Instruction and Lift Passes

Our standard ski course includes four hours of ski tuition per day for 6 days for paying students – please check your provisional booking paperwork for your arrangements.

You can increase your tuition to five hours per day at a supplement, prices are listed on your provisional booking paperwork. Please note: the option of five hours' ski lessons per day is not available in a small number of Italian resorts.

In Austria, ski schools are flexible with times for lessons and these are agreed between the ski school, PGL rep and yourself on arrival.

Ski schools in other countries tend to arrange their lessons back-to-back, so there is less flexibility with times.

In Italy, lessons are slightly shorter at 55 minutes, instead of an hour, to allow instructors to get to the next group’s lessons. Groups in Italy generally have a two-hour lunch break.

In most cases, ski school times are from 9.00am – 10.50am, 11.00am – 12.50pm, 1.00pm – 2.50pm, and 3.00pm – 4.50pm. The ski schools in Italy will allocate your times and provide this information approximately one week before you travel.

Our tour cost includes ski instruction and is based on a ratio of 1 instructor to 12 students (i.e. a maximum of 12 students in each ski group).

So for example with 25-36 students you will have 3 instructors, with 37-48 students, 4 instructors.

We recommend that students ski in similar ability groups (beginners and advanced skiers should not be in the same group) and therefore if your numbers of beginners, intermediates and advanced skiers do not fit into groups of 12, you might need an additional instructor.

Please bear this in mind if your numbers increase or you substitute students for those of a different ability. An additional instructor is approx. £900-£1500. For prices in your resort please contact your tour organiser.

Adults are not included in the ratios for instruction and we recommend they split up and have one adult to help supervise with each ski group.

Snowboarding instruction and equipment is not included and is available at a supplement. The average equipment supplement is £40 per boarder per week, but this can vary by resort and time of year.

The ratio of snowboarders to instructors is lower than skiing at 1:8 (i.e. maximum of 8 students per group) and therefore there is a supplement for instruction which can range from £900 to £1200.

If the number of instructors required is more than the number which would normally be supplied if the group were all skiers, then the cost of any additional instructors will be added to your booking as a supplement.

Many party leaders choose to spread the cost for any additional instructors across the whole group and charge the snowboarders only the difference in hire costs.

As with skiers, it is important for snowboarding that groups are of the same ability (those who have never boarded should be in a different group to the advanced boarders) - mixed ability groups will progress at a slower rate. Please bear this in mind if your numbers increase or you substitute students for those of a different ability, the number of instructors you require may change.

Adults are not included in the ratios for instruction as they are regarded as being in a supervisory capacity. In some cases an additional instructor is not required as the group split and abilities fits into the allocated instructors for your group:

e.g. 42 students = 4 instructors - 34 skiers (3 instructors) 8 boarders (1 instructor)

In this example an additional instructor is not required but the skiers will need to fit into 3 groups (max 12 per instructor).

Please check that the abilities of your skiers fit within these instructor groups. If this is not practical, an additional instructor would still be required. In some cases this is preferred as it allows for smaller skiing groups and aids faster progression.

We recommend that before offering snowboarding to your group, they are aware of the additional costs. Please call us on 0333 321 2143 for further information.

In most resorts you will be asked to pay a key card deposit when you collect each lift pass, which can be €3-€5 per card.

Your key card deposit amount is in the Main Party Information in your Final Party Information.

Please ensure you have the funds available when you collect the passes. The deposits are refunded by the lift pass office at the end of the week as long as all cards are returned undamaged.