Have you seen what lessons will cost this year?

[Gina D]

People here don't represent the reality of the industry, at least at the smaller mountains I'm familiar with. The vast majority of lessons are taken by children, not aspiring young adults or adults. That really does change the equation a lot. Taking your kids skiing is expensive enough, adding lessons to that requires some pretty well off parents.

 

[Eric@ict]

Practice makes permanent, not Pracice makes perfect

This is exactly why I buy a private lesson every year with the same instructor. When I started to take lessons, they were around $600 for a morning session. Now they are just under $900 if bought in advance. Ive been sliding down hills for almost 50 years. Ive been skiing for around 10. When people ask me why, my answer is always the same. Learning new skills and techniques makes skiing easier and the cost is cheaper than the deductible for an ambulance ride to the hospital. The cost of everything has gone up.

If you want to excel at a craft, you need to ask for help. A video on a computer isn't going to cut it especially in skiing. Watching your friend and trying to mimic them isn't going to cut it. I hear it a lot from people, Ill just follow you down the hill. They arent seeing the finesse of my feet or release of my ankles in my boots, they arent seeing me pinch my side on my downhill side, they are missing so much that they could pick up if they spent time with an instructor. Fighting it wont change things other than my attitude. So I pay it and move on and have learned to enjoy my time sking because it is now easier for me than 15 years ago. Thats all because of instruction. It will continue to be worth every penny every year.

 

[Eric@ict]

People here don't represent the reality of the industry, at least at the smaller mountains I'm familiar with. The vast majority of lessons are taken by children, not aspiring young adults or adults. That really does change the equation a lot. Taking your kids skiing is expensive enough, adding lessons to that requires some pretty well off parents.

Maybe...Do you want your kids to enjoy and grow in the sport? Not racing, just spending family time on the hill? I've had many friends (who aren't well off) just understand its part of the price to learn. The kids spend the time in class and come out with a "study guide" and will ski with their parents working the plan and they all learn and improve.
I do believe there are way too many people who will try and teach their kids and loved ones and instill bad habits. I think its dangerous. Easy to tell when you have a 4" mountain missile in a tuck on a blue and then watch them try to stop and it turns into a garage sale.
As Americans, I think we tend to look for the easy way out.

 

[crosscountry]

But those people aren't the ones complaining about high lesson prices, or would take one if the cost was 'reasonable'... whatever that is.

But they are, by not taking lessons at all. (or as few lessons as they can get away with)

I started out as a young adult, a college student to be exact. I took lessons because it's quite "affordable" even at my student budget (less than 10 beer ,which was my standard then). Had it not been so "affordable", I suspect I'd either just "follow" others down the slope, or not stick with skiing at all.

 

[fatbob]

Easy to tell when you have a 4" mountain missile in a tuck on a blue and then watch them try to stop and it turns into a garage sale.
As Americans, I think we tend to look for the easy way out.

Not so worried about the 4" ones even if "look it's cold out there m'kay".

But its not just Americans. Have you ever seen the Dutch or the average German ski/drinking club or Brit mobs loose on the slopes? The general leisure skier globally doesn't have lessons as a priority. They get to a plateau where they consider themselves "skiers" or are frustrated but realise its a time investment they don't have to go further and are satisfied.

Most of us who aren't competitors/vlogging heroes are in the same game just at different levels.

I get why keen beans still see value in continued investment (though the delta in lesson prices over a week would probably pay for a trip to Europe to do the same. It's the squeezed middle everyone in the US should be watching the kids who never get to learn or enjoy the sport because of the pricetag. Maybe it really doesn't matter because hey wealth is wealth and even if kids don't get to learn they don't have much of it anyway whereas oldies will pay simply for queuejumping privileges

 

[Smear]

As Americans, I think we tend to look for the easy way out.

Hmm... Seen from the outside it seems more like the typical american way is to take something that should be fun, simple and reasonably affordable and make it complicated and outrageously expensive. From the prices in the original post of this thread some of you pay about the same for a single day of instruction that me and my daughter combined pay for skiing gates and some coaching multiple times pr week for 13-17 weeks including season pass for lifts for both. Ok, not really comparable, private lessons are expensive here as well... ;-)

I do believe there are way too many people who will try and teach their kids and loved ones and instill bad habits. I think its dangerous.

Do you have the same standards for any activity kids would learn to do? Like riding a bike, climbing, playing soccer, ice skating, learning to swim, running, xc-skiing etc? Nothing but professional overpriced instruction will do, otherwise your a bad parent? If not, then why is alpine skiing so special?

In my opinion the problem most modern families have, is that the kids spend way to much time inside in front of a screen. Get them to do something active almost every day and they will be a lot happier. Setting the bar for everything to be lead by professional coaches/instructors, top notch programs makes that so expensive that most can not afford to prioritize it. Sometimes good enough is good enough and learning from your parents, from another parent or from a youth coach doing their best without perfect training is good enough.

 

[cantunamunch]

Do you have the same standards for any activity kids would learn to do? Like riding a bike, climbing, playing soccer, ice skating, learning to swim, running, xc-skiing etc? Nothing but professional overpriced instruction will do, otherwise your a bad parent? If not, then why is alpine skiing so special?

In my opinion the problem most modern families have, is that the kids spend way to much time inside in front of a screen. Get them to do something active almost every day and they will be a lot happier. Setting the bar for everything to be lead by professional coaches/instructors, top notch programs makes that so expensive that most can not afford to prioritize it. Sometimes good enough is good enough and learning from your parents, from another parent or from a youth coach doing their best without perfect training is good enough.

I'm sure there are high priced MTB camps out there - there is simply too much money.

I do agree with your point in blue - but I think there is a also a lot of expectation that development is to be purchased instead of achieved through self-discovery.

 

[Smear]

I think there is a also a lot of expectation that development is to be purchased instead of achieved through self-discovery.

I guess the process is a lot faster when discovery is guided with highly qualified private instruction/coaching. But sometimes it's about enjoying the journey, not about the rate of progress ;-)

 

[Slim]

Are you sure you're being objective? I'd wager that there are probably some good instructors at Lutsen and surrounding northern Minnesota ski hills.

The screenshot in my earlier post was directly from Lutsen’s skischool page:
”lessons are available up to level II” So they explicitly state they only offer beginner lessons.
I will ask at Spirit again, but a few years ago when I asked, I was told no certified instructors (any level).

 

[cantunamunch]

I guess the process is a lot faster with highly qualified private instruction/coaching. But sometimes it's about enjoying the journey, not about the rate of progress ;-)

That's sort of what I was getting at.

Also that buffing the rate of progress at any price almost pushes competition as the only way to get a proper payoff out of all that money and misery.

Also that intuitive athleticism is like volcanology and witchcraft - people can show you but you still have to teach yourself.

 

[Mike King]

The screenshot in my earlier post was directly from Lutsen’s skischool page:
”lessons are available up to level II” So they explicitly state they only offer beginner lessons.
I will ask at Spirit angina, but a few years ago when I asked, I was told no certified instructors (any level).

@Slim what do you want out of your lesson?

 

[Slim]

@Slim what do you want out of your lesson?

An improvement of my skiing technique.
There are situations in skiing where my skills are hindering my enjoyment, or even creating risk. (Very steep icy terrain or moderately steep terrain with bad snow).
There are other times when it merely reduces the amount of fun I’m having (sking our local low angle, grooomers)
Or where I‘m burning to much energy (moguso, crud).

And yes, I realize that it’s hard to improve in one day, but every little bit helps.

I am not a very proficient skier, but I do feel I have mastered pizza and french fries, which is the level of lessons I see here at home.

So, plenty of low hanging fruit for me to improve. Pretty much any aspect or technique of skiing I can improve a lot.

So in a days lesson, I’d want the instructor to pick a subject where they think I can improve the most, a have me work on those. Hopefully, the feedback, drills and questions I get from them, I can continue to work on on my own.

Why?

 

[geepers]

what do you want out of your lesson?

Why?

Would have thought it should be one of the 1st questions asked by an instructor upon meeting a new client.

 

[Slim]

Would have thought it should be one of the 1st questions asked by an instructor upon meeting a new client.

Of course. I expect my instructor to ask that, but I was wondering why Mike was asking it.

 

[Jersey Skier]

I just read through this thread and piqued my interest. Since I already have my passes paid for this season I figured I'd look into some type of weekly adult program not geared towards beginners or Women only.

Not much of anything around here. Pretty much just expensive privates.

I used to ski with a friend who taught up at Mountain Creek, NJ. He used to pride himself on well he could sweet talk the moms and how much the kids loved skiing with him. He'd have privates booked almost every day. Said he couldn't believe how good the tips were from all the "rich moms." Then one summer he started giving surfing lessons. He quickly realized he'd never teach skiing again. Said he'd make more money any given day at the shore teaching surfing than his best full weeks of teaching skiing.

 

[geepers]

Of course. I expect my instructor to ask that, but I was wondering why Mike was asking it.

Felt your reply was added information otherwise missing so it was a good question.

 

[Alexzn]

At the Tahoe Gathering back in 2012 a group of 6 booked @Sinecure at (then) Squaw for a powder day. We were skunked out on the scheduled day so some stayed back to ski it with fresh snow the next day while many of us went on to the next scheduled day.
They were able to book a day ahead because they knew they were going to do that the next day.
By all accounts the entire group that stayed back at SV and hired sinecure said - WORTH IT!
@SBrown and @Alexzn were in that group but I can't recall who else

Yes, hiring a "lesson" (AKA "escort service") is often worth it on a powder day. You still get the same madhouse frenzy, but more laps...

 

[fatbob]

To level up the lesson game ski schools should make anyone who books a lesson on a pow day do drills on a dull groomer......

 

[crosscountry]

To level up the lesson game ski schools should make anyone who books a lesson on a pow day do drills on a dull groomer......

But they should refund the money if the client book ahead to "learn to ski powder" and there's no powder.

 

[dbostedo]

To level up the lesson game ski schools should make anyone who books a lesson on a pow day do drills on a dull groomer......

But they should refund the money if the client book ahead to "learn to ski powder" and there's no powder.

Someone in my group once asked my instructor at Taos how to go about getting a powder lesson. His reply was basically "You have to get lucky or have flexibility with the snow... but if we get snow, every lesson at every level will be a powder lesson."

Sort of like how when they haven't had snow, every lesson at Taos is a bump lesson.