 Poster: A snowHead
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Been thinking about starting up a course and would be interested to hear what people think.
6 weeks accommodation in twin rooms, pass, transport and food all taken care of. 5 days a week of all morning 9-1 with a short break in the middle, high level tuition for skiers already comfortable on blacks. Focus to be on all mountain riding with some freestyle before moving onto comprehensive avalanche training and off piste skiing and touring.
The idea would be to run the course from around mid Jan to end of March for a maximum of 6 skiers.
I know there are versions of this course already out there but I'd rather not be catering to gap year trust fundies, more like a hardcore course for people with a genuine desire to move onto skiing a lot more serious lines in safety with solid mountain awareness.
Off the top of my head I'd say around £3k for the full 6 weeks working out at £500 a quid a week. I'm not sure if that's sounds cheap to others, seems reasonable to me. My idea is not to make a fistful of dollars, rather be able to live in the mountains in take part in something which I would have loved to have done myself if it had been available.
It's just a rough idea at the moment although I have done a reasonable amount of research already so all comments welcome, thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Doesn't sound too far from something which might have a niche - 6 weeks is a nice timeframe for mini-seasoners. H. My main concern as a punter would be homogeneity of the class 6 isn't a lot of people but how do you screen for the "hardcore" and get people with the same sort of skill level, fitness etc. Spoken as a slow lane bootpacker/skinner.
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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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dynamite, Nonstop run a course which costs about £5k.
Includes some meals, season pass lift pass and a load of other things but not flights.
Not meant to be a comparison but might give you some food for thought.
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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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I did the Nonstop six week course last year. I think they normailly aim for 24 people and split it into 3-4 groups, which should give a streaming-type effect. As it happens we were a bit low on numbers (I think 14), so it didn't work so well.
I would say this is a very important thing to bear in mind, though - especially on a course of this length.
BTW of the c.14, we were about 50/50 gap types and old people.
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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 like the idea in principle - though sadly I can't see myself ever finding the time to do it. I also think that you should aim for enough people to split into 3 groups - to allow for varying entry standards - and some migration between groups as the course progresses.
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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 market must be a bit limited. As jd says I can see part time GAP people and the retired being interested but no one else having the ability to do 6 weeks straight.
I don't even get 6 weeks holiday allowance a year 
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good points raised. Perhaps a group of ten would be more realistic splitting it into two ability groups. As a teacher myself I would say that dealing with a certain degree of mixed ability is easily catered for by a good instructor but the application process would be largely focused on making sure we weren't accepting people who were ultimately not prepared to push themselves hard or were more comfortable sticking to red runs.
The comment about trust fundies was more aimed at trying to avoid a 'get smashed for 6 weeks and do some skiing in between. I would have no problem with whatever age people were as long as they were signing up for the right reasons. I realise that as times marches on people get more and more commitments but if my early twenties are anything to go by I met a lot of people who did temporary contracts, others who travelled around a lot and saved up hard in between to pay for experiences which would be impossible to do with a career, mortgage family etc. I guess this would be the market I would be aiming for as, like Marc says, a lot of people don't have the chance to do 6 weeks straight.
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Would you be leading the groups?
What's your experience and certification?
I think this is the main criteria. If you offer something that others aren't then the market is there.
Your teaching style, the locations you visit, that type of thing.
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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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I wouldn't be leading the groups, my side would be the accommodation transport logistics etc. The idea would be to get specialists for each part of the course, on piste, freestyle, avalanche training and off piste guide so that the students get the best instructor for each discipline. I'll have level 1 and 2 basi by the time this potentially goes ahead but I'll be assisting, definitely not leading. Location is yet to be confirmed but it will definitely be somewhere with 3 or more different areas to visit within a 30 minute drive in the morning to get the best of on piste, freestyle parks and off piste terrain. Does that make sense?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The 6 week idea was just a start really. Perhaps in the end 4 weeks could be more manageable financially and time wise too. I've seen those straightline camps before, they look really good. Perhaps it is a personality trait of mine but generally, when doing my research for myself, I've always found most courses too short. I would personally get much more out of a few weeks than a few days although perhaps others would find it too intense??
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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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6 weeks is a lot of teaching time & can be pretty intensive. I had the benefit of a lift pass when in Tahoe that gave me access to unlimited midweek half day lessons but I still took no more than 1 lesson a week as I didn't want to overly intrude on freeskiing time plus no one wants to take a lesson on a powder day etc. It was a great opportunity to ski with a variety of high level high cert instructors but it takes a few days to process each session IME.
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dynamite, I'd be put off by the time/cost of six weeks. I have flexible work but that would still be a major commitment. I like the idea though. Could it be done in one/two/three week blocks or would that in someway limit what could be covered?
As a business offering I would imaging you'd need to be adaptable and see what the market wants. If you can fill the six week courses then go for it, if not you may need to offer a range of shorter and longer courses/experiences.
Since you mentioned BASI, would these be europe or US/Canda based?
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You know it makes sense.
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I think people are right on the 6 weeks idea maybe being pretty long. I hear what you're saying about powder days too, that's one of the reasons I was keen to have half days teaching rather than full days as this would allow for some flexibility of tuition hours when conditions are special. Morning lessons would give students afternoon time to process things and practise.
With respect to shorter courses, perhaps if the course was blocked out into different disciplines, people could sign up for the freestyle week for example or if they were keener to learn avalanche and off piste stuff then they could just do 2 weeks at the end
Doing it in Europe is the plan
Really appreciate the advice, all comments very welcome
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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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Perhaps if they are only learning for half days you could have two different groups sharing the tutor, some doing mornings and some afternoons (changing around) so you only need half as many instructors. But how about avalanche safety on the other half of the day when they don't have a guide? Or is this in North America?
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Poster: A snowHead
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That's a pretty good idea for alternating the groups. Using the other half of the day for further tutoring might get too intense maybe? I was thinking of using the evening for video sessions and so I'm not sure if it might not get too much, overload as someone suggested before
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FAQ
