 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi
I'm looking to change my career and have been looking into becoming a ski instructor but what other jobs are available to train for in the ski industry?
I've only seriously got into skiing in the last 4 years and love everything about it. from servicing skis to trying to help my dads technique improve lol
Any help would be most appreciated
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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www.natives.co.uk
This appears to be a good place to start, not used it myself, neither have I worked in the ski industry (but am thinking of it for next season)
This place gets recomended on here quite a lot! That or search Tour Ops websites for the 'work for us' section. I bealive most start the recruiting process around May time...
I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along soon but til then atlease you have a start...
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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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Best part of the 'Ski Industry' to work for seems to be selling insurance 
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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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As Crazy Climber says, a lot of people on here will suggest natives... usually without looking at it first. It'll give you some ideas but it's mainly set up for the kind of people that just do 1 or two seasons rather than a full on career change.
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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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Thats what i noticed about Natives its mainly to do one season which i would enjoy but i would really like to be progressing towards something instead of coming home to no work after 6 months
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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You could look at the TO's websites for their normal jobs, although I'm not sure that they'd be much more fun than any other London office job.
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| Quote: |
i would really like to be progressing towards something instead of coming home to no work after 6 months
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Wouldn't we all? 
The ski season lasts for five to six months - outside that there's minimal work, though there might be a bit of a summer season depending on where you are. 'Careers' in ski generally involve office work in Brighton (or Crawley if you're really unlucky), which is as exciting as office work in Brighton in any other industry, just less well paid.
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The other option is some form of activity instructor during the summer and ski seasons in the winter.
I used to be an activity instructor (the ski season was next on my list til circumstances changed) It was good work, very enjoyable and if you find the right centre you can get a lot of experience and quals out of it! but again as with any outdoor activity work its not well paid. This said most centres offer accommodation too which is half the reason to work there, the atmosphere is awesome. and its cheap and 'rent' is generally taken before tax so you only get taxed on what you actually get...
that got a bit off topic i feel so I will leave it there until asked
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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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| Quote: |
'rent' is generally taken before tax so you only get taxed on what you actually get..
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You mean there are outdoor activity instructors who earn enough to pay tax?! Instructing at an outdoor centre is brilliant fun, but it isn't really viable for more than a year or two. The only people who really make much money from instructing are those who used to compete/participate on a world class level (google Simon Westgarth or Gene17 Kayaking for someone who really is living the dream of every PGL type instructor).
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Judging by recent threads there have got to be a few openings for Pants Colour Consultants.
If you're going to make a long term living out of it either you need to aim high and establish yourself e.g. as a "name" instructor/coach or establish a real-life business or trade that you can operate in a ski resort. Lots of ski bums used to make decent money as builders knocking up luxury resort condos and chalets, after the crash not so much.
Or you could just invent the Ski Bulldog and watch the cash roll in.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
Instructing at an outdoor centre is brilliant fun, but it isn't really viable for more than a year or two.
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This is part of the reason I stopped - Tho there were several people at the centre I was at who had a pretty good career there. Like you said tho, one of them was the GB surf kayak coach...
But I agree with fatbob - you've gotta get both well known and qaulled up to earn 'decent' money.
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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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You could work both seasons..
By that i mean both Southern and Northern Hemisphere seasons. My cousin did this for several years and loved it.
France in the NH winter..and NZ in the SH winter
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Do something you enjoy and become good at it, after a while most of the people you work with in this industry will go home and get "proper" jobs, leaving you to progress - if you are up to it. There are heaps of good jobs available winter and summer, and no shortage of decent companies to work for, give it a go and see where you end. You need to be adaptable and hard working, motivated and love working with people, and in return you get to live the life others dream about (and quite possibly early liver failure.)
Natives is a good start point, I started there at least - albeit a little late in life.
Wish you all the best of luck
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You know it makes sense.
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Hi,
I'd second Kaiser's advice that you need to do at least one season first before you start applying for any of the permenant ski industry jobs.
Career roles (as opposed to 1 year season jobs) in a ski resorts tend to be split between the sort of jobs which you get at home (teachers, doctors, builders, shops etc) that just happen to be in skiing areas. And, those jobs which revolve around the ski industry (ski instructor, pisteur, ski tech, tour operation management, contracting roles, accountant positions). Few of these are year round and most people have a summer and a winter job which they change between, or (ideally!!!) aim to make enough in the winter to cover the summer.
If you are serious about doing this as a career change instead of a bit of fun for a few years I'd seriously think about whether there are any of these roles which overlap, at least in part, with what you are currently doing and if so, try to aim in that direction. Take a job doing something similar, as a seasonaire for one year and then speak to your company at the end of the year and ask about progression. For example, if you're hell bent on ski instructing, why not try and work on the desk in a ski school for a winter? Or do a ski hosting role for one of the tour operators so that you can brush up on your skiing?
You'll also need to consider quite carefully where you want to be based. For example, it's easier to train to be a ski instructor in the States or New Zealand than it is in France, but it's harder legally to re-locate on a permenant basis.
Working in Europe in a career role you'll ideally need to speak the language of the country you're in - level depends on the role. For example to work for a uk company here in France you don't need to speak any French to work as a chalet host, but you'd be expected to speak enough to call suppliers for a Resort management job, and to speak and write it fluently for an ops manager or contracting role.
A couple of good places to start are Natives, which other people have recommended too who specialise in ski industry recruitment, BASI who are the British ski and snowboard instructors organisations and http://www.newfrontiers.co.uk/travel/ who offer more senior ski industry travel jobs.
Best of luck with your plans - I hope that you thoroughly enjoy it!!
Heather
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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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| Snow and Sunshine wrote: |
Hi,
You'll also need to consider quite carefully where you want to be based. For example, it's easier to train to be a ski instructor in the States or New Zealand than it is in France, but it's harder legally to re-locate on a permenant basis.
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This is something I've been looking at (and getting confused about) over the last few weeks. I was trying to find the different levels that you need to achieve to become a fully fledged Ski Instructor, but just ended up becoming more confused as people mentioned the different levels, methodology, and types of teaching for different countries. Purely for interest by the way- I have no desire to be able to teach anyone anything 
Is there a breakdown of the different levels (in laymans terms) required to be passed in sequence, for say teaching in Europe? I think there would then be different levels depending if you use the french or british system - is that correct?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| fatbob wrote: |
Judging by recent threads there have got to be a few openings for Pants Colour Consultants.
If you're going to make a long term living out of it either you need to aim high and establish yourself e.g. as a "name" instructor/coach or establish a real-life business or trade that you can operate in a ski resort. Lots of ski bums used to make decent money as builders knocking up luxury resort condos and chalets, after the crash not so much.
Or you could just invent the Ski Bulldog and watch the cash roll in. |
Or put some designs on Sweatshirts flog 'em around Apres Ski bars in Val D and Meribel for a few seasons and then bobs your Uncle chain of Fat Face shops, retire happy 
| Quote: |
| It all began in 1988, two friends desperately trying to avoid working for a living and enjoying all that the French Alps had to offer. The life was way too good to end too soon… but money was running short. A plan was needed… design some sweatshirts, sell ‘em at night, ski during the day, stick around till Spring then head for the beach. Fat Face had been born. |
http://www.fatface.com/content/ebiz/fatface/resources/pdfs/ff_story.pdf
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Boredsurfing, Yeah but in the days of Web 2.0 anyone can have a T shirt/graphic design company and I doubt many make it past year 2 or 3. Every year at the ski show there's stand after stand of fresh faced Jeremys with their "lifestyle" branded hoodies cooked up over a late night in Dick's and a pot of Daddy's money.
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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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blert596, the BASI website (www.basi.org.uk) lists the various criteria for working in different countries.
Roughly:
BASI 1 (a 5-day course plus 35hrs of "shadowing" a qualified instructor) - you can teach on UK dryslopes & snowdomes
BASI 2 (70hrs of teaching experience + another 10-day course) - qualified to teach on a mountain, but only to a low level. Fairly widely accepted, but not well-paid. Not accepted in France or Italy although it's possible to work for a limited period in Italy or as a "trainee" in France.
BASI 3 / ISIA - (Another 200hrs of teaching time, plus a number of courses in technique, coaching, teaching, mountain-safety, research, etc.) - Qualified as a high-level ski-school instructor in most countries, but not in France or Italy.
BASI 4 / ISTD - (Yet more teaching time, plus further technique and mountain safety courses, plus the infamous "Eurotest" race-test) - Highest qualification available, valid to work independently just about anywhere. Even France.
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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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stevomcd, thanks for that. Seems quite an interesting progression chain as far as I can make out. It certainly looks as though its an achievable target if you were set on doing it. Lots of hoops to go through though.
So basically everyone teaching in France would have to be minimum BASI 2 and can only be classed as a "trainee" although I've no idea what that entails.
Does the level 3/ISIA allow you to teach in France, but just not to be classed as high level?
What are the main differences between the french model and the Brit one?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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This is gonna be a bit of a blog, so sorry if it bores anyone (everyone?), but will hopefully be of interest to the OP.
(I'm assuming when you say career you want a long term/permanent solution. If you just want to bug off to the Alps for a few years, you should be able to easily enough do something like BASI 2 or the Austrian Anwarter/find a chalet or bar job, which should pay enough for you to break even)
I'm 21, so over the last few years I've done a lot of thinking about what I want to do 'in the future.' Parents took me skiing once a year since I was 6, so obviously a career ski instructing or guiding has been high up my list for a while. As soon as I finished school, I buggered off to Austria for a season instructing. It was great fun, and it would be an amazing lifestyle for a few years, but I've given it up as a career ambition.
1 - I'm not good enough to get up to the higher qualifications (without spending a fortune on training) you need to make more than beer/food money (for reference, I've probably done around 60 weeks skiing altogether now in the last 15/16 years).
2 - I'm crap with heights so that rules out the high level climbing you need for the guiding exams.
3 - I'm not happy with the (lack of) security. It doesn't leave you much to fall back on, an injury can screw your whole career up, and even if it all goes to plan you're likely to struggle to put enough money away for when you get old and have to retire.
4 - To realistically make enough money (maybe you want a house/family one day) you're going to have to work independantly (which will require a good client base, hard to build up), set up your own school (resort are already saturated with them and locals have a huge headstart), or work with the national trainers/examiners (for which you have to be VERY good).
Obviously it can be done, but very difficult (especially with the four years {weeks?} of experience you say above - unless you're a freak who could carve within an hours lesson or something, the training is going to both VERY time-consuming and VERY expensive for you). I still want to live in the mountains, so I looked into other options.
Many TO's will employ accountants/hotel managers/resort managers in resort, but the majority of (UK) ski industry jobs are office based in the UK. You would be better off finding that sort of general office job in local companies - obviously you'd have to learn the language - maybe look to cities near the mountains like Innsbruck or Geneva. Doesn't really appeal to me tbh. Other 'normal' jobs (teacher/doctor/etc) obviously exist in resorts too, although not the ski industry career you asked about.
Opening a ski shop or bar sounds like a dream. Unfortunately for both you need the property (or money to buy) - and the locals are way ahead of you here, with properties that have been in their families for yonks. Also, most resort are saturated with both, competition is high, you're unlikely to make much money in reality, and you won't get much ski time. Same with hotels/chalets. Again, can be done, but lots try and fail along the way.
In most major resorts the lift companies are fairly big, and there should be good progression up the ladders in them. I haven't really explored this, but I imagine competiton with locals is pretty high though. Also standing by a lift on a powder day counting tickets sounds more soul-destroying than working in a call centre in India.
In the end I've decided to try and get into avalanche/flood/landslide control. Very necessary in the mountains (Austria spends upwards of 70 million each year just on Avalanche defense), so should be a pretty secure job, and interesting too. Also flying around the Alps in a helicopter with a rocket launcher would be  awesome. I plan to do a masters in Mountain Risk Engineering at the BoKu University in Vienna (taught in English, minimal tuition fees), which from what I've been told (my gf's parents know a few people involved with it) and read, should lead relatively simply into a job (Austrian job market seems very different to the UK) with a decent wage and actual time off to ski. Next year I will (hopefully lol) graduate from Aberdeen with the BSc Geography that's the prerequisite for the masters.
Sweet blog, I know (  ), sorry, hope it's of interest to someone.
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clarky999, well it interested me, good luck with it all, and let us know how you get on.
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clarky999, Nice plan. Presumably a lot of the rather more prosaic designing rock levees and concrete paravalanches to balance out the hanging out of a chopper chucking hand charges.
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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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clarky999, Oh and nice work even considering 'security' when forming a plan at 21, I'm not sure I knew what the word meant at that age. 
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clarky999, excellent write-up. Sounds to me like you've come to the ideal solution. As with an interest in Geography (and maybe Geology too?) the "more prosaic designing rock levees[etc]" sounds as if it should be pretty interesting as well.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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You could work in the related industries, and still get a bit of skiing in. Publishing - mags or online - involves a lot more desk time than skiing, but what every business needs is good sales people and they can scoot all around the world skiing with clients. Or potential clients.
Writing is a nice way to earn a living, but harder than sales to get into and also harder to earn a regular living from.
If you're techy, try working for a manufacturer or importer. Again, there's a lot of desk and road time, but lots more riding than most jobs, and generally on gear the rest of us don't see for a couple of years.
Retail is hard work but again, the people involved like their snowtime and if you're interested in the products then there can be options as buyers with the testing that entails, though that's hardly the first rung on the ladder... Smaller stores tend to involve a lot of the team in decision making.
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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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clarky999, And best of luck to you with that plan - you've obviously given it a lot of thought, so I hope it all goes well for you. Out of interest, do you speak any other language?
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Cheers guys!
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Presumably a lot of the rather more prosaic designing rock levees and concrete paravalanches to balance out the hanging out of a chopper chucking hand charges.
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Yeah definitely - although I think it's more about the placement etc than actually making them - there's nothing to do with engineering in the syllabus, and they run the exact same course in German, the title for which has no mention of engineering, so i think that part may be a translation thing. Either way, should involve plenty of time out in the field.
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Out of interest, do you speak any other language?
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I did GCSE German in school lol, but forgot it all. I picked up more German over my season, and can understand a fair amount, but not enough. My gf is Austrian though so she likes to try and teach me, and I'm going to take a year out between the BSc and MSc to improve it, probably find a bar job and do a language course in Innsbruck. Should leave plenty of ski time too
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You know it makes sense.
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clarky999,
Nice post mate
Best of luck..you sound like you will do well in your chosen field. Keep us updated over the next few years!!!!
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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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clarky999, A man with a plan. Nice one.
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Poster: A snowHead
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clarky999, Good luck, sounds like a really well thought out plan.
When I left school (1986) I seriously thought about becoming a ski instructor as I was already totally bitten by the ski bug, but my parents convinced me it was a better idea to go to Uni instead. They were probably right in hindsight. I studied engineering to Masters Degree level, then worked for the next couple of decades in Formula One motorsport which gave me enough disposable income to ski whenever I had the time - which unfortunately wasn't really enough (3-4 weeks per season max).
Then a couple of years ago I 'retired' from the F1 circus and started a management consultancy business, which I can run from pretty much anywhere that has a half decent broadband connection. Obviously I need to be around to visit clients from time to time, but I can quite easily disappear to Canada for a month or so and just catch up with a bit of work in the evenings etc. I actually work more productively like that as I'm always in a good mood
With easy global communication and increasingly flexible working practices, I think there are now many opportunities to run a UK business from a ski resort in the winter months. Obvious examples being Computer Aided Design, Web Development, Graphic Design, etc. but I think many other businesses could be run remotely too over the ski season.
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FAQ
