Teen Ski Lessons and Courses

Our children’s groups have 2 – 8 pupils in each group.

All children taking group lessons with New Gen must be suitably dressed.

• Helmets are compulsory for all children.
• Layers are advised so they can add or remove them if need be as children can get cold quickly.
• The glare from the snow can be strong, even on cloudy days so make sure they are wearing sunglasses or goggles at all times and are wearing high SPF suncream on any exposed skin.
• We also suggest you give them a snack and some money for a hot chocolate for lessons longer than 2hrs, as they will usually stop for a break.
• Check they have their lift pass in a left hand pocket before you leave.

For Pro-Rider lessons, we would advise bringing poles.

For children’s ski lessons longer than 2hrs long, we will usually stop for a break halfway through. We suggest you give your child some money to get a hot chocolate and pop a snack in their pocket in case they get hungry.

Our instructors are very used to teaching teen group ski lessons and realise that they can get tired or cold easily. They will take that into account when planning their lessons and in all lessons longer than 2 hours we incorporate a break for just this reason. If however the teen or instructor feels that they are unable to continue with the lesson we will contact you and ask you to collect them. This is why we require a mobile contact for all parents whose children are taking lessons with us. So please make sure you carry your phone during the day.

We do our best during the booking process to ensure this doesn’t happen but if the instructor feels that your teenager is in the wrong group we will do our best to move them into a more suitable group for their size and ability. Every group is different and it is part of our instructor’s jobs to match the groups the best they can on ability. Do not worry if your child ends up in a different group to the one they started.

As you complete our FreeRide and ProRide groups, in addition to the medals, students will receive a goggle cover and then a trucker Cap. These are the same as the ones our instructor team wear, they can’t be bought and reflect the incredible skills students have developed. Your child will be awarded a level based on the instructor’s assessment during the week.

Not necessarily. Kids naturally learn and progress at different speeds. How ‘physically literate’ kids are also can vary greatly. Adding to this that growth spurts and development may further complicate the process, it is not always the case that kids will move through their badges in a linear fashion.  It is quite normal therefore for children to stay in the same group for more than one year, especially with Bombers and Rockets. Our primary aim is to impart a love and enthusiasm for skiing in a safe way.  Our instructors are experts and professionals and realise that patience, and correct practice are key to progress.

The cornerstones of our lessons are ‘Safety, Fun and Improvement’  and so we always look to achieve all three.  It is a given that the safety of the kids is of the utmost importance and we look to take all reasonable precautions to ensure that children learn in a safe way appropriate to their abilities. It is important to us that we foster a love for the sport and so we also feel it is important that the week is enjoyable for the child.

Challenging activities, activities that demand concentration and coordination and tasks that are fun like learning to jump are peppered throughout the week in order to develop enthusiasm and confidence and enjoyment in each individual.  Each group also has specific aims that correspond to particular medals.

FREERIDE TEAM 

• Piste performance (higher-performance carved turns)
• All-mountain skiing
• How to confidently ski black runs
• Clearing the flats on jumps in the park
• Starting to link switch (backwards) parallel turns
• Techniques for skiing in variable terrain
• How to judge which drops, jumps, and lines are safe to ski
• Practising small natural drops, learning to spot the landing and ski out
• Navigation skills

PRORIDE TEAM 

On Piste, the team will work on skiing blacks in all conditions, with a range of turn shapes to control speed, no matter the snow conditions. Building towards skiing a fall-line descent of a mogul field, with a rhythmical pole plant whilst staying in control.

To prepare them to ski off-piste, we’ll also work on techniques to ski ice, powder, variable snow, crust and narrow gullies or couloirs. We cover the use of transceivers, shovels and probes in rescue simulations, with students needing to find and rescue one hypothetical victim in 6 minutes.

With the basics mastered, we’ll head off-piste, working on technique, looking at more significant drops and learning how to lead groups safely.

OFF-PISTE: PLEASE NOTE

Our ProRide Team skis off-piste when conditions allow. We’ll provide the complete avalanche safety kit for these days and cover the use of this equipment as standard in all ProRide sessions.

Read about our kid’s programme in more detail here.

If they are the same ability and meet the group level requirements then of course they can go in the same group. If they are different ages and levels however then we would advise against it. They would both need to go in the group of the lower level child which would hamper the progression and enjoyment of the more proficient child. Our groups are all friendly and we’re used to managing this kind of situation. Our instructor is there to help your child settle in and ensure they feel comfortable within the group. So after the first morning this concern normally vanishes and by the end of the week they’ll have made lots of new friends.

Your child’s safety is our primary concern and we have strict procedures in place to ensure they stay safe and enjoy their time on the snow with us. All children are given a bib to wear to make them easily identifiable. We also employ a stringent signing-in and out procedure. When your child is dropped off on the first day we ask for details of anyone who might be collecting them during the week, so we can ensure they only leave once collected by a nominated adult.