Oxygene is a growing independent ski school offering an array of ski and snowboard lessons and more. We teach in some of the best ski resorts in the French Alps.
Humble Beginnings
Oxygene was created back in 1992 by two French brothers with a love of languages. Pierre and Bertrand de Monvallier began Oxygene to meet a growing demand for high quality English-speaking ski and snowboard lessons. They set up base in their home resort of La Plagne. Very quickly they added a ski hire shop to fill a gap in the market providing quality rental equipment to their clients.
Expansion into Val d’Isere
In 1997, they saw an opportunity to expand their business into the internationally renowned resort of Val d’Isere. Later they replicated their business model and opened a ski hire shop here too. Their move to Val was well-received, so that over the years Oxygene has become one of the largest and most respected ski schools in the resort.
A New Project: Adaptive Skiing
In the year 2000, believing that anyone should be able to ski, they started work on a completely new project: adaptive skiing for people with disabilities. This involved investment in training and equipment. Adaptive skiing is now one of our flagship services. During season 2018-19, we taught more than 2000 hours of adaptive ski lessons.
Local Expansion
In 2012, another brother, Julien Favre, officially joined the team, opening another branch of the la Plagne ski school in Belle Plagne.
The Chalet-fitting Service Was Born
Oxygene’s, now indispensable, chalet-fitting service was conceived in Val d’Isere in 2012. This meant that clients could skip the queues in the ski hire shop at the start and end of their holiday and have their equipment delivered and fitted in the comfort of their chalet.
Magic & Oxygene: Two Become One
In 2016 Oxygene fused with Magic in Motion Ski School in Meribel, Courchevel and Val Thorens. This fusion grew Oxygene’s business by a third and gave us a base in the largest ski area in the world.
In 2017, we added a school in Les Menuires to the group. In the same year we established a head office in Moutiers for the accountancy, bookings, sales and marketing departments.
A Venture into the Haute-Savoie
Going beyond the Tarentaise valley for the first time in 2018, Oxygene found a new niche for their offering in Megeve, a chic resort close to Switzerland.
The following year, Starski Ski School, a school with a 30-year history in the resort of Grand Bornand joined Oxygene’s ranks reinforcing their presence in the Haute-Savoie mountains around Annecy.
A Call from the Southern Alps
In 2019, an instructor from Barcelonnette in the Southern French Alps suggested a plan to create a new base for the school in the Ubaye Valley. This is an area of outstanding natural beauty. There are a smattering of small but great resorts to explore. And so, the first southern alpine Oxygene ski school was founded.
Where next?
Who knows, but watch this space…