The Esprit approach is to work closely with the local ski-schools and select the best English-speaking children’s instructors to run ski classes exclusively  for Esprit children, with guaranteed small classes.
Small classes are a vital factor for children’s safety, enjoyment and speed of learning, so our initial ratios are 1:6 for Spritelet classes and 1:8 for all other Sprites. The ski instructors may, however, move children from class to class to match their ability levels.

With Esprit ski classes, you get not just the tuition itself, but also all the vital connecting services we offer, which ‘join up’ the different sessions to give parents peace of mind and a stress-free ski day for themselves!
So unless parents are collecting children themselves directly after a class, we always include our take-to and collection service, to escort children to and from their ski classes, and between their classes and supervised lunches, Snow Club or High Tea as appropriate, plus our stringent signing-in/out procedures at every point where responsibility for children passes between Esprit staff and parents or ski instructors.
At the end of all afternoon classes, our staff will also collect those children and escort them to join other Esprit children for the remainder of the afternoon, before returning them to their ‘home’ chalet, for continued supervision through High Tea till 6pm.

This class is for 3 & 4 year-olds and is orientated towards fun and play, whilst introducing the youngsters to wearing ski boots and skis. During Spritelets classes, one of our Snow Rangers stays with the group to help the ski instructor with the youngsters’ non-skiing needs (noses, clothing, cuddles!).
We run most of our Spritelet classes in the afternoons, as it is generally warmer in the afternoons than first thing in the morning, the children (and parents!) will be less rushed after breakfast and can slowly prepare themselves for their skiing, the nursery slopes will be less crowded and the morning Snow Club will be dedicated to the younger age group.
Please note that in order to join Spritelets, children must be permanently out of nappies during the daytime and capable of taking themselves to the toilet.

Morning ski classes of 2-2 1/2 hours tuition are available in all of our resorts, and are for 5-9 year-olds who are complete beginners or who cannot yet do basic snowplough turns.
We also offer our Sprite Beginners Xtra* classes in Tignes, Val d’Isère and La Rosière, with 2-2 1/2 hours instruction in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon, with a lunch break in between. Esprit Xtra classes are aimed at slightly older children, 7–11 years, who will enjoy the extra skiing time in preference to Snow Club.

Improver morning classes (2-2 1/2 hours tuition) are for 6-10 year-olds who can cope easily with all types of ski-lift and execute confident snowplough turns on blue runs. We can accept five year-olds only if they have previously attended our Sprite Beginner classes (or equivalent ski-school lessons.)
We also offer Sprite Improvers Xtra* classes in many resorts, with 2-2 1/2 hours instruction in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon, and a lunch break in between. Esprit Xtra classes are aimed at slightly older children, 7–11 years, who will enjoy the extra skiing time in preference to Snow Club.

Intermediates are morning classes of 2-2 1/2 hours tuition, for 7-11 year-olds who have skied for at least two weeks and are starting to parallel ski, but still rely on snowploughing on trickier red runs.
We also offer Sprite Intermediates Xtra* classes in eight resorts, with 2-2 1/2 hours instruction in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon, and a lunch break in between.
Esprit Xtra classes are aimed at slightly older children, 7–12 years, who will enjoy the extra skiing time in preference to Snow Club.

These morning classes are for 8-12 year-olds with three or more weeks’ skiing experience, who are confident on blue and red runs and are looking for more challenging guidance. Classes are available in seven selected resorts, and may include little jumps, soft snow technique at the edge of the piste, and slalom courses.
For the afternoons, we recommend our Guided Ski Fun or Snowboard Beginner classes for these children, who just love being out on the slopes!
*Children in Xtra Classes must also book Supervised Lunches, as they may lunch out on the mountain on some days.

Responding to popular demand from both parents and children, these classes of 2 hours tuition on 5 afternoons are for 8-12 year-olds (min.1.2m tall), who are complete beginners on snowboards.
Children in this class must pre-book the ‘Flexi’ ski-pack in order to swap their skis and snowboards each day.

This exciting new afternoon option is for children from 7 years up of at least Improver standard, who want to use their skiing skills in an informal, free-skiing environment after their actual lessons each morning. For five 2-hour afternoons a week, an instructor will guide this group rather than formally ‘teach’ them, so they are still safely under qualified supervision, but with the emphasis on zooming around the pistes simply having fun!