J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by verbier_ski_bum

smartski wrote:

Mountain Addiction wrote:it's interesting that people comment how much coffee or beer is UP A MOUNTAIN, but would gladly go to certain high street coffee shops that are even more exorbitantly priced...

I'd rather pay 3,50 euro for a coffee sitting up a mountain than sitting in the Average UK high street chain paying 3,00 euro (or £2.60).

I suspect the mountain restaurants pay more rent and tax and have a short season to earn any money, so perhaps the Mountains are not so bad after all.

Logistics is also more complex and costs more.

Lessons. When you ski parallel it's very easy to control your speed. Also get out of this backseat and keep your feet under your bum, then you can bring your skis in any position. Skiing is very counter-intuitive so it's not the best idea to learn without proper instruction.

tin pot wrote:So I'm going to guess the important bit is that they're paid.

I show my friends around a resort, that's fine. I stay in a chalet and one of the staff show me around the pistes, that's bad.

At no point will I pay ESF for that service, so good luck to 'em.

I predict many staff will soon have days off, and choose to spend that time showing new friends around the pistes.

Good luck with this!I know some people working for chalets - there is no way they will spend their days off skiing with guests and showing them around. People are going for these jobs to maximize their own skiing time. If you have to ski with guests in your time off this stops being a job and becomes a slavery.

AllyG wrote:Tony - I think there is a much greater chance of injuring myself when I'm ski-ing in a lesson, because, as I said before, ski instructors tend to push you into trying new things.

When I'm ski-ing on my own I ski very carefully and much more slowly than I do in a lesson, and I don't go off-piste. All my ski injuries have happened in lessons. I broke my shoulder in a lesson on the dry slope, I broke my toe in a mogul lesson in Courchevel, and a few weeks ago I hurt my arm in our off-piste initiation lesson.

How did you manage to break your toe in a ski boot?

If chalet hameau is actually on Le Hameau area you can have a ski-in/ski-out option when snow is nice (like this season). There are quite nice chalets there as well, museum and a restaurant. The only problem is that if you want to go out in the evening into town you'll have to take a taxi. Buses are running till 11 pm. The evening in Verbier starts at about 10-11:)

smartski wrote:I would thoroughly recommend looking into private lessons. Far more efficient way of learning. No group grading problems, lessons develop you at your pace, no pressure and no being left behind. Less waiting at lifts for a fallen class mate.

My wife had 2x one-to-one early afternoons this year. Strong evidence that she learnt more in those 2 than had she had 5 morning group lessons.

But there again I had to sacrifice my skiing time to be with her the rest of the time :? I should have been made a saint after that.

(I think the cost worked-out to the same either way.)

There can be grading problem as instructors also have grades. I was asked when booking privates both in Chamonix and Verbier about the level, I think it helps them determine which available instructor will be suitable. Also with some schools as you move up price can increase, but you will be getting off-piste cover with it.
I found that what works best depends on where you are with your skiing and what you are trying to get out of it. Doing various drills is generally more fun in a group.

In my experience with group lessons we had to state our level ourselves but there was a ski off on the first day to make sure there was not a big difference in ability. Check if the ski school you choose have a reference table to determine the level because the chosen slope for a ski off will depend on this. Level 5 (out of 7) was on narrow quite steep black and one person refused to ski it and was waiting for us on the top. There was no room in lower level groups because it was Christmas week few years back, so she stayed with us and got up to ski this black on the 3rd day. If you go during busy week it might be better to book in advance too.

Well, requiring certain qualifications doesn't mean restricting foreigners. After all, many people learned to ski in France and they can carry on with instructor courses there to obtain necessary qualifications if this is where they want to work. Maybe there should be a pan-European standard but French is still entitled to make this standard mandatory as per their current law. And I doubt BASI 1 will ever be sufficient. BTW another TO was fined by a court for paying their chalet staff less than a French minimum wage.