THE SCHOOLS THEMSELVES…
The ESF (Ecole du Ski Francais)
The ESF is the largest and most ubiquitous ski school in France. You will be hard pressed to visit a French ski resort without seeing any of their instructors, invariably dressed in red from head to toe, with a trail of children behind them. The ESF was created by ski champion Emile Allais in the mid 1940s who was keen for French ski instructors to adopt his French ski teaching style rather than the already-established Austrian method. These days the ESF is present in 250 resorts in France from the Alps and the Pyrenees to Corsica. Despite their use of French national symbols like the red, white and blue of the tricolor flag and the adjective ‘francais’ they are not the official ski school in France, simply a ski school in France (although you would be forgiven for thinking they were some sort of government affiliated entity with a count of 17,000 instructors working for them). In fact all of the ski schools in France are completely independent from the state, the ESF included.
The ESI (Ecole de Ski Internationale)
The ESI was founded in 1977 by a group of instructors from the ESF who wanted to develop a new ski school to target the growing international market. The first of these schools opened in the resorts of Flaine, Val d’Isere and Avoriaz. They had 65 ski schools across France and Switzerland and had approximately 1,500 instructors. Their teaching style is similar to that of the ESF but they were amongst the first to include instructors of different nationalities in its ranks.
Evolution 2
Ten years later, in 1987, another new independent ski school arrived on the scene. Evolution 2 sought to develop the idea of ski school into a business that would provide a full range of outdoor activitie. Founded by mountain and snowsports enthusiasts, they had a clear goal from the start: to reinvent ski and outdoor sports instruction through a more personalised and human approach – one that stands apart from traditional structures. They are still going today and have around 500 instructors to their name.
WHAT ABOUT OXYGÈNE?
Oxygène’s history
Oxygène’s story begins in 1992 when brothers Bertrand and Pierre de Monvallier (both ESF instructors at the time) had a vision for a new type of ski school that would promote the joy of learning to ski – the idea being that if their students were more relaxed and were enjoying themselves whilst learning that they would more easily and quickly improve their technique on the snow. This would result in them enjoying their holidays more. They began in La Plagne and five years later opened a second school in Val d’Isère. In 2025 Oxygène is present in 16 resorts in French Alps and has an instructor count of around 300.
Oxygène’s services
Oxygène has expanded beyond the original ski school mould turning the ski school experience into a full holiday experience to enhance customer experience and satisfaction. Now, a number of non-skier activities have been added to the programme.
There are ski rental shops in La Plagne, Val d’Isère, Tignes and Serre Chevalier – that also provide a ski equipment chalet fitting and delivery service.
EACH TO HIS/HER OWN
The opening of various competing ski schools across France in the 1980s and 1990s has allowed each school to develop its own character and produce their own lesson programme adapted to an ever-evolving clientele. You wouldn’t be wrong to say that each school offers a similar end product i.e. ski and snowboard lessons in group and private formats. All French instructors have the same (very high) qualification regardless of the school they work for. Whilst this is true there are some visible differences between the schools which include the price of the lessons, the colour of the uniforms and the names of the level badges awarded to children but the more important differences are those which are a bit harder to spot. These are the values and principles upon which each school is built, the way in which your instructor passes on their passion for skiing and the mountains, their teaching methods and styles and the relationship they build with you, their student.
Oxygène sets itself apart from many other schools offering limited group sizes across all group ski and snowboard lessons for a more personalised experience. The suite of lessons available to children are truly designed with children in mind to give them the best possible introduction to skiing. Oxygène also believes that skiing should be accessible to everyone regardless of their mental or physical capacity and it is for this reason that Oxygène has become a market leader in the adaptive skiing arena, both for its investment in modern adaptive ski equipment and its adaptive ski instructor training programme. Oxygène also takes care of its instructors and future instructors through its ski academy, designed to prepare instructors-in-training for their exams.