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Original poster

Which ski school would you recommend in Meribel???

11 replies

BosworthBear · 16/02/2006 07:00

I need to book some lessons (!) for my 4 year old daughter in Meribel for the second week of March, could anyone recommend a ski school or one to avoid? She came skiing with us last year and we used a creche service which picked up in the morning took them to ski school and then took them back to the nursery until you chose to pick them up This worked really well and gave her a good balance of playing with children, a small amount of tuition and then time with us (she is the only child in a group of 20 adultd!!!)

Ideally I would like to do the same again (she tells me she wants more time skiing now she is a big girl) but is it available in Meribel and if not which ski shcool would you recommend just for that bit????

OP posts:
Original poster
BosworthBear · 21/02/2006 22:15

bump!

OP posts:
anteater · 25/02/2006 15:14

ring or email Meriski, who are their on the ground (or piste...) and should give you sound impartial advise.

prettybird · 25/02/2006 16:21

We used Magic in Motion last year and this (we're just back) for ds (now 5.5).

They do classes for little ones - maximum size I think is 6. Age group is 4-6.

Ds came on teremndoulsy last year. We were less happy with them this year - but that is becaseu he got "bumped" down to the "beginners baby" class becasue there were two wee bombers in the other 4-6 class - with the result that he got bored. If it's your dd's first time on skis, then they would be good.

It's two hours a day. We went for the 9.15 to 11.15 class - which meant it was a ruch getting him down in the monring, but then wmeant we had a chance to truy to do a wee bit with him at lunch time - and also for us to get out and do some skiing. It's not cheap, but worth it to get them going.

You should also consider the ESF "Club Piou Piou" (used to be called Jardin to P'tits Loups). They give them basic skiing lessons in a wee dedicated area. The one at Rond Point is very good - the one at the Chudanne doesn't look quite as nice. We booked him in for the afternoons (2-5pm). You can also do mornings and they also do a "lunch" service (although I've been told the food isn't very good). Even though it was half term week, I only booked him in on the Sunday afternoon - but that could be becasue a lot of french people cancelled their holidays due to poor weather conditions.

You could just put your dd into the Club Piou Piou all day - but we liked the fact that Magic in Motion was English speaking and use modern techniques. The quality of teaching at the ESF is a bit patchy. Some of it is very old fashioed and not suitable for modern carving skis - although that is less of an issue for little ones starting out when they are really just doing snow ploughs (or slices of pizza as Magic in Motion called them).

Original poster
BosworthBear · 27/02/2006 20:16

Anyone else back from half term in Meribel??

OP posts:
anteater · 27/02/2006 22:50

Just a quick recomendation for the Ski Summit ski school in Zermatt, all English instructors who actually want to teach rather than just collect the money. The lack of a good ski school should no longer keep you out of the best ski resort in the world!

prettybird · 28/02/2006 08:59

Think I was the only one in Meribel for half term: when we did the thread on where people were going, there was no-one else going to meribel (I was hoping to bump in to a Mumsnetter!) - I think Tignes was the most popular destination.

Where are you staying Bosworth Bear? Were you using Kids etc last year?

Anyone else interested in sharing a chalet next half term?! :)

LIZS · 28/02/2006 11:15

That's encouraging Anteater. Do they take under 6's now as friends found that a problem there a few years back and had to really argue the case(she was already an experiecned skier).

scatterbrain · 28/02/2006 11:32

One school I would not recommend is ESI - used them in Alpe d'Huez just before Xmas and they were vile to dd - wouldn't help her up and shamed her repeatedly - vile man owns it and I would never ever go back to them !

anteater · 28/02/2006 12:12

have a look at \link{http://summitskischool.com\Summit}
Ds was 6 and he was the youngest (and fastest!) in his group.
Not sure this resort is a good choice for really young skiers tho. We started them in Saas-fee which worked well ds only 4), nursery slopes at the bottom, Swiss ski school but very good. Last year we Stayed in Oberlech, which is excellent and would be my first choice for the very young.

LIZS · 28/02/2006 13:57

wow looks really good , especially like the sound of the women only and intermediate/advanced courses. Still has a min. age of 6 though so will wait a few years for dd to catch up. We've also done Saas for past 3 eyars and are going over at beginning of April but the ski school there is such a cattle market at half term week.

anteater · 28/02/2006 14:10

I didnt Qualify for the women only Sad class but the back on skis day was fantastic. We went to Saas-fee in term time and the school was near deserted. Summit only do 3 days max for complete beginners because by that stage even a group of 6 has has ability splits, and no one has a good lesson, found this so refreshingly honest!

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