Best for beginner skiers
Never been skiing? You’ll be swishing down the slopes in no time with lessons from Oxygene Ski School in France, which offers classes in Val d’Isere, La Plagne, Courchevel and Meribel.
Starting on the nursery slopes, beginners can expect to learn how to make a snowplough turn and stop, and how to navigate the lifts (drag, chair, gondola). By day two or three, you’ll be ready to graduate to the blue slopes (easy pistes), and, by the end of the week, you might even be ready to tackle some reds (intermediate pistes). L’Oxygene has highly recommended kids classes, too. oxygene-ski.com
Best for advanced skiers
Want to zip down black runs and maybe add on some off-piste? Warren Smith Ski Academy is for you. The Academy offers a range of courses from powder skiing and skiing moguls to ski race training and heliskiing in Verbier and Saas-Fee, Switzerland, as well as New Zealand and Japan.
Instructors at the Academy combine ski biomechanics and physiology awareness to significantly improve your technique, which might be why Smith can count former rugby player Lawrence Dallaglio among his fans: ‘I’ve had so much coaching throughout my rugby career that when I met Warren I quickly realised I had struck gold,’ he says. And he should know. Suitable for intermediates upwards. warrensmith-skiacademy.com
Best for kids
Ski Banff Lake Louise-Sunshine, in Banff, Canada, has been awarded the Neilson Marque of Excellence for ski school six years in a row, so you can be sure you’re in good hands. Tuition is offered for three to 12 years olds: under fives learn to find their balance on skis before enjoying supervised play in the kids-only wilderness adventure park, while older kids learn to ski using techniques such as the ‘pizza’ and the ‘banana’.
Parents can leave their kids at ski school, safe in the knowledge that all instructors are licensed with the Children & Youth Services of Alberta, or watch their progress from the nearby lodge. There are also excellent programmes for teens, from beginners to advanced off piste. skibig3.com/banff-lake-louise/banff-lake-louise-shopping/banff-lake-louise-snow-school#clubJunior
Best for beginner snowboarders
It’s easy to think of snowboarding as a simple variant of skiing, but beginners’ requirements — and the techniques involved — are very different. Laax, in Switzerland, is Europe’s snowboarding hotspot, and so unsurprisingly the school here is among the best, offering excellent tuition for six to over 60 year olds. laax.com
Best for advanced snowboarders
Want to venture off-piste, explore backcountry, bust moves on the half-pipe or just improve your black-run technique? Look no further than champion snowboarder Neil McNab’s Snowboarding. McNab’s three-day to one-week courses focus on biomechanics as well as tactics such as controlling the board with just your feet, making carving easier and sharper.
McNab’s Snowboarding is based in Chamonix and Les Deux Alpes, France, but courses are also on offer as far afield as Norway, Russian and even India. Book well in advance. Mcnabsnowboarding.com
