Private lessons cost in Europe

[CarolCave]

Here to be educated. Why do private ski lessons cost so much?

The cost is eye watering this half-term, peak week I know.

Still. Is it simply market forces? Is it a case of - if I’m even questioning the cost then they’re for someone wealthier than me and not for me, like buying a Bentley?

I had a private lesson with a native English speaker instructor in Tignes, from a ski school that came warmly recommended. We were sat on lifts for most of the lesson. The teaching was only okay.

Think of it as the per hour cost of three people: one entry level on low pay one middle manager, and one upper management.
The kid doing the lessons is on whatever minimum wage is legal where you get the lesson, but the per hour cost needs to support, the administrators running the school all the associated costs/ office rent etc and then the owner of the ski school needs to pay for his chalet somehow.

Only slightly joking here, I used to work as a hourly paid teacher and then as a manager of hourly paid teachers and roughly what we charged the student was three times what we paid the teacher with significant rounding. The rationale was the second third was to cover admin costs/HR/utilities etc and the final third was the profit margin.

It’s a job that you can only do for 4-5 months of the year. You are teaching someone to do something really dangerous. Esf is about €160 for 2 hours for 2 people which isn’t terrible I don’t think.

Cheers, these are helpful to read. It felt like a very expensive mistake.

Lessons have to include insurance as well - as you can imagine, this can be expensive for a dangerous sport

The training is expensive, living in the resort costs a fortune (and definitely hard to find seasonal accommodation in Tignes), insurance, equipment etc. It’s very expensive, our yearly spend on lessons is massive but we always get a lot out of them. Can massively recommend Ultimate if you’re looking for lessons in Tignes again!