Ski and Snowboard Lessons

Again there are several organisations providing lessons. Its easy to book as you'll find most have premises on the main road in the centre of Chatel.

The largest and nearest is ESF - Ecole du Ski Francais.  They are technically good but English is not always their strongest competence and particularly if your French is poor, then you may struggle to get real value from the lessons. So before booking make sure you check who is taking the class!

If you want group lessons with an English instructor then ESSI - Ecole Ski Snowboard International will probably fit the bill.  They are located a few yards further up the main road, right next door to our booking agents Altitude Immobilier.  They have a large pool of instructors with mainly British and Dutch instructors and so far they all speak pretty good English - so you should be able to follow what it is they are actually trying to get you to do...

If you are looking for private lessons then there is great gang of independent instructors (Fifi, Serge, Gilles & Yves).  They all speak excellent English once you get your head round the French accent, and they operate out of the Vertical Horizons Shop (see equipment hire). They can be contacted there most evenings. They can also be contacted direct by email at snowridechatel1@aol.com or by phone at 0033 608 337651. They are good so its essential to book early.

Don't forget to check with your chosen instructors what sort of lift pass will be required during your classes.  More advanced classes can involve touring outside the Chatel ski area in which case you will normally need a Portes du Soleil pass for those days.

Guides - The Chatel Tourist Office has a list of experienced local mountain guides who know these mountains really well, and if your fitness/standard is up to it they will be able to help you explore some of the less well know areas/routes.  If you want to explore the Portes du Soleil area fully in Summer or Winter then its well worth getting together with some mates and hiring a guide for the day.

Most of the local guides are French,  so if you are looking for an English guide then you may want to ring Alex or Wayne at Rajkowski guides on 0643 512452 - skihost@hotmail.co.uk .  They work out of Les Gets and Avoriaz but can be persuaded to meet groups at Pre la Joux. Be prepared to spend a challenging full day on the hills, and like most things its vital to book early to avoid disappointment.

Its a while since we took lessons ourselves, and we really want to keep it up to date based on real feed-back, so please let us know how you get on. If things go well, or badly, or if you find someone else who you think we should add to this page, then we look forward to hearing from you. You will find our email address is on the Contact Us page.

Thanks.

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