Skiing

If you have a local dry or indoor ski slope, these can be fantastic for building confidence. If you have been with us before, don’t feel that it is essential for your child to go up a level every week. Perhaps they skied in the Sprite Improvers last time, and by staying at this level they may be more confident. The ski instructors will assess the children both on ability and confidence throughout the week and support them to move up/down the groups as they feel is appropriate. After all, the most important thing is to ensure that your child is enjoying their skiing. Make sure you also chat to your Resort Childcare Manager about your concerns who can offer additional support and advice.

We provide ski lessons for children from 3 years old, in the form of our Spritelet lessons, which introduce children to the feeling of wearing ski boots and skis whilst having fun. There will always be a childcarer on hand to assist them with their non-skiing needs and to offer support for this age group.

Ski categories for children

  • Children’s White – The White category is generally for children aged 3-5 years inclusive and is a standard quality ski. Where resorts only offer one grade of ski to all children, these will also be shown under the ‘White category’.
  • Children’s Red and Black – Some resorts offer 2 grades of ski for children. We call these ‘Red’(Standard) and ‘Black’ (Superior). Please note: The children’s categories of ‘red and black’ skis will not necessarily fit the same criteria as for adults, as described below.


Adult ski categories

  • Blue – The Blue category is our ‘standard’ ski. This ski is generally a carving ski, however, traditional skis are also available in this category. The Blue ski is usually at least one season old and is suitable for beginner skiers and early intermediates.
  • Red - The Red category is a superior carving ski. This ski is usually only one season old or new this winter and is suitable for all keen intermediate skiers.
  • Black – The Black category is normally the highest grade of ski available to hire. These are carving skis, generally this season’s new models, and are suitable for intermediate/advanced skiers.

IMPORTANT - Please note that the above is to be used as a guideline. Skis will vary from resort to resort.

We offer four different levels for adult ski and snowboard tuition as shown in the grid for each resort.

Our grading of ski levels is as follows:

  • Beginner: Never skied.
  • Level 1: Skied 1 or 2 weeks, snowplough on Green, moving to Blue, starting to parallel ski.
  • Level 2: Parallel turns, easy on Blue runs, less confident on Red.
  • Level 3: Ski parallel on all pistes, need to improve confidence and technique on Black runs and off-piste.

Our grading of snowboard levels is as follows:

  • Beginner: Never boarded.
  • Level 1: Boarded 1 or 2 weeks, competent on Green and Blues.
  • Level 2: Boarding on Blues and less confident on Reds.
  • Level 3: Can board any piste, looking to improve technique and off-piste.

Please note that this is a guide only to enable our ski schools to have an idea of how many guests require lessons at each level, before they arrive. Resorts have different grading systems, and therefore reserve the right to move you from one level to another (either up or down) should they feel this is necessary.

On European flights, you can take your own ski equipment for a charge of £40 return per snowboard or pair of skis, provided you register them at the time of booking.

Skis and snowboards presented at the airport for carriage will only be carried if space allows and will incur a charge payable at check-in of £49 return. Please note that some flights have restricted space for carriage of skis/snowboard and therefore space will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis. These flights do not offer a ‘Pay at the Airport’ service for ski/snowboard carriage.

All skis/snowboards are carried subject to availability. We reserve the right to refuse to carry skis/snowboards presented at the airport unless booked in advance.

You can add a ski carriage upon time of booking. Booking in advance will help you secure the best possible price. On some flights, ski carriages are limited so we recommend booking as soon as possible.

Or if you have guests on one of our Jet2 charter flights, you can book a ski carriage directly via their website.

You will be asked for your Esprit reference number so make sure you have note of this before booking.

It’s important to note that a ski carriage will be slightly more expensive when booking via Jet2 and it can only be done 7 days after you booking is confirmed by Inghams, or 48 hours if travelling at the weekend.

We only feature resorts with reliable snow records and access to high altitude ski areas, but if your resort is fully closed, we’ll do our best to get you back on the slopes. You can find out more about our Snow Guarantee here.