tdc Night Tour

On friday night, as the lifties were thinking of shutting up shop, 8 tdc coaches were frantically packing supplies into back packs, ready for the inaugural tdc night tour. The snow had been falling all afternoon and visibility wasn’t great but what did that matter on a night tour, surely that’s the idea! It proved to be a pretty strenuous journey to the Refuge des Fours, a two hour skin that culminated in a steep bumpy gully high above the Cugnai Valley, but once we had the stove fired up and pumping out heat we were all glad to have put in the effort. A delicious 3 course meal washed down with lashings of red wine was then topped off with a few glasses of whiskey. The laughter continued into the small hours as the snow and wind continued to drive against the hut outside. Although heads were a little fuzzy in the morning we had enjoyed a brilliant night, very different from your average Friday evening. The ski home was almost as much of a slog as on

the way up! Poor visibility and heavy wind blown snow made for a long arduous trudge out of the valley. Any hopes of cutting our efforts short by taking the Manchet Express chairlift were dashed as we rounded the corner to see it closed! Lets get the weather right next time team…looking forward to it already.

gapski.com

tdcski.com
gapski.com

Gap Ski instructor training

Starting January 2011

In association with the development centre, Tignes and Val d’Isere

Gap Ski is a new 10 week ski instructor training programme based in Tignes, part of the Espace Killy, one of the greatest ski areas in the world. Whether you are looking for an international qualification for a career in the ski industry or simply a way to maximise your skiing potential whilst doing a season, the Gap Ski programme is the most comprehensive and effective ski training programme out there.

gapski.com
gapski.com

Gap Ski offers the most effective and best value for money gap programme possible. The course is designed to train students up to and through their BASI level 2. The course includes all BASI fees including level 1 and 2, the child protection module, first aid course and all the required shadowing hours. Basically, everything is included, no hidden costs, no extra charges, it’s all in there.
Gap Ski training is provided in association with the development centre who boast six BASI examiners within their ranks. All training is with BASI examiners and fully qualified ISTD’s.  Check out below to see why this gap course is a cut above the rest….

  • 10 week all inclusive course taking you right through to and including BASI level 2
  • BASI level 1, 2, first aid course and child protection fees all included
  • Pair of high performance Head skis, perfect for your exams
  • Collection and drop off from Geneva airport
  • Fully catered HOTEL accommodation. 3 meals a day including hot mountain restaurant lunch 7 days a week.
  • Train 5 days a week, enjoy your accommodation, lift pass and food 7 days a week
  • Work opportunities in Italy on successful completion of BASI level 2.
  • Full season lift pass – you can ski before, during and after the course for no extra cost.
  • Nightly workshops including video analysis, ski tuning, fitness and more.
  • Free soft goods
  • All for £7495

These are just some of the benefits of Gap Ski, others include freeride, park and avalanche awareness sessions. There are also opportunities to learn ski tuning and maintenance, lesson planning, group management and so much more. These are all included in the stated price – there are no hidden fees

Gap Ski, in association with the development centre, invites you to take advantage of the best training in the Alps. Simply take your skiing to a new level or kick start your career in snowsports.

contact us now
contact us now

For more information contact Ben Harris at [email protected] or on
+33 (0)6 14 28 54 26
or
+44(0) 7967 330 187

tdc BASI L3 and L4 Training

BASI L3 and L3 prep Jan 2010
BASI L3 and L3 prep Jan 2010

BASI Level 4 technical training is running –
11th -16th Jan 2010
and
18th – 22nd Jan 2010

In Val d’Isere by tdc – www.tdcski.com

Run by BASI trainers who run Level 4 courses.

You do not need to be taking the level 4 in January to be on this course

Contact [email protected] to book.

We are also running BASI Level 4 training this Friday afternoon the 8th Jan and Sunday morning the 10th Jan 2010.

Contact [email protected] or call +33 (0)621464057

book online now

BASI L3 and L3 prep Jan 2010

Ski Club Seasons Start Up – Day 1

Ski Club of Great Britain under tdc guidance

I spend every autumn looking forward to the Ski Club week, it’s a bit like an official start to the season for me, I get to spend six days with some old friends and get royally spoilt by the Mark Warner staff in the ‘Perce Neige’ in Tignes le Lac. Full English breakfast, tea and cake, evening dinner, jacuzzi and the opportunity to ski with two groups of Ski Club members 6 hours a day for 3 days each.

The lesson format is great from a coaching point of view because we have plenty of time to make changes to people’s performance, so I took my time today warming the guys up. I could tell they were all itching to get going as they all beat me on the walk from the hotel to the lifts, but after a warmer to make sure we all knew each others names and a quick physical warm up we headed towards the Gratalu Chair into the sun to sample some of the awesome piste skiing on offer in Tignes. The snow was cold and grippy and perfectly groomed and the team soon found their ski legs.

We started with some balance drills to get everyone over their outside ski and then I filmed the team to use as a benchmark to compare their progress over the three days. We quickly outlined some common threads to iron out, starting with the vertical ‘pop’ to reduce the amount of wasted muscular effort while at the same time improve the skis’ grip at the start of the turn. The session progressed by focussing on active leg stretching and rotating with some free practice before finishing off with another filmed run to assess the changes the guys had made over the course of the day.

I’ve decided to follow the advice of Louise Alison of Bonne Sante Physio and start incorporating a warm down when time permits – after the warm down we returned to the hotel for some video feedback where a few technical hitches caused me a touch of stress as I couldn’t get the t.v. to work. Fortunately for me the Perce Neige bar manager- ‘lovely Lily’ saved my bacon by dropping everything to fix the problem, and we spent probably too long analysing the days skiing, without a doubt this improved everyone’s understanding of the movements we’re making and the changes we need to make.

Tommorrow’s another day and I can’t wait to show off the awesome skiing in Val d’Isere, in the mean time, I must dash, the Jacuzzi is calling before a three course dinner with wine – I feel like I’m on holiday!

Ben L

tdc coaches on the Val d’Isere World Cup

tdc coaches working on the World Cup Super G today in Val d’Isere.
The Face de Bellevarde provided an awesome spectacle as over 30 racers crashed out on one of the hardest courses on the circuit.
Flat light and snowfall all day made conditions even harder for the competitors but this didn’t deter Lena (tdc‘s new coach for 09/10), who managed to get photos with Bode Miller, Ted Ligety (2nd Place) and Andreas Walchhofer (1st place), not to mention getting on the podium and bagging a bottle of champagne in the process!

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Fresh powder and blue skies

The second day of the VIP ski host training saw the groups run by tdc‘s Phil, Paul and Josh ripping up the powder all over the Espace Killy. a special mention goes to 63 year old Roger who was on fire in the off piste over in Tignes and has a few tricks to show the youngsters. For some these were their first turns in the deep stuff, so there were plenty of face plants…not a bad way to clear the head after a few beers the night before! The sky was a perfect blue and everyone made great progress. For the 3 tdc coaches it has been a pleasure to ski with such a personable group of people, we look forward to seeing some of you back again next year. Have a great season, cheers Paul, Phil and Josh.

VIP Training

tdc coaches were out on the hill in force today. With 4 Early Season Clinics running and 3 groups of VIP/Snowline ski hosts on a tdc training course, there are plenty of black jackets on show this week. The VIP ski hosts will be working in resorts across the Alps this season and are honing their technique and their leadership skills under the guidance of tdc coaches. Conditions were tricky today and there were a few sets of tired legs when we finally made it to the après-ski! More of the same tomorrow, hopefully with some fresh snow during the night.

tdc launch day

The whole tdc team was on the mountain today to launch our ski school’s season. We are really pleased to have Josh back with us for the winter and we are over the moon to have Lena joining our team. We are as strong as ever and hope to ski with you this winter in Val or Tignes. Here are a few photos of some of the tam on the hill today, the whole lot can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/tdcski

From TDC training day
From TDC training day