Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski School

If you are a beginner, I highly recommend their $ 49 online special for weekdays. The mornings are busier than the afternoon session. I think it was actually overcrowded for a proper lesson.
Phoenix was an awesome instructor! Very patient and was able to identify things I needed to correct easily throughout the lesson that improved my abilities and made the day more fun.
The hardest problem for me was getting boots for and adjusted correctly… Make sure you ask for as much help as necessary to get the right fit to make sure it doesn’t detract from your fun. It still also minimize any painful after affects.

I’ve been terribly conflicted about writing this review, but ultimately I feel like as a parent, I would want to know.
My 4 year old daughter’s first experience was wonderful. She had a great time. As previous posters said, the check in and check out process is quite chaotic. The instructors seemed like they had a large ratio of kids (I didn’t actually count, but it seemed about 8 kids in her class).
This review is really about the daycare. We wanted to love this place, we really did. Our friends love it here, we love snowboarding here, our daughter now loves the ski school here… BUT…
I put my 2 ½ year old son in for daycare Saturday. They said that they would either call/​text or write his name on these big white boards at the bottom of the lifts and throughout the resort if there was a problem with him. All day, I checked every 30 min, and I didn’t see his name and assumed evtg was fine. I go to pick him up at 3:30pm and paid $ 110 for another day assuming he did fine. Right after I paid, two people asked me if I saw his name on the board. They put another child’s name on the board by mistake with the same first name. I find my son with dried tears on his face with his hat, gloves, clothes, backpack, diapers, change of clothes all labeled with the other child’s name. This is extremely dangerous… what if they discharged him to the other family (I mean, obviously I would think the other family would know this wasn’t their kid but I think that’s not safe for my child). Then they give you this report card about their day and everything on there didn’t sound like my child at all. They said he «ATE» not «OFFERED», things I know he wouldn’t eat like oranges, juice, cheerios, etc. I asked Kim, the manager about this and she said it’s what they offered, not ate. Then that’s what it should say shouldn’t it? I mean, as a parent, I want to know what he ate, not the menu. Who cares about the menu? Then there’s a box that they check off that says how many times diaper was changed or how many times he went to the bathroom by himself. They said he went to the bathroom by himself 2 times. He’s 2 ½, not potty trained. So unless they potty trained him in one day, I don’t see how this could’ve been him. His report card said he napped 12:45−2pm…when I asked Kim about the other inconsistencies, she said they mixed up his report card and my child actually napped at 11:15am. I told her I saw him outside at 11:45am right before lunch. Kim then backtracked and said he took a «quick nap and was up and ready to go outside by 11:45am». ??? It takes about that time to put snowclothes on these kids to go outside. At home my son usually naps at 2pm or 2:30pm for about 2 hours… he’s not an infant, so I just don’t see how he would be tired by 11:15am. I just feel like she was starting to cover her tracks and say anything.
I tried to be nice and understanding about the whole deal, but after thinking about it overnight, I was pretty upset about the name mix up. It did not make me feel safe about leaving him there. I wasn’t aware that he was upset before lunch time (he saw his sister outside and wanted to see her) and again after his «nap» whenever that was. It makes me so sad that he was crying and I would have happily picked him up rather than leaving him there all day. The next morning, my son did not want to go and I was okay with that. My husband asked for a refund and they said no. Again, the more I thought about it, the more upset I got. I feel like I signed him up for another day at the end of the first day, assuming he was fine. I went to talk to Kim and after many excuses, «there was another child with the same first name…», she finally offered me $ 30 cancellation fee. Better than nothing, but I feel like I paid for the day he was there. I was only asking for a refund for the 2^nd day I booked thinking he did fine. It was fine, I didn’t want to stand there and haggle anymore, but it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth and we won’t be back.
I hesitate to write bad reviews, but I feel like mislabeling and essentially misidentifying a child is very dangerous. I shouldn’t have even had to ask for a refund. I know daycares are hard, especially resort daycares, but I feel like transparency and honesty about my child’s day was missing. Don’t say he did things he didn’t and don’t make up excuses. I would want to know if I was a parent looking for a daycare resort.

This review is for the WIld Mountain Ski School for kids, where we went for 2 days this season with our toddler. It was a terrible experience from start to finish. There is very little communication about what is happening, a huge amount of down time where kids are basically doing nothing. When your kid is having a challenging day, the staff at reception have no idea what happened, whether or not you should take your kid with you or just try to reassure them so they’ll go back. There’s no option to speak to the teacher, and it seems like no one knows or cares to make your kid feel welcome. AWFUL experience for $ 200 a day.

The WORST SKI SCHOOL for toddlers ever. Class ratio: 8 – 1 the weekend I was there. Another mom came in yelling that her toddlers hand had frozen /​turned blue because not a single instructor bothered to put his gloves back on even after he was crying. The mom took her kid out of ski school as I did (for other reasons, the class was a glorified babysitting but worse!). I did not complain, thought wasted about $ 260 — $ 160 for the class, $ 100 for my ticket as I ended up skiing one run before taking mine out of ski school, it was THAT AWFUL. I just can’t imagine even taking 10 classes for the kids and them learning anything with the current settings. Apparently, the kids ski instructors don’t need to be licensed /​certified for skiing. If you want a babysitting service, try the daycare. FORGET the ski school.

5 Star for the Day-​care: Kim is AWESOME. We have used the Day care at Heavenly & Sierra, and by far this is the BEST choice for peace of mind. We ended up buying season passes here JUST for the Day Care.
For the SKI SCHOOL (for Kids): We had a bad experience Day 1, and while I wouldn’t recommend for beginners for kids (We bought a 3PAK so will be back to finish them, welcome to message me, will give you more details but for beginners class, I doubt even 10 classes will help a kid learn how to ski) HOWEVER I am giving it a 5 star review since Jason (the Aussie that runs the Ski School) listened to my concerns and was able to change a 2 star review to a 5.
One last point, at the end of the day, you want your kid to enjoy the experience, and that, BOTH the one in Child Care (which btw, they take outside and play with snow and the magic carpet which is just so fun!) and the one in Ski School did.
Update: 2÷12÷16 I have had a lot of people QUESTION (um.unhappy via email) my 5 star of the ski school.
The 5 Star is for the DAYCARE at the Ski School.
The actual SKI SCHOOL for kids: likely a 3 – 5 star (midweek), 1 star weekend.
Mostly because of the unlimited? quota of kids /​class. It makes it hard on both instructor & especially on child’s experience.
However, as I said the Manager Jason does listen to you. Unlike some of the staff (woman Rian who just used sarcasm at another unhappy customer).

I’ve taken my boys to ski schools the last 3 years and this was their worst experience. Their instructor was terse, impatient and harsh.
The check in process is tedious and disorganized. They have signs throughout that parents are not allowed. I wanted to see my kids at lunchtime and I had to give a «valid reason» as to why I need to see them. They brought them to me. The boys were not happy but I insisted they try just a bit longer– and I regret that decision.
They normally enjoy the ski lessons but after yesterday’s lesson, they don’t want to ski again. Time for damage control before they’re turned off forever.
The resort is awesome. And I’m sure not all ski instructors are like the instructor they had who obviously is a very unhappy person and a disgruntled worker.
I will ski at that resort again but I will never put them through that experience again.

We took the 3 PAK ski school beginners package and were there for 3 consecutive days. I did have some basic ski wedging experience so we skipped to level 2 on day 1 itself. The instructors Bethany on day 1 and Allen Z on day 3 greatly helped me learn to ski on all the green slopes in the resort. The moment you start moving up the levels, (Day1 — level1, Day2– level2, Day3– level3), there are fewer and fewer people and these instructors helped us fix all our problems with good individual attention.
After the 3 days of lesson, I was able to ski on the Broadway, Alley, Sugar n Spice. Would recommend Allen and Bethany any day for lessons.

We have sent our kids (5 and 6 years old) to Sierra ski school, and we signed up for adult lessons. We all attended for three days. The instructors we had (Drew, Lewis and Allen) were all very good, very caring and professional. They showed us a lot of techniques. I was really scared at first, but it got easier and easier. Our kids also loved their ski school and instructor (Eric). All the staffs we talked to have been very nice and friendly. If you ever come to this area, give it a try.

We were first timers. Our 5 year old had a blast and learned the basics real quick.
We had Jess F. as an instructor, she was awesome…
We will be back next season for the second part of lessons.

or lil man’s first time skiing, this place was great!
It was great that Sierra is the first ski resort on the way so you really don’t even go through Tahoe; and it’s right off the highway, which is also great for leaving, no fussing around getting through Tahoe, just get right on the road.
We made a long day of it, and purchased the kid’s full-​day training package which included equipment rentals, lessons, & lunch. Checked him in at 9am and checked him out at 3:30pm. I will add that checking in and placement was somewhat disorganized, but it all worked out.
Major downside? The kid’s ski areas are kind of hidden, like behind the scenes somewhat, so I didn’t get to see my boy in action, boooo :(Also, he told me that they ran out of lunch so some kids didn’t get any!!! Not my kid, mind you, or this review would have a completely different tone, haha. I guess they had to scramble around to get those kiddos some food, not cool, that’s just terrible planning & bad program management. In the end, everyone got to eat so good job, I suppose. I just happened to stuff lil man’s pockets with a granola bar & protein bar just in case lunch was whack, like a juice box & yogurt, ya know, but they had pizza & salad. Pretty decent.
Since this was his first time ever, he learned a lot while having tons of fun! We’ll definitely go again.

I’ve taken my kids to ski school at Tahoe Donner, Heavenly, Sugar Bowl, and even Sundown «Mountain» in Dubuque, Iowa. Unfortunately, the Wild Mountain ski school at Sierra-​at-​Tahoe was a mixed bag at best and overall the most disappointing of all the other schools.
The check-​in process was chaotic, and the space they have allotted to sign students in and get outfitted is much too small. After the kids have their gear, the parents have to take their kids to a staging area, where students of all levels are herded together before being sorted into arbitrary groups with little attention to skill level. I highly recommend that as your child passes under the «arch» that you speak with the instructor to make sure they know your child’s ability. However, that is no guarantee that they will be appropriately placed.
Probably the worst thing about this school is that they are horribly inconsistent about making sure that ski school students are easily identified. The youngest kids had bibs and special helmet covers, but the vast majority had no identifying attire. I saw the instructors, sometimes with in excess of a dozen kids, struggling to make sure that they had everyone that was assigned to them. My son told me that his class once had to wait for a very long time at the bottom of a run because they had «lost» one of the students! He had apparently fallen, and the instructor was unaware and led the rest of the students down the mountain. If it weren’t for the help of another guest at the resort, I’m not sure he would have made it down on his own.
This school nearly killed my son’s love for skiing. He’s 7 and has had both ski and board lessons since he was 4, but was still a level 3 skier (able to link turns and control speed on green terrain; able to negotiate easier blue runs). I told the instructors this, but they still put him in an inappropriately low group. For his second day of ski school, they spent all morning on Broadway (the very basic easy slope) before moving the class on to Sugar and Spice, the easiest green run in all of the Lake Tahoe area. The instructor had 12 students (before he lost one) and provided very little instruction and even less feedback to the parents. Even though we bought a 3-​pack of lessons — which he happily did at Heavenly earlier this season — he decided not to take his third day because it was so boring and poorly suited to his ability.
On the other hand, my daughter had a great time. She’s a couple years older and more technically advanced. On her third day of school, she was placed with the highest level group and spent the day almost exclusively on black runs. She even got some time on moguls and terrain park features. But again, almost no feedback regarding skill progression. She didn’t even get a report card for her last day.
There is clearly room for improvement. The student-​teacher ratio for beginner students is quite terrible, and the school needs to invest in bibs to help the instructors keep track of their students. Ski school kids should be given priority boarding on the lifts; at the very least, they should allowed to board as a group. The instructors need to care a little more — I’m sure they’d rather be carving down Huckleberry Bowl, but they’ve been hired to do a job, and they need to take pride in their work.

Arrived early at 8:00. The Signing up process and getting fitted took an hour!!! lots of waiting and sitting. Then proceeded to wait til 9:30 start time. They did get pulled in to be sorted at 9:40, then finally with instructor by 10:10. THEN had to walk up to mini run so really did not start until 10:30 and its over at 12:00 so thinking they head back at 11:45. Then they probably stopped for a snack sometime in there somewhere!!! I guess fine but they should call it a 1 ½ hr lesson — NOT half-​day or am. And there is probably not even a 1 ½ hour of instruction time! Kind of a rip off but have no choice as I cannot teach my child to snowboard!
I recommend Sierra have some sort of color codes sorting process before they get to the arch/​meet spot. And already assigned to instructor. That way 30 – 45 minutes not a big crowded mess. It just came across as unorganized, too layed back and no one in a hurry to get started on time. Then again I think it’s difficult to find ski instructors who have an eye on time & efficiency & and $value for service.

This winter, I signed my five-​year-​old son up for a ski course at Sierra-​at-​Tahoe ($ 150 included all gear and a lift ticket for a morning session). I love the low-​key vibe and relatively reasonable prices at this venerable Tahoe resort, so I was eager to check out the ski school. I was told to arrive no later than 9:15 for a class that would end noon. I was greeted at 9:00 by total chaos. The instructors did their best to sort the kids by ages to get them set up on their rental gear before beginning the lesson. Take a moment to imagine the scene: a dozen four and five-​year-​olds ditched by their parents, getting fitted for boots and skis by total strangers. They’re freezing, nervous, and have no idea what their height, weight, or shoe size is. For the little guys, like mine, ski school is confined to a tiny course — 6 students to an instructor — with students testing their skills one at a time. From what I observed, I’d be surprised if my son was in motion for thirty minutes. But when he caught me spying, he smiled and raised his arms at me in the champion-​on-​a-​podium pose, so I knew he was at least having fun. When I returned at noon to pick him up at the designated spot, there were no kids there. I gave his teacher the child-​claim ticket, and she disappeared to look for him. A few minutes later she returned, saying, «there’s nothing to worry about, but I can’t find him.» They found him a few minutes later, but lost his rental skis, which we were on the hook for (also eventually found), as well as the report card that was to let me know what skills we should work on and which had been mastered.
I’ll certainly be back to ski at Sierra, but for ski school, I’ll take my kids elsewhere.