European Snowsport
Outstanding, independent ski schools in Verbier, Zermatt, Nendaz, St Moritz and Chamonix
Autumn Menu From Our Favorite Eating Hole Le Bec
ES is located inside Mountain Air
Since winter 2014-15, a high quality ski school in black uniforms specialising in personal service and great instructors, has been operating out of the Premier Alpine Centre ski shop in Nendaz.
We have been watching their professional operation with interest ever since, and this winter we are pleased to announce that we will be taking on their existing instructor team and growing their operations as ES Nendaz!
The school will continue to operate from Premier Alpine Centre, so that Nendaz clients will be able to arrange everything for their holiday from one central point.
Premier Alpine Centre is a high quality shop, rentals and services provider with premises in the Hôtel Nendaz 4 Vallées, a luxury four-star hotel and spa complex located in the resort centre. With an emphasis on personal service, and a flexible and responsive team, PAC has a lot of objectives in common with ES and we are very much looking forward to working with them this winter.
You can take a look at Premier Alpine Centre and what they do HERE.
With this partnership, ES Nendaz will grow and offer a greater variety of lessons with qualified and experienced instructors who specialise in helping you get the most out of your holiday time. Whether it’s the pre-lesson meeting at your accommodation, or the little extras like tissues, balloons for the children, and lip salve, the emphasis, as with all of our ES resorts, is on quality and individual service.
In Nendaz we will also offer our well-known Kids Academy; Small group lessons where each child is tracked by GPS, with medals, certificates, goodie bags and an end-of-week prize giving (with vin chaud for the parents 😉) outside Premier Alpine Centre. These small group lessons will run in the peak holiday weeks of the winter. There are limited places to ensure quality, with a maximum of six children per group (never exceeded).
ES Nendaz also gives us the opportunity to add on some fun days out from Verbier, such as ‘Skiing and Spa’ days. More information to follow..!
For more details and to book, please contact:
[email protected] or +41 27 771 6222.
We are open seven days a week and will be delighted to hear from you.
By Julian Griffiths
Photos by Nick Reader
Many times throughout my career, I’ve heard mums tell me that they used to love skiing with their husbands, but post-kids have found themselves trailing behind the family, children accelerating ahead in ability while mum and sometimes dad become more and more fearful, losing confidence day after day. However, this issue is not just limited to mums; in any family or group where one person has fallen behind or started at a disadvantage, keeping up can be an experience terrifying enough to put you off for good.
Even for those who love to ski, a partner who doesn’t enjoy skiing with you can have a negative impact on your skiing experience.
My favourite client over the past two seasons has been a mature gentleman widower who has remarried an avid skier. Let’s call him Bob. We were paired up by a mutual friend who could see Bob was struggling to keep up and not enjoying his skiing.
Bob arrived, and I asked the usual questions.
Which runs have you skied?
He’d skied all the challenging, marked off-piste runs in Verbier. Quite impressive.
How long have you been skiing?
A few years after a 30-year gap.
Then we went skiing; experience taught me to start on a super easy run. As I eased into the first turn, I looked back, and Bob seemed ok. He rotated his feet, steering his skis towards the fall-line. Then suddenly, as his skis approached the fall-line, his shoulder rotated into the turn, hips followed and the skis, now virtually flat and with most of his weight on the inside ski, started to wobble. As much as he twisted his body, his skis only slightly turned, reluctantly and wobbling violently. Skis can be tricky like this. Turn the legs, you’re alright; turn the body, the skis don’t like it.
The same calamity occurred on the next turn. And the next. At each turn, Bob’s skis wobbled uncontrollably and only took him where he wanted to go in the most unhelpful and reluctant way they could: slowly. Skiing like this is no fun; the skier feels the speed getting away from them, like they have no control.
That Bob made it down some of the runs he’d skied was incredible.
Of course, Bob could feel that the skis didn’t want to turn, so did what came naturally: he rotated his body and hips more and more into each turn. This kind of rotation only makes it worse, flattening the skis and making the wobble turn into a shake.
Now, Bob’s a staunch bloke; he can handle himself and a bit of wobbling wasn’t going to put him off. But skiing like this is exhausting and it was taking its toll. What really struck me about his terrible technique was that he looked so uncomfortable doing it. It was difficult, inefficient, tiring and looked bad, but it had got him down some of the most terrifying slopes Verbier has to offer.
Bob’s not the sort of person to admit to being terrified halfway down the Vallon D’Abris. He’s a tough old coot. His problem was that his new wife, an awesome skier, had been dragging him down these difficult slopes. This experience was probably not much fun for either party; I’d been lucky to catch Bob before he gave up on skiing entirely.
Our first lesson was on an easy blue run. At the end of the session, I sat down with Bob and explained that his over-rotating was caused by his wife and friends taking him, for years, down slopes that were too steep.
While he was trying to get the turn over with as soon as possible, the proper technique is very different, much more subtle, and the only place for him to learn it was the flattest slope we could find.
Luckily, he agreed to give it a go.
For the remainder of the week, for two hours a day, we went to Verbier’s beginner slopes and carefully re-built Bob’s technique from the ground up. Bad habits take a lot of un-learning, but we progressed bit by bit. Bob started to enjoy a good turn and be very aware of a bad one.
Later that season Bob came back, and we did another week. This time we went a little higher up the mountain, more efficient now, and a little faster. Bob even admitted he was beginning to enjoy skiing.
Of course, this has taken a lot of patience. As an instructor, I’m pretty stoked to have someone skiing on the mountain with me who was on the cusp of giving it all up.
Bob’s wife is happy; we often finish our lessons at a restaurant on the mountain where they can have lunch together. Sometimes I’m invited to join, which is always a pleasure for any ski instructor, even the boss of the ski school. Bob’s confidence is mostly back. Sometimes there are setbacks; friends have taken him on a slope that’s too steep. If this happens, I can see the difference straight away in our next lesson.
Stick to easy pistes if you’re trying to build confidence. Places and slopes where you are comfortable. The steeper slopes only make things happen too quickly, with too much force.
Confidence is a tricky thing; many people offer fancy fear-reducing psychological treatments like neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and hypnosis. However, I think this is pretty pointless unless you’re genuinely traumatised. Most people just need to feel confident doing turns. Then they feel safer going skiing. This safeness, this confidence, eventually leads to being able to ski faster.
In my experience, a bit of time spent going back to basics, remembering the things you learned when you started skiing, the right guidance and the right terrain is what it takes. The most important aspect for anyone who finds themselves out of their depth on skis is to go back to easy pistes and re-learn the necessary skills to tackle the slopes with ease.
Bob and I hopefully will ski together for many more years; I hope one day he will ski as fast as his wife. Already, last season she was genuinely impressed with his progress when she swooshed passed us one morning.
Julian Griffiths runs ES but also teaches. If you or someone you know would like to ski with Julian for a confidence-building series of lessons, please contact us to make a reservation.
Planning a holiday sometimes feels like a chore itself worthy of a holiday, and a ski holiday may, for some, feel like too much of a logistical challenge to overcome. Fear not, in this write-up it has been broken down into logical segments. How to plan a ski holiday is often a hotly contested subject, as everyone has their own organisational preferences. Here, we’ve broken it down to the bare bones to help you get off to a strong start.
FINDING THE RIGHT SKI RESORT
First off, you want to figure out which ski destination suits your holiday type best. Often, when you plan a ski holiday, picking a resort is the hardest part. Are you up for hard, challenging ski terrain or are mellow slopes your thing? Do you prefer a picturesque village or is a modern slope-side ski in / ski out apartment complex more practical? Is it important that the resort is child-friendly?
Many of these ski resort attributes are combinable, but sometimes you simply have to choose one or the other.
There are over 1100 ski resorts (counting all small towns and big resorts) in the mountain range known as “The Alps” so you have an abundance of choices. The mountain range stretches from the southern part of France, through Switzerland, south of Germany, north of Italy, west / south of Austria and even partly into Slovenia.
A useful resource to narrow things down is a website called skiresort.info. It contains a complete collection of all the ski resorts worldwide and you can search for resorts based on your preferences. But if you know you definitely want lessons with ES, get the low-down on our four resorts here.
ACCOMMODATION
Use the ski resort’s official website or your preferred source of accommodation reservations. You will find anything from two-star private bed & breakfasts to the most luxurious hotel or chalet you can imagine. Study the map of the resort to understand the location in relation to the ski lifts or other significant places. Some resorts have organised complimentary shuttle busses to ease getting to and from the ski lifts.
Your choice of accommodation may also have some sort of ski and ski boot storage for you to use, typically a heated room in the basement. Others will provide storage at the bottom of the ski lifts.
WHERE TO FLY?
Once you’ve found your ski resort it’s time to look into flight arrangements. Depending on your departure destination and choice of resort you will typically fly into one of the following airports:
France: Geneva or Grenoble
Germany: Munich
Austria: Salzburg, Innsbruck or Zurich
Italy: Torino or Geneva
In addition, a few airlines operate on a limited flight frequency to some of the smaller airports closer to the resorts (i.e. Chambery or Sion) during high season. If their schedule fits your travel dates they’re definitely worth checking out.
AIRPORT TRANSFERS
As you know by now, the Alps is a rather big area so getting from the airport to resort may take some time. Travel times generally range from one to four hours, depending on your choice of transport.
Four main types of transport are usually available:
TRAIN
Some resorts (like Verbier, Zermatt and St. Moritz) have excellent connection by train (you can even board the train at the airport) whilst other are more dependent on road vehicles.
SHARED TRANSPORT (minibus- to coach-sized depending on demand)
Shared transport is most often an affordable solution. You can expect a little waiting whilst they gather up all arriving clients form different flights, but they are good at coordinating to avoid too much waiting.
PRIVATE TRANSPORT
Private transport is of course ‘all for you’ and is a smooth and effective way to travel. It may sound expensive, but if you are a small group of three to eight people it’s worth comparing prices and sharing the cost.
RENTED CAR
If you are staying at the same resort all through your holiday, a rented car tends to be an unnecessary, expensive solution. Especially since some resorts, like Zermatt, are car-free.
These are the four ‘main’ types of transport. On top of that you can of course rent a helicopter at the airport and have it fly you to resort…!
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Maryse Kaiser has been with ES since the start, as our admin office manager she is the sun around which the ES universe revolves. Many years ago her affinity for the mountains took her to Nepal where she fell in love with both the country and the people. After witnessing the poverty affecting some parts of the country, and with the help of other members of the Verbier community, she set up a charity in aid of the disadvantaged children of the region. Here is her blog:
Already 10 years! The Association Annapurna was founded in 2007 when we set ourselves the goal of improving the situation of disadvantaged children in the city of Pokhara in Nepal.
We give priority to young girls in order to prepare them through education to the world that awaits them! We enrol them in a private school until the end of their studies. We are proud to say that one of the young girls has already completed her nursing studies and is working in a hospital in Pokhara. Others are about to finish and have achieved excellent results in school. The children speak fluent English and will be able to turn to the evolving tourist trades in Pokhara, starting point for many treks on the Annapurna side. School is not compulsory in Nepal and girls are often sold in India where they are forced into prostitution.
Nepal is a very poor country, bordered by China and India. An unstable economic situation coupled with numerous natural disasters, illnesses and lack of access to medical care have caused great distress and decimated families. Many orphaned children find themselves deprived, on the street and without hope of a future ……. 35% of the population lives below the poverty line and 70% of women are illiterate.
Our Association is made up of members and sponsors. We also organise many mountain film nights and we often have a stand in various events.
We have quite a few projects for 2017, the 10th year of the Association! We will be among others present at the Feast of August 15 on the Alpine de la Chaux in Verbier and we will also organise different events.
The first event will take place on 4 February at the Salle de la Combaz in Verbier, a magnificent film of the crossing on foot of the Himalayas 2500 km between Sikkim, Ladhak, India , Nepal. by Nicolas Bossard (Waldensian director), who also summited Everest in spring 2016, with the expedition of our guide friend Tendi Sherpa.
We are also proud to have realised another dream … .. the reconstruction of a school in the region of Gorka, a region largely destroyed after the earthquake of April 2015, thanks to all the generous donations we have received .
Our evening of mountain films at the Châble of April 24, 2015 has just drawn to a close when the violent earthquake hit Nepal causing thousands of deaths and injuries. We decided to give the all the proceeds for that evening for first aid. The next day dozens of people showed up on our Facebook site to make donations. We collected a nice sum and decided to rebuild a school in the hard-hit Gorka region. Today this school is operational and many students go there to study.
Dhan Adikari, founder of the Association, visited the site in November 2016 for the inauguration. He was received by the Gorka authorities, schoolmasters and children. We are very pleased to have been able to contribute, to the extent of our means, to the well-being of these children, who otherwise may not have had the opportunity to return to school for a prolonged period of time. We thank all generous donors.
For more information, visit the website : annapurna.ch
If you are the parent of keen skiers, there comes a time when they want to go racing.
As a parent who is also a keen skier, I know this is absolutely the best thing for their skiing as well, a happy coincidence.
Now that my son is 8 (8 and a half, as he corrects everyone) and my daughter is 11, racing time is here!
ES is a sponsor of Kandahar Racing and so their autumn race camp in Saas Fee was an obvious choice. Kandahar Ski Club has a long history in skiing, and is the most established ski racing club in the UK. The Swiss connection goes back to its foundation in Murren, Switzerland in 1924.
Children are able to join Kandahar Racing autumn camps from 8 years old, and can either stay with other children and coaches in accommodation right by the lift, or with their parents and just join for the skiing. Saas Fee is a car free village at the foot of a glacier, with skiing open all year round. During the week we were there, they even had some fresh powder, twice!
Over the autumn the resort fills up with national teams and the children get to train and race next to their heroes (it is a good time to get autographs if you are a ski racing fan!). Lara Gut of Switzerland was training there last week, just before winning the women’s Giant Slalom in the opening race of the World Cup season in Sölden.
The children ski each day until around 2.30pm, have a break and then do afternoon activities. These included volleyball, swimming, an interclub football match with Sandown Ski Club (the Kandahar girls’ team was amazing!), ski tuning workshops, and rides on the bobsleigh.
The camps are inclusive and the emphasis is on teamwork as well as individual performance. For children new to race camps, it is a great introduction with fun and friendly coaches and an open and encouraging atmosphere. There is plenty of technical feedback, video, and exercises too.
The children spend the first couple of days doing some technique and then have some time in stubbies and gates towards the end of the week, with a team race (and medals) on the last day of skiing.
Our children loved it; they both made new friends, their skiing really came on over the week, and they thought their coaches were great.
Over the winter Kandahar Racing also run camps based around the English and British championships, including both race training and academic tutoring in the weeks leading up to the big races.