Advice and recommendations

A few minutes of reading to prepare your stay.
EQUIPMENT

  • Your skis should be recent and high-quality. For snowboarders, boots have been standardised. For beginners, wrist guards can come in handy, certain rental places will offer them. 
  • When it comes to the dress code, make sure you have gloves, a hat, a quality ski suit. Temperatures can sometimes get really low. 
  • Protect your eyes. A ski mask is a good option especially during rain or snowfall) and/or sunglasses. 
  • Don’t forget about sunscreen, the sun is really strong in the mountains.
  • We cannot recommend enough that you were a helmet

FOR CHILDREN

  • Dress them like you would dress, no more no less.
  • Make sure they have a snack on them, a granola bar should do the trick! 
  • We really encourage that all children wear a helmet.
  • Your cellphone number in your child’s pocket is really useful.
  • We ask that parents not attend their child’s lessons, it’s distracting. 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Skiing is a sport that takes place in nature. Sometimes winter in the mountains can be difficult. Weather can change in the blink of an eye, technical constraints linked to our ski area are apart of the game and can’t be held against ESF and therefore will not lead to any refund whatsoever.

There are no rules surrounding the number of people per lesson. For the sake of quality, ESF Saint Lary has set lessons at 12 people. This number can occasionally be exceeded. 
  • Group cohesion is the key to success, everything comes down to lesson sizes. 
  • For reasons out of our control, an instructor may not be able to teach. In this case, participants are split up into the groups of the same level.
  • A group lesson that is 2 hours long can end up not lasting a full two hours. There is the initial welcome time in the beginning when we establish contact as well as at the end when we go over what we learned and conclude the day. 
  • The first and more often than not the second day are dedicated to the harmonisation of the group. This is not a waste of time if anything it is essential.
  • In the interest of your child, they may be moved to another level than the one they were signed up for. Don’t get offended, trust us; we know what we are doing. 
  • Instructors teach lessons back-to-back all day long. They are always available to give you an update on your child’s progress or even yours. Try and wait until the end of the day to ask them.
  • Please be on time for lessons. It is hard to catch up with your group once they’ve already headed out. Please also be on time to pick up your child at the end of their lessons. 

KEEP IN MIND

  • A week of lessons doesn’t automatically mean your child moves to the next level.
  • It may be possible to go from Flocon to 1st star. However, levels get increasingly difficult and it may not be the case every week. Sometimes it can take several weeks to learn the necessary techniques. 
  • If your child is determined to make it to the next level, unexpected bad news at the end of the week could cause them to perform even more than before. Make sure they understand that it isn’t the end of the world and progress is progress no matter how small. 
  • We also encourage that you, as parents, take your children skiing outside of our ski lessons so that they can put what they’ve learned to good use. Skiing needs to remain a fun sport, don’t overestimate your child’s level. Make sure they are only skiing on pistes adapted to their level.