A Parents Perspective

A Parents Perspective

Last year our 19 year old son felt he needed a challenge in his life. Was becoming a ski instructor with Ski Instructor Academy really it?

He wasn’t particularly strong at school, in fact, he was labelled dyslexic, completed extra English lessons and missed out completely on German classes. We got in touch with Ski Instructor Academy and told them about our worries and we were immediately reassured… looking back now, I feel “what worries!?”

He left for Austria in late September to join the SIA German Activity Language Camp. Along with the German lessons, they had lots of opportunities to visit interesting places and do some fantastic activities organised by SIA including climbing, zip lining, visiting salt mines and tobogganing to name a few. Lasting friendships were formed and it was all centred around Kaprun, which a great small town. This gave him a great foundation for his upcoming instructor course.

He went on to do a SIA Beginner / Improver Ski Clinic and although his skiing experience was limited, the teaching was truly first class and he improved at a fantastic rate. Then the group grew bigger, marking the start of the instructor training course. He was booked onto the SIA Anwärter Ski Instructor Course, I wouldn’t say it was easy (I’m sure he wouldn’t either), but if you apply yourself and listen to the instructors you will have no problems.

He passed the exam and went to a small resort and continues to improve his German each day. He has been busy most of the time as there is only one ski school in the village, meaning he has been working and using what he has learned almost everyday. I would recommend a smaller resort as your not a small fish in a big instructor pool as in larger resorts, but more a valued member of a family business – he loves it.

As parents we would have no problem in recommending the professionalism of the guys at Ski Instructor Academy. We visited our son in January and were lucky to see him working and talking to the groups in German which gave us a great sense of pride.

What a great experience he has had and to top it all off he has been offered a job next year with his ski school.

- Andy Middleton, Leeds UK