Photo: © Cody Downward/www.beavercreek.com
What Beaver Creek has in common with most North American resorts, is that there’s only one ski school in town – the Beaver Creek Ski and Snowboard School. It’s a good ‘un, and it has to be, as many of its guests expect star treatment. “Best lesson I have ever had anywhere,” was the comment of one reporter.
Some of the courses are astonishingly good value – by American standards at least. Less good value are the three-hour Max 3 Coaching Clinics, aimed at upper intermediate or advanced skiers. The maximum class size for these clinics is three, so you get a lot of close, personal attention from a great instructor. Similar skills clinics in Europe tend to have larger groups: but the prices are much lower. For example, coaching with the upmarket Development Centre in Val d’Isere (groups of up to five) works out at roughly half the price, and with the ski school in Are, Sweden (groups of up to eight) at about a third of the price. If there are five or six of you, and you want skills coaching, then book a private instructor instead for the day. It works out much cheaper.
A meticulous approach to children’s ski lesson
Children’s ski lessons are expensive, by any ski resort’s standards. But then, if your little ones don’t enjoy skiing here, they won’t enjoy it anywhere. Facilities are excellent, and the ski school’s approach is meticulous. The nursery slopes have their own gondola (almost every other nursery slope in the world is served by some kind of drag-lift or an old-fashioned chair-lift), and the ski school makes sensible use of indoor space – giving children a chance to settle in at the start of the day, and relax during lunch. There’s also a proper debriefing at the end of the day so that you know exactly how your child is getting on. No wonder it’s rated as one of the best in America.
(Not sure at what age your child should start learning ski? Read our feature.)
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