Skip school - and get some real ski lessons

For intermediate skiers there is a radical alternative to the rote of ski school. Chris Dyer meets a band of instructors determined to tear up the rule book

If you ski, I bet you would like to be better at it. The chances are you could be – it just depends which of two approaches you take. You can spend precious hours cruising around the resort waiting for divine intervention to deliver the skills of Hermann Maier or Katja Seizinger. Or you can find someone to show you how. Good tuition yields enormous rewards: moguls become manageable, off-piste ceases to be out of bounds, and you don't get so tired. Many of us ski well below our potential, so why do we just have a few lessons as beginners and then leave it at that?

The problems start at ski school. We've all been there and seen it – the long line of people snaking down the piste, those at the front grimly determined to imitate the instructor, those at the back grimly determined to survive. The ski teachers at Optimum Ski, a company specialising in ski-skills development courses, have watched them too. One of Optimum's coaches is Peter Silver Gillespie, a professional ski teacher for 10 years. He says what is wrong with the ski school product is that it is manoeuvre-based – snowplough turns, stem turns, parallel turns – which doesn't equip people to deal with different conditions.

"Clients don't develop individually or learn any real skills," Gillespie says. "They get bored, go off on their own and often that is the last tuition they take. They develop ingrained faults; if their skiing does get any better, it's a slow process."

Gillespie's approach is different. He works with small groups, giving person-alised coaching rather than trying to fit skiers into a predetermined instructional system. His aim is to guide clients through the learning process, while at the same time helping them to analyse their own skiing. Gillespie believes that when people understand how skiing works they begin to coach themselves, using the teacher as a consultant to bounce ideas off. "Skiing is very simple," he says, "It is balance, pressing the skis, edging the skis and turning the skis. Blending these elements determines the outcome of everything you do."

The strength of this approach is that there are no special techniques to learn to deal with moguls, ice or powder; the blend will change but the fundamentals remain the same. Some of Gillespie's teaching is done on the piste, but it isn't long before he leads you off to find some bumps or loose snow at the side of the piste.

"Exposing people to different conditions makes them more adaptable," he says. "If you ski from the top to the bottom of the mountain the snow changes, the terrain changes, your speed changes. You have constantly to adjust your movements and technique."

Optimum Ski are based in in Les Arcs. Martin Rowe, who runs Optimum, has taught skiing for 30 years and until recently trained ski teachers for the British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI). He says: "People often come to us after they've stopped taking lessons, usually because they became despondent with the quality of tuition. They hit a learning plateau; it often happens with intermediate skiers, but it can happen at any level from beginner to advanced."

During the winter season Optimum's courses run for six days a week. Out-of-season courses are run on the glacier at Tignes, using slalom poles to improve technique. Using poles encourages recreational skiers to be more assertive.

"Slalom poles help to focus coaching; it gives the skier gates and a line to aim at," says Gillespie. "You're looking not only at technique, but also the tactical and psychological aspects of skiing – it's a more complete picture."

The good news for anyone who decides to improve their skiing is that it is getting easier to learn. Ski design has changed dramatically in the last four or five years. Skis are now much shorter, which makes them less unwieldy, and some 25 per cent wider at the ends, which makes it easier to carve, an essential skill: if you roll a ski on edge and apply pressure and steering, it carves a turn in the snow rather than skidding.

Rowe says: "The new skis have changed ski technique and ski teaching for the better. It's possible to reach a higher level much more quickly now, it has rejuvenated the whole sport."

Both Rowe and Gillespie recommend that in looking for a ski teacher you go on personal recommendation as well as qualifications. In selecting teachers Rowe picks people who not only have the right paperwork but who he feels also have good social skills: "They have to be personable – if they're not, they're not going to get the job done properly." It seems to work. Last year 80 per cent of Optimum's clients had either been before or were recommended by a previous customer.

In the end, skiing is all about having fun. Learning to ski better gives a boost to jaded skiers and provides the skills needed to venture on to more challenging terrain. And you needn't go back to school to do it.

The facts
Optimum Ski in Les Arcs, France, offer chalet accommodation and ski courses. Prices for half-board accommodation start at £395 a week. A six-day skill-development course costs £175. Skis can be hired from the chalet. Clients must have at least two weeks' skiing experience – novices can't be accommodated because there are no local nursery slopes. Contact: 01992 561085, www.optimumski.com
International Alpine Coaching offer courses at four UK artificial centres – Wycombe Summit, Gosling Ski Centre, Tamworth Snowdome, and Milton Keynes Snowzone – throughout the year, dates available upon request. Prices start form £35 for a three-hour session. Summer courses are also held in Austria. For details: 01442 399118, www.alpinecoaching.com
Other companies offering similar skill-development courses include the Austrian-based World Class Skiing, 01803 855796, www.world-class-skiing.com, and New Generation, based in Three Valleys, France, 00 44 479 010 318, www.skinewgen.com

Ten common faults

If your skiing doesn't suffer from any of these problems you should be giving lessons, not taking them. Otherwise, good tuition will help you to address them
Imperfect balance Nothing inhibits a skier's progress more. A common fault is sitting back on the skis. Good balance is crucial to all aspects of skiing.
Too static Good skiers exhibit dynamic motion – their movements are continuous, integrated and active.
Skidding the skis Skidding has its place, but good skiers know they can put a ski on edge, apply pressure and it will take them where they want to go. Mastering these carving skills should be the aim of all recreational skiers.
Lack of lateral movement To get the skis on to an edge and to counter the forces generated in a turn, skiers must learn to trust their balance when they are leaning hard into the turn.
Worried about what it looks like Good ski technique is natural, comfortable and spontaneous. Functional skiing is more important than "pretty" skiing, there are no "proper positions" that everyone should copy, not least because it encourages you to become static.
Not enough strength Strength and fitness will ultimately limit everyone's skiing – but this is one of the more convenient issues to address. If you need a reason to go to the gym, remember: "Power buys freedom."
Unnecessary motion Extraneous movement, particularly in the upper body, reduces muscle efficiency and sets up all kinds of unwanted forces that the skier has to control. Haven't you got enough to do already?
Not relaxed Often because you're trying too hard! Being mentally and physically relaxed is critical to fluid movement, to rhythm, to quickness and to a sense of freedom.
Not breathing naturally It may sound silly, but many skiers, concentrating hard on their technique, forget to breathe. Breathing naturally relaxes the body.
Too serious Skiing is fun – you need to be playful and imaginative. Experiment to find out what you and the skis can do. Ski fast, take jumps and have a laugh.