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Mendieta

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One of the reasons many people don't take lessons is cost. Sure, some people prefer not to, which is fine with me. But I am starting this thread in the hope of helping others, and perhaps some of you, whether you are instructors or not, share tips, experiences and suggestions to help folks take lessons without breaking the bank.

On my side, what I do is 1 hour private lessons in a local hill, Mt Rose, a few times a season. I think these people really get it: they give Passholders a fantastic perk: $39 lessons in a couple dead hours of the day: 9-10, when most daily visitors are parking and renting gear, and 12-1pm, when they are eating :D

Some things that I believe help me optimize the paid-for time:
  • Work on drills introduced to me during the lessons, in the consecutive days, so that next time we can move on to something else. That's on me.
  • Space things out: ne need to take a lesson on day one of the season, and no need to wait too long and start getting bad habits. (anymore than I already have, lol).
  • Stick to one instructor. I heard strong recommendations for Mark Downing in Rose, really liked his approach and I am sticking to him. What you get is a lot of time saving: you don't need to start all over each time. Added bonus: you can create a season plan. Meaning, longer term goals.
Where I don't try to save is on the tip. But, otherwise, I think this is helping me have continuous education through the season without breaking the bank.

How about you? Any tips to share for affordable lessons in your area? (needless to say, no need to post here if you think instruction sucks, this is for people who appreciate and want instruction)
 

surfsnowgirl

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I'm going to plug my home mountain Bromley in southern Vermont gr but really because I think it's a great deal.

A green level or GET lesson is $105. This is the area where I teach. This ranges from first timers to someone who comfortably skis green level terrain and wants to up their game. Price is $105 for an hour and 45 minute lesson. We keep the groups small with no more than 4 per group. Sometimes less if we have to split the group. I've had just one student at times which means they get a private for the cost of a group lesson.

Privates go for $130 but if the person takes a GET lesson in the am they get half off a private in the afternoon.

I love the way our ski school is run. This is my second year working here.

We also have tons of kids programs; mighty mooses, kids rule, jets, a racing program.
 
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jmeb

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Loveland gets two plugs:

- 3 class pass. Various options where you get 3 lessons, with rentals, and at the end receive a free season pass. Prices are very reasonable (less than a season pass to most places) and instruction can take a newbie to skiing blue groomers.
- Adult "group" lessons. $89 for a 1/2 day. I say group because if you are at an advanced to expert level, and can take one mid-week they are likely a semi-private. If you need a lift ticket too, its $119 all told.

https://skiloveland.com/adult-ski-ride-school-group/
 

geepers

Skiing the powder
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1. Buy a 10 pack pre-season when the discounts apply.:doh:

2. To get private lessons (or very small numbers in your group) at group lesson rates go at quiet times, and be a bit non-committal about which group you are actually in until seconds before departure time. It's a bit of an art - have to be positioned to quickly change groups but be prepared to commit earlier if necessary so they pull another instructor into the roster rather than combine groups. Worth learning.:wave:

(Yeah, some ski schools insist on min numbers of students...:()

3. Find a couple of ski buddies of similar ability to share cost of a private lesson - where they do those up to 3 people privates.:beercheer:

4. Become older than 65 - some mountains offer at least one free lesson a season to mature skiers.:yahoo: (Well, growing up isn't so bad when we consider the alternative...)
 
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Mendieta

Mendieta

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Find a couple of ski buddies of similar ability to share cost of a private lesson - where they do those up to 3 people privates.:beercheer:

Funny enough, this doesn't work (or didn't use to) at Mt Rose. You hire a Private lesson and pay per-student. Never understood that.
 
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Mendieta

Mendieta

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A favorite of mine is the pm off trail workshops at Alta, from Watson shelter 1 pm. Small groups, explore new territory, get instruction. $95. Ski until 4 so couple hours' worth.

Sounds great. Oh, and you reminded me. A little different, but Deer Valley has free guided tours, I think starting after lunch, too. No instruction, but great chance to explore the mountain, and I am sure the guides are great (I never did it, mostly due to juggling kids while in there)
 

geepers

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Funny enough, this doesn't work (or didn't use to) at Mt Rose. You hire a Private lesson and pay per-student. Never understood that.

Guess it depends how they price it....if it's, say, $100 each, must have 3, then that's $300. If it's $300 and you can bring 2 others for no extra charge it's the same deal. (As long as you have 2 others...)


The other part of your OP was about maximising value from the lesson:

1. Prepare
  • Be warmed up - have a run or two before the lesson. (There will always be one or more who haven't done a run before hand but why not have your own brain switched on to travelling on skis. Another warm up run will leave you even better prepared.)
  • Be there at least 5 mins ahead of the start time to ask and answer questions to get in the right group.
  • The instructor should ask each student in turn what they want to get from the lesson. Think through what you want being as specific as possible. Saying "I want to get better" is vague and doesn't give the instructor much to work with. Better at what?
  • Make sure the conditions suit what you want to work on. Hard snow carving skills may not be easily worked on in a big pow day (and vice versa).
  • If it's cold, rug up. You will spend a bit longer standing around talking and waiting your turn. Hard to learn when the body goes numb.
2. Participate!!
  • Take your turn to ski immediately after the instructor to get a close look. There's no point in always hanging back. (The instructor should share that spot around - if some-one is hogging it, ask the instructor if you can have a turn.)
  • Equally don't hog that 1st spot. It has the best view of the instructor but it isn't easy for the instructor to see the person so close behind (unless they ski switch) so sometimes they get a better view of the people further back. And you get to see others do the drill and can pick up info on what to do or not do. (Actually L4 instructors have an uncanny ability to assess everyone's skiing at all times. 4 eyes must be a criteria for the job...)
  • Occasionally volunteer to go 1st when the instructor is watching - you'll be fresh in their mind for assessment.
  • If skiing is being observed one by one, wait until the instructor signals before heading off - no point giving it your best shot only to find out they were head down with the previous student providing feedback and didn't see you ski. Pay attention for the signal to avoid keeping the group waiting.
  • Ask questions when you are unsure. Heck, ask questions anyway. It's amazing how the smallest things can be mis-interpreted. But... try not to over-ask - they can't talk and ski. If it's a long question/answer there's a chair ride coming up. Again the instructor should keep things progressing, with a good mix of explanation and skiing.
  • If something is not happening then ask. Not getting feedback? Ask for it. Not enough skiing? Ask. (Just don't moan and whine.)
3. Practice
  • There's no point in paying to learn new skills/moves and then not taking action. If you don't intend to put in the effort afterwards, much better to hand all the lesson money straight to the 1st instructor you see. At least one of you will be much happier....
  • Note the key points you are getting from the lesson - either as you go (voice memo on smart phone) or immediately after. Before it gets lost in the usual whirl wind of life. (Snow time is often party time and alcohol does not preserve memory.)
  • A single lesson is very unlikely to turn a skier from an eternal intermediate into a black diamond slaying ski god. It took 10, 20, 30 years to embed those habits so it may take longer than a few hours to add/adjust. In a lesson you can at best hope to get initiated into new skills/moves and go some way to acquiring the intended form. Those skills/moves need to be consolidated (and later refined) so that you can utilise them when conditions get more demanding and more of your brain will be tied up with tactical stuff like path to ski, obstacles to avoid.
  • This practice may mean spending at least some of the day on less demanding terrain then you normally ski - we learn on the green and test on the mean. (I once spent the 3 complete days after a lesson doing nothing but the main drill. Not always practical on a short trip but one of the things that it is possible to do if skiing a whole season.)
  • It is hard to concentrate on one aspect of skiing exclusively - we get bored, lose focus, etc. Maybe try skiing with the thought in mind for 2 runs, then 2 runs just having fun. Repeat. Also good to start each day with some of the key drills. (But if it's a pow day - just go enjoy.)
Finally, ski instructing is highly contextual. What an instructor (or a different instructor) will say and what drills they may propose has to be considered for a range of factors - the conditions (snow, weather, crowds), the students and their objectives, etc. It may well be that what you learnt yesterday was exactly right for yesterday's context but not the optimum for today's. Or the tip doesn't quite make sense in terms of what we think we know already. By all means ask. But also be prepared to file it away for later when we may have more overall understanding.
 

TheArchitect

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I'm going to plug my home mountain Bromley in southern Vermont gr but really because I think it's a great deal.

A green level or GET lesson is $105. This is the area where I teach. This ranges from first timers to someone who comfortably skis green level terrain and wants to up their game. Price is $105 for an hour and 45 minute lesson. We keep the groups small with no more than 4 per group. Sometimes less if we have to split the group. I've had just one student at times which means they get a private for the cost of a group lesson.

Privates go for $130 but if the person takes a GET lesson in the am they get half off a private in the afternoon.

I love the way our ski school is run. This is my second year working here.

We also have tons of kids programs; mighty mooses, kids rule, jets, a racing program.

A plug for the Bromley kids program. My son has taken lessons at a number of mountains but still says his favorite experience was Bromley.
 

Chris V.

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Affordable depends on your perspective. I just signed up for the unlimited lessons package at Alpine Meadows. At $989 it sounds like a lot, but if you plan to take a few lesson it's a very good deal. Advanced lessons will be very small groups. If you get one on one it's cut off at a half day, but as a one time private lesson that would cost about $500. My first day was yesterday, and I thought it was top notch. A good chance of developing an ongoing relationship with some great trainers.

I received no promotional consideration for this message.
 

Coach13

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Liberty, Whitetail and Roundtop’s Night Club pass includes a one time lesson upcharge of $40 which gives you the option of a group lesson each and every time you visit one of the 3 resorts You can’t best that for an affordable lesson package imo.
 

abcd

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Group format with a strong group and a very good instructor feels very useful to me. I feel like I'm getting a three-in-one lesson: general explanation, tips for my own skiing and watching tips given to the others after observing their skiing. I found such options in Canada and more recently in Italy (just posted a long post about it).
In the US I keep taking private lessons because my resort charges for each additional person enrolling in the private, which is a misery
 

Pumba

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The Taos Ski Week is hands down the best value in North America. My second best experiences were the Alta off-piste workshop mentioned above- it was a good 3-4 hours of exploring and almost private instruction - I had one other person in my group. Tied with that is a half day advanced lesson I took at Revelstoke - 60-70 usd if I remember correctly and only one other student.
 

Rostapher

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Both my wife & I did “The Camp” at Whistler & we both had great experiences. It’s 4 days (M-Th) virtual all day (9:30-3:30) with the same instructor. It actually sounds similar to Taos ski week, though I’ve never been. Also includes running gates, video analysis, après, etc. At $599 CDN or about $450 US, even if you take out an hour for lunch each day, it comes out to about $22.50/hr for a small group lesson with high quality instructors, which seems like a pretty good deal.

Just for a fun comparison, I looks like you get 12 total hours of instruction at Taos ski week for $270 or.... $22.50/hr! :D

Finally, glad to see people had good experiences with the Alta off-piste. :thumb: I was already looking at doing one of these when we go in March.
 

enkidu

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Man, I've been to Whistler 3 times and this is the first I've heard of "The Camp". I'm definitely doing it next year. Thanks guys!

Northstar California has a really neat instruction deal called the "early riser" or something. For $169 you get a private 1:1 lesson from 8:30-9:30 (they tell you to be there at 8:20). I've taken half day 1:1 private lessons before and although they were great, I felt overwhelmed with tips, drills, and notes. With the early riser, I get 1-2 new drills on which to work and then I can come back for another. You can get 4 early riser lessons for exactly the price of 1 half day private lesson and I think you get much more learning/improvement value from the lessons in this format. BTW, I always factor in the cost of a tip to my instructor.
 

Prosper

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Due to cost I do not take private lessons. I take an all day group lesson every 1-2 years. Before the lesson, I get the names of a few instructors from a forum like Pugski. I then get try to contact with some of those instructors i advance especially if they’re active members of the forum and coordinate with the instructor to be in the group that they’re teaching that day. If that isn’t possible I bring my list of instructors to the lesson and ask the ski school supervisor if one of those instructors is available to teach my group. I’d estimate that I’m successful about 50% of the time when trying to do the above. On the unusual occasions when I didn’t feel I got very much out of the lesson I have gone to the ski school desk at the end of the day and politely discussed why the lesson didn’t meet my expectations. One time the response I got was that I should have taken a private and on another occasion I was comped an all day lesson later in the season. When taking lessons I try to take mid-week during a less busy time of the year. Usually I’m in a group of 2 and rarely 3 other students. I find that the more advanced the lesson the smaller the group.
 

marjoram_sage

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Affordable depends on your perspective. I just signed up for the unlimited lessons package at Alpine Meadows. At $989 it sounds like a lot, but if you plan to take a few lesson it's a very good deal. Advanced lessons will be very small groups. If you get one on one it's cut off at a half day, but as a one time private lesson that would cost about $500. My first day was yesterday, and I thought it was top notch. A good chance of developing an ongoing relationship with some great trainers.

I received no promotional consideration for this message.

I'd love to know more about how this program is working for you? Is it possible to figure out which instructor is teaching when so you can take lessons from same instructor? I took 3 full day lessons at Beaver Creek and got different instructors every time who sometimes offered conflicting advice. So I have become a bit sceptical of the taking ongoing lessons from different instructors.
 

marjoram_sage

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On my side, what I do is 1 hour private lessons in a local hill, Mt Rose, a few times a season. I think these people really get it: they give Passholders a fantastic perk: $39 lessons in a couple dead hours of the day: 9-10, when most daily visitors are parking and renting gear, and 12-1pm, when they are eating :D

This sounds like a fantastic perk. Can you request the instructor you want?
 

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