andyboyski

My wife and I will be travelling to Vail Colorado this year and staying at the Hyatt. We are looking to take our skiing to the next level and tackle some of the more difficult runs. Any advise on a good instructor who can take us to the next level.

virginia

advise you stick with vail's professional instructors! they are excellent. get a lesson for just the 2 of you & i'd wait til day 2 of 3, so you get your ski legs working & get used to the altitude.

williamscb13

I'd second the suggestion to go with the Vail resorts.They should all be very professional and trained to advance your skiing at any level. But be very clear on what type of instructor you want. Some instructors stand on the side of the mountain and instruct and I get so tired and bored doing that. My favorite ski instructor will give a suggestion, a tweak and say try this on the next run. His favorite saying is "let's go skiing" or "follow me" and off down the mountain we'll go.

You also might want to consider doing two hours or a half day. A full day lesson can be very long. Note: I typically ski with a large group of people and we trade off the instructor by levels during the day. I also don't ski at Vail so have no personal recommendations.

fmpden

How long is your trip? Second, be absolutely certain that you are using PROPERLY fitted boots and skis. Which means do not rent high end boots and skis if you are not capable of skiing at a high level. At the same time don't rent a beginners package either. All skis are not created equal. Same for boots.

Of course, the best route to skiing better is lots of practice. Which, unfortunately, is hard to do where you only ski a week or so per year. There are literally dozen of ski instructors at Vail so it is difficult to id or recommend a single instructor. I would spend the first couple of days just practicing what you know. Take a group lesson with each of you in separate groups that is appropriate for what you want to do. Practice a day or two. If you are not making progress, check with a private instructor. A half day might be enough. Assuming different skill level or/and aggressiveness would make it hard for you to share the same instructor at the same time.

Gretchen

I like the part of fmpden's suggestion to each take a group lesson at your particular level, even if (probably) it is a different instructor, for a day. And personally I wouldn't ski for a couple of days before doing it. Maybe even two days of group. Then ski together and see how you are doing. In our skiing days we had friends who were EXPERT skiers--ski patrol on the east coast--and always took a lesson when they went to Colorado. Always something to learn/improve. Our high flying kids always took at least one day of lessons most years.
I have never "be very clear on what type of instructor you want". I have also not had one that stood on the side of the mountain and talked--they always skied as a part of the learning.

fmpden

The reason to ski a couple days is to get rid of the rust. But at 70 I have more rust than I did at 40. I assume the OP may ski once a year or every other year. I have skied since 64 and first couple of days every year is spent on green slopes getting the muscles, knees, etc. to remember what is suppose to happen. If you jump into a lesson the first day on the slope after an absence of a year or more, you will look like you know less that you actually do.

I am not sure what point William was trying to make. Confusing at best. I have recently seen, but not used, instructors using a radio to communicate with the students as they are going downhill. I think that would be terrific.

I will be in Vail/Beaver Creek next week. Will see if anyone there is using radio instruction.

Tomsd

Would agree with the above suggestions. First get out on well fitted boots and skis and get your "legs" under you - chipping off the rust, etc.

Try to have your ski "game" fairly up to speed when you take a lesson - and they will probably fit you in the correct class, and I would also recommend a group lesson first and then ask about personal lessons if you want further instruction.

Usually I say - take a group lesson, work a day on what they teach you and then go back and take another lesson, and so forth.

Tomsd

BTW - most of the ski schools these days are good.

And also agree that would rather take two - half day lessons vis a vis a full day lesson. Get some pointers, work on them, and then come back for more.

Bottom line though: It all is simply put - time on skis when you are trying to improve. Just go out and when you think you are really doing well, take a slightly more difficult slope - and then - if you handle it - keep doing it - or go back to one you can really handle, get your confience back again, and then go tackle the more challenging slope again.

Gretchen

I really wonder how much a half day lesson would give--2 hours. There's a pretty long time on a lift going up the mountain. Not a whole lot of difference in price, and if you get tired after a few hours, just ski on down. They also stop for lunch.

fmpden

Half day lessons are at least 3 hrs and a bit more. But Gretchen has a point. This year a half day lesson at Vail is $110 and full day is $140. However, the best deal is a 3 day package including lift ticket for $476. Unfortunately the days of $1/day ski rental and $5 lift passes are long gone but so are the days of slow two person chair lifts and small mountains.

The time of year you are here will impact some of the prices.