Interski

What will students see and do?

Interski Snowsport School is the largest British ski school in the Alps of northwest Italy. It operates three snowsports resorts in the Aosta Valley at Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc), the tallest peak in the Alps. Interski’s resorts include Pila, Courmayeur and La Thuile. All three welcome students on overseas residentials.

Probably the best known location is Courmayeur. It’s a classic Italian ski resort at the head of the Aosta Valley, just a few kilometres from the French border. Courmayeur offers six blue runs, 14 red runs and four black runs.

Pila is Interski’s most popular resort. This traditional ski area sits near the old market town of Aosta. Nearby Roman ruins provide a real lesson in the history of the Aosta Valley. Pila has a few green runs, four blue runs, 29 red runs and five black runs. The gondola ride to the skiing area is one of the most spectacular in all of Italy.

La Thuile and neighbouring La Rosière span the Petit St. Bernard Pass, which links Italy and France. This is where Hannibal is said to have ridden his elephant. Access to the slopes is by cable car or chairlift. La Thuile offers 33 blue runs, 32 red runs and 15 black runs.

No matter which Interski resort you visit, students will typically receive 24 hours of instruction, divided into six four-hour sessions. Interski instructors will divide students into groups based on skiing ability. Levels are as follows:

– Never skied or only had a taster lesson
– Very limited experience; confident using “snowplough” on nursery slopes
– Confident to ski easy blue runs using a combination of ploughing and parallels, but anxious on steep or icy sections
– Confident to ski parallel on all blues at a reasonable speed and can ski reds, but anxious and must pick route carefully when the slope becomes steep or icy
– Confident to ski parallel at a steady pace on all reds and easy blacks, but anxious on bumps or off-piste; now want to tackle more demanding slopes
– Confident to ski parallel at high speeds on reds and confidently tackle bumps on and off-piste

After ski lessons, students will shower, have dinner and enjoy après-ski activities like ice skating, bowling, karaoke and disco before heading to bed.

How does the trip link to the curriculum?

School ski trips allow students to learn about and participate in healthy exercise and learn new skills. Those include physical, sporting, academic and social skills. Learning to ski helps children face their fears and push their limits in the safety of a closely supervised environment.

Overseas residentials offer learning outside the classroom opportunities in an unfamiliar but controlled environment. An Interski school trip requires students to adapt to a new and different environment. This helps them gain independence, self-discipline and confidence.

Since Interski’s facilities are in the Alps in Italy, students can also practise and improve social and language skills. The Aosta Valley is bilingual (French and Italian) and offers many historical and geographical features. Medieval castles and fortresses dot the region. A visit to the Roman ruins in Aosta can make the history of the Roman Empire more engaging.

A snowsports trip can link to any part of the curriculum with proper planning. Interski has published a brochure detailing how school ski trips relate to specific subjects at each Key Stage.

Residential trips offer learning experiences that are practical and hands-on, which can be highly inspirational for students of all ages. In addition to skiing, Interski holds seminars on avalanche training, ski fitting, snow holing and other snowsports subjects.

Ski trips and residentials offer students a variety of PHSE lessons. At Interski, they’ll learn about the risks of snowsports and the safety rules devised by the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) called the “Ski Way Code.” Students will gain an understanding of the ever-changing conditions of a mountain environment. Interski’s instructors also offer lessons on healthy eating.

Après-ski will include social and physical activities like dancing, ice-skating, swimming, snow tubing, bum boarding and more. Saving for ski trips, budgeting their spending money and using a foreign currency contribute to students’ financial education.

Overseas residentials like a school ski trip can also offer students video evidence of their practical work toward A Level requirements and GCSE.

Subjects covered

Details of risk assessment

Interski uses only minimum BASI Level 2 (or national equivalent) instructors, all English-speaking. The venue is ABTA licenced and has earned the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Quality Badge. Interski also has an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL).

Risk assessments for all activities can be downloaded from Interski’s school trips download page.

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