THE GREAT ESCAPE
KBO
Seven days. One mountain. Your son on the same slope. A coach who will not flatter either of you.
Request a seatThe point
Your son is nine, or twelve, or fifteen. There is a window in which he still wants to go somewhere with you, and it is shorter than it looks.
So: one week, one mountain, and a valley where the signal is bad enough to be useful. You ski in the morning. Somebody else cooks. Nothing is scheduled that does not need to be.
This is not a family holiday and it is not a children's camp. There is a coach who will push both of you, a slope that flatters nobody, and an evening that belongs to the fathers once the boys are down.
He comes back taller. You come back better. KBO.
The next one
Chapter I
Serre Chevalier · French Alps250 km of piste, trees and sun in the southern Alps. Two chalets a kilometre apart, ski-in and ski-out. Pool, sauna, hammam, cinema, bar.
- Dates
- Who comesFathers with sons from nine. Men who come on their own. Sixteen seats, both kinds.
- Rooms18 rooms, each with its own bathroom. A single if you come alone, a twin if you bring your son. Nobody shares with a stranger.
- CoachingGroups of five or fewer, adults and boys separately, every day of the week.
- Getting thereTurin 1.5 h, Grenoble 2 h. Transfer included.
- Price
Included
- Chalet, seven nights
- Breakfasts and five dinners by a chef
- A coach all week — five or fewer to a group, video review every day
- Six-day lift pass
- Transfer from Turin or Grenoble
- The evening programme: poker with a dealer, a tasting
- Pool, sauna, hammam
- Rental skis on request, fitted at the chalet
Options, priced separately
- A day in La Grave with guides — adults
- Freeride day with a mountain guide — adults
- Ski touring
- Heli-skiing, on the Italian side
- Snowmobiles
- Shooting range
The week
Seven days, in order
The skiing is the day. The rest is why people come back.
Action This Day
Every morning, 08:00Weather, groups, plan. Ten minutes, standing, coffee in hand. Boys included.
Two Groups, One Mountain
Every dayThe coach splits you by ability, not by age. You ski apart in the morning and meet for lunch on the hill. Some fathers find their son is in the faster group. It passes.
The Black Dog Run
Weather permittingThe hardest descent of the week. Your son comes if the coach says he comes — not because you would like him to.
No Sports
The middle of the weekThermal baths, a long lunch, nothing else. Attendance is not enforced, but it is noticed.
Lights Out
Half past nineThe boys go up. The evening changes hands.
Finest Hour
After Lights Out, all weekThe poker tournament, played out across the evenings. One cup. One name on it.
Chartwell Night
MidweekWhisky. One guest, one subject, no slides.
Jaw-Jaw
One eveningNo programme at all. Talking is permitted.
Cooler Day
The morning of departureCoffee, accounts settled, goodbyes kept short.
The Cooler King
Awarded at Finest HourTo the week's most reckless. It has been won by a twelve-year-old. Title only. No prize, no appeal.
The coach
To be announced
Five or fewer to a group, adults and boys separately, every day of the week. Filmed on the hill, reviewed before dinner. He will tell you what is wrong with your skiing on the first morning and again on the last.
For you, above average means confident on red, all day, in most conditions. For him, from nine years old: a blue without thinking about it, and a full day on the hill. The coach settles the groups on the first morning and does not negotiate.
The evening
Dinner, and what follows
A chef in the chalet. Breakfast every morning, dinner five nights of seven — the other two we go out, or we do not eat, depending on the day. Dinner is everybody.
After Lights Out: a dealer, a table and Finest Hour. The whisky comes out on Chartwell Night, with one guest and one subject.
Fathers and sons
What comes home
A boy who has skied seven days in a row and knows exactly how much better he got. That is a thing he keeps.
A father who was in the photograph instead of behind it.
And the week itself: he talked to you on the chairlift because there was nothing else to do up there.
The sensible questions
- A coach with the boys every day, in groups of five or fewer.
- Insurance covering off-piste and mountain rescue is a condition of the seat.
- Freeride, La Grave and heli-skiing are adult options.
- Two of the eighteen places belong to the organisers, who are there all week.
Membership
How this works
- Members
- Everyone who has done a Chapter. No application fee, no committee.
- The Few
- Three Chapters or more. They get first refusal on seats, and they use it.
- The Lodge
- The closed chat. You are added after your first Chapter, and not before.
- On your own
- Half the seats go to men who arrive without anybody. Single room, and nobody asks why.
- Summer Chapters
- Bikes, mountains, lakes. Same week, same rules, less snow. Details when there are details.
- The Chairman
- Reads every request himself. Says no more often than yes.
Questions
Before you ask
What level do I need?
Above average: confident on red pistes, in most conditions, from first lift to last. If you are counting your runs by lunchtime, come next year.
And my son?
From nine. He should hold a blue piste without thinking about it and last a full day on the hill. The coach settles the groups on the first morning.
What if he skis better than I do?
Likely. He goes in the faster group, and you are over it by Wednesday.
What does he do while you are at the table?
Until half past nine the evening belongs to everybody — dinner, cards, the cinema room. After Lights Out the tournament is ours.
Do we have to share a room?
You share with your son, in a twin with its own bathroom. If you come alone you get a single. Nobody shares with a stranger.
Do I need insurance?
Yes, for both of you, and it must cover off-piste and mountain rescue. Bring the policy number. No policy, no seat.
Can I come without a son?
Yes. Sixteen seats, and both kinds of guest are the point.
Can I bring a friend, or his boy?
Propose him. The Chairman decides. This is how most members arrived.
What about daughters?
Chapter I is a fathers-and-sons week. If you want to ask about the other case, ask the Chairman — he answers his own post.
Deposit and cancellation?
A 30% deposit confirms your seat; the balance is due before departure. Cancellation terms come with the confirmation letter, in writing, before you pay anything.
How do we get there?
Fly to Turin (1.5 h by road) or Grenoble (2 h). The transfer is included. Send the flight and somebody will be there.
Skis: ours or rented?
Either. Rental is arranged on request and fitted at the chalet. Say which on the form.
Enrolment
Request a seat
Requests are read by hand, usually the same day. If there is a seat you get a letter with the terms and a payment link. The 30% deposit confirms it.