Chilly Powder Ski School

We can only book private lessons for children who are aged between 4 and 15 years old. Unfortunately children younger than 3 years of age cannot begin learning to ski. If your children are spending their afternoons in our Kids Club, we’ll take them out in the snow as much as possible. Our nannies will take them sledging, on the merry-go round or building snowmen in our garden. It is important that you provide our nannies with lots of warm, outdoor clothes for your children during their time in the Kids Club. Unfortunately our nannies are not able to begin teaching your children to ski, in accordance with French law.

If you wished to try teaching your own children to ski, you can hire equipment for them from our list of recommended companies here in Morzine. There is a beginner button lift and ski area right behind the chalet or a ‘magic carpet’ lift on the beginners slope in Morzine, which are great fun if your children are very young.

There is a button lift and beginner area at the bottom of the Crot run, just 50 metres behind Au Coin du Feu.

ESF ski lessons start and finish directly outside the cable car in Avoriaz. Again, we can provide a drop-off and pick-up service if your children are booked in to our Kids Club. Unfortunately our instructors are not able to collect and return your children to the chalet.

Please also be aware that we do not accept any responsibility for any equipment that your children take with them to their ski lessons. Skis and poles should be returned to the chalet each day after lessons with your children, however we are not responsible for any equipment that might be lost in transit.

Our nannies will only drop children off to their designated ESF instructors, all of whom they know. ESF instructors will only return children to our nannies, all of whom carry a Chilly Powder identity card and wear Chilly Powder uniform.

ESF provide Chilly Powder with the best private lesson prices all season, which we then pass on to you. ESF also operate from the best meeting points in Avoriaz, making it more convenient for you. Many people have heard bad rumours about ESF lessons and they wonder why we use them here at Chilly Powder. The group lessons of the other ski schools in Morzine tend to be much larger than our lessons and by using ESF we can specify which instructors we’d like to use from our list of favourites.

We ask you to complete your ski school request form in advance of your holiday. We will then look at the number of children enrolled in to ski school for a particular week and we will reserve an appropriate number of ski instructors to make small private ski lessons. The ski instructors determine which particular children are allocated to each individual ski group on the first morning of lessons, after a short ski test. Although we ask for an idea of your children’s ski ability on the booking form, the instructors have the final say on which children are in which groups in order to encourage the progression of all children. Please note that we’ve often experienced situations where parents have incorrectly recorded their children’s ski ability in order to get them in to groups with their friends or siblings. Our ski instructors have the final say on which children are in which ski groups so we ask that you correctly record ski ability on the booking form.

As mentioned above, our instructors will determine which children ski in which groups on the first day of their lessons. This ensures maximum progression for all children but it does not guarantee that your children will ski with their friends or siblings. If you wish to guarantee that your child skis with their friends or siblings, regardless of their ski ability, then this is no problem at all. We will book an individual ski instructor specifically for your children or group and the charge for this will be shared between the number of children that you specify for this group.

Curiosity will get the better of you and you’ll want to see how your child is progressing. It you want to watch from the sidelines, try to do so discreetly. Children sometimes get distracted or upset when they see their parents watching them. Please note that if you have booked a drop-off service for your child, and then you choose to accompany them to one of their lessons, you will still be charged for the drop-off service.

This is at the discretion of ESF and in the very unlikely event that this happens, we will need discuss your concerns with the instructor and the ESF office.

We recommend the British Avoriaz Alpine Ski School for adult lessons, either as part of a group or for private lessons, and you can book these lessons here. We recommend that you book your lessons in advance of your holiday to avoid disappointment.

They know how to: Nothing! They have never put on skis before
They will learn how to: Toddle on skis
If they pass they will get: Piou-Piou badge

They know how to: Slide and snow-plough stop
They will learn how to: Snow-plough turn, side-step and how to do the Herringbone
If they pass they will get: Ourson badge

They know how to: Snow-plough turn, side-step and how to do the Herringbone
They will learn how to: Snowplough turn and bring skis parallel while traversing
If they pass they will get: Flocon badge

They know how to: Snow-plough turn and bring skis parallel while traversing
They will learn how to: Snow-plough turn, end turning sliding, and straight line while traversing
If they pass they will get: 1st Star

They know how to: Snow-plough turn on GREEN slopes, end turning sliding with parallel skis
They will learn how to: Parallel ski and do rounded side slipping on BLUE runs
If they pass they will get: Star badge

They know how to: Parallel ski and do rounded side slipping on BLUE runs
They will learn how to: Improve parallel turns, control speed, & all different kind of curves, large turns, & wedeln
If they pass they will get: Star badge

They know how to: Parallel turn, control speed, and do all different kind of curves, large turns, and wedeln
They will learn how to: Ski on all types of snow, adapt speed and turns to the slope, and wedeln on steep slopes
If they pass they will get: Etoile de Bronze badge

They know how to: Ski on all types of snow, adapt speed and turns to the slope, and wedeln on steep slopes
They will learn how to: Ski on all kinds of snow and grounds, start doing completion, slalom, and wedeln
If they pass they will get: Etoile d’Or badge