PDS Snowsport

Having not skied for a while I decided to have a ski lesson at home in the UK, at an indoor slope, before the start of the winter ski season and met up with friend / BASI Trainer & Demo Team Member / PDS Snowsport Director James Bennett. This winter PDS Snowsport has launched a new ski school in Zermatt, Switzerland so it was also a chance to find out more about the venture, ask him why he chose Zermatt as well as to have a private lesson.

PDS Snowsport is a ski school, where you can guarantee your instructor will be delivering your ski lessons as a native English speaker. The first PDS ski school was set up in Morzine with a focus on delivering the highest quality ski lessons at fantastic value. I asked James why he had chosen to launch a new ski school in Zermatt.

“Zermatt is one of the only European resorts open to skiers 365 days of the year allowing us to also run summer training camps. We are spoilt with a super modern high speed lift network that is constantly getting upgraded and developed. Although Zermatt is one of the highest resorts in Europe with great natural snow coverage it also boasts that 75% of pistes are supplied by artificial snow making facilities for guaranteed snow all season long. Although not commonly documented the locals know that Zermatt has world class off piste and backcountry skiing with truly exceptional tree skiing on the lower terrain back into the village. The village itself has it all from cosy low key locals pubs and restaurants to five star hotels with Michelin stared restaurants and everything in between. The renowned mountain restaurants are also a must while you are in resort. You will not be disappointed with Zermatt it is truly a resort to immerse yourself in the ski culture and enjoy every minute of your time skiing with us at PDS”.

The ski school is a modern take on the traditional ski school. Designed around you and your individual learning requirements, they create unique lessons to cater for your every need. You can choose from  small group sizes or a bespoke private ski lesson to guarantee your skiing is taken to the next level and the ski school offers Private lessons, Children’s Group lessons and Adult Group lessons including Women only sessions. For those looking for that little bit extra they also offer Snowboard, Off-piste, Telemark and Freestyle lessons. PDS are so much more than just a ski school, whether you are an adult or child, first time skier or world class athlete, they have something that suits you.

One of the unique points with PDS is that you can book a lesson with a PDS instructor at a UK indoor slope and then have the same instructor out in resort giving you continuity in the teaching you receive.

I chose to book a private lesson with James Bennett at Hemel Snow Centre. With over 20 years’ experience under his belt James is the co-founder of PDS Academy, along with Craig Robinson. His knowledge and skill set make him a top instructor. When he’s not teaching beginners, or ageing dinosaurs such as myself with a memory like a sieve, he is an examiner for the British Association of Snowsports Instructors grading future ski instructors and is also on the BASI Demo Team. It doesn’t matter what standard or age you are James will improve your skiing quickly, simply and efficiently. 

Booking a lesson at Hemel was easy. I simply sent an email.

I learnt to ski in Alpbach, Austria in 1980 when skiing was very much feet together with a distinct up and down movement in a stem christie turn. Modern ski technique is very different and I very quickly go back to my old comfortable style if left to my own devices. Having not skied for a while due to all the lockdowns my skiing technique had suffered. There’s a bit more to skiing than turn left, turn right, repeat and I had, seemingly, forgotten most of it after almost a year away from the slopes.

I’d already told James what I wanted to work on with my skiing in the lesson. He picked out some key points in my technique that were giving me problems but which could be easily fixed in my two hour time slot. He definitely had his work cut out ! 

My stem christie, pole plant, stance and body posture were all an issue. Skiing is essentially two things : inputs and outputs. What you input determines the output you get from your skis. My body posture was all wrong and I wasn’t flexed enough. My pole plant was too far forward. By having too narrower stance I didn’t have a stable enough platform. All of this meant I was stemming my turns and wasn’t keeping a consistent stance width.

The first thing James got me to do was widen my stance. This gave me a more stable frame. We then looked at correct body posture which would also help me maintain a constant stance width. Finally we looked at my pole plant. By having a pole plant that was so far forward meant I was changing edges too soon. 

To achieve all of this James used three exercises. Having got me to widen my stance more he focused on my posture and getting me to keep the ‘lightning bolt’ shape by skiing holding a ski pole out horizontally in front of me. In order to get me to focus more on turning both of my skis instead of lifting one in a stem turn he got me doing braquage. Finally, my pole plant was altered. By giving me shorter poles and getting me to pole plant out to the side roughly in line with the toe of my ski boot as opposed to the tip of my ski I didn’t unbalance myself as much at the start of my turns.

James taught in the clearest and simplest ways to improve my skiing, using leading teaching techniques and tactics to get the most out of me. When it was all put together at the end I looked a half decent skier once again. All I’ve got to do now is remember everything !

PDS are all about fun and adventure, a little bit unique and excellent value for money. After a bit of practice I might just have stopped stemming …. or at least do it a lot less. Pole planting to the side instead of forward has made a real difference and I am much more stable resulting in not stemming. I just have to remember the altered pole plant ! As for my stance width, that still varies but you can’t have everything.

https://pdssnowsport.com/pds-ski-schools/zermatt/