of a private lesson for the nervous skier are concerned I would say go for it but not at that price. Unless, of course your wife wants to make sure she is confident before you commit to paying for a holiday.

My MiL came with us two years ago and had no previous skiing experience. She did not get on with group lessons at all because the group advanced too quickly for her ability and she gave up after day one.
Last year we went back to the same resort, same slopes but this time MiL had private lessons. The change was incredible. OK, she wasn't flying down red runs by the end of 3 days but she was confident enough to get down the gentle slopes.
So MiL felt like she had skied with all of us in our group we spent a session with her on the nursery slopes doing very gentle skiing.
A private one to one lesson will allow your wife to progress at her speed and only do what she feels she is confident to do. No pressure to keep up with the group.

Hope this helps

Going to Xscape will be better than going to a dry slope, of that I am sure.
Group lessons can pass you by somewhat, so I would suggest looking into private lessons. Maybe consider doing a crash course at Xscape and then booking private tuition in resort. A friend of mine paid something like £50 an hour for private tuition, but you might be able to halve the cost by going with another person for example.
I would say that learning the basics, ie how to stand up when you fall, snowploughing to stop and control speed, getting your skis on and off etc is well worth doing before you hit the lessons in resort so that she can concentrate on learning and enjoying it too.
Best of luck.

Too expensive at £150 an hour, they will price them selves out of the market at that rate, try a dry slope or wait till you get to resort, as Tony as previously said expect to pay €35 to €50 per hour 8)

snowplough wrote:1 hour private lessons @ £150 (!!!!!)

:shock:

For 2 of those you could have a long weekend on a real mountain as a warm-up instead. You know you want to... 8)

£150 per lesson, crikey whose giving the lesson Bode Miller? :lol:

Mmm. thought it was a tad pricey - ESF usually c70euro for 2 hours.....
It's just that she it keen to know if she can have the kit before we go.....really it's just the shopping that motivates her.

I think thats your problem right there. Avoid the ESF at all costs even a confident skiier is very rarely lucky enough to get any decent input unless your lucky enough t get a British Instructor but within the ESF they are as rare as rocking horse poo.


A private lesson with the ESF is not gaurenteed to be any better unfortunatly.

Which resort are you going to? Many of the bigger French resorts now have British companies that use British,Australian and NZ instructors.