Monday, August 10, 2009

Learn To Ski : Skiing Lessons

By Jamie Gibbs

Taking skiing lessons is the topic for this part of our learn to ski guide.

By taking lessons at a ski school, a professional ski instructor will be able to show you how to ski correctly within a week. You will need these basics in order to truly take advantage of what a resort has to offer, and to do so safely with the skills and confidence you need. There are a number of things you need to consider before signing up at a ski school though, as they can vary significantly in terms of purpose, quality and cost. The following are some of the basic things you should consider:

Ask them if they offer private lessons and group lessons, or just one or the other. Even though private lessons are more expensive, it can be worth the expense to have your ski instructor one-on-one, particularly since you will learn faster this way. If you like the fun of meeting new people, and wish to hear about the experiences of several others, then group lessons might be for you. For first timers especially, class instruction seems to be the preferred choice.

If you elect to start with group lessons, it is important to find out the number of students are in a typical class. An ideal class size will have no more than seven or eight students, but this can vary depending on how the school manages its classes. Try to avoid schools that claim they can teach larger class sizes, because quality instruction will not be the school's goal, but rather its focus will be to make money.

In addition to class size, the experience level the school focuses on is also important; do they cater to beginners, intermediate or expert levels, or maybe all levels? It is important that you are assigned to the same class as others with your same skill level. In order to assess your abilities before placing you in a class, a school might ask you to participate in an instructor-supervised test of sorts where you will be asked to ski down a couple of slopes and show them how well you are able to turn. If you're unsure of your ability, it's better to start off in a lower ability class and ask to be moved up into another if you find it too easy.

Inquire as to whether the school offers gender or age-specific classes. There are schools that have a 'come-one-come-all' policy, and those that have a narrower class focus. Generally, the more specific a ski school is in its purpose (for example, children only or women only) the higher quality they'll be as they'll be tailoring their instructions to a specific set of needs. - 16887

About the Author:

No comments: