Who offers ski hosting?

Had a couple of great days skiing last year with guides from Inghams

Someone sent me this though - apologies if it's been posted before and apologies that I don't have the original provenence of the article to establish its veracity:

HUNDREDS of guides who show British skiers around French resorts face being banned and even arrested under new rules.

The "ski hosts", employed by British companies, fall foul of a requirement that only qualified instructors can take visitors around the local pistes.

French police and the Ecole du Ski Francaise (ESF), the official training body, are to bring a test case against Nick Morgan, co-owner of Le Ski, a chalet company based in Huddersfield which operates out of Courchevel and Méribel in the Trois Vallées area of Savoy.

Other British companies, including Crystal, Inghams, Skiworld and Mark Warner, fear that a conviction would leave them open to prosecution if they continue to offer a ski escort service to their guests.

The companies believe they are being targeted because highly qualified and well paid French alpine guides fear their jobs are threatened.

But they argue that in large ski areas such as the Trois Vallées, with 370 miles of pistes, guests coming for a week have little hope of finding the best runs and restaurants without help.

The hosts usually have other duties including airport runs and are not specifically employed as ski guides. Brochures state clearly that they are there only to orientate guests. They do not usually have any mountain qualifications.

Andy Perrin, managing director of Inghams, said: "Far from taking jobs away from locals, they actually provide work.

"They'll give information on ski schools and types of lesson to anyone who feels they might benefit from some instruction. Ski hosting is an important free service to our guests and we will be continuing to provide it this winter."

The Ski Club of Great Britain also has about 70 ski leaders based in French resorts, who take members around the mountains. They are also anxiously awaiting the outcome of the court case.

Jean-Marc Simon, administrative director of the ESF in Grenoble, said: "This is purely about ski safety. We cannot have unqualified people taking groups of skiers around the mountain.

"We did not instigate this investigation, but as people responsible for mountain safety we must support the authorities."

The ESF viewpoint is supported by the British Association of Snowsports Instructors.

Dave Renous, its corporate affairs manager, said: "Our job as responsible ski instructors is to try and lower the risk factor on the mountain.

"Having unqualified escorts in charge of groups of skiers is inevitably raising that risk factor."

One large travel company has privately threatened to boycott Méribel, also in the Trois Vallées, if the prosecution is successful and others could follow.

The region's linked resorts attract more British skiers than anywhere else and any boycott would severely damage the local economy.

Thanks Andyoneill,
Yes, I did know about this. In fact, on the details for our chalet the owners specifically say that the ski hosting may be withdrawn:

We reserve the right to withdraw activities such as ski hosting or tobogganing nights if required to do so by the authorities.

Personally, I think the ski hosting should be allowed to continue, because I reckon the sort of people that use ski hosts wouldn't employ ski guides instead if the service was withdrawn - they'd simply struggle on alone and be in far greater danger than they would with the ski hosts.

AllyG wrote:

Personally, I think the ski hosting should be allowed to continue, because I reckon the sort of people that use ski hosts wouldn't employ ski guides instead if the service was withdrawn - they'd simply struggle on alone and be in far greater danger than they would with the ski hosts.

Absolutely - hosting to show me round a resort I don't know (especially one with such a huge variety of slopes as 3V, EK etc)is a great service that I appreciate but dont treat as being "in charge of me" during that time

Guiding (off piste) I would and would expect to pay for if I wanted to go that extra level

I know the Crystal reps aren't allowed to wear their black gear whilst guiding for fear that people will think they are the ESF and are teaching.

Any "hosting" I've ever had has always been at pains to say that they don't teach and they don't go down anything stronger than reds (for insurance apparently)

andyoneil wrote:

Any "hosting" I've ever had has always been at pains to say that they don't teach and they don't go down anything stronger than reds (for insurance apparently)

Andy, I think some ski hosts will take you down black runs. I know the Ski Club of GB will even take you off piste, and this is what Leski.com say:

Val d'Isère
As well as the daunting Olympic black
run La Face above Val d'Isère, our hosts will take you from the famous Aiguille Percée on the 1200m descent of La Sache over in Tignes.

Let's hope that ski hosting will be allowed to continue :D

La face doesn't need to be hosted. It's very obvious where you have to go!

bedrock barney wrote:La face doesn't need to be hosted. It's very obvious where you have to go!

Straight down!!!!

Then into the pub, sharpish!

Hope Bananas is back for this year!

AllyG wrote:

Andy, I think some ski hosts will take you down black runs. I know the Ski Club of GB will even take you off piste,

But when they do they use a local guide who's qualified to go off piste, the ski club don't claim to be:

"Participation statement: Ski Club Leaders are trained volunteers, not qualified instructors or mountain guides. By choosing to ski with a Leader, we ask that you accept responsibility for your own safety, and the safety of your environment. If you feel that a route may be too difficult, you must make your Leader aware of this."

It's an interesting case, I can see a clear line that an "instructor" teaches you the best lines and/or techniques but whereas a "host" simply takes you to the top of a slope using the most efficient lifts/route and then meets you at the bottom of the slope.

So where do you draw the line between that and a group of friends, say the Tignes trip in January, what if AllyG works out an itinerary for the day, decides the particular area, favourite pistes and a lunch stop. Is she a "host"?

I hope the test case is unsuccessful. Why pick on Nick Morgan I wonder?