J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by david@traxvax

Mark, it very much depends on what resort you choose, if you want to go to Tignes, Val d'Isere or Courchevel, you'll find it difficult. It's difficult for the French as well, the 'equivalence' or speed test is open to all, it has to be that's the law, so the bar is set very high. However, there are ways around it, you don't have to take it immediately, you can take it within 2 years of starting work as an instructor. There is a form of apprentiship that will enable you to work for a ski school, either the ESF, the International Ski School or an independent. Numbers are limited but there is ratio of trainees to qualified ski instructors allowed by law. If you have any form of skiing qualification it will help you to get started. An ASSI, the dry slope qualification can be gained via your nearest dry slope. I know in our village that the ESF are keen to hire English and Danish speaking instructors, the deputy director is English. If you PM me I'll give you his contact details so you can get in touch.

Snowing in La Rosiere right now, the resort has manged to stay open from the start of the season, none of our guests have had to miss any skiing through lack of snow.

We've got a few places left for January with a free ski pass, we've got snow and more is forecast. Grab a bargain now, there are lots of cheap flights, some guests have just booked Luton-Geneva on Easyjet for £29.99 email us now on info@tracksvacations.com for full details.

jazzmaster, we used to go to Ste Foy whenever there was fresh powder, it's very small but there is some terrific off-piste and it used to be a good hideaway. It's now been colonised by all the Brits who missed out on Val d'Isere and think that Ste Foy will be the next big thing, think identikit chalets, more Caterham than Courchevel. I haven't skied there for 2 yrs now and the last time I was there, I heard more English than French on the slopes. In fact it's just about the only resort I know where you won't hear any French on the slopes. That's not what I go to France for so I'm happy to ski in a resort that still retains its character, has better facilities, more sunshine and one of the best snow records in the Alps.

The best value heli skiing in Europe is to be found in Italy, you can heli-ski from the Espace San Bernardo which is a ski area shared between La Rosiere in France and La Thuile in Italy. The heli ski pick up is just over the French border. You can find full details on the La Rosiere website www.larosiere.net there's a section devoted to heli-skiing. All the skis schools in the village can take clients heli-skiing, you can opt for 1 or 2 lifts or take an all day trip to ski the Ruitor glacier, a 20kms route.

Last year we still had over 60 cm of snow at village level and over 2 metres at altitude. In fact there was still snow at village level in June. La Rosiere is the place for April skiing, it's open until the 27th April and April skiing is often the best of the season, long sunny days and if you find some spring snow it's a bonus. We've got availability at greta value prices, have a look at www.tracksvacations.com for full details.

If you're looking for a smaller resort near to BSM then it's either Ste Foy or La Rosiere all the others nearby are mega resorts. I'd chose La Rosiere but I'm biased we have a chalet there. it's got a greta snow record especially for late season snow, it's friendly, the skiing is interesting, it's linked to La Thuile in Italy which gives it a very different feel to just about every other French resort and it's terrific value for money. Ste Foy on the other hand has none of these attributes but you will meet lots of Brits.

Rus, in a normal snow year, whatever that is, Morzine is usually OK, PdS has a fairly good snow record, proximity to Lake Leman etc, but this year temperatures have been way above average across most of Europe. I skied in a sweater for the firsst time ever in December. So the problem with Morzine is that it's low at around 1100 metres I believe, so when it's warm, instead of snow you get rain which washes away the snow. It also means temps have been too high to run snow cannons. For early season you can't beat height, so for the best chance of snow look for resorts which are above 1800 metres.