 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
my daughter will be made redundant from her job this October. As a keen snowboarder she is thinking of getting some snowboarding instructional qualifications which may lead on to some work in a future winter season.
I`m after any advice - pitfalls or suggestions from SH`s who may have their own experiences
There seem to be plenty of companies out there in Google search land offering, ‘ come to some far off place e.g., NZ, Canada, or the States and become a sb instructor’. These courses cost about £7500 to £8000.As some of the companies promote this as a bit of a Gap year thing before going on to uni, are they for people who are just having a great ten week holiday with no real intention of taking snow sports up as a career ? Problem is my daughter does not have £8000. Or is it possible to work for a company for a very low wage or just food and accommodation and in return , get experience, mentoring and hopefully be well on the way to getting a snowsport qualification?
Are the quals internationally recognised?
Can you do the training and assessment closer to home e.g. Scotland?
When the season starts are there too many instructors chasing too few jobs?
Thank you for your help 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Look here regarding seasonal work: www.natives.co.uk
You can do BASI instructor qualifications in the UK (and elsewhere). After that, you could hang around resort and pester ski schools for shadowing hours etc - one of our staff was busy doing that a couple of years ago, was reasonably successful. Lower end qualifications aren't that easy to transfer from one country to another, and if she wants to teach in France she needs to be prepared to spend time being bullied and hauled through the courts every ten minutes (this applies to French board instructors as well).
If she is serious about a career in snowsports she will need to learn to ski, and to a high standard. There is much less work for boarding instructors and the higher levels require a second discipline anyway.
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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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bargainbill, there are quite a few threads on this if you do a search on here.
Is she already good enough to pass the instructor exams do you think? If so she could do here BASI L1 in the UK this summer / autumn, get the 70 shadowing hours in the UK then do her BASI Level 2 in November in the ALps. This will cost her considerably less than £8k all in. Look on the BASI website www.basi.org
However with a newly passed Level 2 she will probably be unlikely to get enough work next season to cover her costs...
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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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Does she speak German ?
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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 dont think this is a particularly good season to want to become an instructor. Fewer guests = fewer instructors needed. I'm sure there will be ALOT of people in her boat as well ( I hear it all the time amongst my redundant chums). If she wants to work in the snowsports industry - get out there doing any job you can and see what its really like for a season. Even being an instructor isn't that glam 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The snowsport industry is a hotbed of political infighting displaying remarkable similarities to our very own house of commons 
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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| I dont think this is a particularly good season to want to become an instructor. Fewer guests = fewer instructors needed. I'm sure there will be ALOT of people in her boat as well ( I hear it all the time amongst my redundant chums). If she wants to work in the snowsports industry - get out there doing any job you can and see what its really like for a season. Even being an instructor isn't that glam |
So true. I doubt 2009/10 will be a good season for any jobs in the industry. Even by March/April 2009 we were hearing of TOs preparing to downsize for the coming season. Nadenoodlee is correct in saying go for any job & see how unglamourous working a season can be. Also check Natives.co.uk - there will be people who can help you on there (but research the site for info first - just asking basic questions like 'Tell me how to get a job/who will employ me/what jobs should I apply for' will attract derision).
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bargainbill, If your daughter is serious about becoming a snowboard instructor, good for her. BASI would deffo be the way to go and as mentioned above is cheaper than the (dubious IMO) offers you mention. There are several levels though, and they each require a number of hours teaching in between. She would definitely be well advised to learn to ski well as well. A lot can be achieved at your local dry slope or snowdome. Good luck to her, but she should be aware that it's a long road and lots of hard work en route - worth it though if she loves the mountains and snowsports.
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