Becoming a Ski instructor?

Megahurtz400

Megahurtz400

Megahurtz400

Soldato
Joined
5 Jun 2007
Posts
9,304
Location
extremes.spacious.indelible
Ill keep it short and simple :)

Ive only been skiing once in my life, and i loved it, and have always love the idea of doing it for a living. Money is the only thing from stopping me going again at the moment.

Currently i am so sick of Colchester and this country in general, and the thought of a 9-5 job for the rest of my life makes me want to end it all now.

So just sort of having a probe about it at the moment, just getting some ideas together.

I have no real idea of what qualifications are the best to get, how much it will cost me, wheres best to do it etc, so i was wondering if anyone has had any experience or done it themselves which could give me some advice?

Cheers,
Dan
 
M0NSTER said:
If you've only been once how do you know you won't get bored of it?
Click to expand...

I know what you mean, im planning to go for a week next year, but i really just think its perfect if you know what i mean?

Ive always thought it was cool since i was a nipper and i cant see my self being bored when id be in such beautiful surroundings, but hey, i could do i suppose :)
 
This mob run Ski Instructor courses as a Career Break/Gap Year type deal. However you would be expected to have a reasonable skill level before undertaking this.

Canada& New Zealand qualification - http://www.nonstopski.com/

In the UK, France, Italy and Austria you would have to be BASI qualified (4 Levels). In North America, you need CSIA/PSIA Qualifications but these will not entitle you to be an instructor in Europe.

Again, before undertaking a Ski Instructor course you HAVE to have a reasonable skill level.
 
Most instructors are multi skilled, i.e mountaineering/climbing etc, thats if you want to make a living out of it as it's not that well paid and seasonal.
 
It's not particularly cheap to become a ski instructor so unless you've got funding from somewhere (an employer for instance) it'll cost you around £400 for the BASI level 1 course to be a ski or snowboard instructor for instance and there are multiple levels as said. That's not including the cost of practicing to get up to a sufficient level. In the UK you should aim to become a qualified instructor for the British Association of Snowsports Instructors although I believe that France is a bit sniffy about accepting anyone who isn't qualfied as the French equivalent - however this may have changed since I last paid any attention to it.

It's quite a dramatic step based on only having skiied once, maybe think about doing a season abroad if you're pretty sure it is something you want to pursue - work as a waiter/chalet person for the season and ski/snowboard in your free time to actually get to a good level. It's also worth remembering though that just because you're good at an activity doesn't mean you'll be good at teaching it.
 
Megahurtz400 said:
Reccomend any websites with advice etc for doing a season and working out there?
Click to expand...

I don't know of any websites off the top of my head, I could Google them but you're more than capable of doing that yourself. If you're going to North America or Australia/New Zealand then you'll need a visa - have a look at the BUNAC website to give you an idea of what the requirements are even if you don't choose to use their services. If you're going in the EU then you can just rock up and go for it, one of the benefits of EU membership and free movement of workers - however some knowledge of the local language(s) may prove helpful and you'll probably need to get some sort of job wherever you go. I believe a fair bit of hiring is done before the start of the season so you should probably be applying within the next couple of months although with the bigger resorts the turnover of staff means that they'll need to replace those who fell by the wayside. Good luck with it, I'm sure you'll have a great time but either way you'll have an experience to look back on.
 
semi-pro waster said:
I believe that France is a bit sniffy about accepting anyone who isn't qualfied as the French equivalent - however this may have changed since I last paid any attention to it.
Click to expand...

UK, France, Italy and Austria have all agreed to sign up to the same standards meaning that BASI will let you work as a Ski Instructor in any of those countries. It's relatively recent though, last couple of years I think.
 
Have a look at Natives.co.uk for a start but tbh after 1 week of skiing it's going to take a while to get up to a decent standard. I looked into this a couple of years ago and there are a few 6/10 week courses by the likes of Snowskool and Peak leaders but as already mentioned even these courses want you to be an acceptable standard before you start (thinking probably level 6-7 ish on the "ski ability" charts that places like Ellis Brigham have) so around intermediate/advanced and an ability to pretty much ski any run (inc unpisted blacks) in a controlled manner.

You're looking at around £8-10k for those courses (inc equipment) and that will get you to the first one or two levels of instruction. If you were more experienced you could very well just head to a smaller Austrian resort and get them to stick you in for some teaching as they appear to have shortages of British speaking instructors over there (this from a senior instructor I got talking to a couple of years there).

Try a season and then see about doing it. Also remember that you will be instructing people, probably kids snowplow for the first few years, you're not just going to be whizzing around resort the entire year....
 
I have a mate who once went to wales one weekend and hired a jet-ski for an hour. Upon his return he was adamant that he was going to buy a jetski. I went with him to a shop that sold such things and he was on the verge of buying a £4000 jetski and a £1000 trailer. I pleaded with him to wait a while and to go and hire one a few more times. The phase passed and and he did neither, he never even hired one again. To top it off, we live nowhere near any coast. I know it's a small country but it would be a full day out to even use the thing.
 
Last edited:
M0NSTER said:
If you've only been once how do you know you won't get bored of it?
Click to expand...
Wintersports are fantastic!
Being a ski instructor is an awesome job. If you get bored then you suck.

Do you speak a foreign language? I'd think about learning French or German as that'd increase your chances of employment and higher pay.
 
Just go and do a season. This season. Just go and work in a resort and get a feel for the lifestyle.

I did that, thought that I could do it forever, then realised it was pipe dream.

Best of luck if you make it, but it will be at least 7 years down the line if you stick at it.

Oh, and skiing is rubbish, go boarding. ;)
 
Megahurtz400 said:
Ill keep it short and simple :)

Ive only been skiing once in my life, and i loved it, and have always love the idea of doing it for a living. Money is the only thing from stopping me going again at the moment.

Currently i am so sick of Colchester and this country in general, and the thought of a 9-5 job for the rest of my life makes me want to end it all now.

So just sort of having a probe about it at the moment, just getting some ideas together.

I have no real idea of what qualifications are the best to get, how much it will cost me, wheres best to do it etc, so i was wondering if anyone has had any experience or done it themselves which could give me some advice?

Cheers,
Dan
Click to expand...


what's so bad about colchester :P I live in kelvedon just outside colchester and I think it's alright.
 
Megahurtz400 said:
Ive only been skiing once in my life, and i loved it, and have always love the idea of doing it for a living. Money is the only thing from stopping me going again at the moment.
Click to expand...

I think experience is probably the main thing holding you back here...

Why not go do a season doing some form of paid work in a resort (work in a chalet etc..) and use your free time to go skiing every day for a few months in order to get into a position where you might be proficient enough to take a course with the aim of teaching others.

Skiing is great but if you've only been once you're not suddenly going to be able to start teaching others. I mean if you played a few games of football in the park one summer you wouldn't reasonably expect to be able to simply do a short course and start coaching football professionally.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom