Lets play a game..

A snowHead

Lets take one average guy, we'll say 30, never skiied in his life.

Average build, average fitness, average height, average weight.

Average everything.

Let's put him on a resort..

Start to finish.

Dot to dot.

How long would it take to turn him into an instructor?

SORRY! WRONG THREAD - CAN A MOD MOVE IT PLEASE?

A snowHead

professorpool, 8 pints should do it!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I've put it in "bend ze knees" ...but I still don't know the answer.

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100 days or chris' answer, whichever comes first.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

professorpool, I'm not sure there is any answer, theoretically and assuming he wasn't after a profesional qualification probably 8-10 weeks, assuming he found he could ski/snowboard (there are some people who just can't Shocked

) note that there is a hell of a lot of difference between an instructor and a good instructor.

Allow say 4-8 weeks of fairly intensive skiing to get from beginner to competant skier then a further 2 weeks of basic instructor training plus a good 2 weeks of general fitness training to build up the stamina for those 3 to 4 hour lessons with no breaks

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Bloody hell. By now I ought to be 2 instructors rather than just an interminable intermediate.

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After all it is free

JT, he's had more than 16 pints.

first day on snow was december 28th (glencoe) 1992, passed alpine ski instructors course(ASI) beginning of march 1993 (nevis range).
graeme

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professorpool, It depends on whether he wants to be a fully qualified instructor or just have some sort of mickey-mouse badge. Fastest first level I've ever known was Brian Bruce. Started one season having never skied and passed Grade 3 at the end of it. However - he was a pro figure skater and later pro ice hockey player, so that obviously helped hugely. Also - 30 is very old to start.

Basically, starting at 30 it's going to take a long time. fastest POSSIBLE to Grade 1 is 4 years, and you would really have to be at least a Grade 2 level skier before you start to do it that quickly. Most people take 6 years at least, and that's with being able to ski before you start.

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It was a rhetorical question for entertainment only.

I'm quite a bit past 30 personally speaking and make my ££ in other ways!

I was idly curious is all!

Much less time than I thought actually..

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D G Orf, Serious underestimate there IMO.

If you were happy with BASI, you can do it in 13 weeks...

http://www.rookieacademy.com/nz_ski_course_1.html

Base Camp also do 4 week and 11 week courses. CSIA/BASI

http://www.basecampgroup.com/da/33315

You know it makes sense.

easiski, I gave a theoretical minimum amount of time based on someone picking up skiing really quickly and being good at it plus having the ability to pass on that info, in reality I think it would be a heck of a lot longer for almost anyone, however if they wanted a professional qualification say at a level that would be recognised arround the world then I'd say add at least 10 more weeks to my estimate

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I got my 'mickey-mouse' after skiing for seven weeks (first two with instructor plus a couple of half day group lessons later on). The course was my eighth week (although I'm a bit younger than 30...)

It might be mickey-mouse, but if I wanted to instruct in Canada I could. As easiski says though, much (much) higher entry standards to instruct in Europe so it would naturally take longer.

Wear The Fox Hat, surely we should add a few weeks to each of those courses as you need to be an intermediate in the first place to use them?

A snowHead

skisimon, actually not all over Europe, one of our fellow snowHeads got a place in Wengen this year, ok he's a fairly good skier already (I've seen him ski) but I've no idea how many weeks skiing he had under his belt before being accepted by the Swiss Ski School as an instructor but he only had a week to 14 days course with them before they let him start on the beginers.

The point is that he was a good skier (not a great skier) any good skier could have done the same and I reckon that a person could get from total beginer to good skier after 4 weeks of regular daily skiing, if they had the talent for it, some people will never get to that stage no matter how much they try because they don't have some undefined natural ability, others might even get there a little sooner. However this is just to a point of being able to earn money in one location as a ski instructor, that was what the question asked for, not how long to make him a good or internationally recognised instructor wink

A snowHead

Wear The Fox Hat, Only the first level which isn't really worth much except in Scotland and on artificial. Sad for them, but true.

skisimon, this is true - starting from being able to ski is one thing and from nothing is entirely another. However you could teach beginner children in Canada only if I remember your previous posts??

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

D G Orf, okay, my hands are up! You caught me... Laughing

I fell into the snowHeads trap of Europe = France Embarassed

easiski, as I understand it, if you are an instructor and only have the L1 and your in a major resort, you are virtually kids only. But at small resorts (Grouse Mountain outside Vancouver for example), you could work with children and adults, and even up to intermediate level. Presumably this is due to instructor numbers and I suppose quality instructors will gravitate towards the better and larger resorts because they can.

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I got my Wengen Anworter (sp?) in about 1973 or whenever - village test you have to do. We had to do about 1/2 day (I was a Grade 3 then)! didn't qualify us to teach as far away as Murren though!!! When I think back to my lack of experience back then, I'm appalled that I was allowed out with a class at all! rolling eyes

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I do wonder what specific qualications, say a local village girl/boy, needs to have to be employed by that local village school. That they have been skiing since the age of 3 and been skiing all their life is a given...but what about formal qualifications? For example, all the ESF that I have seen, ski like a dream, but what about small Swiss or Austrian villages, for example?

If you are non-local or a foreigner, then I'd expect them to insist you are qualified and then some, but how lenient would they be to their own..?

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easiski, you know it's just possible that you might have taught me in Wengen, I don't think so, but it is possible Shocked

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After all it is free

Whitegold,

If one of those English SKi Council certificates I had would count Confused

about 3 weeks - 2 weeks to learn to ski and one week of learning to teach.

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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

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D G Orf,

I can tell you than when working there I wore a blue two piece suit with a short top and had the WSS badge sewn onto my left sleeve (if that's any help).

easiski, if I had you for lessons you wouldn't have been a regular teacher, in 73 I'd have probably been in class 2 I think or at best class 3 (unlikely), I can only remember 3 of my teachers, Mathilde Fuchs (Still lives in Wengen) Ruth (never knew her surname but was always smoking) and later on (class 6) Heinz Kammer (who is now an architect in Wengen), on rare ocasions I was also taught by Charlotte Gertsh.

You know it makes sense.

[quote="D G Orf"]easiski, ....I was also taught by Charlotte Gertsh.[/quote]

I love her new single! Lovely voice. Laughing

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Red Leon,

LOL Laughing

IMT

A snowHead

Red Leon, Oh dear Laughing

A snowHead

Red Leon,

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Whitegold,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

easiski, I knew you weren't Ruth, as I said I had a number of other teachers but those were the ones I remembered because I'd had them for more than 1 week, God alone knows how I spelt Gertsch wrongly Charlotte would be horrified I only had a Christmas card from her and Fritz 2 weeks ago Embarassed

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Wear The Fox Hat, that sounds a lot even for a one week at a time skier.

After all it is free

A guide I had in Chamonix once (a Brit), said he's started skiing in his early 20s when he realised he wanted something to do when climbing eased off a bit during the winter and found it was easier to ski to and from his ice-climbs than snowshoe (or something like that, I may be getting two very similar conversations conflated). Started learning fairly intensively and got his BASI 3 by the end of that season, then went for next grades in subsequent seasons (not sure whether he went for his 1 or not) before doing the UIAGM. He was clearly a pretty good and stylish skier (and guides, particularly British ones - normally being mountaineers first and skiers second - are often more utilitarian and effective than efficient and graceful).

Also IIRC, pollittcl only started skiing a couple of years ago, but was hitting it every weekend, and got her PSIA 1 by the end of her first season (or right at the beginning of the next).

OK, these are both examples of fairly basic qualifications, but clearly that can be done from scratch in a season. My concern with doing something too quickly would be that while the technical stuff may be in there, there's very little mountain experience picked up - which is just time and miles under the boots.

Help!!

Lets play a game..

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