The Season Workers Guide: Ski Instructor Courses

If you are a decent skier, you will have considered what it would be like to spend a season(s) in the mountains and probably think that being a instructor would be a good way to do a lot of skiing while you are there. We would urge you to have a good think about why you would like to be a ski instructor – if deriving pleasure from helping people have a better time on their ski holidays is not near the top of the list a re-think may be in order! Working as a new ski instructor can get pretty tedious once the novelty of short cutting the lift queues has worn off unless you have a genuine love of coaching and teaching beginners to ski. If you do get something out of passing on knowledge and seeing the results materialize then this is the job for you.

Ski Instructor exams test your technical skiing ability and your teaching skills. You need to pass both elements to gain an instructing qualification. It is possible to just enter yourself for the exams but it is generally recommended that you complete a course first in preparation. A course designed to prepare you to take the exams should improve your skiing and also install the main skills needed to get started in the industry; teaching knowledge. This also gives you the opportunity to practice teaching in a low pressure environment ahead of the ski instructor exams.

Some companies claim to guarantee you a ski instructor job before you have passed a ski instructor exam and other companies claim that this is not possible. What you should absolutely check is that your course includes practical work experience in a realistic environment. When you are trying to get a job, after passing the exams, you will be competing with a lot of other inexperienced course graduates but if you can at least cite some work experience it will help you stand out a bit. Experience is also the very best way to polish your teaching skills.