As a student, it can be very difficult, socially almost impossible, to deal with a poorly matched group. I have no doubt that the SALES people at the window (and in a lot of places, they might not even ski) assured
@kimmyt that it would be fine and that she would get what she wanted. And I have no doubt that with limited instructors available, the push was to consolidate classes. And I have no doubt that YES, they made the gendered (and often correct) assumption that as a woman, she'd be less aggro. Not to mention less likely to advocate for what she wanted.
In theory, you can recognize that you're not getting what you want, and request a change or a refund. Look at this in practice. You go to lineup, and you say "This is what I want." The supervisor puts you in a group. They do not put you in a group of one. They bunch people. Sometimes, they push hard to bunch people across multiple levels - I've had to fight that before. So you go out and do a few runs, because you're not confident this is the best group, but you aren't 100% sure and maybe you're just not giving people a chance, and after all, you do want a lesson. It becomes clear that you don't want what the other people in the group want. But yeah, they're not going to volunteer to put you in a group. You have to ask for it. And now if it's a half day lesson, how much time do you have left after a couple of runs, when it's clear you aren't going to get what you EXPLICITLY ASKED FOR? And having actually used the product, are you going to go back and ask for a refund? And the refund may not really make up the damage, because it's your last day of the trip, or you promised to take care of your kids, or whatever, and not only have you not gotten what you've paid for - you've been skiing stuff that isn't as interesting as what you would have found all on your own.
And this is especially tough as the most aggro or skilled person in the group, because lessons MUST cater to the lowest common denominator. It's the only safe option.
And as for privates - obviously that is incredibly expensive, but also, many ski instructors (I can't speak to Taos specifically) can't ski terrain at the pace and frequency that someone like Kim can. A lot of those will be booked already. A private with an instructor who mostly teaches level 5-7s and maybe hits serious terrain once a day in perfect conditions with his best students - that's not worth the money you pay, but it's also VERY difficult to tell an instructor like that, hey, you can't actually hang at my pace - I need someone else. Believe me, I've been there, tried to do it. I think of myself as assertive, but tell someone to their face that even though they're a professional and you're an amateur, they aren't comfortable enough or fast enough on challenging terrain, or the habits they developed teaching level 7s are interfering with you actually enjoying yourself.