Breckenridge Ski & Snowboard School

I would have given them 5 stars if the instructions were clearer about when and where to meet.
I booked the lesson online at thr base of Peak 8. Nothing about when to meet so I googled. somewhere it mentioned 0945.
On the day of the lesson I went to the ticket booth at the base of the gondola & the lady told me to head up instead. Found some person wearing the breckenridge jacket & she told me to find the people in blue who told me to find the people in red who told me to wait at the sign that said ski & snowboard school. I went over to where some of the students said were the instructors & they said I haven’t checked in. My heart dropped cos I had to lug everything down?! Thankfully 1 of thr instructors offered to do it 4 me. I was late for my beginner’s adult lesson but Ed one of thr instructors caught me up by giving me an one on one & then handed me over to Barry. They are great!
The last time I snowboarded was over a decade ago & I ended up with a broken butt (feels like) & bruised ribs. I was able to snowboard without too much injury by the end of my 1^st day.
Definitely recommend the lessons!

We purchased a one-​day private lesson for our family with Burt from Cape Cod, who did a great job. I’m giving the school 1 Start because we booked a second day with Burt (he told us he was free the next day) and the Ski School actually charged us $ 50 more for that day than the first. When I called to complain/​inquire, they told me it was because I «hadn’t booked the day in advance.» So Burt was going to be free, I end up helping him fill what would have been an open day for him (to the tune of $ 800 a day) and for that priviledge I actually have to pay more? Very poor business practice, IMO. More frustrating is I was promised a call back from the School’s management to discuss but never heard back. It’s only $ 50, but it’s enough to make me not use their school again.

A great place to get lessons! I got snowboarding lessons for the first time and did a 3-​day package which is a great deal for lessons and lift tickets! If you plan on doing lessons for 3 days, do not buy a lift ticket from the retail office and just get a package with them instead. They have different levels of skiing/​snowboarding lessons which are very specific so you can see where you fall into if you have done it before.
My instructor Joel Perino was awesome! Really funny, nice and helpful guy. We had groups ranging from 4 – 7 people and he was always able to accommodate. He gave us a lot of individual attention which we needed to work on our form and skills. He was able to pinpoint certain things we were doing wrong individually so that we could change bad habits immediately. Many people in my group were very nervous starting to snowboard and have said they had taken lessons in the past but were still not confident or had a horrible time. After lessons with Joel, most of these people were either flying down the mountain or moved on to harder slopes because they got more confident. If you get lessons here, definitely ask for him!

I took one day of lessons with Fred and he was amazing. He was thorough, enthusiastic and he was so helpful. I only took one day of lessons, but I wish I took more. Fred was awesome and I will definitely be requesting him next time I go skiing!

My family of 4 signed up for 3 days of lessons and it was amazing. Our instructor R.P. was patient, funny and full of history facts about Breckenridge. Everyone at the school was friendly and helpful. Even though I caused several issues on the lift– they came over with smiles to help me up. I highly recommend. This was part of this reason our family vacation was a huge success.

I hadn’t been skiing for probably 15 years, so when my fiancée moved to Denver earlier this year and bought Epic Local passes we knew lessons were imperative. We went to Breckenridge for my birthday weekend and were fortunate to have Kevin from Deadwood, SD (sorry, forgot his last name) teach us from about 10AM-​3PM. He was fantastic, as were all of the other instructors we chatted with throughout the day. Highly recommend these pros.

Do not take kids under the age of 5 here! They kept my 3 year old in what looked like a nazzi concentration camp room for 5 hours before they took her out to ski. I was shocked when I picked my kid up. And on top of that, what kind of school takes a 3 year old out to do a peak performance activity like skiing at what in most households is the dead of nap time? I still can’t get over the shed they kept the 3 year olds in. I’ve seen fancier tractor barns. For the price it should look like the Taj Mahal in there. Greedy owners care more about making money than making little tiny kids feel the slightest bit comfortable. No tables, no chairs, no places to lay down. I didn’t even see toys or crafts or anything.

I have never been skiing before so I took a level 1 ski class. I was not impressed with my instructor at all, but the school went above and beyond to make sure I was able to learn something. I had trouble picking things up so they brought someone to work one on one with me. Priscilla was great!!! I learned in 10 min enough to get me comfortable. This was something the school could easily not have done but they provided me a great amount of help.

I am writing this review because of our ski instructor. If you take a boarding lesson, I 100% recommend asking for Scotty Gillette. I have never met someone who is so incredibly positive, upbeat and motivating. He was a great instructor and will make you feel like you are the best snowboarder on the planet. He was awesome and the lesson was awesome!

I’ve never ever snowboarded before and I took the 3-​day lesson. First of all, you can’t beat the price for lessons and the lift tickets combined. Natasha was amazing… so patient and sweet. I can’t say enough good things about her. I definitely recommend classes if you’re a beginner!

I just wanted to share my excellent experience taking a ski lesson at peak 8. The instructors are so welcoming, and the learning area is really great to build your confidence. I wanted to mention David the instructor on peak 8 in particular, because he gave me great tips are really tried to get me to the next level, towards parallel skiing. I think Breckenridge is probably the best mountain in Colorado for beginning skiers!

I am the student no one wants…
I have to say, I thought I would do much better than I did, but my boots just didn’t fit. Eric and Joe did everything they could to make me feel comfortable and happy, but at the end of the day, I just couldn’t make it. Joe had to bring me down the mountain, in tears, snot running all over my face, panic attack ensuing. He did a wonderful job. Kept his cool, tried to make light of it, was supportive and helpful. Overall, considering I was taking up more time than I paid for, everyone was totally cool. No one just told me to sit it out. They tried to make my boots fit better, even got me a free rental to see if other boots would help. Unfortunately they didn’t. But I can’t believe how supportive, kind, helpful, and friendly everyone was. I really want to ski. I want to get back out there, and part of that is the way everyone made me feel. I can’t thank them enough for making my first ski lesson memorable, Even though I was a total schmuck, and couldn’t make it down the mountain myself without lots of help., thank you.

Great day of bumps on blacks. Mark bagby was extremely patient, built out confidence and skills

I am 23 and was sick of being the only person I know who couldn’t ski. I had originally tried one day at A-​Basin last year, but it was a bad experience. The bunny hill is something like 50′ tall and the easiest green run down the mountain was terrifying and steep, easily a blue run at any other resort. I thought I was a terrible skier and a big wimp, but it turns out that A-​Basin is just a terrible place to learn to ski.
So, to fix last years experience, I signed up for the 3 day beginners lesson set that included lift tickets and ski rentals. It was a ridiculously good deal. $ 320 for 3 days, which is less than just 3 lift tickets. Not bad.
It was the end of season, so it was hot and the snow was slushy but it was a great experience. The class sizes were small, the first day it was just me and one other woman, the second day, it was me and 3 others, and my last day it was just me and the instructor! Breckenridge was a vastly better place to learn than A-​Basin. They have an actual long lift up that links up to 4 or 5 very long, different green runs. Having a really long shallow hill to work with really helped me work on my skills for 20 – 30 minutes at a time before we had to take the lift again.
The instructors were really wonderful. I had Dave the first day and Mark the second and third. They were both very cheerful, encouraging and very good teachers. They were willing to work with my comfort levels on various levels of steepness and speeds. The first day, Dave helped me work on my form and getting a comfortable stance on my skis. The second day, Mark helped me move into parallel turning. By the third day, when it was just me and the instructor Mark, we went up and tackled some blue runs. We went slowly and he helped me learn ways to control speed and know how to stop and negotiate even steep hills. He helped me learn to deal with different snow conditions (including pouring rain and hail, april skiing).
I had such a wonderful time and I’m really thrilled that I finally learned to ski. I feel that in my 3 days of classes, I really got comfortable enough that I can go back up next season and improve and practice on my own. I finally learned what fun skiing is and I think it was well worth the investment. I’m so glad that I got such wonderful instructors too.

Kids both had ultimate four ski school lessons. Neither had ever skied before. After two days, both we’re skiing blues with us. Gloria was wonderful. Kids had great time & learned basics that will last a lifetime.

Never been here, but had to research information for my boss. I spoke with George this morning and he was very accommodating in helping me identify a ski instructor from last year that my boss and his family wanted to connect with again this year. Unfortunately, the instructor is out due to injury, but George took my message and will have the instructor call my boss directly to recommend another instructor for this year! Now that’s great service!

I have had two Ultimate Four lessons at Breckenridge and both were amazing. I am 35 and had never skied before, and was VERY nervous. After two lessons I can now ski blues. With an Ultimate Four you are guaranteed no more than four students, perhaps I got lucky as the first lesson was just myself and the instructor, and the second lesson only had one other student. It is definitely worth paying a little extra for this class. My instructors were Milt and G.S. Both were very professional, knowledgeable and patient. Hopefully I can book in with either of them next time.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the instruction my 5 ½ and 7 year old girls received. There was initially some confusion on their second day of instruction. There was a mixup in communication and they repeated the first day lesson over again. After talking with Stephen (manager) about the mix up, he went out of his way to make up for the mistake on the 3^rd day of instruction. Both girls were very happy with their instructor Bradley. By the end of the third day they were both doing great hockey stops and french fries. I couldn’t have asked for more. Thanks guys!

I was really hesitant to take lessons, because of how expensive they were, but when I got there — I decided to just go ahead and do it, because a friend was also doing it. First off — I took ski lessons with a class, $ 145/​per person, which also included your lift ticket ($ 115) — score! They break you up into a class of about 5 – 8 and you have an instructor with you. Our instructor was John; very funny gentleman and made it comfortable to learn from. By the end of the day, I was able to get on the lift, not fall of when I get down, and ski on an actual slope (no bunny slopes here), and get down to the bottom! Last year I went to Breck and was unable to go down a green slope without falling multiple times. This year, I was able to go down and not have any issues that I had last year. I was much more confident after my one day lesson than I was without any lessons. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still no pro, but at least I am able to go down a green without feeling like I could be a sliding wreck!
The last day, I was convinced to take a private snowboarding lesson with my brother. (After getting the skiing down), and we had Eric Hamilton aka «Hami». Let me tell you, he was amazingly patient. While my brother was able to get it down within half a day, it actually took me a whole day… and although I wasn’t as adventurous as my brother, I was able to ask Hami to let go of my hand so that I could try going down the slope without him holding my hand. It was almost as if I was a child on training wheels, and looking for that sense of freedom. He actually helped me feel secure in trusting him with my life (literally). Every time I feel, he didn’t discourage me and he took into consideration of my knee issues. It was greatly appreciated.
It’s almost surprising how little these instructors (both private and group) get paid. They are clearly the heart of this operation, because it is definitely not for their pay. These instructors are really passionate about what they’re doing and why, and it almost makes feel bad at how much we, as consumers pay, to utilize these services (almost $ 800 for the private lesson) and the instructors get paid next to nothing. Clearly, they have to truly enjoy what they do, otherwise, you would have some punk kid, who knows nothing, trying to explain how to maneuver down a slope on a board. And for that — I give them only 4 stars…

My husband and I come to Breck every January. I grew up skiing but last winter I decided I could no longer tolerate suffering in ski boots and opted to try snow boarding. I picked it up in about 3 days of lessons while on vacation in Vermont and haven’t looked back. Yes, folks snowboarding is slightly harder to learn initially, but way easier to do once you get the hang of it. In contrast any dumbass can snowplow poorly down the slope, but it takes years to develop solid «relatively pain free» skiing skills.
This January’s trip I wanted to reinforce my new boarding skills with some additional lessons. I must say that ski school is the way to go if you aren’t experienced. Please don’t try to go it alone or have friends teach you. It’s no fun for them and it’s really no fun for you without an experienced instructor.
Since my husband is a super advanced boarder I spared him the grief of the bunny hills and blues and took a couple classes and privates. I must say all teachers are NOT created equal. I had two really great classes and one AWFUL one that nearly put me off boarding all together.
However, I bounced back with an incredibly informative private my final day and it was DUMPING SNOW. I can’t tell you how super fun it was carving up the powdery slope with confidence after my final private lesson. My instructor was extremely patient, and really knew how to explain the execution of each skill. Not only that but he reinforced it by showing me how it should look and then allowing me to practice. I learned to do things that day that I never thought I would be doing so soon.
One of the best days ever!
Beware classes are better for the pocket book, but not necessarily the personal one on one skill development.
I think once you have the hang of it perhaps reinforcing it in a class would be the way to go.
I will definitely be back for more next season!