Meet the Team
We are a small, close-knit team of some of Val d’Isere’s most experienced and dedicated mountain guides and instructors. We’re all very different yet share a passion for the mountains and all this magnificent environment has to offer. Our speciality is off-piste skiing but we also cater for all of the usual ski school activities except group lessons for children. Our watchwords are shared experience, friendship and conviviality.
There are six permanent members of the team, all fully qualified French ski instructors, plus a secretary who handles all the bookings. We also count a high mountain guide amongst our numbers, but he’s usually off touring somewhere, so you won’t see him in Val very often. Naturally everyone speaks English – the cute French accent is thrown in!
Yann Reynal
Yann is a cornerstone of the iSki-Val team. A highly versatile instructor, he can turn his hand to most things. He came up through the ranks at the UCPA where he qualified, then taught and finally occupied the position of deputy chief instructor before moving onto other things. He is both an excellent instructor on the piste and a completely professional guide off piste who has built up a loyal clientele over the years thanks to a great combination of reliability, experience and an excellent sense of humour.
Didier Moreau
Didier is what you might call a “skier’s skier”. He spent many years as a trainer and coach with ENSA, the national training school for ski instructors, in parallel with his career within the UCPA where, as chief instructor at the centres of Tignes, Val d’Isere and Les Deux Alpes, he was also responsible for the training of young instructors. Didier is without doubt the best technician of the team, and enjoys the challenge of refining his technique to adapt to the new technologies and materials that are available to skiers today. His main activity within iSki remains off piste skiing, but teaching those who are willing to learn, whatever their level, remains a passion. He is also an extraordinary telemarker (and hence telemark instructor) and can often be seen leading his off piste groups on telemark skis.
Vincent Giraud
Having enjoyed a brief career as a high-level ski racer, Vincent fell in love with the mountains and decided to swap slalom poles and gates for the wide open spaces of back country freeride skiing. Twenty-five years later and here we are! Vincent knows every nook and cranny of the Tarantaise and has also skied extensively in the Beaufortain, Italy and Norway. If you ski with Vincent, you’ll appreciate his calm demeanour and encyclopaedic knowledge of the mountain.
Jean-Marc Kaufmann
Jean-Marc has been a mountain guide since 1978. He has always considered the mountain as a place of freedom and an opportunity to satisfy his passion for seeing other parts of the world, meeting new people and experiencing different cultures. In addition to his activities in Val d’Isere he offers trips to the four corners of the world, from the Alps in France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria to Nepal, Peru and Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Alaska, Canada, the American Rockies, the Indian Himalayas, Japan, the Russian and Georgian Caucasus, Kenya and Tanzania, Morocco and Turkey, Norway, Greenland, Spitsbergen.
As a result, he’s not often in Val – see here if you’d like to join one of his trips.
Melvin Chabault
Melvin is a dynamic young instructor who was practically brought up either on skis or on the water. A fully qualified ski instructor with a passion for freeride and freestyle, Melvin is equally at home on skis or on a snowboard. During the summer, he leaves the mountains behind and heads for the Atlantic coast where is also a qualified sailing and wakeboard instructor. Oh, and he is also a talented speed-rider. In short, there is no end to his talents and we’re delighted to welcome him to the team this year.
Philippe Clement
After an initial – and successful – career in business following his university degree, Philippe finally decided to follow his true passion which was skiing. Having skied competitively at club level from a fairly early age, he was able to qualify as an instructor with relative ease, and since then has devoted himself to off piste skiing and ski touring around the Tarantaise.
Hugely experienced, Philippe also teaches all levels of the “MetaSki” teaching system, a scientific approach that complements body mechanics and is often far more successful than traditional techniques for nervous skiers or those experiencing some kind of “skiers block”.
Kiera Leeming
A fluent French speaker, Kiera is an important member of the team as she manages all the planning as well as email and phone traffic. An excellent skier herself, she can often be spotted “tail-gating” one of our off-piste groups, helping out if necessary, but otherwise just enjoying herself.
Our Happy Clients
15000 fts ride down à perfect fresh powder, thank you ISKI“ Claude
“
Benjamin
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can we find you in Val d’Isere?
We’re based in La Poudreuse below the Napajri, but if you want to book a lesson
you’re best off calling or emailing.
Where is your meeting point in the mornings?
If I book privately, do the same rules apply?
I’ve never done any ski touring either, but I’d like to try – how does that work?
Touring is a regular part of our off-piste group programme, but it depends on a number of things including first and foremost, the conditions. The decision to walk or not will be at the discretion of the guide. If he decides to walk he will let you know enough in advance that you can hire the right equipment (touring skis and skins) if you don’t already have your own. Beyond that, all you need is a reasonable level of fitness, a decent backpack and plenty of water!
Alternatively you may prefer an introduction to ski touring with a private guide which guarantees an appropriate distance and pace for you.
How about booking and payment?
You can book via email or telephone. If you book in advance (highly recommended)
we will always take a credit card number over the phone to guarantee your booking,
even if you choose to pay cash in resort.
Whilst it’s better to book in advance, especially during school holiday periods, you
can always book at the last minute, especially for off-piste groups. We have groups
going out every day, so if there’s a space in a group that suits you, we’ll take you.
What about safety equipment for off-piste skiing?
I’ve never done any ski touring either, but I’d like to try – how does that work?
If it snows every day for a week and we can ski powder without having to walk, we probably won’t walk unless the group particularly wants to. Even then, it will be at the discretion of the guide who will decide if it is appropriate or not.
If it is, he will let you know enough in advance that you can hire the right equipment (touring skis and skins) if you don’t already have your own. Beyond that, all you need is a reasonable level of fitness, a decent backpack and plenty of water!
Where is the best place to hire equipment?
Well, La Poudreuse would obviously be our first recommendation! However, if for
any reason they can’t help, we’d recommend the Mountain Pro Shop. In both
instances, if you say you’re from iSki, you’ll be eligible for a discount.