Ski Instructor Report 11th February 2012

We had a couple of cold windy days this week, which contrasted with bright sunny ones with great snow conditions. It really was a mixed bag for this week’s guests. Some of my beginners were talking about coming back next season and were asking about the various hotels in Arinsal, (obviously they had not read last week’s report.) We are now ready for the busiest week of the season, half term. Everyone will have children in their party. The only exception will be groups with a school teacher, or someone who has to take their holidays during the half term week. The whole atmosphere is different during that week. I would strongly recommend anyone who does not have to be here that we, to choose any other week of the season. The slopes will be busy, the queues will be longer. The bars and restaurants will be crowded in the early evening’s then quiet later. If you do not have children and do not know when half term is, just look at the hotel prices; some hotels put up there price by over £400 per person that week. Having had my moan, I will probably have a very jolly class and have a great time on the slopes. I am sorry if this report sounds negative but I really do not enjoy half term week. There is a very strong case for Britain (and Ireland) to stager the half term week. I feel that eventually it will happen, some things take time. Consider this; men were walking on the moon over 42 years ago but we have had wheels on suitcases for about 20 years.

Ski Instructor Report 4th February 2012

Like the rest of Europe, Arinsal has been bitterly cold this weekend. It meant that we had excellent snow conditions, if you could wrap up warmly, against the wind and cold. It is very difficult in these conditions to keep children warm. If you examine a child’s glove that due to the size there is very little insulation, therefore a child’s hands get cold much sooner than an adults. Regular readers are aware that I stay in the Palarine hotel and enjoy staying there. . Early last month, this hotel had their first bad review on Tripadvisor. The couple who complained were here during a week when the weather was bad and the ski conditions were not very good, so they blamed everything on the hotel. One complaint was that there was not a kettle in their room. Tea making facilities are commonplace in England but I do not remember having a kettle in any room in a continental European hotel. If this facility is important to you, like me, you will have to bring a travel kettle with you when you visit Arinsal. This misunderstanding had me thinking that I should tell you what I know about the hotels in Arinsal. The Palarine has a good reputation for a friendly service and for its food, many of the expats say that it is the best food in Arinsal and book in for the excellent themed evening meals. rom the village centre, it is 15 minute walk, if you run. I walk down most evenings in 20 minutes. There is a free bus service during the day and a half hourly pay bus (€1-50) running until 10 pm. The St Gothard Hotel is about 10 minutes walk closer to the village centre. It is much larger and is popular with school and group bookings and puts on live entertainment some evenings. In the village centre there is a great selection of hotels all a very short walk from the lift, some only seconds away. They are: the Montane, Coma Pedrosa, Arinsal, Ayma and Micolau. I have not stayed at any of these so it would be unfair to comment on the facilities. The Ayma and Arinsal are traditional Andorran hotels and the others have been recently modernised. There are two apartments both very conveniently situated; St Moniz and Pobtlao Apartments. Clients have praised the standard of accommodation in both. I have not been in either. About three or four minutes walk up the main street is the Princessa Park, thought by some, to be the best hotel in Arinsal and perhaps the most expensive. It has magnificent public rooms, a piano bar and a livelier one in Bogart’s. Some clients have told me that the bedrooms are not as big as they had expected, after seeing the grand entrance and reception area. The Crest and the Patagonia are another ten minutes or so up the hill. Both are situated close to a chairlift and at the end of a ski run that is suitable for intermediates. They are a bit isolated from the other bars in the village. At the very top of the village are the Velvet Apartments they have a magnificent view and are apparently well appointed but only suitable for those with a car. Like they say in Yorkshire “You pays your money and you make your choice.

Ski Instructors Report 29th January 2012

I had no work today (Sunday), so I enjoyed a great morning skiing the new powder snow. It started to snow on Saturday afternoon and had been snowing on and off ever since. Apart from that, all my excitement this week was away from the slopes. I had a splendid dinner on Wednesday at the Palarine for the traditional Burns’ Night Supper; we had excellent Roast Beef and some very tasty Haggis. We had two Scots in the first set of Strip the Willow and six other nationalities. Their dancing was less than perfect but danced with great courage and vigour. We had our annual Burns party at Bogart’s Bar on Saturday. There was a lot of country dancing with a very enthusiastic crowd. We had ten couples dancing the final strip the willow of the evening. When we finished, a rather good rock band started to play. Spanish people arriving to listen to the band must have wondered why I was wearing my kilt. On Friday I had an email from my daughter telling me that she had won the award for Best Actress for her part as Anna in the King and I, production by the Fareham Musical Society. This was presented at The Curtain Call Awards 2011 ceremony hosted by a popular South Coast news paper. Back to the skiing; we had excellent weather all week and great skiing on good quality snow. Most of which had been made at night time by our snow cannons. The quality of the snow was excellent, due to the fact that we were having cold nights. This brings me to the question, what is good snow? The best conditions for skiing is when the snow is cold and dry; the sort of snow that you cannot compress into a snow ball. We rarely experience this type of snow in England. However we often find it at altitude when it is very cold. British holidaymakers seem more interested in the depth of the snow rather than the quality. We ski only on the top three or four inches of snow. (That is about 7 to 10 cms for our younger readers). It does not matter whether you have one metre or twenty metres of snow below that. If the top layer has melted during the day and frozen at night, you will have ice to ski on, irrespective of the depth underneath. Some of you may have experienced this is some of the cheaper East European countries. This is usually due to the fact that they do not have the hard currency to buy the “Piste Bashing” machines that we have. These machines break through the top layer exposing the real snow below. Arinsal’s heavy investment in snow making equipment had really been worthwhile this season. Sadly we are very quiet this season, I think due to many British people seeing that we do not have a great depth of snow so far this season. On the positive side it means that the slopes are not crowded. You can see from my reports that we have been enjoying good skiing with fairly quiet slopes.

Ski Instructors Report 23 January 2012

Today, I had a great day's skiing. The air was cold the sun was shining, the sky was a mgnigicent blue and the snow was cold and very skiable. I skied down to the village on the marrades run. They had made enough snow to open this run during the past week. I have been back in England for a week and today was my first day back skiing in over a week. I am often asked at what age one should bring children skiing. The answer often depends on the child. As a guide line I would point out that the ski school does not accept children less than six years of age. There is a good reason for this. Under this age very few children have the physical strength to ski properly and even fewer have the mental memory to remember the lesson or have the concentration to get value from a three hour lesson. Indeed, my personal opinion is that nine is a better age to teach children skiing. Young children compensate their lack of strength by leaning on the back of their boots for support. When they are old enough to ski properly we have to change this habit, which may be deeply engrained in their minds. I think that parents should also consider the safety aspect of allowing their very young children onto a crowded slope. Collisions do occur. A collision between a five year old and a fourteen stone adult could have very serious consequences. In Arinsal we have an enclosed ski area for four and five year olds. The gentle slope is served by a small rope tow. Any collision in this area will be at a slow speed between two children of fairly equal weight. I am always amazed at the lack of concern for the safety of their children that some parents show. We had two children this week with not crash helmet OR sunglasses. Andorran children under 12, must wear a safety helmet when skiing. The Andorran authorities do not enforce this law on foreigners. Perhaps they think, if the parents are not concerned about safety, why should they? So please look after your children, skiing can be a dangerous sport, if all the rules are not followe.

Ski Instructor Report 10th January 2012

The guests this week have had very bad weather. I really felt sorry for them, as I had a very friendly group from Ireland, in fact there was only on English lady in my group. I had a successful private lesson with a girl whose friends and taken her up mountain, to teach her to ski. Their method of teaching was to shout “Turn” at the poor lass. She was almost in tears and said that she hated skiing. Her boyfriend paid for a one hour private lesson and in that time I had her smiling and turning left and right down the beginners slope and using the lift on her own. One of our readers, Geoff, asked which instructors specialise in different fields. My own speciality seems to be instilling confidence into mature ladies with a nervous disposition. This requires no special qualification, only patience and common sense. On the other hand some instructors have attended courses on different areas of skiing. Marcus has qualified an adaptive ski instructor.. That is dealing with disabled skiers. This can range from teaching paraplegics in a specially designed chair with a mono ski under it, to deaf dumb, blind or even with learning difficulties. He is also a race coach. Ian is qualified in Snow Park techniques and off piste touring. Scott is another enthusiast on the jumps and rails. Both have great admiration for Ismael, who was once Chilean Aerial Champion. Although not a native English speaker, he speaks it well. Deane and Darren are happy to teach snow bade skiing Scott would love to teach mono skiing but thinks that only French gays from the Seventies would like a lesson. Sadly we have no native English speaker teaching Telemark skiing. But Pablo from South America is happy to oblige. Corinne and Maryanne are very good with young children. This brings me onto my topic for next week’s report; what age should you take a child skiing?

Ski Instructors Report 2nd January 2012

I had a really jolly class of beginners this week. Some made rapid progress and I was able to move them into a faster class. class. The others were a bit slower and we stayed on the “magic carpet”, they were all pleased with the progress that they made. I had some I has a few very good après ski with this group. I hope that some will return to Arinsal in the future. One of our readers, Alistair, asked, “what do instructors look for when classifying the groups2. So I thought I should explain the different classes that we offer at Arinsal. First, the BEGINNERS class: This is for people who have never put skis on before and for those who have had a dry slope taster but did not manage to make a snowplough turn. Next group is what we called DRY SLOPE or ADVANCED BEGINNERS. This is for skiers who have skied on a dry slope or have skied before but do not feel confident enough to join an intermediate class. All would be expected to make a snow plough turn to the left and to the right on an easy slope. We would normally grade this group according to how steep a slope the client would be comfortable on. Then there are the intermediate classes (which I think Alistair is asking about). We watch the clients ski on a blue run. Level 1, is for those who do not make parallel turn but make a snow plough turn Level 2 is for those who make basic parallel turns. Level 3. is for skiers who make refined parallel turns make use of the edges and showing signs or carving. We offer more advance classes; bumps off piste and gates , if there is sufficient demand. I hope this will be of some use to anyone coming to Arinsal.

Ski Instructor Report 24th December 2011

We have just finished the first week of the season. Sadly the guests did not have good weather. It snowed over the weekend that they arrived but it turned wet and when the sun shone it was windy. My group of beginners said that they had enjoyed their week and would all be skiing next year ( a good result). I met a lovely lady in the Palarine, who said that she regularly reads this report. This cheered me up as I often wondered if their was anyone out there. After my request in my last report; someone wanted to know how their daughter can become a ski instructor and is it a good job. They also mentioned meeting a solicitor who worked as an instructor in winter. Firstly, one must obtain a qualification by an internationally recognised ski association. I chose the British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI). I am also qualified under the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance (CSIA). If you google either of those names you will find details of location dates and times of the courses. Both have a level one qualification, which allows you to work in an enclosed environment. After this there is a level two qualification, which if you pass the assessment, you may teach on the mountain. You must check the local rules of the country where you wish to work. For example, Andorra insists on an extra four days on snow training before being allowed to teach in Andorra. The French want you to pass a racing speed test. A word of warning; BASI have far more qualified instructors than they have actually working. It is easier to find work if you are bilingual or polyglot. If you can speak Russian, Hebrew or Dutch, you would be able to jump the queue to work in Arinsal. Anyone becoming a ski instructor must consider what they are going to do in the summer. If they have a proper job and their employer is willing to give them four months leave each winter, which would be great. However most instructors have to be a bit more imaginative. Here is a list of fields where instructors have found work in the past: Garden Centres, Campsites, Building sites, Pop concerts, Holiday airlines (some of them moth ball some of their fleet in Winter) Bars in Spain, teaching water sports or skiing in southern hemisphere and many more that I am sure you can think of. Is instructing a good job? I love the holiday atmosphere in the resort. There is great job satisfaction; if you have a class of a dozen absolute beginners on a Monday and at the end of the week, they all tell you that they are all booking ski holiday next year.( Like this week’s group) Or when you have a private lesson with an unhappy person, whose friend or family have tried to teach them to ski and have just terrified them, by going too high, too fast, too soon, then at the end of the lesson they are happy and now love skiing. If you think instructing is for you go for it!