October Ski Courses in Tignes

With heavy snow on glaciers in the Alps over the past 48 hours, the biggest accumulation of 30cm reported on the already-open Molltal glacier, it is looking promising for autumn skiing when more glaciers begin to open later this month and in to October.

Snoworks have courses for all abilities launching this autumn from October 18th on the extensive, snow-sure, Tignes Glacier.

The company lists quiet slopes, cheaper prices, guaranteed snow and the very best of British ski instruction as the reasons to book one of their courses before the main ski season kicks off.

All-Terrain courses, geared towards intermediate skiers, right through to advanced and expert enthusiasts and instructors will be staged weekly from mid-October to the end of November.

Costing £300 including five days with a Snoworks instructor, the courses are aimed at skiers keen to take their skiing to a whole new level and ready to begin learning to tackle steeper slopes, off-piste, bumps, to ski faster with more control and cope with variable snow and terrain.

The company also offers a Race Carve program in Tignes between October 25th and the final course starting on November 22nd, also priced at £300, and other courses available on the above dates include Pro Race Camps, Snoworks GAP and Eurotest training for ski instructors.

Additional holiday prices for seven nights half-board accommodation with afternoon tea including airport transfers from Geneva start from £290 per person in a catered chalet based on twin occupancy. Return flights to Geneva are not included.

Snoworks coaches include Phil Smith, Emma Carrick-Anderson, Lee Townend, Mike Barker and Nick Quinn. www.snoworks.co.uk

how does this not fall into the ongoing conflict with ESF? maybe i havnt followed the esf issue on hosting and lessons as much as i could have but i would think this falls into that area.
i am sure someone will be able to put me straight in this.

There are around 50 (if I remember right) British ski schools that operate in France with no problems and at least 100 British instructors. The various conflicts with the ESF are because some Brits have refused to get the full ESF recognised qualifications as those Brits believe the demands are unreasonable and not justified under European equal rights laws. However most Brits who want to teach in France have just done everything the French asked and are therefore qualified to teach with no problem. I'm probably (1) horribly over simplifying it and possibly (2) wrong, but i'm sure someone will correct me if that's the case. Anyway if I'm not wrong then I assume these people are qualified to teach in France.

All the Snoworks coaches and instructors will hold qualifications that are recognised as being equivalent to the Brevet D'État D'Educateur Sports 1er degré Ski Alpin, which is the qualification required to teach skiing and/or accompany people on skis for remuneration in France. After obtaining an attestation of equivalence they will have been issued with a licence (carte professionnelle) by the French Ministry of Youth and Sports. There are about 350 qualified and licensed British ski instructors currently working in France.

The people who have recently been prosecuted by the French authorities are neither qualified nor licensed to provide these services.

The ESF did not and could not have brought the prosecutions, they are a civil party (partie civile). The French legal system offers people who have suffered injury as a result of another's violation of the law, the possibility to claim compensation. The ESF is a cooperative, each ski school director and committee are elected annually, if they hadn't declared their ski schools as a civil parties they would have risked losing their positions at the next election, even though this was probably not in EFS's best interest.

Accompanying people in the mountains for remuneration on foot or on skis is a regulated occupation in most alpine countries. In addition to appropriate qualifications, a licence is also often required. Where I live even if you only want to accompany people on walks along signposted footpaths you have to be suitably qualified, have CHF 10m of liability insurance and obtain a licence from the Canton, if you're caught working without a licence you can be fined up to CHF 10,000.

swing beep and admin..thanks for the clarification