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That might be useful in the future, thanks for saying. I do learn by doing - it only took me two degree to work out that reading textbooks was mostly useless for me. Let me get through some initial hand holding and I'll see where the second step is.
skinny-
Personally I'd do an introduction day or two somewhere which covers reading avalanche reports, then have a few days in good weather on grade 1 and 2s practicing reading reports and conditions with a friend. After that, decide where you want to take it and get a guide or instructor to help with that.
It feels like a lot of mountain craft comes from a base level of knowledge then the rest is experience in different conditions which you get better at with time and paying attention to the surroundings.
Edited to add-The Chamonix course looks good for an introduction to mountaineering, but you might end up wanting to hang off an ice wall after 2 days which it won't give you. Equally that might not be for you.
rj
Good thanks!
The reason I ask is I know a decent mountain guide, but he's not a good instructor. More of a learn through doing but not much instruction beyond keep pointy bits towards the ice.