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Learning Curves
Hundreds of skiers choose a Simon Butler Skiing holiday each year - and for many the overriding factor is the inclusion of quality ski tuition as part of the service. After 30 years in the business, the well-established ski school provides tailored instruction to meet all ability levels - from complete beginners right through to skiers moving on to take instructor qualifications themselves.
The ski school boasts a dedicated team of qualified, experienced instructors to cater for all group requirements. They are selected not only because of their ski know-how, but also because of their interpersonal and communication skills.
The ski school operates a well-established grading system (this information is provided by guests at the time of booking), which allows people to be quickly assigned to appropriate groups of a sensible size where they can learn and progress individually.
As part of the week’s ski school activities a group video analysis session is run by each instructor, which is an excellent teaching aid designed to encourage progress.
Younger Learners
The ski school is focused on ensuring that all children and young adults learn and have fun. Under 18s are assessed throughout the week as part of the Snowlife UK Snowsport Awards Scheme and take part in a special awards ceremony to recognise their achievements at the end of the week.
There are a few requirements for children aged four and five years old who have not skied before. Very young learners must be able to hold a gliding plough and be able to participate fully in the two-hour session. This ensures that the class is not held back and that every child can progress. If not, private lessons (payable in resort) are available and there is also a nanny service (please contact the UK office for more information).
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Polish Up Your Skills With A Private Lesson
Private lessons are highly popular with guests who want to spend valuable one-on-one time improving and polishing ski technique and building confidence. Great for individuals and groups, and ideal for parents who may want a leisurely afternoon while the children ski with an instructor. Lessons can be booked through the chalet managers, or UK office, and are available outside of morning ski school hours, and on a Friday and Saturday. |
Whats Your Level?
To help us structure and organise our lessons, we need to have an idea of your skiing experience/ability. This will be influenced by confidence, technical ability and time spent on snow. We ask all guests to thoroughly read the below ski levels before choosing the one they feel describes themselves, and then write this level on the booking form.
LEVEL 1 Never skied, or may have had a lesson on a dry slope. LEVEL 2 One week on snow, or out of practice. You are able to snowplough turn.
When it comes to learning to ski, everyone is different. Our instructors take time to pass on the key skills to build confidence and technique. Beginners meet their instructors on arrival evening and are given priority morning lesson slots to build confidence and early mountain awareness. Megève has dedicated areas for beginners and easy lifts - an ideal stepping stone to some of the great low-level green runs with their wonderful mountain views.
LEVEL 3 Two to four weeks of experience. Comfortable on greens and blues and moving on to reds. Parallel but you are not always consistent. LEVEL 4 Skied regularly for last few seasons. Four to six weeks of experience. Happy to tackle reds and occasional black, depending on conditions. Enjoy new challenges. LEVEL 5 Skiing most of the mountain but come unstuck on more difficult terrain and in varying snow conditions.
Intermediate level 3,4 and 5 skiers can enjoy hundreds of kilometres of terrain - meandering blues and reds and more daring blacks. Great when the pistes are perfect, but so often for intermediates it’s when the weather changes that the challenges start. The intermediate levels are quite wide ranging and again ski school classes will determine ability and confidence levels. Tackling icier conditions, enjoying first tracks through low lying powder, or venturing off the side of the piste, skiers progressing through these levels will learn how to ski all terrain.
LEVEL 6 All mountain skiing in a variety of snow conditions. Ski powder confidently. LEVEL 7 20 weeks of experience minimum. Skiers who can ski the fall-line on difficult terrain, can move at a good pace in variable terrain and ski powder confidently.
Those skiing at higher levels will be looking for bigger challenges - whether it’s working on refining piste skills (carving and short turn technique), skiing powder, steeper slopes, bumps, or getting into the snowpark. The Mont Joly and Cote 2000 areas open up plenty of great places to ski more demanding terrain. A number of Simon Butler Skiing’s regular guests have completed entry-level professional instructor qualifications. Some 68 young people have also worked through the Snowlife UK Snowsport Awards Scheme to achieve the highest-grade 9-star award.
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