 Poster: A snowHead
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Has to be Canada (cheaper) or Japan. Both come with work options and certainly with Canada it is easier to extend your visa. Youngest hit Canada, did a season in Silver Star, got a Summer Job in Whistler and followed up with a second season at Whistler.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks . @swskier, Except the Nonstopsnow stops after four weeks, or is an instructor course. The Warren Smith one doesn’t exist any longer.
That’s why people do instructor courses. Because they exist.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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But maybe this lad really DOES want to be an instructor - in which case the suggestion of an L1 course in a snowdome, followed by shadowing, is perfect and he has masses of time to do it before homing in on the objective for his very precious gap year.
One of my grandsons has just gone to uni following a gap year in Australia in which he learnt the very valuable lesson that you need ALL the money you can earn in an unskilled job just to keep a pretty basic roof over your head and eat. He also greatly increased his already not-bad skills at working in restaurants - flipped a lot of burgers and prepared a lot of salads and the like. And came to not-take-for-granted the very nice bedroom he had at home and a warm shower always available!! He had initially planned to work for the majority of the time and then head off to Japan for some snowboarding. He soon realised he couldn't earn enough to save enough to do anything of the sort. Especially as he lost his passport soon after arriving (put it in a carrier bag with the groceries, left bag on bus). My son made him pay himself for the replacement. Another valuable lesson learnt. 
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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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@Origen, I agree, I suggested the same. It gives him an idea if he even likes teaching, and could get the L2 done before the season and spend the whole winter teaching (in Canada or Japan being the best options). It also saves a fortune as well compared to the gap courses.
It does depend on the OP's son being at a reasonable standard already though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks . @swskier, Except the Nonstopsnow stops after four weeks, or is an instructor course. The Warren Smith one doesn’t exist any longer.
That’s why people do instructor courses. Because they exist.
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How much tuition do you really need? 4 weeks intensive and then 1 private a week over a full season, seems like a more than reasonable option without the ridiculous cost a 10 week course would be.
As I've said before, living in hostels I've seen how much relatively poor 18 year olds on gap years without bank of mum and dad to finance them lessons improve just by being out there everyday. My personal experience was going from someone that had done 3 1 week trips and could just about hang onto my friends (2 weeks per year for 7 years at that time) to being way better then them in one season (100 days on snow, no lessons, but did push myself to learn and actively tried with things like YouTube instructional videos). All the best skiers I know have fairly limited number of lessons - a lot just 1 week ski school  , but a huge amount of time on snow. (That's not to say lessons can't speed up the process or they wouldn't be even better without them).
Also you have to look at end goal. I don't know any ski bum/seasonnaire who's goal is to be a pro skier. (Actually they tend to have a much better idea about where their skill level lies as they know/see some really good skiers - whereas holiday skiers massively overestimate because they simply don't know and mostly just hang out with other holiday skiers). Most just want to be "good enough" to be able to get down anything with reasonable style and keep up with friends.
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@boarder2020, from my own experience, I did the L3 seasonal course 2 years ago for the exact reason that there aren't many packages out there that matched what I was looking for. I never set out to be a career ski instructor but just enjoy the process of constantly improving and pushing limits, and the L3 course gave me exactly that. I also didn't start skiing until 6 years ago so the L3 course also let me experience a variety of skiing (racing, off pistes, snowboards etc.), and eventually got some qualifications out of it which was a bonus and made some great friends along the way. Not saying some fewer weeks of instruction can't give the same, just that a whole season skiing with the same bunch of people striving for the same goal is quite some motivation, and enjoyable.
It is possible that OP's son has a similar mindset and if so, an instructor course will be pretty good for that. His technique will also improve so much because of the constant tuition throughout the season.
All I'm trying to say is yes there are many different ways to ski a season, and doing an instructor gap course (especially at higher levels) may not be as bad or low value as some believe to be. It will also teach him the fundamentals that he can continue to apply to better his own skiing which is not a bad thing either.
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@murphyd Consider simply giving him a lump sum as a gift. Then leave the rest up to him. Ask him to consider his longer-term future and just what he might spend the money on.
I bet that after a bit of reflection, he’ll start to think of other ways that that money might be used. From buying a car, to funding a world backpacking tour, to a season simply skiing with instruction, to ….. whatever.
And whatever he decides on, he needs to organise it. He needs to join relevant forums and ask for and judge advice. He needs to contact companies, organisations and government offices to explore options and organise. And he needs to make the final decision. Welcome to being an adult …..
I doubt that he’ll have much left over to ‘repay’ much of the original ‘loan’. So basically, the funding will effectively be a gift anyway. So why not treat it as such?
Last edited by After all it is free  on Sun 26-10-25 22:27; edited 3 times in total
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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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@Murphyd,
Given the lack of feedback, he's gone off the idea?
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And whatever he decides on, he needs to organise it.
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I reckon this is where the real value of a "gap year" comes from.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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No one has mentioned Andorra as an option. France is next door so there’s a reasonable number of French/French speaking customers, then if visitors aren’t Spanish speakers, they tend to speak English.
Jnr’s coming out for his 4th season. His first three as a L2 qualified instructor, this coming season at L3. No gap year courses from him. Every winter is a gap for him but not as a student as he’s a self employed tree surgeon the rest of the year. All of this has been his choices, but he’s had a good amount of encouragement from us.
He did BASI L1 at Hemel. He did his shadowing hours there and in Mk around covid restrictions. During this time at some point, I moved to Andorra so he came out at the end of the season to do his L2. I should add that he didn’t really need a lot of coaching for his own skiing because he’s been racing since he was 11. He did it with the CSIA because the dates fitted best. There’s BASI courses available here too. The following season he got a job with Grandvalira instructing in Pas de la Casa and has instructed there since.
Andorra isn’t in the EU so up until now there’s been no preference given to EU passport holders. However, this may change. Andorran govt is beginning to talk about giving preferences to EU citizens. Get in within the next season or two and it should be ok.
Overall, he’s absolutely loved it. His first season he pretty much lived the stereotypical partying young instructor lifestyle. Season by season he’s become more and more professional but is earning more money each season too as he gets returning 1:1 learners. He does leave after the season with some money saved (he doesn’t live with me so he has the same expenses as anyone else), but he’d earn/save more staying at home with the trees! It’s more about the enjoyment. He thinks this will be his last season in Andorra. Whilst he’s still young, he wants to go and work in some other places before he decides to not bother instructing any more.
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