 Poster: A snowHead
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Sorry to natter on about my kids again. But they indulge in other sports apart from skiing and I find the parallels interesting.
The Snowheads instruction fraternity will be delighted to know that my highly limited and extremely subjective experience of ski instructors is that they're much more, ahem, intelligent than instructors in other sports. You can communicate with them in English instead of neanderthal grunts. They seem actually to understand that different kids need different motivatational strategies. And they don't wear shell suits.
Am I just a middle class snob? Or do you get a higher class of instructor in the skiing world?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Uh?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Not so sure about that, but they will more than likely have a passion for the mountains and the sport. Unless they are a local to the village and there is nothing else for them to do workwise, this passion and zest will probably stand them in good stead teaching wise, IMV
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| Jonny Jones wrote: |
| ............... my highly limited and extremely subjective experience of ski instructors is that they're much more, ahem, intelligent than instructors in other sports.......... |
easiski will be thrilled to know that 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I don't agree if comparing ski instructors with sailing instructors, who are also generally highly intelligent and with genuine motivation (because they're certainly not paid a lot, they do it for love). I don't know what it's got to do with shell suits though.
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Sailing? Not a lot of boats on my local council estate. I don't want to start a class war, but...
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'Shell suits'. This is 2006 not 1986!
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One fact about instructors that makes me smile when compared to the UK is their 'Full time job' (Ski instruction provides 4 months employment at best) quite often they are roofers or woodsmen!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
| One fact about instructors that makes me smile when compared to the UK is their 'Full time job' (Ski instruction provides 4 months employment at best) quite often they are roofers or woodsmen! |
most of the better instructors I know work 2 seasons per year.... so at least 7-8 months work as instructors...
the better off (family finance wise) ones seem to be able to work in the family business between seasons...
others take odd jobs in their "previous skills" area... eg engineering,construction,secretarial...
some just are very careful with money during season (and have good client base of rich clients = high tips) and then go surfing/golfing/mountain bike riding in between
Sorry - I just don't know many that work only 4 months a year
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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............and yet another bill makes its smooth untroubled passage through the Snowheads forum.............
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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IncogSkiSno,
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boredsurfin, I'll be round to fix your roof tomorrow
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While your with your ladders could you paint the top floor window frames.
Thanks 
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You know it makes sense.
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boredsurfin, I'd love to work only 4 months a year. Winter season is 5, summer season is 2.5 so 7 months teaching skiing every year. Please tell me where I can work for 4 months only!!!
In British ski teaching there's a very high incidence of peeps with degrees in other subjects.
Jonny Jones, We do all have to do lots of stuff on psychology, learning methods ......... et al as well as skiing you know. (All countries in Europe).
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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"Sailing? Not a lot of boats on my local council estate. I don't want to start a class war, but..."
Jonny Jones, you need to move north then, our club welcomes anyone and our membership reflects that. All you need is a sense of humour, to be reasonably fit and prepared to get wet! You don't have to own your own boat or wetsuit, bouyancy aid, we have 2 Wayfarers, 2 Dart 16's, 1 laser 3000, 6 toppers, 2 RS fevas, an ISO and 2 Access dinghies for disabled sailors as well as a selection of others owned by club members (a Prindle, lasers, RS300 and a hobbie cat).
If you don't fancy that then you can kayak, canoe or windsurf (and you still don't need your own gear!)
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Jonny Jones, go back 20 years an I think you would have a different take on the matter.
But...IMHO, I can see easily where your perception arises. Ski instructors these days I think have to be well motivated to do what they do as they're (attention all crew, sweeping assumption inbound) either locals who'd have an easier life managing the family property portfolio of non-locals who simply want to be good at what they do.
Easiski?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Nick Zotov, Of course!!!!
David Murdoch, More and more non-locals these days. All non-locals are ski teaching as a career choice, as opposed to the old days, whent he farmers just needed something to do in the winter, to save eating too many of their cows! this is true of the younger French teachers that I know of. Of course we Brits have always had to make this choice. I think the standard is rising all the time, as is the committment.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Skiing and Piaget and cognitive development.....no doubt the skiing industry will latch onto Vygotsky's 'zone of proximal devlopment' and apply this to an effin' snowplough!
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I know next to nothing about the world of ski instruction, but I imagine that the barriers to entry are higher than for the typical sport taught at the local leisure centre. I'm thinking here of the cost of training, the level of certification required, the cost of equipment and the lack of a year-round income. Many of these factors would also apply to sailing.
Perhaps these conspire to filter out the riff-raff. Not that I'm suggesting that all instructors of other sports are rif-raff, of course... just that there's a noticeably higher instance of the epsilon class in some arenas.
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Most amusing - this thread made me think about PE teachers (both my own and many of the ones I met when was a teacher a few years ago) and I can't say I was overly impressed with their... hmm how can I put this... empathy, understanding, general intelligence and ability to relate to people without the flexing of muscles and the odd grunt. By extension I'd say the same could be applied to other 'sports' instructors, certainly the ones I've met down the local gym.
Now before IncogSkiSno or anyone else gets annoyed I'm more than willing to accept that my experience may very well have been poor and there may be many PE teachers and sports instructors who are witty intelligent and knowledgeable about many subjects (as well as not having 19th century attitudes to gender and other issues), however my direct experience unfortunately leads me to have some sympathy with Jonny Jones' comments and his view that ski instructors are of a higher calibre.
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