Learning How To Ski – My Journey

Introduction

This is a lovely blog from Emily Rogers. The Rogers family are friends of TipTop Ski Coaching and Emily has done this project/blog during her lock down home schooling time.

Please share far and wide to help Emily get some extra recognition for her great work!

Learning how to ski – my Journey

My journey started in 2016 at de Kempervennen in the Netherlands when I was 7 years old. We were staying at the Centre Parcs on holiday and they had an indoor snow centre, so my Dad decided to book us all in for a trial session. It was fair to say I found it very difficult to learn the basics in the two-hour lesson we had!

First holiday to Austria

This holiday led us to book our first proper ski holiday in 2018 to Austria. Although we had a great week my Mum was taken (by Dad!) down a red run and got very frightened and fell out of love with skiing. Dad, Nathan and I wanted to give it another go.  This is what brought us to Les Deux Alpes and Tip Top Ski Coaching! My Grandma Val worked for Alex’s family and used to help look after her and Dad and Alex had kept in contact. So, we decided to visit Les Deux Alpes over the 2018/19 New Year week so Alex could help bring my Mum’s confidence back with some private lessons. Some of Mum and Dad’s friends had also been to stay at Les Deux Alpes and said they had a great time and it was for all ages and abilities with a lovely beginners area.

Les Deux Alpes – First year

We packed up after Christmas and flew to Geneva and drove the windy but pretty mountain roads to find Les Deux Alpes.  We stayed in a chalet to be by the side of the mountains which was perfect for us. 

My Dad, my brother and I all went in to the European Ski School for 5 days of the week and my Mum had 1:1 lessons with Tip Top Ski Coaching with Alex. My instructor was called Benni and she was Italian and she was really nice.  All the instructors spoke lots of languages.  The instructors were very kind to us and they would always make you laugh.  I got more confident with my skiing and I was able to go down hard runs as the week progressed. There was lots to do on the different runs and they got harder but more fun.

I found somethings hard like skiing down the main run of the mountain (the Jandri) at the end of the day when it was all icy and bumpy.

Mum was having her lessons with Alex.   At the beginning she was very nervous to get back on the ski slopes, but Alex took her back to basics and built her confidence up.  Slowly but surely the odd smile appeared rather than a look of sheer terror!

The Pisteures

We also met Alex’s husband Seb and his friends who are Pisteurs and we learnt a lot about the mountains from them.  Seb’s job can be dangerous when he is setting dynamite in the mountain to blow up snow but if someone gets injured Seb comes to the rescue.  He also taught us a funny song to sing to help us with our skiing.

Off the slopes

In the evenings we headed to the Polar Bear Pub which we loved.  It has really cool vibes, with a wooden polar bear outside, good live music and everyone was really welcoming.  There are lots of other bars too and restaurants to eat at too with really good burgers!

Les Deux Alpes – Year 2

 We liked Les Deux Alpes so much we decided to go back the next year and persuaded some other friends to come with us.  The had also started their ski journey at de Kempervennen and in Austria with us too.  

This time we went February half term and it was busy but the queues went quickly.  We recommended Tip Top Ski Coaching to our friends who had joint lessons whilst their children went to the European Ski School with us.  Mum had a confidence booster session with Alex on the afternoon we arrived and it really helped her.  Our friends really enjoyed their week with Tip Top Ski Coaching and loved skiing, getting better as the week went on.  They liked that they could get all over the mountain even though they hadn’t skied much.

I went back to ESS and had a different instructor.  My brother and Dad had a goal of skiing a black run before the end of the week!  I found the lessons harder this time because the runs got harder as we moved further up the mountain.  As it was more difficult I was at the back of the lesson a lot and I felt I needed to speed up a lot. At the end of the week I was given a medal and finished the course. My Dad and brother managed their black run and Mum enjoyed her lessons too.

Les Deux Alpes – Next Year!

I am looking forward to going back to Les Deux Alpes.  My ski journey has been good so far and I can’t wait to see where I go with it.

Conclusion

Thank you Emily for sharing your skiing journey with us here at TipTop Ski Coaching! We for one can’t wait for you guys to come back and ski with us again!

If you would like to learn to ski with TipTop Ski Coaching or you would like us to work with you on improving your skiing please contact us. Bookings are now open for the winter season of 2020/21.