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 The ESF, teaching you to enjoy skiing...

ESF pioneers Victor Duverney-Pret, Etienne Martin, Cyril Michelland and Charles Bignone.

The ESF schools have always taught skiers the most effective skiing and snowboarding techniques. They are constantly adapting their know-how, facilities and services to accommodate the new trends. But the role of the ESF does not stop there. We know that you can only really enjoy skiing once you have discovered everything that the mountains have to offer. The ESF schools have long been striving to improve accident prevention and safety because skiing well is also about knowing your ability and limits. 70% of ESF pupils are aged under 14 and it is important that they are made aware of these issues as early as possible so that they acquire the right attitude at a young age, ensuring that they will ski safely and responsibly.

16,000 instructors are ready to guide you through France's ski areas, in complete safety. They will open the door to all the excitement that winter sports have to offer: enjoying the snow, mastering the perfect turn, defying speed, understanding how to move, skiing down a slope in the safest way possible... They can teach you the secrets of all these techniques with all the professionalism that has forged their reputation all over the world.

At the start of a giant slalom.

From your first lesson to competition training, the ESF gives you the desire and the means to surpass yourself and discover everything that the mountains have to offer. Alpine skiing of course, but also cross-country skiing, which is attracting increasing numbers of enthusiasts, snowboarding, skwal and also speed skiing and freestyle skiing: all these disciplines are taught by specially trained instructors.

In addition, we put a lot of work into teaching children: 1,500 instructors look after them in the 195 ski nurseries that we run, areas separated off and protected which from winter 2007 will all be called the "Club Piou Piou", designed around five animal figures and a story designed to teach young children how to start off skiing. The Club Piou Piou now enables every school to present a unique visual identity and offer the same teaching method to guarantee to parents a standardised quality and instruction programme in every resort.