felthorpe wrote:When going to a new resort I think the hosting service provides a valuable opportunity to orientate yourself at the start of the holiday. I was grateful for the hosting in Tignes in January, although after day 1 I and several others chose to form our own group. We did have someone with us still (one of our own) who knew their way around and this made life so much easier. Otherwise we may have stuck with the hosting for longer.
I personally found the ski hosting a bit fast and furious because they knew their way around so well they went everywhere at break neck speed. However some in our group enjoyed this and skied with them all week. But there were places they took us to that I would have struggled to find on my own, they showed us what they considered was the best skiing in the resort and which routes to take, which we may have missed otherwise.
I think whether you take up ski hosting or not depends on what you want out of your holiday but the option to go with someone who knows their way around should still be left available to us.
I do not agree that this French ruling is all about safety. I think the points made on here about skiing in a group being safer than on your own are valid. if I had been on my own in Tignes when I came a cropper I would still be hanging by one leg from the netting. This is enough to convince me that skiing alone is not for me.
I fully accept that I need more lessons but I also want to be able to get around the resort efficiently when not in ski school. I also want to learn about the facilities that are available and be shown the best places to eat etc. For this purpose the ski host is perfectly qualified because they have local knowledge. No ski host, no matter how pursuasive is going to teach/tell me what to do or make me ski faster than I feel comfortable with or go down a piste I don't want to. As an adult I have to take that responsibility myself.
Elf and Safety have gone mad in many parts of our daily lives and one of the most common grumbles on here is the looming possibility that helmets may be made compulsory in the future. I wish the French would let us act like grown ups when it comes to ski hosting and be responsible for our own safety, not try to ban it like we were children who can't be allowed to make these decisions for ourselves. Where will it end?
It's their country, not a British colony. They are entitled to have their own laws which some tourists might find silly, it doesn't matter as they are still laws and anyone not obeying can be prosecuted for it. I cannot see anything wrong with this picture. Acting like grown ups forst of all means accepting the law for what it is - the law. Abd British is not the only nation skiing in France, I don't think it will be wise if each single nationality is allowed to be responsible for their own safety they way they see fit to their preferences. The host country is the one that decides.