Childcare

Small classes are a vital factor for children’s safety, enjoyment and speed of learning, so our initial ratios are 1:6 for Spritelet classes and 1:8 for all other Sprites.

The ski instructors may, however, move children from class to class to match their ability levels. We have found over the years that ability, as much as age, is a key deciding factor in balancing children’s ski classes. So, our stated ages are a guide and there may be a wider age range within the class, but the children’s abilities on skis will be similar.

Some ski-schools operate an assessment system on the first day of lessons to ensure children are placed in the appropriate class. Occasionally where there are two classes of the same level, the two instructors may combine their groups initially in order to best place children in the class where they will be happiest, but the overall 1:8 instructor: children ratio will always be maintained.

In all resorts, children are collected in the morning from their chalets, Chalet Hotels or designated meeting point, signed into our care by parents and taken to their Esprit lessons or Snow Club where our staff sign them into the care of their instructor. If children are also taking part in Esprit lunches and/or Esprit afternoon care or further classes, Esprit staff will also collect them at the end of their lesson and escort them to the next part of their day.

FREE Class Connection Services

With Esprit ski classes, you get not just the tuition itself, but also all the vital connecting services we offer, which ‘join up’ the different sessions to give parents peace of mind and a stress-free ski day for themselves!

So unless parents are collecting children themselves directly after a class, we always include our take-to and collection service, to escort children to and from their Esprit ski classes, and between their classes and supervised lunches, Snow Club or High Tea as appropriate, plus our stringent signing-in/out procedures at every point where responsibility for children passes between Esprit staff and parents or ski instructors.

At the end of all afternoon Esprit classes, our staff will also collect those children and escort them to join other Esprit children for the remainder of the afternoon, before returning them to their ‘home’ chalet, for continued supervision through High Tea till 6pm.

Esprit Spritelets – From £199

This class is for 3 & 4 year-olds and is orientated towards fun and play, whilst introducing the youngsters to wearing ski boots and skis. During Spritelets classes, one of our Snow Rangers stays with the group to help the ski instructor with the youngsters’ non-skiing needs (noses, clothing, cuddles!).

We run most of our Spritelet classes in the afternoons, as it is generally warmer in the afternoons than first thing in the morning, the children (and parents!) will be less rushed after breakfast and can slowly prepare themselves for their skiing, the nursery slopes will be less crowded and the morning Snow Club will be dedicated to the younger age group.

Please note that in order to join Spritelets, children must be permanently out of nappies during the daytime and capable of taking themselves to the toilet because there are no slope-side nappy-changing facilities.

Esprit Sprite Beginners – From £195

Morning ski classes of 2-21/2 hours tuition are available in all of our resorts, and are for 5-9 yearolds who are complete beginners or who cannot yet do basic snowplough turns.

Beginners will start with a gentle introduction on the resort’s nursery slopes to learn the basics and gain confidence, and will then venture on to start using the ski-lifts. They will normally be confidently skiing blue runs by the end of the week, before receiving their ski medal and certificate to take home with pride!

Esprit Sprite Improvers – From £265

Improver morning classes (2-21/2 hours tuition) are for 6-10 year-olds who can cope easily with all types of ski-lift and execute confident snowplough turns on blue runs. We can accept five year-olds only if they have previously attended our Sprite Beginner classes (or equivalent ski-school lessons.)

We also offer Sprite Improvers Xtra* classes in many resorts, with 2-21/2 hours instruction in the morning and 2 hours less formal and more fun skiing in the afternoon, and a lunch break in between. Esprit Xtra classes are aimed at 6–11 years, who will enjoy the extra skiing time in preference to Snow Club.

Esprit Sprite Intermediates – From £195

Intermediates are morning classes of 2-2 1/2 hours tuition, for 7-11 year-olds who have skied for at least two weeks and are starting to parallel ski, but still rely on snowploughing on trickier red runs.

We also offer Sprite Intermediates Xtra* classes in several resorts, with 2-21/2 hours instruction in the morning and 2 hours less formal and more fun skiing in the afternoon, and a lunch break in between.

Esprit Xtra classes are aimed at slightly older children, 7–12 years, who will enjoy the extra skiing time in preference to Snow Club.

Esprit Sprite Advanced – From £199

These morning classes are for 8-12 year-olds with three or more weeks’ skiing experience, who are confident on blue and red runs and are looking for more challenging guidance. Classes are available in selected resorts, and may include little jumps, soft snow technique at the edge of the piste, and slalom courses.

For the afternoons, we recommend our Guided Ski Fun or Snowboard Beginner classes for these children, who just love being out on the slopes!

*Children in Xtra Classes must also book Supervised Lunches, as they may lunch out on the mountain on some days and therefore be inaccessible for parents.

Esprit Snowboard Tuition – From £185

In order to provide a full range of snowboarding tuition as requested by our families, this year we offer snowboarding tuition for all abilities in conjunction with our partner ski and snowboard schools in their own group lessons. Our Esprit staff will still provide the seamless Esprit service of the take-to and collection of children before and after these lessons so that parents can enjoy maximum time on the slopes themselves.

Esprit Guided Ski Fun – From £195

This exciting afternoon option is hugely popular and is specifically for children from 6 years up of at least Improver standard, who want to use their skiing skills in an informal, free-skiing environment after their actual lessons each morning. For five 2-hour afternoons a week, an instructor will guide this group rather than formally ‘teach’ them, so they are still safely under qualified supervision, but with the emphasis on zooming around the pistes simply having fun!

Esprit Saturday Family Guiding – From £109

Saturdays can prove a dilemma for families, when children who have been learning all week are keen to show off their new skills, but parents may not yet feel confident about taking the family out on their own. Our Exclusive Esprit Family Guiding solves the dilemma!

There are two options – either Individual Family Guided sessions for 2 hours (morning or afternoon), or a Guided Group, where 2 or 3 families can ski together with a guide for 2 hours morning and afternoon, stopping for lunch (not included) on the mountain – a great way to end
the week with friends old or new.

Teenagers

For children who have outgrown our child care services, many of our resorts offer open ski or snowboard classes dedicated to teenagers, from Free Ride Courses, Off-piste Exploration and Race Training to more standard tuition. We will be happy to advise you what is available in your chosen resort and to pre-book these for your teenager.