British ski school – Val d'Isere, Tignes, Meribel & Courchevel

What’s New in the 3 Valleys?

This Summer sees a lot of work going on around the 3 Valleys with 3 new lifts going in.

In Mottaret the old fixed chairs of Arolles & Table Verte are removed along with the Combes 4-man chair. A new Combes 6-seater routed to the right of where it is now and with a mid-station exit to a new floodlit green run is being constructed. A new beginners area with a short Arolles drag lift are also being built.

Over in the Belleville Valley the occasional bottleneck of St Martin 2 is to be relieved with an upgrade to a 6 seater hi-speed detachable hooded chair with the old 4-man being moved to replace the old Bettex 2-man chair to now give access to the bottom of the Gros Tougne piste for direct access in to Les Menuires.

Watch La Société des 3 Vallées video animating some of the new upgrades

Are you Skiing in Courchevel, La Tania, Meribel, Motteret, St.Martin or Les Menuires?

Why not try a Private Development with TDCski in the 3 valleys this winter ?
There’s no better way to hone old and new skills than to take a 3 hour private development lesson with one of our BASI 4 coaches.
We can tailor each lesson specifically to your requirements and concentrate on your strengths and weaknesses to produce a better performance all over the mountain.
Lessons start at 9am or 1pm and are available at just 250€ for 1-4 people.
We can meet you in Courchevel, La Tania, Meribel, Motteret, St.Martin or Les Menuires.
To book contact [email protected] or call +33 6 85 88 05 91

TDCski Meribel — Hone Your Ski Skills with TDCski coaching

The Development Centre coaches tell us what they love about skiing.

Autumn arrives in the northern hemisphere and this means one thing: it’s nearly time to go sliding around on the snow! The anticipation is really exciting, but nothing beats those moments when you’re doing it, enjoying the mountains in the best way we know how. Here at the development centre we’ve been sharing our passion for skiing since 2002 and we’re pumped up for the coming season. These are some of the things that we’re looking forwards to the most –

The Corduroy

Heading down a freshly groomed piste allows you to feel how smoothly and precisely you are skiing. Less interference from the snow, it’s about enjoying your best turns.

Feel of the carve

Make like a racer, feel the forces driving the turn and appreciate what modern skis can do on the piste. The deeper you go, the bigger the rush.

Air Time

It’s not the size that counts.

Jumps of any size are exhilarating, whether in the park or in the backcountry, jumping is one of those things some people (us) never quite grow out of.

The Quiet of the Powder

Sometimes, after some deep powder turns,the only noise is your own breathing

Sharing it

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We love skiing for ourselves , but we also love it when we can share our passion, knowledge and enthusiasm with others. We love making a real difference to people’s
holidays.

The Development Centre run ski schools in Val d’Isere, Tignes and the Three Valleys. Our team of highly qualified, experienced and motivated instructors are there to help you to achieve your goals, whatever they might be.

www.tdcski.com

Professional Ski Instructors: 5 Pet (Mega) Hates!

TDC ski coaches are on the hill practically every day of the season; it’s fair to say that we see our fair share of nonsense, please enjoy these 5 of Kieran’s pet hates!

Childrens Ski Lessons — “I know you don’t want to go down in the bubble Daddy, but I think La Face is a bad idea”

Parents of small children, taking them down a steep red/black run when they are clearly too small and inexperienced to cope! Small children have big heads, add a big helmet to that, and I think that’s why most little ones ski in the ‘back seat’. There is no rush to get a 4 or 5 year old to ski steep slopes, let alone when they still have a big pizza! Keep them safe, make it fun, and they will learn, trust us, we know!
If I have just spent the morning with a nervous skier, I will have been working hard to build confidence; confidence in themselves, and confidence in their ability to control their speed and direction. Skiing therefore becomes enjoyable, rather than a stressful experience where they fear they will hurt themselves. It’s a Holiday! Having just had a hugely successful breakthrough in a morning session. What happens after lunch? The other half (usually the boyfriend/husband!) says “come ski with me, you will be fine!” By 4pm the same person is now in bits, confidence ruined, and has un-learned the whole morning. Very frustrating when you have to start again the next morning. (Not to mention the arguments it can cause!)
Skiers who ski at a speed way beyond there capability – this is probably my biggest pet hate of them all! It never ceases to amaze me how many skiers hurtle down the hill, with no awareness, consideration for others, or just general safety common sense. You can probably picture the type – usually male, 15-40 years old, off balance, jacket undone, goggles all squinty, in a racing snow plough with no turns, doing about 50 mph!! When these people get close to us ski instructors and our lessons (especially little ones) we get infuriated! And boy, if we catch them on the lift, we sure let them know, politely and professionally of course, which is rather difficult! FIS ski code/rules

Off Piste with all the Gear….
Skiers or snowboarders off piste with no safety equipment – Transceiver, shovel, probe is the minimum. When I am coaching my groups in off piste private lessons or off piste clinics, I often see others near us with absolutely no safety equipment. They are usually thrashing around all over the place, all on the same slope at the same time, charging over convexities and showing absolutely zero off piste safety knowledge or etiquette. It infuriates instructors and mountain guides when we see these people! The main reason for this is that they may start something (ie an avalanche) above you, and put your group in danger. As coaches we are very aware of this, we always try to ensure we are never placed in this position.
Massive ski school groups snaking across the piste!! We have all seen it, an instructor, with about 10-15 people snaking down behind them (sometimes even more!) taking up the entire piste. There is nothing wrong with skiers following an instructor down a run, as they may be working on line, or turn shape, or speed control, but 15 people! How can anyone in a group this size receive any individual attention or feedback, it is practically impossible for the instructor to develop peoples performance in groups this big. At TDC, we never take more than 6 people in a group, maximum feedback, development, safety and enjoyment per person!

Kieran is normally an entirely positive guy and absolutely loves: Really big dogs, Savoyade Food, Good Whisky, Powder Snow and Working lots of hours. [ed]