As one of the only members of staff that does not ski or snowboard at Erna Low, I absolutely jumped at the chance to have a ski lesson during the end of season ski weekend. I had always been a bit scared of trying it, as I am a bit of a wimp and a bit scared of hurting myself. Luckily, one of the students working at Erna Low was a skiing virgin too so we were able to do the lesson together.

So here we were, all kitted out with skis, boots and poles, attempting to drag them to the Spirit 1950 ski school meeting point for our lesson. As Arc 1950 is such a small resort, all the ski school groups meet in the similar place, however there are posts showing which group needs to go where.

Laura conquering the mountain

We found our group, and it turned out I was the only one who didn’t speak French – this was not a problem as the ski instructor said he would be explaining things in both French and English which was extremely helpful during the 2 and a half hour lesson. 
We were both a bit apprehensive of what we were going to do – having no idea how to even stand up on skis!! First thing we did was to push ourselves along with the poles – easy enough, and a good way to learn how to keep your balance. We were then told to put our poles down – what?! Our little safety blanket to keep us upright! Snow plough was next, easy enough in theory, but putting into practice was a little difficult. After a couple of attempts, most people had sort of got the hang of it. We were still in the Arc 1950 village which does not have a lot of room to practice, so we got the pedestrian lift up to Arc 2000, which literally takes a few minutes.

For the remainder of the lesson, we spent the time shuffling up a little bit of slope and then coming down and attempting to snow plough. We also got shown how to turn, and stop at the same time. The lesson was really enjoyable, even though not everyone spoke the same language, everyone helped each other out, if it was helping them to get up to slope, or grabbing on to someone when you felt yourself slipping a little bit! Although I only had one 2 and a half hour lesson, I can imagine that having the full week’s worth of lessons would be such fun, and would learn so much! The instructor said that the lesson the next day, he would be taking the group onto some slopes, so quite a quick progression. I do believe this is the only way to learn, get stuck in as quickly as possible.

Overall, I had a fantastic time on my ski lesson, I would however say to any beginners, be prepared to have some very tired legs! How wonderful that we had the afternoon at the Spa at Le Village to relax and put our feet up! I am now planning on heading out to the Alps next winter and having a week’s worth of lessons – I will be joining my colleagues on the slopes in no time!

Laura Mann, Administration Assistant, Erna Low

Prices at Arc 1950 start from £533 for a one bedroom apartment for a week (up to two people sharing) including return Eurotunnel crossings with free upgrade to Flexi Plus. Erna Low Ski holidays www.ernalow.co.uk