End to ski hosting in France

Gaz C wrote: I have done the skiing with better skiers 'mullarkey' and it did not make me a better skier. It made me a faster skier and it made me think I was a better skier. ..

I'm glad to read that comment GazC, as I too have fallen (literally) into that trap. I teamed up for a day with a couple of English guys one day last year in Zell. They were better skiers than me; after a particularly challenging run one of the guys asked me how I found it. I said I thought they were going a bit fast for me, to which he replied, "well, I said follow me, not keep up with me !"

A few years ago, in La Plagne, a rather boorish fellow chalet guest regaled us with his stories about how he'd never had a lesson, he could ski anything and everything, lessons are for weeds etc etc. Chalet nightmare, to be honest!

Against my better judgement, he came out for a morning with my brother (who works in the ski industry) and I. Visbility was marginal, it has to be said, but after two runs, our new friend decided that he was feeling a bit tired and slipped away. According to his wife, that evening, he was having lessons the next day!

LOTA wrote:A few years ago, in La Plagne, a rather boorish fellow chalet guest regaled us with his stories about how he'd never had a lesson, he could ski anything and everything, lessons are for weeds etc etc. Chalet nightmare, to be honest!

Against my better judgement, he came out for a morning with my brother (who works in the ski industry) and I. Visbility was marginal, it has to be said, but after two runs, our new friend decided that he was feeling a bit tired and slipped away. According to his wife, that evening, he was having lessons the next day!

:thumbup: :D

Ian Wickham wrote:But that is what I tend and like to do, keep a piste map in my pocket and off we jolly well go, I do not like to over plan where we go, i like the mystery :thumbup:

but at least at the top of a run you must look around and say "shall I go down there"..

billip1 wrote:

...to which he replied, "well, I said follow me, not keep up with me !"

Subtle difference, huh? :lol:

daved wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:But that is what I tend and like to do, keep a piste map in my pocket and off we jolly well go, I do not like to over plan where we go, i like the mystery :thumbup:

but at least at the top of a run you must look around and say "shall I go down there"..

Sounds about right ....... I do take the odd wrong turn but hey it is another run :D

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?

Give it a few years and the EU will sort it out, the same as when the ESF ruled all Instruction in France...... might take a few years though 8)