Evolution in ski hosting beats court ban

Ski-hosting was declared to be in breach of a French law that forbids anyone from guiding groups of skiers around the slopes unless they are fully qualified ski and snowboard instructors. The law was originally introduced to try and stamp out illegal instruction.

Despite British firms maintaining that their ski hosts do not give any form of instruction and merely show guests around the ski area, Crystal Ski declared during the summer that it would be suspending its ski-hosting to comply with the court ruling.

Now the company has announced that it will offer customers a free ‘social skiing’ service run by qualified ski instructors from one of the most respected ski schools in France, Evolution 2. In 11 key resorts in the French Alps, Evolution 2 instructors will ski with Crystal customers every Sunday from 10.30am-4pm. The service will be offered in Avoriaz, Chamonix, La Clusaz, La Plagne, La Rosière, Les Arcs, Les Menuires, St Martin de Belleville, Tignes, Val d’Isère and Val Thorens.

It will aim to include all the key routes and lunch hot spots in the resort, as well as enable guests to ski the best runs and provide tips on avoiding bottlenecks and queues.

Crystal Ski reps will also be on hand at various points during the day to share their knowledge and expertise.

‘With this new service we are providing a more comprehensive, flexible ski school
product to our customers as well as days out on the slopes for those who don’t want
instruction, but want to discover the ski area as part of a group,’ said Crystal Ski
overseas director Nikki Hooper.

The ban followed the test-case prosecution of Nick Morgan, managing director of Huddersfield-based Le Ski, which operates in Courchevel, La Tania, and Val d’Isere. Le Ski had offered free ski-hosting to guests for the past 30 years. He was fined €15,000. An appeal will be heard in February.