CHOOSING A COURSE - YEAR OUT

STEP 1 - DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE

If you are taking a year out the qualification may not be the most important thing to you, or important at all.

Instructor courses can help you develop a variety of skills from leadership and public speaking to accident management and first aid. Additional qualifications also never hurt.

If improving those types of skills appeal to you then it is worth choosing a course that focuses on the training and qualifications.

If your aim is solely to improve your skiing it is worth questioning whether an instructor course is the best option. Becoming an instructor involves time spent practising snowploughs, shadowing lessons and learning technique. It will improve your skiing endlessly but in a very particular way.

A performance course with out the exams may be something you would enjoy more and could be cheaper.

STEP 2 - CHOOSING A COURSE

Once you know what you want to achieve choosing a course is far easier. All you need to do is find one that meets your financial requirements, in a resort you are excited by.

We recommend that you still choose a course with plenty of training with fully qualified instructors and coaches. Otherwise you may as well just do a ski season. It is worth asking when you will be skiing with your coach.

Make sure at least 50% of your sessions are scheduled in morning slots. This will mean you can make the most of the quietest pistes and when you are lucky beat the queues on powder days.

We will take this opportunity to say that at the start of our Instructor Courses we ask students who plans on working as a ski instructor in the future. About 30% say they are.

By the end of the course this is closer to 70%. Most of us never planned on becoming instructors.

With this in mind if your course does include qualifications it is worth making sure they are ones you can use, in a country that you want to work in.