# Private ski and snowboard lessons

> Choose the instructor yourself, message them before you commit, and pay a price with nothing added at the end.

Page: https://alpinepal.com/en/private-ski-lessons

A private lesson is one instructor and your group — you, or you and your family, or you and a friend. Nobody else joins. That is the whole difference from a school group class, and it is a bigger one than it sounds: the lesson is about what you are actually struggling with, at the pace you actually learn, starting from the lift you actually want to ride.

## Private lesson or group class?

A ski school group class puts six to twelve people of roughly similar level with one instructor for a fixed slot, usually the same one every morning for a week. It is cheaper per person and it is genuinely good for children who want to be with other children.

A private lesson costs more per hour and buys you three things a group cannot. The instructor watches only you, so a fault gets corrected in the first hour instead of the fourth day. The content is yours to choose — moguls, a first black run, carving, getting a nervous partner off the blue runs. And the time is yours: two hours on the one afternoon you have, rather than five mornings you do not.

The usual honest answer for a family is both — group class for the children in the morning, one private for the adults on the day the weather is good.

## You pick the instructor, not the rota

Booking through a school gets you whoever is free that morning. Here you read the profiles first: how many seasons they have taught, what qualification they hold and who issued it, which languages they teach in, what they specialise in, and what the people they have taught said afterwards.

You can message an instructor before you book anything. Most people do, and it is worth it — you find out whether they have taught someone in your situation before, and you agree a meeting point that is not a guess. Ski or snowboard, first time on snow or first time off-piste, a four-year-old or a nervous adult: those are different jobs, and the person who does them tells you which ones are theirs.

## What it costs, and what it does not

The instructor sets their own hourly rate, and the figure on their profile is the figure you pay. No booking fee, no subscription, no card surcharge, nothing added at the end. Alpine Pal keeps 10% of that price and the instructor keeps the rest — so the rate you see is what the instructor decided their time is worth, not what a school decided plus a margin.

Some instructors charge a little more per extra student in the same group, and that is shown on the profile before you book. Lift passes, equipment hire and insurance are not part of the lesson price — those come from the resort, and each resort page here links to the official site.

## How booking works

You pick a date, a start time and a length, and you send the request. You pay when you book, and the money is held until the lesson has happened — the instructor is not paid before they have taught you.

The instructor has 48 hours to accept. If they let it run out, you are refunded in full, automatically, without asking. They can also propose a different time, which is usually what a clash actually needs.

Once it is confirmed you can keep messaging them — snow conditions, where exactly to meet, what to bring for a child. And you can cancel with a full refund up to 48 hours before the lesson starts.

## Who is teaching you

Two paths lead to the verified badge. An independent instructor sends us their documents and a person checks them before the profile goes live; identity and qualification are marked separately, and only what we have actually checked. An instructor invited by an authorised ski school is vouched for by that school: we review the school, not each of its instructors, and the profile names the school that stands behind the badge. Where the country keeps a public register, the credential number is checked against it.

That matters more in some countries than others. In France and Italy, teaching skiing for money without the professional qualification is a criminal offence; in the United States or New Zealand there is no state licence at all and what counts is the industry certification. Each country page on this site names the qualification that country requires.

There is a second kind of profile, labelled clearly as such: a companion, who shows you the mountain rather than teaching you to ski. It is not offered in the countries where that distinction would not hold up. If you want a lesson, book a certified instructor.

## Frequently asked questions

### How far ahead should I book?

For a specific instructor in a school holiday week, as far ahead as you can. Outside those weeks a few days is usually enough. Each instructor sets their own minimum notice, and the calendar will not offer a slot they cannot take.

### Can one lesson cover more than one person?

Yes. A private lesson is for your group — a couple, a family, two friends. Each instructor sets a maximum group size and may charge a little more per extra student; both are on the profile before you book.

### What if I need to cancel?

Full refund up to 48 hours before the lesson starts. Inside that window there is no self-service cancellation, because at that point the instructor can no longer sell the slot to anybody else.

### What happens if the instructor cannot take me?

You get every penny back, automatically. If they decline, or if they simply do not answer within 48 hours, the payment is refunded in full without you having to ask.

### Can I have the lesson in my own language?

Often, yes. Every profile lists the languages that instructor teaches in, and you can filter by language when you search. Message them first if it matters — it usually does with children.

### Do I need my own equipment?

No. Equipment hire comes from the resort, not from the lesson, and every resort page here links to the official resort site. Tell your instructor what you are hiring; they will often say what to ask for.

### Is the lift pass included?

No. The lesson price is the instructor's time. Lift passes, hire and insurance are bought from the resort separately.

### Can a complete beginner book a private lesson?

Yes, and it is one of the best uses of one — a first day on snow one-to-one gets you further than a first day in a group of ten. Filter for instructors who list beginners among their specialities.