Heading to Chamonix on Feb 18th for a week-long UCPA off-piste course.
Could you post some details on what it was like when you get back please? Looking at going on one of these courses, hopefully this season if I can get a pass!
Last year I went to exactly the same place for their “Snowboard full-time instruction” and had a fantastic time.
The accommodation is pretty basic, but clean and has everything you really need. I went with 2 friends (2 guys, one girl) and they put us in a shared room with a couple of Scottich guys. Every room has code locks, and lockers, but everything was very civil. Obviously, you will want to take ear plugs, or sleeping pills.
Food is plentiful and varied. It’s a help-yourself buffet style thing for breakfast and dinner, and they give you the makings of packed lunches too.
Lift pass is included for 6.5 days (in this case for the whole Chamonix Valley, except the Aiguilles Rouge car, I think), as is board and boot hire. I took my own boots, but the board was decent enough, and they have a workshop on site.
The “instruction” varies a bit, I think. I thought I was sort of average, technique-wise so they stuck me a group with others at my perceived skill level, and the instructor took people through lots of exercizes and practices on the first day. I was way ahead of these people so they shifted me up a level. (I expect the instruction for that first group carried on in a similar vein all week). The new instructor was much less prescriptive, and acted more like a guide, but with some gentle tips here and there. We also spent some time filming each other, and playing it back in the bar in the evening.
Probably the best thing about the week was the fact that you are grouped up with a load of boarders you don’t know, but who are at the same level as you, so you don’t hold each other up too much, and it’s a great environment to meet people. There was loads of cameraderie and encouragement in my group, with a mix of English, French and Swedes all having a great time.
