Talk

Do they enjoy the lessons? Would you rather ski with them?

Ours always loved ski school and we all take a few lessons each year. The older children with dh, me with a similar ability group, sometimes dh & I join groups and the youngest desperate to sneak another year in kids ski lessons (he will have just turned 13). We still can have lots of family ski time and all meet up for lunch we just have different ideas on what makes a fun ski day.

The older ones seemed to move seamlessly from kids ski school, to shadowing ski instructors, to qualified instructors themselves.

Mine never really liked ski school. We stopped as soon as they were able to ski with us. (2 weeks?) The younger 2 and I have a couple of private lessons together each time- it works out cheaper. None of us are very good but we are confident and go anywhere. People think ski holidays are heading towards some undefined future goal. I think it's more important to make each holiday as fun as it can be for everyone. There are only young for a short time! Depending on their ages maybe ask them what they want to do.

After étoile de bronze ours started to ski with their friends/ us. They were about 13 though and we ski in a family resort where everyone knows each other, so as safe as skiing can even.

Think we had a season or maybe two when we just booked a couple of private lessons for all the kids in our party (all same-ish standard) but as we skiied together outside of lessons anyway, it wasn't a huge transition to do that all week.

We've never been interested in training to be Olympic standard - we just wanted to be competent enough to get down any slope we fancied. Worked for us (and saved a bomb!)

If they don't particularly like ski lessons then I would think 3* is enough but the technical difference between 3* and gold is huge and in the future they will find tackling harder slopes much more enjoyable if they have been taught properly.
One thing the ESF system doesn't cover well in my opinion is piste safety and off piste skiing/ avalanche awareness. I think all kids or teens should have specific lessons/ training in this before they hit the slopes on their own. This can work well in a private lesson or with one of the operators who run such courses aimed at teenagers.

Mine do ski school with local kids and they seem to do it until the age of 11ish.

But because my youngest can’t speak German, she’s finding it a bit hard going year on year 😏

We compromise and she does half and half, and I make sure we see her at lunchtime.

She’ll do it again this year (aged 9).

PS she is a confident red run skier and has skied every year since she was 3 so I guess she’s done 5 weeks so far.

Didn't realise had so many responses. Thanks all! I think you have confirmed my gut instinct really that my eldest (14) doesn't really need them but my slightly nervous 3 star 11 year old would benefit from continuing in ski school. Which probably means they both have to keep going!