Following last winter's furore when British 'ski hosts' were arrested on the slopes by French authorities, it has emerged that last week saw arrests of seven more British ski teachers in France, including tour operator Simon Butler.
Mr Butler has had several 'run ins' with French authorities in Megeve over the years and is currently appealing an existing convictions for employing instructors without an acceptable level of qualification. Mr Butler says he does have the required certification.
Mainstream media reports so far have divided on nationalistic and political lines with British media bringing in Boris Johnson and UKIP for comment.
The Daily Mail had the most vitriolic attack on the French authorities reporting on what they consider double standards and focused on the treatment of Mr Butler who was reported to have been left in a French prison cell overnight with only a concrete slab to sleep on, a dirty blanket and sub zero temperatures. The publication opted to take their independent political quote from a senior UKIP politician who wasn't best pleased with the French attitude. The Mail reported that the company's clients were left to 'fend for themselves; on the slopes after their instructors were led away.
The French news agency AFP made no mention of the actual treatment of the instructors and indeed only mentioned Simon Butler being arrested. They reported that Mr Butler had been fined €10,000 on 'a similar charge' in 2004 and was currently facing another €10,000 fine and a six month prison sentence for another 'similar offence' last year, but said that Mr Butler is appealing that sentence.
PlanetSki gave the most detailed explanation of the extremely complex legal issues involved – which are similar to those currently being tested by the on going 'Le Ski' case – and focus on the numerous different levels of qualification and certification available to instructors in frsnce and from outside France, what their employers must and must not do, and whether or not the French interpretation of those laws are 'fair' according to European law.
Boris Johnson, quoted in The Daily Telegraph, thinks not, but PlanetSki reports that some British instructors concerned about maintaining high standards do see some validity in the French case.
The Daily Telegraph is currently running a "Do you support British Ski Instructors in France' poll which at time of writing had nearly 500 votes with more than 92% voting 'Yes.'
However a large proportion of comments at the end of the Daily Telegraph's report were from British instructors who have worked without issue in France for many years. They said the issue was being hijacked for political reasons and that the laws were original brought in to stop "cowboy French instructors" in France, which remained a bigger issue on French slopes. One said the paper's poll was, therefore, "meaningless."
The 'main case' on this issue is with another tour operator, Le Ski, who were fined by a French court over employing 'Ski hosts' last winter. They are appealing the court's decision and are being supported by most leading British tour operators. The next court case in this dispute id expected to be heard in the spring.
Volunteer ski hosts, employed in one form or another, without official teaching qualifications, operate without problems in many skiing nations around the world, except France.