Lessons for lower intermediate skiers

[Alaimo]

DH and I have booked our first skiing holiday. Going to the French alps at the start of February. We've both done a bit of skiing in Scotland and I currently ski most blue runs comfortably, but struggle to progress to reds. DH is slightly better on reds, but I'd say that is more down to confidence than skill...

We want to take lessons so that hopefully we'll both be comfortably skiing most reds by the end of the week. However, we are struggling to decide between ESF group lessons (6*2hr45) or book 3-4 1.5hr private lunch time lessons. (We've looked at other options but found most too expensive)

On the one hand I don't really want to take lessons ever day, but I am worried that the 1.5hr lessons would be too short? Any suggestion what might be best for improvers?

On my first skiing holiday I had never skied before. I went with my husband (who could ski) and we were there for a week and we decided to book group lessons but of course we were in different groups. The lessons were 10am-4pm split into 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours for lunch, then 2 hours in the afternoon so we would meet during the lunch break or have lunch with our groups if we weren't able to. We had lessons for 4 days, then skied together for the remaining 2 days.

Group lessons are great so I would recommend them but it depends on the group size - there were only 5 of us in my group which was brilliant, but when I went again a year later at a much bigger resort there were 10-15 of us which was a bit more challenging. I've had a private lesson as well which was excellent and if I had the budget I probably would have done more of those; this might work well for you as you can already ski.

I've never skied in France but I imagine most resorts have a similar set-up with lessons in that you can book a couple of days' worth to start you off, then add more at the same price if you need them.

Hope you enjoy your holiday!

I agree about 1.5 hours not being long enough; by the time you allow for taking lifts it doesn’t leave an awful lot of ski time. Also lessons every day puts a lot of pressure to either be up early or to have quick lunches and it is a holiday after all! Presuming you have 6 days skiing then I would book 2 3 hour group lessons- one on day 2 after you’ve had a day to warm up and find your ski legs and another the second on day 4 after you’ve had a day in between to practice. I’d also probably find a ski school that isn’t ESF if they have availability- in my experience they aren’t massively encouraging. I did this about 10 years ago when I was stuck at the intermediate stage and it made the world of difference.

Group lessons really depend on your group... After 3 years of thinking I was unteachable, I actually made a load of progress this year and I think it was down to being in a group of other people who struggled, rather than a group of people who picked everything up really quickly. But it's down to luck.
I would look online for another ski school in the resort for some 2hr private lessons if you have a particular request

I'd go private you'll make far
More progress than trailing behind an ESF instructor in a huge group.

Go private. I am surprised private is only offered for 1.5 h.
Maybe once there , go to the school and ask, especially if beginning of February and off-peak season.

With private, they focus on you, your knee, arms, back, weight or whatever you do wrong on a technical point of view and they will give you tips on how to address a specific slope, on which side to start and so on. They often also take you to places you wouldn't discover such as going at the back of a chairlift to join a black one at its last hundred meters and enjoy a gentle slope with very few people.

Thanks all! Perhaps I should have clarified that we did also look at other options (3*3hr group lessons, longer private lessons) but the price difference was so substantial that it seemed difficult to justify (for example a 1.5hr private lesson is €80 vs €180 for a 2.5hr one).

Will take another look online though, because it seems like 23hr private lessons might be a better investment than 41.5hr ones!

The reason your hour is cheap is because it is the end of the day, when the snow is more mushy. An 1.5 hr lesson at 9 am would be more expensive.
The groups have finished for the day and people enjoy doing some solo time, it is a wasted hour for the ski school and they sell it for less.

You will probably learn more in a private that in a group imo. And groups can vary so much with ability, confidence etc. I’d want to know how many in the group. Any more than 4 and a private is better value imo.

@LeGrandBleu the cheap lessons are at lunch time.

No they are not. Cheap lessons are at the end of the day.