Ski School Sölden-Hochsölden KG — Attraction in Sölden

Horrible experience. 😭 Last week, I booked 3 days of group classes with my mother and sister. The first day started professionally in itself with “pre-skiing” to make up for the group division in terms of level. My sister and I were assigned to Vito. However, this turned out to be severely below our level. We had to poke our sticks the whole first day because we were going so slowly. Vito was nice, but he did not teach. We basically just skied behind him with an occasional “shout” what needed improving or a “Bravo” when things went well. We didn't practise technique at all. However, Vito also realised that we were not in the right group and so we were put in with Thorben on the second day. My sister and I were happy and hoped to learn more. However, it turned into a nightmare. Thorben was going so incredibly fast. We are reasonable skiers who are comfortable going down the red slope, but controlled and not very fast yet. Thorben, however, was really going MEGA FAST. We were flying down the slopes like mad. I still dared, against my better judgement, to dive in behind Thorben, but my sister got upset and further and further behind. Thorben paid no attention at all. The few technique exercises he did didn't amount to much and had no effect. Above all, he was going fast, very fast. In the afternoon break, my sister and I mentioned that we were uncomfortable with the high speed and steep slopes. Thorben consulted briefly but there was no “in-between” between him and Vito. According to Thorben, we were doing super and could stay with him just fine. My sister and I hoped he would take our feedback into account, but nothing could be further from the truth. The speed was still way too fast for us. Then, at some point, we were unsuspecting in a lift, which turned out to come out on a BLACK PISTE. There was also no other piste there except that black one. My sister in particular panicked. She indicated that she did not want this. And that we had never been on black before. Thorben shrugged and smiled away my sister's worries and started the descent. It was terrible. I got off by myself, but it was far too steep for me. My sister burst into tears. Even then, Thorben did nothing. In the end, it was another guy from our group who gave my sister courage. She got off, but did not stop crying again. Terrible. My sister and I got so scared that we didn't dare to go into this group class on the third day. Going back to Vito was not an option either. We therefore rebooked to a private lesson the next day. We got that one from Kirsten. She was great and finally someone who focused well on technique. All credit to her. The lesson was super, but it ultimately failed to fix with me what Thorben broke down. Because of his reckless and careless behavior, I lost all my technique and became scared. I suffered from that for the rest of my skiing holiday. And I'm incredibly bummed about that! 😡 And all this while I paid a lot of money for lessons with the aim of improving myself technically. I am also not used to this kind of recklessness and bad lessons without technique at all from other ski holidays. So don't take...

TL;DR: My experience was a disaster. The instructor, Romad, with limited English, impatience, and condescending attitude made learning impossible. He swore in German each time somebody wasn’t able to break or fell down, and mocked us. In the end had faulty ski binders that caused multiple falls, and Romad ended the lesson prematurely, requesting to fix it for €50 and only then come back. Avoid this ski school at all costs! Terrible experience for a ski beginner!

I am utterly disappointed with my experience at this ski school, especially with the instructor named Romad. Despite paying for a beginner course with an English-speaking instructor, I was stuck with a German-speaking instructor who had a very limited grasp of English. His explanations were entirely in German unless I specifically requested English, and even then, he struggled to understand my questions due to the language barrier.

Romad's impatience was obvious. Instead of providing support and encouragement, he would get angry and swear under his breath in German every time I or anyone else in the group fell, despite this being a beginner course on green slopes. His condescending remarks, like questioning whether I even participate in sports at home, only added to the frustration.

Adding insult to injury, Romad's choice of words while swearing included international ones which I was able to pick like "catastrophe," which further soured the atmosphere and added to the uncomfortable vibe of the lessons.

The final straw came when my rental gear, provided by a partner shop of this school, turned out to be faulty. The binders on my ski wouldn't latch properly, causing me to fall repeatedly during our practice on a blue slope. Rather than addressing the issue calmly, Romad lost his temper each time. Eventually, the binders completely broke, rendering the ski unusable. Instead of offering a solution, like providing a temporary replacement, Romad insisted I pay €50 to fix the equipment at a shop, effectively ending my lesson prematurely.

This entire experience was just awful, and Romad's unprofessional behavior and the school's negligence ruined what should have been an enjoyable learning opportunity. I strongly advise against enrolling in this ski school, especially if you value competent instruction and...

My partner bought for me 4days of group lessons in this school. On Monday they tested me and dropped in a group with Rene. There were only two of us. Needed to say that Rene is a perfect teacher. All compliments go to him. If u need someone who can hear you, build a proper communication and hive a proper practical info, go for him. Next day i was dropped in another group which was too advanced. And after going down the slope one time with a group, i informed an instructor that i would like to move to easier group. But there was only a group with beginners, so they proposed me a solution for a day of an individual lesson for a day. Thanks to manager on the reception who found a solution for me. But i still had two days of lesson. So for the third day i was dropped at the group of Petra (that same group of beginners, but guys progressed fast to the slope where i was planning to get confidence). So, long story short. If you have a major fear of the steepness like me, do not go to this instructor. You will be left unattended and if you even ask something, it will be interpreted not in your favour and anyway you won’t get an answer for your question. When me and my partner addressed the feedback after one day of skiing with Petra to her, we were recommended to get a private instructor, because she can not “help me with my fear of steepness”. So i can recommend her to turn into private instructor if she can not work with different students and being quite selective. Or take lessons how to be a proper...