Ski Instructor Training Program
Under construction coming soon
Instructing
Teaching skiing is very creative, everyone is different and they learn in their own unique way. Figuring out how to help them is an exciting challenge.
The season is from December to March for most instructors with the holidays and weekends being very busy. Weekdays can be slow at non-destination resorts, and extreme cold or rain will slow business down. Most instructors teach for about three seasons as a hobby.
There are perks like season passes and other discounts, but a passion to help people learn makes teaching fun. It takes knowledge, patience, empathy, confidence, energy, self awareness, a fun personality, ability, and attention to your customers needs.
Lessons
There are group and private lessons teaching children, adults, or a combination.
The majority of lessons are beginners and skiers without a lot of experience.
Lessons are usually an hour, multiple hours, or full day long.
Customers
Customers will be a wide range of ages, abilities, fitness levels, with different goals and expectations.
Some people learn very fast what it will take others days to learn.
Less fit people may have a hard time skiing for an hour and others can easily ski all day. Seventy three percent of skiers ski less than six times a season. Only seven percent of skier visits involve lessons. Only 19 percent of first timers become skiers.
Expectations
Many first timers expect skiing will be quick and easy to learn and can be disappointed when they realize it will take time and practice. Bigger runs can be their only goal. You will help them create clear goals that will help them improve.
Others will lack confidence and be fearful, they require a much slower pace.
Parents and friends may expect a lesson will make their child or friend able to ski with them on harder runs. You will help them understand where and what practice is needed.
Some expect learning to be quick and easy, others worry it they will not be able to do it.
Fun
The goal is to have fun and create a passion for skiing. It is important that you like to help others learn and have a great personality so people enjoy being with you. Look customers in the eye and smile. Be friendly, confident, and enthusiastic. Imagine they are your friends and you are having a fun skiing adventure.
Learning to ski well takes time and practice, it is not just a fun activity tubing people can just do. You have to try to balance they type of customer you have and their expectations with safety considerations and educate them that there are Ski Moves to learn in addition to the thrill of going faster.
Questions
Get as much information as possible before the lesson. Ask if they are athletic, do they participate in related sports like ice skating or rollerblading, do they expect that it will be easy or hard.
Children may not want to take a lesson, be comfortable with strangers, and may not even want to ski. Bring a lot of energy and get them talking. You can ask about siblings, pets, friends, if mom and dad ski, sports, hobbies, school, vacations, video games, or anything that gets to relax open up. Pay close attention to what your customers need and ask if you are not sure.
Clothes and gear
It is hard to have fun if they are not comfortable. Be sure they are dressed properly for the weather, they can be underdressed or overdressed. Look for helmets, goggles or sunglasses, sunscreen, neck gaiter, proper layers, zipped up, jackets, and warm gloves.
Be sure their boots are not too tight or loose and their pants are not stuffed in the top. Ask if they have just one pair of socks and if the boots are painful. Many will have wrinkles in their socks and the boots are buckled too tight. If they can't flex their ankles, loosen the top buckles. Toe warmers may be needed if it is very cold.
Pace
Go at a pace the is fun without creating fear. Some people need to go very slow and will take much longer to learn. Others learn very fast and can become bored if you are going too slow. Watch to see how they are doing, if you can not tell, ask them.
In group lessons there are usually differences in ability, so assign different tasks to the stronger students and give more help to the slower ones. In an hour lesson you will have to get on the hill quicker than what would be ideal and some people will not get there. Tools that help skiers slow down are useful.
Natural moves
People use natural moves for skiing which are leaning back, turning their shoulders and hips, and leaning inside the turn. These moves are opposite skiing moves which are a challenge to learn and maintain. Leaning back on a slope is the biggest problem and it causes more turning with the shoulders and hips, and that causes more leaning in the turn.
Each time the slope gets steeper, the speed increases, or the snow conditions get more challenging, the natural moves try to replace skiing moves.
What to teach
How far you get in the first lesson depends on how long the lesson is and the ability of the customer. Most beginners can work on stopping and turning in the first lesson, but that can be difficult for slower learners in an hour lesson.
The most basic skiing move is continuously moving downhill over the skis as they turn. It is challenging to develop this offensive flow into the next turn. The skiing moves are developing an-
1- Athletic stance and ankle flex
2- Turning from the ground up
3- Moving over the turn
Video
Provides clear goals as a score to develop Ski Moves. They visually guide skiers in short bytes like playing a video game.
You guide skiers through the process to keep to provide the feedback and plan their development based on their goals and abilities. The Before Skiing part of the program can be sent to customers who book online.
How to teach
1- Provide a simple explanation and a demonstration.
2- Pay attention and make sure they are doing it, provide specific feedback while they perform or right after they finish, it takes a lot of concentration. For more advanced lessons, you can provide feedback from behind while they ski, or have them follow you. First time lessons require a lot of interaction verbal instruction before during and after the customer performs. Customers often can not find the right position without physical interaction and support to prevent accidents or falling. You will be in boots to assist if necessary when using conveyor lifts at first.
3- One hour lessons for beginners require a lot of decisions about how fast you can go. Some customers can not make it to turning in that time. You need to give customers a plan about what to do and where to ski after the lesson, making sure they know that they should be able to make turns in an athletic stance and turn from their feet up before going to more challenging runs. Talk to their parents and friends so they understand what is next.
Turns before terrain
A big problem when teaching is going to more advanced terrain before the customer is ready. They need to make good turns before going to steeper terrain, think turns before terrain. This means turning from the ground up rather than using the upper body.
It can be hard to get customers to do what you are asking, but going to steeper slopes before they are ready causes them to use natural moves rather than skiing moves. This is how their friends usually teach and it can look like success, but it makes speed control and improving harder. In short one hour long lessons, customers need a lot of information about what and where to practice after the lesson.
First time skiers
Skiing straight down a slope in an athletic stance and gliding wedge is the foundation before turning. Introducing turning in an hour lesson can be hard to achieve for slow learners.
1- On flat ground- 1) walking 2) stepping in a circle 3) making a wedge 4) athletic stance 5) ankle flex Video
2- Gliding wedge in an athletic stance, slow bouncing, faster bouncing, flex ankles and touch knees, narrow to wider wedges, and wedge stops with different speeds. Video
3- Slight turns starting straight downhill with speed in a gliding wedge. The pattern is straight turn straight. Keys- gentle slope, athletic stance, narrow wedge, straight downhill with speed, slight turns Video
Speed makes it easier to turn and their momentum keeps moving downhill to start the next turn. This is feeling the flow and developing offensive skiing moves right from the first turns. Skiers learn to make minimal turns and keep their momentum moving downhill with gravity. Big "MO" - let it go - go with the flow.
4- Make turns by pointing both big toes, or pushing on one big toe then the other, or a combination of pointing and pushing. Try reversing the order pushing then pointing. Turning from the ground up, not turning the shoulders. Bounce on big toe when turning, or touch hand to knee when skis are point downhill Video
Practice turning moves statically before doing it in motion.
5- Make a specific number of small turns. Then large turns. Combine a specific number of small then large turns. Then reverse the order large to small.
Be sure they can link turns and turn to a stop in each direction before going to bigger slopes.
Adding speed and using a narrower wedge can spontaneously match the skis so they are parallel very quickly when customers leaning back on the tails of their skis. More active approaches to make the skis parallel can be done statically and in a fan exercise. Video
Assign the points for their score
Intermediate skiing
1- Review athletic stance, ankle flex, small wedge turns, add speed Video
Many people will have reinforced natural moves by skiing on the back of their skis and very little ankle flex. They will be turning with their upper bodies rather than from the ground up.
2- Make turns starting in a gliding wedge and then push sooner on one big toe then the other. Then flex the ankle, push and flex. Next try pushing on one big toe and pointing both big toes in the same direction. then push on the toe and feel the hip move inside as the rib moves toward the hip, press and feel the pinch. Finally try a slight down and up movement. Video
3- For more deliberate parallel finishes, ski across the hill and turn uphill. Move the uphill side of the body forward as you do it. Progressive flex ankles and slide hand to knee so chest moves forward and downhill. Look for anything that moves the chest back and inside, turning shoulders, leaning uphill, backing up at ankles, knees or waist. This is the most important exercise in skiing, it is called an uphill christie Video
4- Add more edging movements on slightly steeper terrain. Do the step and turn foot, step and flex ankle, step and move the hip inside the turn drills Video
5- Add pole touch. Evaluate assign points for score Video
Advanced skiing
Good skiing is a matter of execution and precise timing
1- Review athletic stance, ankle flex, and parallel turns on an intermediate slope Video
Many people will have reinforced natural moves by skiing on the back of their skis and very little ankle flex. They have made them work well in some conditions, but will have trouble skiing slower especially on firm slopes and making smaller turns.
2- Uphill christie exercises for progressive ankle flex and edging, inside lead Video
3- Do opposite and extreme exercises Video
4- Make turns of different sizes and shapes Video
5- Add speed, steepness, challenging conditions, moguls. Evaluate and assign points Video
Expert level skiers have slopestyle, freeride, mogul, racing, and other competitions to measure their performance