J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Ranchero_1979

Megeve, Les Contamines, St Gervais, Les Houches, Chamonix, Aguille De Midi, Felgere, Grand Montets, Balme, Verbier, Courmayeur, Helbronner all under one pass. More than enough to keep you going for 3 weeks. Might even need a vacation afterwards.

10 people a beast, will be interesting what they find to be the effective uplift capacity as can see them struggling to co-ordinate lining 10 willing people in a line.

Snow making is about the least environmentally friendly activity a ski resort can do. Most traditional resorts should not have full vertical throughout the season. People particularly Brits (something about their psych) need to learn to bin down vs. all that energy and water pollution. Only to keep a token run open that is inevitably overcrowded and people moan is slushy and moguled when they reach the bottom.

Nope but place has best early skiing in Europe, so if lifts are scheduled to run then there will be decent skiing. Is not the most challenging glacier though.

People need to remember that you don't need to be French to work for ESF. Is nothing to do with preventing British people working. Is about applying a standard.

Skiing in Kurdistan is definitely an option. As a Brit / European you can land in Erbil and get visa upon arrival. Will then be a few hrs drive North. Main concern would be 1) the driving is a little mad on the open roads outside town and as you get closer to the border region there is a risk of Turkish military incursion. Overall should be an interesting trip.

Let me give you a simple example from my own experience.

Family ski holiday; kids are now outskiing parents limiting the holiday experience for: Two clear options exist:
1) Put kids in ski school
2) Use hosting service

Am sorry despite the guy being coached to say he is not an instructor he is still clearly removing revenue from the ski school in the above case. Whether the host is attempting to teach or not is not even part of the argument. When you set the bar so high as they do in France you then need to protect the investment ski instructors have made to attain level 3, hence is pure economics. No need in NZ, Canada etc. as 6-8 week course and you are good to go, hence comparing country vs. country is irrelevant.

I think everyone agrees that qualifications for ski instructors are imperfect. Does being an elite skier or climber made you a good low level instructor for beginners; certainly is not a pre-requisite. It also places huge barrier for those with disability or above a certain age.

However I am all for protecting the profession and the certainty that qualifications provide. French ski schools, which contain instructors from all over the world have a fantastic reputation. The reality is that hosting has to be eroding the potential client base and for that reason alone should be banned.