Ski Lessons Morzine - Avoriaz - Les Gets

Ski Lessons for adults and children

Pietro M. Dalmasso
+33(0)607933550
pietro.dalmasso@monaco.mc

I offer a range of ski lessons & coaching designed to improve my students' technical skills, no matter their level.

My name is Pietro Dalmasso, I am a freelance ski instructor, and I was born in Milan. I studied Economics and Business in the US and UK, and I have been living and working in the Principality of Monaco since 1993.

I earned my Italian ski instructor diploma in 2001, and enrolled in the Collegio Regionale della Valle d’Aosta under #1321. In 2010, I obtained the BEES (Brevet d'Etat d'Educateur Sportif) full French ski instructor diploma under #03810ED0322. In 2020, I earned the FISI (Federazione Italiana Sport Invernale) first level Federal Coach. These diplomas give me the authority to offer ski lessons & coaching in all European Community countries.

Working independently allows me to better share my skills and experience, meet my customers' needs and establish a good rapport, backed by my knowledge of Italian, French and English.

I have been visiting the Portes du Soleil ski area for the past decade, especially Morzine-Avoriaz, and I absolutely love it!

Sports and me

Like a lot of kids, I was typically found in my favourite team's football shirt with a ball in hand, turning lovely grassy gardens into mud.

Later on, I became captain of the university football team in Los Angeles, and the injuries started piling up. After my umpteenth time in the hospital for sprained ankles and strained ligaments, spending my nights on painkillers and my days on crutches, I had to make the difficult decision to give up football.

I grew up dinghy sailing, and I'm a huge Laser fan. Equipped with a single sail and a daggerboard, the Laser has been an Olympic-class boat since 2008, and I have one waiting for me in Versilia.

My summer holidays used to be packed with boat excursions: I would fit out the Laser around noon and set out to find other boats to race. At around 6 pm, I would make my exhausted way back to the Marina di Pietrasanta sailing club to rinse the boat and put it in the hangar.

I was also lucky enough to take a sailing course at the Yacht Club Hannibal in Monfalcone. The Scuola Vela Tito Nordio, Italy's no.1 sailing school, has trained thousands of children over the past 50 years using a combination of land-based theory lessons and plenty of practice on over 60 boats. With such a large fleet, they can offer the right boat to every student. Which boat did I end up with? The Laser, of course!

I won both the end-of-course regattas in the Laser and the 470, and was invited to the national championships at the end of September, but it was time to go back to school.

These days, I don't have much time for sailing, but I do head out to sea from Monaco when I get the chance.
Over the years, both my older sister and I have ended up as ski instructors. However, while she likes to take it easy during the holidays, I hop in the car as soon as I can and make a beeline for the mountains. Over the years, I have always been drawn back to the Mont Blanc massif.

At the tender age of 3, I was handed over to a ski instructor to teach me the basics of this incredible sport.

I have always been a very stubborn person: I didn't want to stay in the beginners' class, I was bored, I wanted to go faster... Even though I could barely stand up!

As soon as I found my feet, I put on my skis, set off at top speed, and crashed straight into the net. After one, two, three attempts, it became clear that this was not going to work.

I was switched over to private ski lessons.

My new instructor, a native of the Aosta Valley, explained his technique: "I'll carry him up the hill, we'll see how it goes, and if he can't handle it I'll carry him back down on my shoulders". Fortunately for him, I was very small and light!

After 30 minutes, I hadn't reappeared and my parents were starting to worry, until they spotted the ski instructor followed by a red dot. That red dot was me!

Thanks to that ski lesson and the unconditional support of my parents, I started to truly appreciate this amazing sport in all its forms.

I spent the next few years attending the local ski club, the legendary Sci Club Crammont, and touring the Aosta Valley for regional competitions. By the turn of the 1990s, my youthful desire to compete was starting to fade. The only souvenirs that remain are my trophies, which still fill the shelves in my old house in Milan!

I have many fond memories of day trips with other boys from around the country and some truly legendary coaches: Raul and Michele Gaglianone, Ottavio Bieller and Albano.

The learning process, from beginner through to ski instructor, kept me on track throughout my younger years.

I believe that getting involved with sports at an early age helps kids make the right friends. Imprinting plays an essential role in childhood development, but parents cannot always control what happens outside of the house.

I was very lucky.

Staying busy kept me away from bad influences: as soon as I had any free time, I headed for the mountains with other sporty kids who shared my passion for skiing.

Sport is discipline, sport is sacrifice, sport is determination, sport is a way of life.
From ski lessons on the slopes to playing with friends, every parent should pass on their passions and encourage their children to stay active!

After I moved to Monaco, getting to Courmayeur for skiing became much more challenging.
I had to spend 4 hours on the train to get from the old Monaco station to Ventimiglia, then on to Turin, before finally arriving at the foot of Mont Blanc.

The return trip on Sunday was always a race against time: I had to set off at 6:30 pm at the latest to catch the 8:30 pm train from Torino Porta Nuova to Ventimiglia, and by the time I met my poor father, Alessandro, at the station, it was 12:30 am and we were both exhausted!

I will be eternally grateful to my dad.

One day, back in the pre-smartphone era, I forgot to tell my father about a change of plans (or maybe I missed the train, I don't remember). After checking every carriage, my dad was frantic.
I won't try and write out our 2:30 am phone conversation, but let's just say he wasn't happy!

While studying abroad for university, I alternated between skiing very rarely and not skiing at all.

During my first year of university in Los Angeles, I spent a week skiing in Colorado, between Vail and Beaver Creek, with mountains as far as the eye can see and a dazzling range of slopes.

When I got back to Europe, I picked up where I left off.

In the summer of 2001, I went on holiday to Les Deux Alpes to reward myself for never giving up on anything, including skiing.

I needed to spend the summer training and getting ready, as I had failed to make the cut for the ski instructor training course the previous year.

I remember that summer well: I wasn't working in the family business yet and I wasn't a graduate, but it was still one of the most stressful holidays of my life.
My hard work paid off, and I passed the selection process for the next year with flying colours.

What is a ski instructor?

From Art. 2 of Regional Law no. 44/99 (Italian law): “A ski instructor is an individual who, by profession, demonstrates and/or teaches—including on a non-exclusive and non-continuous basis—the various disciplines of skiing to individuals or groups, with any type of equipment in a range of conditions: equipped ski areas; ski slopes; ski tours; skiable slopes and routes; perennial snow; off-piste areas and ski excursions.

The latter activities may require the use of ski skins or snowshoes, as such areas are not served by ski lifts, but they must not require the use of mountaineering techniques and equipment, such as ropes, ice axes and crampons.

During the aforementioned activities, the ski instructor, as a tour operator, is also tasked with bringing skiers closer to the Alpine environment, instilling moral values and a respect for nature, as well as working in collaboration with the Region, mountain communities, the Comunes and local tourist organisations to promote and protect the natural mountain environment.”

How do you become a ski instructor?

To become a ski instructor in Italy, candidates must pass a preselection process.

The preselection process is designed to identify and select the candidates who are ready to start their mandatory training, as required by national legislation.

Access to the training courses is subject to successful completion of the 4-day technical aptitude test.

Day 1

The first stage of the selection process is a timed giant slalom.
Each candidate's time must be within a certain margin of the reference time: 18% for men and 24% for women.

The reference time is obtained by multiplying the best time of one of the forerunners by the correction coefficient provided annually by the FEMPS.
The time obtained is then increased by 18% for men and 24% for women.

Forerunner Time X Forerunner Correction Coefficient	→ BASE TIME
Base Time X 18% Men/24% Women	→ MAXIMUM DIFFERENCE
Time Base + Maximum Difference	→ TIME LIMIT

Example: forerunner reference time X correction coefficient = 60.00 plus the maximum difference for men (60.00 + 18%) = 70.08.
Franco Rossi: 66.78 PASS
Giacinto Bianchi: 71.32 FAIL

Giacinto Bianchi will have the chance to take a second timed test on the same day.

Day 2

Only candidates who passed the day 1 test, the timed giant slalom, can participate in the second day.
The candidates are given an opportunity to ski in the open with the Exam Board and demonstrate their knowledge.

Day 3

On the third day, the candidates take part in tests out in the field, also known as the technical tests:

Exercise	Length	Width	Min/max elevation difference
Short	300 m	>30	min 140 m max 170 m
Medium	300 m	>40	min 130 m max 170 m
Wide	300 m	>50	min 110 m max 170 m
Open test	300 m	//	min 110 m max 170 m

The Board will choose 3 or 4 exercises from the 4 tests described above.

To pass the technical tests, the candidate must achieve a minimum score of 24/40, i.e. an average of 6.

Each of the 6 board members gives a score from 0 to 10 for each of the technical tests. The highest and lowest scores are discarded and the candidate is assigned a final score equivalent to the sum of the remaining 4 intermediate scores.

If they achieve the minimum score of 24/40, the candidate is admitted to the training course for aspiring ski instructors.

PS: candidates are exempt from the preselection process if:

a) they have been on an official FISI national alpine skiing team in the last 3 years.

b) they have placed at least once in one of the following events: the Winter Olympics, the World Championships or the Alpine Ski World Cup.

c) have a FIS score ≤ 35 points.

Training Course for Aspiring Ski Instructors

The training course lasts 100/110 days, divided into approximately 11 technical/educational training modules over 2 years. The course includes the EUROTEST and EUROSECURITÉ exams.

Eurotest

This exam consists of a timed giant slalom (with the same arrangement as preselection day 1) to test the candidate's technical/educational progress, and is organised according to the rules established by the International Ski Federation (FIS) and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Candidates who do not pass the Eurotest test may continue with the training course in which they are enrolled.
However, they must pass the Eurotest (and Eurosecurité) tests to receive their diploma to hold ski lessons and earn their professional ski instructor qualification.

Skiing for adults

Skiing for children

Freeriding in Morzine

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