Everything we are regularly asked.

Snowtailors is an independent private ski school based in Val Thorens and operating across the 3 Valleys — Val Thorens, Courchevel, Méribel, Les Menuires and Saint-Martin de Belleville. The house was founded by Antoine Sangouard, a state-certified instructor who trained on Belleville snow and wanted a structure built around private clientele rather than around volume.

No. Snowtailors is fully independent. Our instructors carry the same Diplôme d'État de moniteur de ski as any ESF monitor — issued by the École Nationale de Ski et d'Alpinisme — but we operate outside the ESF federation by choice. We have written a dedicated page on the honest difference between the two: please read our ESF comparison.

It means no shared groups, ever. A Snowtailors instructor is allocated to a single family or party of friends for the duration of the booking. There is no other family in the lesson. There is no scheduling shared with strangers. The instructor's pace, language and lunch stop are decided with you, not against a roster.

Snowtailors began in Val Thorens with a handful of instructors before expanding to the four other 3 Valleys villages. Several of our senior instructors have skied with the same returning families for more than a decade — much of our roster is built on those long relationships rather than on advertising.

Mornings (typically 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.) carry the firmest snow, the smallest crowds and the clearest light — better for technical work, for beginners and for off-piste. Afternoons (1 p.m. to 4 p.m.) suit families who breakfast slowly, who ski with younger children, or who prefer the softer snow on south-facing slopes. The hourly rate is identical.

Yes — from age 4 upwards. Sessions take place on the gentler village slopes, with patience, humour and one dedicated instructor for the family. We never place a child of ours into a group of unknown children, and we never bill a junior session at a different rate from an adult.

Yes. Off-piste days remain entirely private — your instructor or guide skis only with your party. All instructors carry transceiver, shovel and probe; off-piste programmes are led by monitors with formal avalanche-rescue training, and a small number of itineraries are reserved for our ENSA-certified mountain guide.

Yes. Around a third of our families include at least one snowboarder, and we hold a roster of dual-discipline instructors who teach both within a single session. Where the levels diverge sharply, we sometimes recommend two instructors meeting at the same lunch; the booking team will explain plainly which is the more honest fit.

All our instructors hold the French Diplôme d'État de moniteur de ski — the highest civilian ski-teaching qualification in the world — issued by the École Nationale de Ski et d'Alpinisme in Chamonix. The majority are French nationals; a handful are bilingual French-British or French-Italian by upbringing. None of our lessons are taught by uncertified staff.

Yes. We hold a small but deliberate roster of multilingual monitors. Russian, Italian and German are the three languages most often requested after English; we can also match Dutch, Portuguese and basic Mandarin on certain weeks. Tell us the language preference at the booking conversation and we will match accordingly.

Yes — and we strongly encourage it. Continuity from one season to the next is part of what makes the Snowtailors model work. If your dates align with the instructor's availability we will hold him or her for you; if not, we propose a colleague briefed in detail on your previous week. The handover is taken seriously.

For Christmas, New Year and February school weeks, please book at least 60 days ahead — these periods sell out by November. For January, March and April, 14 days of notice is usually sufficient. Last-minute requests are handled when possible; the WhatsApp line is the fastest way to test availability.

A 30 percent deposit confirms the booking; the balance is due fourteen days before the first lesson. For high-season weeks (Christmas, February) the deposit may be higher. We accept bank transfer for the deposit and either bank transfer or card for the balance.

Cancellations more than thirty days before the first lesson are refunded in full minus a small administrative fee. Between fifteen and thirty days, half the booking is held. Inside fifteen days, the booking is non-refundable but transferable to another date in the same season subject to availability. Force-majeure cases are handled in good faith.

Bank transfer in euros, sterling or Swiss francs; Visa, Mastercard and American Express through a secure payment link; and, for our long-standing clients, on-account billing settled at season end. We do not accept cash above one hundred euros, in line with French law.

Yes — the 3 Valleys is a single connected ski area of 600 kilometres of pistes. With your instructor it is entirely realistic to start the morning in Val Thorens, lunch in Méribel and return via Saint-Martin. The choreography of lifts and lunch reservations is part of what we organise; you simply ski.

Yes. Our concierge service organises lift passes (delivered to the chalet ahead of arrival) and equipment rental from selected workshops in each village. Equipment can be fitted at your chalet rather than in a shop, and replaced mid-week if a child grows out of his boots. Both are billed separately at cost.

We coordinate transfers with two regular partners — one based at Geneva, one at Chambéry — for guests who wish to fly directly to the village helipad rather than drive. The flight from Geneva is roughly forty-five minutes; we recommend booking the slot at least three weeks ahead. The transfer itself is invoiced by the operator.