Emily’s first ever ski lessons in the mountains

For those who read my previous blog, you would know me as the “newbie” to skiing – I never knew how to ski prior to working at Erna Low nor had I been to the mountains before (to be honest I’m like a lizard and quite happy to lie in the sun!). The only snow I’ve come across is the stuff that causes widespread panic when it settles in the UK and leaves me trapped in my car overnight …

On April 13^th it was time for the Erna Low guys and gals to have a little fun of our own and on April 13^th we headed to Montgenèvre for our end of season weekend. It was my turn to experience what you Erna Low clients love to do year after year….

I was booked in for two 2 hour private lessons with A-Peak ski school to develop on what I had previously learnt at Hemel Hempsted Snow Centre in August, and early Saturday morning I was met by my instructor Philippe. Was I nervous? Yes, Yes I was but I really shouldn’t have been as Philippe made me feel relaxed and comfortable. As Saturday is the changeover day the beginner slope was extremely empty therefore if I were to make a fool of myself I could do so without being extremely embarrassed!

Emily heads off with Philippe for her first lesson on the mountain!

After quickly going over the basics such as how to carry and put on the skis, walking around and climbing up the slope it was time to take the button lift and re-learn how to do a snow plough and use the space across the slope. Slowly but surely I was able to convert my weight so I could successfully control my turns and not once did I fall over – good start! Next was learning to go across the slope with my skis parallel and pushing my inside edges into the snow, then changing into a controlled snow plough to turn before taking my skis back parallel. I was thrown off by my lack of balance to begin with however soon learnt to put more pressure where needed.

Each time we went down the slope I was asked to do different things such as alternating lifting my knee so I could learn to centre my balance or sticking my arms out wide so I could get used to using my leg to control my turns not my shoulders. Gradually we took the lift higher and higher and towards the end of the lesson we finally did a few runs from the top of the slope. I must admit my first lesson wiped me out but after a well deserved drink and a trip to the spa I felt back on form and excited for my next lesson.

"This is how you put your skis on"

Overnight we had a fresh fall of snow and on the Sunday the slopes were bustling with new arrivals, therefore I now had to learn to compete with the other learners on the beginners slope by navigating my way down without knocking into anyone.  After doing a few runs on the beginners slope and dodging children half my size I was now told it was time to hit the Green Slope.

Emily re-charged in the Le Chalet des Dolines spa area

I felt comfortable leaving the beginners area, onboard the lift I felt like an excited toddler as it was my first time using a bubble lift and my first experience on a proper ski run. Once we reached the top I followed Philippe down the slopes and felt at ease even though others were whizzing past me. The scenery was amazing and the views so spectacular that it was quite hard for me to try and concentrate on the slope ahead of me and wipe the smile of my face! I did at one point take a tumble at the edge of the slope but was quickly pulled back on my feet – it really is tricky getting back up when you land in the most awkward of positions! We were able to fit in two runs, both were exhilarating and I certainly felt a rush – why hadn’t I done this before!?

Enjoying the exceptional snow conditions in Montgenevre

I didn’t realise how much I would learn in the two 2 hour private sessions I had, I didn’t even think I would head down a green run on day two…but I did! With a private lesson you can’t hide behind others, the focus is purely on you and your development, I was always told how to improve but at the same time acknowledged and supported on what I did well. A note for beginners: be relaxed and try not to get too frustrated and overwhelmed. It’s just like learning to ride a bike for the first time in which everything will soon come naturally after practise!

I cannot recommend enough A-Peak ski school, I enjoyed every minute of my lessons especially with such a patient and professional instructor and Montgenevre was certainly the perfect place to learn.

Will I be going skiing again….well I’m already rounding up some friends to tackle the mountains with me next year….

Joanna’s resort report from snowy Arc 1950

Jeremy

In sunny snowy Arc 1950, seven boys had the privilege of skiing with Jeremy from Spirit 1950 Ski School – tracking down every mogul and off piste gully in the resort!

So what did they think of their experience?

John
“Jeremy is a skiing god who made nothing too easy or hard and nothing we did whilst we were skiing was boring!”
Max
“the most fun part of my skiing week by a mile!”
Toby
“one of the best skiing experiences I’ve ever had!”
Jamie
“too cool for ski school!”
Rory
“Jeremy teaches us tricks and improves our technique and on top of that he is very funny!”
Scott
“I learnt how to do a 180 and am coming back next year to do a 360!”
Zak
“Jeremy taught me how to master off-piste skiing and now i can beat my brothers!”

Jeremy and the boys in Arc 1950, showing off their custom hoodies, kindly provided by www.spectrumpp.co.uk.

I’m finally a ski instructor!!!

Cody qualifies on his ski instructor course in Canada!!

So I’m in a bar, I’m talking to a girl, she asks about what I do, and I reply “welllll I just happen to be a qualified ski instructor and I do a lot of private lessons (hinty hinty hint)”. Now I feel less guilty when I say that since it’s actually true! I think that was the motivation that drove me through the draining exam process over the last week.
Over four days we were assessed on both our skiing and teaching ability. For the first two we were assessed purely on our skiing and for the second two our teaching.  The night before the first day I could barely sleep through the nerves, and the long trip up the Whistler gondola was a tense one. For me that is. Most people were pretty chilled, but I naturally get nervous about these things, but after my first run I was absolutely fine. Skiing does that for me; it calms me and gives me a “what the heck?” attitude. From then on I just let my skiing do the talking, or at least until Wednesday when it became a matter of teaching. Then my nerves came back…. teaching is a whole new ballgame. You could be the best skier in the world and still fail on your teaching. I even remember listening to “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley the night before to calm me down. I’d done a lot of practise teaching before this, but when you have to do it for real the pressure starts to come down on you.

Me as a fully fledged ski instructor

In the end I taught a good lesson though, without being interrupted by the examiner, a huge relief, since he would only do so if you slipped up. On Thursday, we finished at midday, and I retired to my flat (an excellent piece of ski property) before heading back into town to get my results at 3.30pm. Waiting for the envelope that held my fate seemed even more important than waiting for my A-level results, and I wasn’t disappointed by what I saw inside. A strong pass, and that night everyone within Alltracks Academy went out to celebrate and got absolutely car-parked (drunk).  Sadly I can’t really describe that (I think there was a club………I know there was alcohol).
Now I’m living the dream, I remember sitting at home planning this almost three years ago, and for it to have finally happened is the most rewarding feeling I’ve ever had (forget school). Now I have a new qualification, a new achievement and a new chat-up line.

Don’t let the language barrier ruin your trip!

Vanessa, one of our friends at learning holiday company GoLearnTo, shares some valuable basics on coping with the language barrier on a ski holiday.

I was a latecomer to ski holidays and I was 25 before I hit the slopes. My first trip to Soll in Austria saw me on skis but all that snow ploughing didn’t really do it for me so the next year, I switched to snowboarding. Despite the bruises and hours spent sitting in wet snow, I was hooked. 

My first boarding experience was in Whistler, Canada where they speak the same language so it was easy to make myself understood shouting, “sorry, I’m still learning” as I careered down the slopes not having mastered the ability to turn or slow down without catching my edge.

A year passed and I headed to France where on my first day finding my boarding legs, I found myself needing to shout ‘sorry I’m still learning’ as I careered across the slope at high speed picking up a small child on the way, I’m not quite sure how it happened, I was trying to avoid a nasty accident and the only way to get him out of the way was to pick him up at high speed.  Picture this, a small French child in tears, two angry parents and an out of control beginner snowboarder crying ‘sorry I’m still learning’. If that’s not enough to encourage you to learn French to explain why I took off with their child and to beg forgiveness I don’t know what is.  

So with a weekend in the Sierra Nevada mountains planned and a week in Zell Am See, I thought it best to learn Spanish and learn German so I could make myself understood lest another ‘French accident’ occurred.

So here’s my guide to saying that all important phrase ‘Sorry I’m still learning’ in French, Spanish and German (I’ve added Italian as although now, after a lot of lessons I‘m much more in control I’m off there next month and you never know!)

French: Pardon, j’apprends/je suis debutant(e)

Italian: Mi scusi, sto ancora imparando!

German: Entschuldigung, ich lerne noch!

Spanish: Lo siento, aun estoy aprendiendo!

And in case you were worried, the small French child was unharmed and forgave me, the parents on the other hand…

The Instructor Factor – The difference good instructors make on the season

Cody in Whistler is finding his snow feet…
Three weeks into my ski instructor course with Alltracks Academy, the best ski holiday of my life, and I’m flyyyying down the slope! When I put my hands out it feels like I’m going to take off, and if I don’t look where I’m going and hit a bump that can actually happen. However I could never achieved all this improvement by myself, no-way. It’s down to the three separate instructors that have guided me through into my third week. Just observing the quality of Canada’s best shooting past (leading the hazard that is the snake of the ski school) You can tell that whistler has a strong foster of ski instructors. Without a doubt, I will be better come March because of them.
Ryan was the first to mould our group into something that resembles a coalition of capable skiers. I remember the day our group hooked up with him and began to ski as one. I suddenly realised that I had become the thing I fear the most, a ski school snake…. but putting that out of my mind, I was soon doing back-flips all over the mountain under his teaching (joking of course). In actual fact he took us back to basics and showed us that a snowplow is actually a lot harder than a back-flip, because I haven’t done it for years. At the same time he focused on our technique, so that we saw improvement in all categories of our skiing over that week. As for our second instructor, Petra, I’ll never forget the moment I met her. She talks, acts and even looks a little like Sappho at the Erna Low London office (aka: the person who edits out all the good parts of my blog!). 

Petra - who reminds me of someone at home!

In any case, Petra again showed me some stuff that I never realised came into play with skiing, for example the positioning of the hands. For years I’ve been dragging my inside hand at waist height, oblivious to the fact that it forced me to lean back and lose balance. However Chris is the man that has really given me the confidence to take on any terrain. The secret? Attack it! You may not want lean forwards into a 99% incline mogul field, but trust me, it’s the best way.
I can’t imagine how I’m ever going to be one of these guys by the end of the course! They’ve made such a difference to my skiing, and I’m supposed to be qualified like them by the end of the season? It’s a strange thought. I look forward to it though, and I’ll only charge £200 an hour.

‘Bend ze knees…!’ Taking ski lessons at Arc 1950

Bethan Stacey, is spending the season working in the Erna Low Property office in Arc 1950 and has been testing out the local ski school…

Last week was the most beautiful week of the season so far – sun every day, cool temperatures to keep the snow good but not too cold (only one day of not feeling your toes at the end of your ski boots) and a small amount of fresh snow when it was needed.  And as I start in the ski property sales office every day at midday (jammy!), I decided to make the most of it by taking some ski lessons.  I’d taken a handful of private lessons before but never group ones, so it was going to be a little bit different and I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the bonus with the ski school in Arc 1950, ‘Spirit 1950′  is that it’s an ESI (International Ski School) and so the groups are limited in number so we were only 8 in total.

Bethan getting ready to go in Arc 1950

Although we were a level 3 group, in reality our ability was quite mixed but our instructor, Alex, coped well by giving us lots of different technique lessons so everyone had a different thing to work on depending on our capability.  We also took some pistes and off-piste routes that I’d never been to, despite having already had many ski holidays to Les Arcs, and I know that the rest of the group were also discovering areas they didn’t know existed.

We had a day where we went to the top of the Aiguille Rouge – the highest point in the Les Arcs domain – and did the run part of the way to Villaroger, so almost 7 km of black and red pistes without a chairlift!  We had a lesson on moguls and off-piste and did lots of fun tree runs around Peisey Vallandry and Arc 1600, which always test your technique, and then did technique to try and improve our general piste skiing – short turns and longer carving turns.

On the lift with Spirit ski instructor, Alex

All in all it was a really fun few days : great to be part of a group and fantastic to ski with an instructor who has all the local knowledge to guide you to places that you wouldn’t have known to explore alone.  Private lessons are great for really improving your technique and always working at your own pace but group lessons are a real laugh and you get to learn from other people too.  Not to mention the price advantage of course – adult group lessons cost 160€ for 6 mornings of 2 ½ hours.

Safe to say I would definitely recommend group lessons and also the Spirit 1950 Ski School in Arc 1950!