Snow and ski - ESF in Alpe D'Huez

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any experience of childrens lessons with ESF in ALpe
D'Huez? How big are the groups, do the instructors speak English, do the
kids have fun?

Any help gratefully received.

Group ESF lessons are a bit of a lottery, although in the bigger resorts
(such as Alpe d'Huez) 'English-speaking' sometimes really means 'able to
hold a conversation'. ESF lessons are supposed to be limited to groups max.
8 people. As far as I know the only other ski school there is the ESI -
Ecole de Ski Internationale.

I've had better service from smaller, private ski schools than the ESF, with
a few very rare exceptions. If you've got several kids of similar ability,
it's worth looking at private lessons, if within the budget. Kids make far
more rapid progress that way. I've seen groups trailing around behind
taciturn, 'old school' ESF monitors who clearly don't give a toss and can go
a whole morning barely addressing a word to their charges other than the
occasional grumpy instruction. This usually applies to the absolute or near
beginner classes which are often taken by instructors nearing retirement,
and as the beginners are usually the youngest kids, it's not the best
introduction to skiing they could have.

That said the biggest resorts attract the better instructors and the ESF
there can afford to pick and choose, so you might be lucky. There are always
exceptions to the rule, and some of the best and friendliest instructors I
know are ESF-trained.

Older, or more outgoing kids are usually ok whether or not there are other
English-speaking children in the group, but the advantage of the bigger
resorts is that's where most of the Anglophones end up.

Details of private tuition through a self-employed instructor below, if
you're interested, based in 2 Alpes but who will sometimes go to Alpe d'Huez
for 2 - 3 hour sessions - very reasonable and excellent with kids.

http://www.easiski.com/skilessons.html (Charlotte Swift)

Pete