Starting granddaughter in skiing. She will be 5 the end of next month.
She came to visit last spring and we "skied" for an hour or so on our local hill. She loved it, except she was frustrated that I didn't just let her GO. She only wanted to straight-line as fast as she could and even figured out how to maneuver around grandma skiing backward in front of her. Seemed like a propitious beginning. she was already turning to avoid being slowed down!
Fast forward to this month. I thought rather than have her irritated at grandma I would put her in a class. Went to Winter Park for a "professional lesson" opted for their "semi-private" half day with max of 5 kids in the class. She was soooo excited.
It did not work out well.
When we went back toward the end of the lesson to spy on her from above, we saw her dutifully go up the magic carpet and do a huge power wedge so that she couldn't really go at all and eventually fall down. Over and Over. Many instructors just skied right by her. Eventually what appeared to be the lift operator came and pick her up and she'd go up and do it again. Her instructor was nowhere in sight. We skied on down for the end of the lesson and waited to speak to her instructor. He never showed! The guy who was watching the lift and who had been picking her up finally came over to speak to us. He explained that the class was a split group with two kids who caught on faster and two kids who were "much worse" than our granddaughter. They went off with instructors, apparently leaving her to basically fend for herself. When I mentioned the previous years' experience and how surprised I was that she was being so cautious to the point of paralyzed, he said something to the effect of "oh yeah, she wanted to go fast so we just let her and she had a couple of big crashes and that took care of that." I was appalled. We continued to wait to speak to her instructor. Nada. The guy then said, I'll fill out her card for you because I don't know where Jeff is. I'm kind of his assistant.
And that was the end of that. $179 for a couple of hours and that is the best that a major "family" resort can do???? No wonder skier visits are flat or down. How does the industry expect to convert kids into skiers if this is the kind of experience families have? Most of the beginner instructors were barely 20 years old and I suspect bored and just marking time.
Is this typical or should I complain?
She came to visit last spring and we "skied" for an hour or so on our local hill. She loved it, except she was frustrated that I didn't just let her GO. She only wanted to straight-line as fast as she could and even figured out how to maneuver around grandma skiing backward in front of her. Seemed like a propitious beginning. she was already turning to avoid being slowed down!
Fast forward to this month. I thought rather than have her irritated at grandma I would put her in a class. Went to Winter Park for a "professional lesson" opted for their "semi-private" half day with max of 5 kids in the class. She was soooo excited.
It did not work out well.
When we went back toward the end of the lesson to spy on her from above, we saw her dutifully go up the magic carpet and do a huge power wedge so that she couldn't really go at all and eventually fall down. Over and Over. Many instructors just skied right by her. Eventually what appeared to be the lift operator came and pick her up and she'd go up and do it again. Her instructor was nowhere in sight. We skied on down for the end of the lesson and waited to speak to her instructor. He never showed! The guy who was watching the lift and who had been picking her up finally came over to speak to us. He explained that the class was a split group with two kids who caught on faster and two kids who were "much worse" than our granddaughter. They went off with instructors, apparently leaving her to basically fend for herself. When I mentioned the previous years' experience and how surprised I was that she was being so cautious to the point of paralyzed, he said something to the effect of "oh yeah, she wanted to go fast so we just let her and she had a couple of big crashes and that took care of that." I was appalled. We continued to wait to speak to her instructor. Nada. The guy then said, I'll fill out her card for you because I don't know where Jeff is. I'm kind of his assistant.
And that was the end of that. $179 for a couple of hours and that is the best that a major "family" resort can do???? No wonder skier visits are flat or down. How does the industry expect to convert kids into skiers if this is the kind of experience families have? Most of the beginner instructors were barely 20 years old and I suspect bored and just marking time.
Is this typical or should I complain?
What you describe is what I, as a ski instructor, consider is absolutely beyond unprofessional.
That is for 1.5 hrs lesson. 
