Childrens skiing lesson at Ski Dubai

My kids did a week camp over the last school holidays. It was very good. The teachers were all of a good standard and I had no hesitation leaving the kids for the hour while I went and had coffee. One hour every morning for 5 days. We did the 10am classes because it's quieter then and my kids are less tired at this time. They are 3 and 6 years old. 3 is really a bit young to ski but I couldn't put the 6 year old in and not the 3 year without a tantrum every morning for the week. 4 is a great age to start and my older son has skied since he was 3 and is now an advanced level 3/4 skier.

If your kids have skied before then take their log books with you and you'll have no problem getting them on to ski independently. I don't ski but my 7 and 9 year old were allowed to ski after showing their log books from ski club in UK.

The best thing to do would be to book your LOs in for a Disovery Lesson. My eldest DD has weekly skiing lessons between October and February (when we ski in France over the half term holidays). I actually rate Ski Dubai for teaching children as it is a controlled environment. She skis at 10am on a Saturday morning and none of the idiots that charge about seem to be up by then! They usually run 5 week ski camps, which are good as the children ski with the same instructor and same children each week, which makes it more friendly. DD has had Nina, Mohammed and David, who were all great with little ones - she is 6 now but started skiing at 4. If the children have never skied before, they have to have a lesson - can't just go with your DH, no matter how good he is. I would imagine that is for safety and insurance reasons. HTH!

I was intending to make some suggestions, but wanted to see if the ski club would address the social aspect at least. Another thing I think would be great for them to do would be an annual ski trip for ski club members, but perhaps they do this already, another reason why I want to try the ski club before writing to them. That said I do definately think changing their lesson format to 2 hours and having a break in the middle for a drink and video analysis would be great. But unlikely I think as then they can't squeeze as many sessions out of te instructors as possible. Also running regular lesson sessions week after week with the same instructor and preferably the same group would be good. So in October if I can ski again I'll sign up for the ski club and see if it addresses many of the things I'd like to see at ski Dubai. Oh and I dream of ski patrol that kick those youths that ski straight down in a big wedge and crash into everyone! (although have been known to take a few out, accidentally of course)

Ruth, have you thought about giving your feedback and thoughts on how things could improve to the Ski Dubai team?

Hi Skiingfreak I'm afraid I don't. I haven't really done any racing since I was a Junior in 1995. I had a bad fall in which one of my skis didn't come off and I tumbled through several gates, sliced my leg up and twisted my knee. It left me terrified of slalom gates. When I first came out here I went to the Saturday night Slalom night (which Mohammed takes). I was hoping to get my confidence back. But a herniated disc (unrelated) in my lumbar has left me unable to ski on and off since January 2010 (and very miserable!). I was often the only person there. I understand there is a ski club you can join that is a bit more social but only found out about it after my injury. If there is one negative thing I can say about Ski Dubai is it takes the social aspect out of skiing. My last ski centre in the UK would do 2hr lessons with a short break in the middle, to get a drink, watch some video analysis, have a chat etc. People would join and come every week. The Snow Tigers and Snow Tiggers (kids club) were always stacked full of kids that all knew each other and Saturday morning was dedicated to them. During the week there were two adult club nights which were 3 hour sessions with a longer break. A second negative point would be that many of the instructors are hopeless with advanced skiers, especially mixed groups. If I hear someone else say the words 'make carve turn' without explaining the movement to do so (and then watch the entire group make a skid turn for the next 30mins) I think I will strangle them! With almost any instructor except Mohammed I also spend the 30mins demoing carve turns, which I don't mind except that I was paying money to work on something applicable to me, like short turns, that sneaky a-frame that still sneaks in very occasionally, early turn initiation, getting that lazy inside ski working, stance width depending on terrain, keeping my hips facing downhill and them to fall downhill a heck of a lot more than they do so I can see some bigger angles on my skis! I am hoping to join the ski club here once I can ski again, possibly October providing my back doesn't go again whilst doing something dangerous like swimming (yes that is how I last injured my back). That sounds awful, no wonder it put you off, and a shame that now your back is preventing you from trying again, I hope you continue to recover but I'm sure it's difficult, when something like swimming has made your back worse, to find things that help. Good luck to you and maybe bump into you there one day. We will see how it goes I guess once we arrive, my husband is a good skier so he may have to work with the kids himself. Thanks for replying x

Hi Skiingfreak I'm afraid I don't. I haven't really done any racing since I was a Junior in 1995. I had a bad fall in which one of my skis didn't come off and I tumbled through several gates, sliced my leg up and twisted my knee. It left me terrified of slalom gates. When I first came out here I went to the Saturday night Slalom night (which Mohammed takes). I was hoping to get my confidence back. But a herniated disc (unrelated) in my lumbar has left me unable to ski on and off since January 2010 (and very miserable!). I was often the only person there. I understand there is a ski club you can join that is a bit more social but only found out about it after my injury. If there is one negative thing I can say about Ski Dubai is it takes the social aspect out of skiing. My last ski centre in the UK would do 2hr lessons with a short break in the middle, to get a drink, watch some video analysis, have a chat etc. People would join and come every week. The Snow Tigers and Snow Tiggers (kids club) were always stacked full of kids that all knew each other and Saturday morning was dedicated to them. During the week there were two adult club nights which were 3 hour sessions with a longer break. A second negative point would be that many of the instructors are hopeless with advanced skiers, especially mixed groups. If I hear someone else say the words 'make carve turn' without explaining the movement to do so (and then watch the entire group make a skid turn for the next 30mins) I think I will strangle them! With almost any instructor except Mohammed I also spend the 30mins demoing carve turns, which I don't mind except that I was paying money to work on something applicable to me, like short turns, that sneaky a-frame that still sneaks in very occasionally, early turn initiation, getting that lazy inside ski working, stance width depending on terrain, keeping my hips facing downhill and them to fall downhill a heck of a lot more than they do so I can see some bigger angles on my skis! I am hoping to join the ski club here once I can ski again, possibly October providing my back doesn't go again whilst doing something dangerous like swimming (yes that is how I last injured my back).

Ski instructors there are mainly qualified with the Austrian Ski School and many of them are level four (highest level). There are some very nice Filipino girls that often teach the kids (although may only be level 2). I personally like Mohammed a Moroccan level 4 race coach, the best technical instructor there in my opinion. You may be surprised to find a number of European and NZ ski instructors there, bear in mind ski instructors are badly paid everywhere so this is probably one service in Dubai where staff are not paid less than the rest of the world. Ski instructors do not generally have any formal qualifications for teaching children specifically. This is normal for any ski school. I know a number of people whose children have learnt to ski there and been very happy. Also be aware that in Europe it can be harder for children as young as four to learn as the natural environment has more dangers and is harder going (my parents took me to Switzerland when I was four but I wasn't strong/big enough to keep up with the class). The greatest risk at Ski Dubai is probably when your child starts on the big slope, there are a lot of reckless skiers there, that do not have any control and ski patrol are too afraid to send them packing (I would love to work ski patrol there but after I threw out all the spoilt rich brats that can't ski I'd probably get deported!). That said this is normally in the evenings at the weekends. In some ways learning to ski at Ski Dubai could be considered safer than on a mountain as it is a controlled environment, there no risk of avalanche, skiing off a cliff etc. Ski Dubai does have comprehensive insurance so if you or your child do sustain an injury there ensure you see the first aider to get a claim form and at least some if not all your medical costs should be covered. Ski Instructor, Ex Junior Club Racer. Apologies for butting in! Ruthm do you mind me asking if you've had anything to do with the race team in ski dubai, just wondered how it was for kids with them? Due out soon and keen for my kids to continue some sort of training with a group!

Ski instructors there are mainly qualified with the Austrian Ski School and many of them are level four (highest level). There are some very nice Filipino girls that often teach the kids (although may only be level 2). I personally like Mohammed a Moroccan level 4 race coach, the best technical instructor there in my opinion. You may be surprised to find a number of European and NZ ski instructors there, bear in mind ski instructors are badly paid everywhere so this is probably one service in Dubai where staff are not paid less than the rest of the world. Ski instructors do not generally have any formal qualifications for teaching children specifically. This is normal for any ski school. I know a number of people whose children have learnt to ski there and been very happy. Also be aware that in Europe it can be harder for children as young as four to learn as the natural environment has more dangers and is harder going (my parents took me to Switzerland when I was four but I wasn't strong/big enough to keep up with the class). The greatest risk at Ski Dubai is probably when your child starts on the big slope, there are a lot of reckless skiers there, that do not have any control and ski patrol are too afraid to send them packing (I would love to work ski patrol there but after I threw out all the spoilt rich brats that can't ski I'd probably get deported!). That said this is normally in the evenings at the weekends. In some ways learning to ski at Ski Dubai could be considered safer than on a mountain as it is a controlled environment, there no risk of avalanche, skiing off a cliff etc. Ski Dubai does have comprehensive insurance so if you or your child do sustain an injury there ensure you see the first aider to get a claim form and at least some if not all your medical costs should be covered. Ski Instructor, Ex Junior Club Racer.