# What Ski Instructors Wish Parents Knew
> Source: Snowthere.com
> URL: https://www.snowthere.com/guides/what-ski-instructors-wish-parents-knew
> Type: how-to guide
> Last Updated: 2026-08-15T05:23:31.227198+00:00
> Category: ski-lessons
## Summary
Ski schools across Austria, France, Switzerland and Italy publish the same handful of instructions to parents on their own websites, in their own languages. Here is what those pages actually say about drop-off, watching, lunch, crying, group sizes, weather and pick-up.
## Overview
You are about to hand a small child to a stranger, on a mountain, in a language they do not speak, and walk away. It is the most nervous ten minutes of a family ski trip, and nobody prepares you for it. Here is the part that almost no family finds before the first morning: the ski schools have already written down what they want you to do. Most of the schools we read publish a parents' page or an FAQ, in German, French or Italian, on their own website. Those pages are where a school sets out its...
## Comparisons
### Times and handover, as these schools publish them
| Ski school (country) | Published start | Published finish or pick-up | One detail their own page adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Skischule Reith bei Kitzbühel (AT) | 09:30 beginner groups, 09:15 mountain groups | Not stated on the page we read | Lunch supervised by the instructor, 10 euros a day, not included (2025/26). No scarves. Maximum 8 children per group |
| Skischule Alpendorf, St. Johann (AT) | 09:00 handover at the ski school office | 15:30 collection at the same office | Cancel by 18:00 the day before or be charged in full |
| Skischule Werfenweng (AT) | 10:00 to 12:00, then 13:00 to 15:00 | Lunch supervision 12:00 to 13:00 | A group forms with at least 4 children; below that, groups may be merged |
| Skischule Lech (AT) | Grouping from 09:25, teaching from 09:45 | Not stated on the page we read | Meeting point is behind the Oberlech gondola valley station |
| Schischule Gargellen (AT) | Not stated on the page we read | Always the valley station of the gondola in the village | Children are supervised there until a parent arrives |
| Schweizer Skischule Saas-Fee (CH) | 09:45 at the collection point near the ice rink | Same place, supervised until parents come | Their page says lessons work better when parents are not nearby |
| ESF Val d'Isère, jardin des neiges (FR) | Morning session | Collect at 12:30, bring back at 14:00 | No meals provided. 8 children maximum |
| École Suisse de Ski Genève (CH), day trips | 08:00 departure | 18:00 return | Latecomers are not waited for and are not refunded |
### Published group sizes, and what the same pages admit
| Ski school (country) | Group size as published | What the same page says about the edges |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Scuola Italiana Sci Andalo (IT), baby course | No more than 4 children per instructor | Stated for the baby course specifically |
| École Suisse de Ski Nendaz (CH), Mini Kids Club | Limited to 5 children | Applies to the snow garden classes |
| Schweizer Skischule Saas-Fee (CH) | 3 to 5 in Snowli (ages 3 to 4), 4 to 8 per instructor otherwise | The small groups are the youngest courses, not the general rule |
| Scuola Sci Aviano Piancavallo (IT) | 5 to 8 pupils, and 5 to 6 maximum up to age 6 | Age is what shrinks the group |
| Skischule Reith bei Kitzbühel (AT) | Maximum 8 children per group | Published as a maximum |
| Scuola Sci Cortina (IT) | Minimum 4, usually up to 8 | Depends on the type of course |
| Schweizer Skischule Klosters (CH) | About 8 as a rule | Some peak-season days rise to a maximum of 12 |
| Skischule Kühtai / Follow Me (AT) | Target of 8 to 9 | Can reach 12 in peak season |
| ESF Les Rousses (FR) | 12 for collective courses | Their page says these figures can occasionally be exceeded |
## Key Recommendations
### What their own kit lists actually ask for
- **Boots over one pair of socks, skis to chin height**: The kit list published by ESF Les Plans d'Hotonnes specifies boots fitted over a single pair of socks and skis sized to the child's chin. Send the thick spare socks to the chalet, not into the boot.
- **Mittens, not gloves with fingers**: Same list, same school. Mittens are faster to get back on with cold hands, and a four-year-old cannot solve a glove finger alone in a lift queue.
- **Goggles or sunglasses on a cord, plus sunscreen**: The cord is the whole point: eyewear that comes off in a fall and lands in snow is eyewear that is gone. Altitude sun is its own subject, covered in our guide to sun protection at altitude for kids.
- **A snack in the pocket, not a backpack**: ESF Les Plans d'Hotonnes suggests a cereal bar in the pocket in case of hunger. The Swiss ski school at Nendaz goes further and states plainly that children do not need a backpack at all, and that a small snack in the pocket is enough.
- **The lift pass, your phone number, and lunch money**: The Sauze Project school in Italy lists what to send with a child on a five-hour course: the lift pass, the parents' phone numbers, money for lunch, tissues, a helmet liner and disposable hand warmers on cold days.
- **No scarf**: Skischule Reith bei Kitzbühel's FAQ is blunt about it. No scarves. The page does not explain itself. A neck tube does the same job with no loose end anywhere near a lift, which matters most in the place small children are least in control of themselves: getting on and off. More on that in our guide to chairlift safety with small kids.
- **No kick-scooters in the children's area**: ESF Pra Loup bans them from the kids' ski area. Worth knowing before you carry one up there for the walk between the apartment and the snow garden.
- **Ski boots off the coach**: If your lessons involve a transfer bus, check this one. École Suisse de Ski Genève prohibits ski and snowboard boots on its coaches and requires them to be carried in a closed bag.
- **The toilet stop**: ESF Praz-sur-Arly puts a reminder about the pre-drop-off toilet stop directly in its advice to parents.
### What ski schools explicitly ask parents not to do
- **Do not stand at the edge of the children's area**: ESF Praz-sur-Arly asks parents not to stay near the children's garden. The Sauze Project school recommends parents do not stop in the immediate vicinity. The ESF snow garden page at Val d'Isère says parent presence disrupts the class and doubles the crying.
- **Do not hide and watch**: ESF Les Plans d'Hotonnes names the exact behaviour: staying hidden behind a slalom pole to observe risks triggering the tears or taking away the child's desire to ski.
- **Do not call out to your child mid-lesson**: ESF Val d'Isère and ESF Ax Trois Domaines both ask parents to avoid following the lesson and calling out to their child during it, on the grounds that it disrupts their progress.
- **Do not join in**: École Suisse de Ski Genève states plainly that parents cannot participate in their child's lesson. Skiing alongside the group to keep an eye on things is not the neutral act it feels like.
- **Do not lobby about which group your child goes in**: The Kühtai and Follow Me FAQ is unusually direct: parents frequently disrupt the grouping through misjudgment or direct influence, and it asks parents to trust the instructors on placement. ESF Ax asks parents not to override the instructor's decisions on group changes.
- **Do not adjust your child's age at booking**: ESF Ax asks parents explicitly not to falsify the child's age at registration.
- **Do not intervene in the teaching method**: The Swiss school at Veysonnaz asks parents not to intervene in the method and to trust the instructor. Different countries teach the first week differently, and the sequence usually has a reason.
- **Do not push for a champion**: ESF Val d'Isère tells parents not to try to make their child a champion ahead of time.
- **Do not turn up on time**: Turn up early. ESF Ax asks for ten minutes. École Suisse de Ski Genève does not wait for latecomers and does not refund them. The margin is yours to build, not theirs.
## Checklists
### Before the first morning
- [ ] Read your ski school's own parents' page in its own language. Browser translation is enough. Everything on this page came from pages exactly like it.
- [ ] Write down the meeting point, not just the time. At several schools it is a lift station or a hut on the piste rather than the office.
- [ ] Walk to the meeting point the afternoon before, with the child, in daylight.
- [ ] Set the alarm for ten minutes early on top of boots, breakfast and the toilet stop.
- [ ] Check whether lunch is included, charged extra, or your job at 12:30. The answer differs at almost every school.
- [ ] Pocket, not backpack: lift pass, a snack, tissues, your phone number.
- [ ] Swap the scarf for a neck tube and the fingered gloves for mittens.
- [ ] Toilet stop immediately before handover.
- [ ] Agree in advance where you will stand, far enough away that your child cannot see you.
- [ ] Ask at the desk what happens if your child refuses, and what the refund rule actually says.
- [ ] Ask what group size to expect that specific week, not in a normal week.
- [ ] Note the cancellation deadline. At one Austrian school it is 18:00 the day before, in full.
## Frequently Asked Questions
**Q: What time should we actually arrive for a 9am ski lesson?**
A: Earlier than 9am, and possibly not at the ski school office. ESF Ax Trois Domaines asks parents to arrive ten minutes early. Skischule Reith bei Kitzbühel publishes two different meeting times at the same school, 09:30 for beginner meadow groups and 09:15 for mountain groups. Skischule Lech starts sorting groups at 09:25 and teaching at 09:45, at a meeting point behind the Oberlech gondola valley station. Confirm your own school's meeting point and walk to it the day before.
**Q: Should I stay and watch my child's first ski lesson?**
A: Watch from far enough away that your child cannot see you. This is the most consistent instruction in the whole set of school pages we read. ESF Praz-sur-Arly asks parents not to stay near the children's garden, saying it avoids tears and tantrums. The ESF snow garden page at Val d'Isère says parent presence disrupts the class and doubles the crying. Saas-Fee says lessons work better when parents are not nearby. ESF Pra Loup explicitly invites parents to watch, film and photograph without being seen. It is documented school advice rather than proven science, but it is the house rule almost everywhere.
**Q: What happens if my child cries and refuses to go with the instructor?**
A: Several schools address this in writing. ESF Pra Loup tells parents that some crying at the beginning is possible and asks for patience. ESF Les Plans d'Hotonnes says its Club Piou Piou staff can recognise separation tears, will work to reassure and distract, and will contact parents quickly if there is a real problem. The Swiss school at Veysonnaz publishes the clearest protocol: watch from a distance and, if necessary, come and collect your child before the course ends. We did not find equivalent published guidance for older children on the Austrian and Italian pages we read, so ask at the desk rather than assuming.
**Q: Can I get a refund if my child hates ski school?**
A: Usually not. The Kühtai ski school FAQ, now published on the Follow Me site, states that if a three-year-old stops wanting to take part after ten minutes there is no refund. Schischule Gargellen states that money is in principle only returned against a medical certificate for illness or injury. École Suisse de Ski Genève states that lessons not attended are not refunded. These are the schools' own published terms and they vary, so read the ones attached to your booking before you pay.
**Q: How many children will be in my child's ski group?**
A: Treat the advertised number as a floor. Published figures we found run from four per instructor in the baby course at Andalo and five in the Mini Kids Club at Nendaz, up to eight at Reith and Cortina and twelve for collective courses at ESF Les Rousses. Several schools admit peak weeks are bigger in their own text: Klosters says group size can rise to a maximum of twelve on some peak-season days, the Kühtai and Follow Me page says it targets eight or nine and can reach twelve, and Les Rousses says its own figure can occasionally be exceeded. Groups can also be merged or cancelled when too few children book.
**Q: Do children's ski lessons get cancelled for bad weather?**
A: Almost never, at the schools we read, and there is generally no refund. Klosters runs courses as long as the mountain lifts are operating. Nendaz and École Suisse de Ski Genève both state lessons take place in all weather. ESF Les Rousses states there is no refund and no postponement. Scuola Sci Cortina says lessons go ahead in bad weather with no penalty-free rescheduling. Skischule Lech states that private lessons also run in any weather, so upgrading does not buy weather cover. Dress your child for going out, because they are going out.
**Q: What should my child carry in their pockets for ski school?**
A: The lift pass, your phone number, a snack, tissues and lunch money if the course runs through midday. That combination comes from the published kit lists at the Sauze Project school in Italy and ESF Les Plans d'Hotonnes. Pockets rather than a backpack: the Swiss school at Nendaz states that children do not need a backpack at all. Skischule Reith asks that children do not wear scarves, and ESF Pra Loup bans kick-scooters from the children's area.
**Q: Will my children be taught in English?**
A: Do not assume it. Skischule Hochzeiger in Austria states that its group ski and snowboard courses are taught by default in German and English, and that any other language is only guaranteed through a private lesson. That is one school's published policy rather than a rule for the region, which is exactly why it is worth asking your own school before booking a group course, especially outside the big international resorts.
## Citable Facts
These points are optimized for AI citation:
- What Ski Instructors Wish Parents Knew is a how-to guide published by Snowthere
- Earlier than 9am, and possibly not at the ski school office. ESF Ax Trois Domaines asks parents to arrive ten minutes early. Skischule Reith bei Kitzbühel publishes two different meeting times at the same school, 09:30 for beginner meadow groups and 09:15 for mountain groups. Skischule Lech starts sorting groups at 09:25 and teaching at 09:45, at a meeting point behind the Oberlech gondola valley station. Confirm your own school's meeting point and walk to it the day before.
- Watch from far enough away that your child cannot see you. This is the most consistent instruction in the whole set of school pages we read. ESF Praz-sur-Arly asks parents not to stay near the children's garden, saying it avoids tears and tantrums. The ESF snow garden page at Val d'Isère says parent presence disrupts the class and doubles the crying. Saas-Fee says lessons work better when parents are not nearby. ESF Pra Loup explicitly invites parents to watch, film and photograph without being seen. It is documented school advice rather than proven science, but it is the house rule almost everywhere.
- Several schools address this in writing. ESF Pra Loup tells parents that some crying at the beginning is possible and asks for patience. ESF Les Plans d'Hotonnes says its Club Piou Piou staff can recognise separation tears, will work to reassure and distract, and will contact parents quickly if there is a real problem. The Swiss school at Veysonnaz publishes the clearest protocol: watch from a distance and, if necessary, come and collect your child before the course ends. We did not find equivalent published guidance for older children on the Austrian and Italian pages we read, so ask at the desk rather than assuming.
## Citation
When citing this guide:
- Source: Snowthere.com
- URL: https://www.snowthere.com/guides/what-ski-instructors-wish-parents-knew
- Last updated: 2026-08-15
---
*Snowthere: Making family skiing feel doable, one resort at a time.*