Ski Resort Jobs – to becoming a Ski Instructor…

The TDC team have a great deal of experience in ski resort work from before they became qualified ski instructors.  We gained valuable experience (and stories) along the way.  Offices aren’t for everyone and the daily grind of academia can get you down too – so why not pack a bag and become an instructor?  If you choose somewhere like Val d’Isere,  then it’s likely you’ll be thinking about part-time or full-time work to fund the training and exams required to achieve the highest qualification in ski teaching.

Popular Option: Take part in a GAPski course for your Level 1 & 2, this will include: accommodation, food, courses, training, free skis and lots more!

Ski Bum with ample savings: you may wish to rent a lovely apartment and do the luxury ski bum thing, getting loads of skiing done, building your skills towards becoming an instructor and maybe taking on a level 3 or 4 course such as these.

Ski Bum with limited savings: you could still do the ski bum thing.  But it could mean sharing a studio apartment with five (or more) people!  Who generally won’t be keen on washing or cleaning.  But you’ll probably be so busy skiing it won’t matter.  It’s a great option saving money to put towards those instructor exams.

Ski Bum with extremely limited savings/debts: before talking about getting a job, there is one more option and this should be seen as a last chance saloon; sleep in your car for a season!  [There will be a complete blog article on this next week]

The seasonaire predicament
The seasonaire predicament

Get a job: if funds are limited then there are a number of jobs in resort that will help keep a roof over your head and facilitate moving towards becoming an instructor.  There will be three main aspects to your season: work, ski, & party.  It will be tempting to try and do all three – though, will quickly become apparent that at least one of these has to give.  Best not to let that be work!  So really the choice is between skiing and playing.

Chalet work: this is a good choice if you want someone else to pay for your accommodation, lift pass, ski hire, food (& wine if you’re cunning)!  The hours are perfect for maximising ski time – once you’ve struggled through the initial hectic weeks, you should be out by 10AM and shredding powder (or practising your snowplough).  I worked for YSE and thoroughly enjoyed my time.

Ski rental shop:  also a good option – all the better if you can work 30 hours over just the weekend!  Get some sleep and you have 4 days off!  You’ll work with all the gear, and hopefully end up having some idea.  These hours also count towards those required for your BASI level 1/2 qualification.  Snowberry is a good bet.

Ski school office:  You’ll find out everything you need to know about the inner workings of a ski school.  You’ll have access to free lessons and advice, be able to work out the ups and downs of life on the hill and learn first-hand about the trials and tribulations of the long winding road of instructor exams.

Stagiere / Trainee Instructor:  It’s possible to work for a French ski school as a stagiere with a BASI Level 2 and test technique pass (slalom race).  This is a great job and the ski school will usually offer plenty of support in finishing your diploma.

Other options:  Bar work – if you can make sure you don’t party too hard after your shift you can still manage a good day on the hill.  Waitressing work – ditto.  Nannying – limited skiing, unless work is thin on the ground and then limited funds.  Driving – you might find yourself working a lot when the lifts are open.  Chalet maintenance – good choice, only if the chalet is falling down do you really need to curtail your ski day.  Band/Solo musician in bars (tres cool).

Whatever you decide to do, whatever route you take, the key is to maximise ski and exam time – some jobs lend themselves to this more easily than others and some companies too.  Do your homework about expectations so the job’s and yours meet somewhere in the middle.  Working for TDCski, the development centre, we are all qualified to the highest level BASI 4 ISTD, with French equivalence.  If you get the balance right – work enough to live, play a bit and ski ski ski… you could be teaching on the slopes in France too.

Coach Clare is currently teaching fulltime with tdc, after having a beautiful baby last April, managing the two is proving tiring, but probably nowhere near as tiring as her season as a chalet girl! [ed]

 

BASI Prep New Course Added March 2015

bumps 28 - Copy (1024x681)
Get ready to perform

If you are looking to get in some quality training for your Level 3 or Level 4 BASI technical exams, then have a look at the new course that we are putting on in March 2015.

TDCski have been running a number of prep and training courses through Dec and Jan.
Due to demand a new course has been added.

New Course Added March 2015!!

Level 3/4           2nd-6th March 2015

Price 300€/week (5 hrs a day plus video)

Some feedback from people how have previously trained and prepared with TDCski

“I’m just writing to say thank you for a great two weeks of preparation for the BASI Level 4. I still can’t believe I’ve finally got there! The TDC training really made a difference I think.”

If you are interested please contact us +33 (0)6 15 55 31 56 or email [email protected]

Happy Skiing

You know you’re a Ski Instructor when…

  • Your 1TB hardrive is full with box sets like Homeland, Dexter, Breaking Bad, etc.
  • You have bunions and spurs at 22 yrs old.
  • Xmas and Easter are the opposite of holidays.
  • The number of clients you teach in a day, is the same as the number of times you answer questions about ‘what you do in the Summer’.
  • Questions like “How many skis is too many?”, lose all meaning.
  • You haven’t eaten a ‘super-food’ for over 4 months.
  • You wonder if it’s possible to overdose or die of cheese.
  • You can’t feel your fingers or toes for at least 2 months of the year.
  • You’ve lost all faith in meteorological weather forecasting accuracy.
  • Genepi actually tastes ok.
  • Your Planks beanies, are as much of an everyday item as your pants.
  • 10pm is a late night.
  • All hip flexibility is long, long gone.
  • Your thumb is deeply scarred from slipping off your file guide whilst sharpening edges.SkiPrepHand
  • Your edges are blunt because you serviced your skis too much whilst training for Eurotest and lost the love.
  • When someone mentions ‘tip’ you don’t initially think of the end of your ski, or the bottom of your pole.
  • A multi socket extender plug with adapter is the most useful thing in your life.
  • A person pulling down the chairlift bar too fast, trapping your 6 yr olds leg, makes your consider waterboarding then murder.
  • You feel no humiliation in shaving your legs/shins.
    Shaved Shins Skiing
  • You don’t want a goggle-tan like other seasonaires do.
  • The living space of an organic free range chicken is greater than your 20sq/m flat, which you share with three people.
  • You spent more time and money on your badge than your university degree.
  • You would trade 15 slimline dishwashers for 1 washing machine.
  • You realise ‘No friends on a powder day’ is not actually true.  Who would dig you out, or help you search for a lost ski for an hour, or take epic photos?
Terry Powder Skiing TDC
Out with friends on a Powder day

Professional Ski Instructors: 5 Pet (Mega) Hates!

TDC ski coaches are on the hill practically every day of the season; it’s fair to say that we see our fair share of nonsense, please enjoy these 5 of Kieran’s pet hates!

Childrens Ski Lessons
“I know you don’t want to go down in the bubble Daddy, but I think La Face is a bad idea”
      1. Parents of small children, taking them down a steep red/black run when they are clearly too small and inexperienced to cope!  Small children have big heads, add a big helmet to that, and I think that’s why most little ones ski in the ‘back seat’.  There is no rush to get a 4 or 5 year old to ski steep slopes, let alone when they still have a big pizza!  Keep them safe, make it fun, and they will learn, trust us, we know!

      2. If I have just spent the morning with a nervous skier, I will have been working hard to build confidence; confidence in themselves, and confidence in their ability to control their speed and direction.  Skiing therefore becomes enjoyable, rather than a stressful experience where they fear they will hurt themselves.  It’s a Holiday!  Having just had a hugely successful breakthrough in a morning session.  What happens after lunch?  The other half (usually the boyfriend/husband!) says “come ski with me, you will be fine!”  By 4pm the same person is now in bits, confidence ruined, and has un-learned the whole morning.  Very frustrating when you have to start again the next morning.  (Not to mention the arguments it can cause!)

      3. Skiers who ski at a speed way beyond there capability – this is probably my biggest pet hate of them all!  It never ceases to amaze me how many skiers hurtle down the hill, with no awareness, consideration for others, or just general safety common sense.  You can probably picture the type – usually male, 15-40 years old, off balance, jacket undone, goggles all squinty, in a racing snow plough with no turns, doing about 50 mph!! When these people get close to us ski instructors and our lessons (especially little ones) we get infuriated!  And boy, if we catch them on the lift, we sure let them know, politely and professionally of course, which is rather difficult!  FIS ski code/rules

        Off Piste Ski Lessons
        Off Piste with all the Gear….
      4. Skiers or snowboarders off piste with no safety equipment – Transceiver, shovel, probe is the minimum.  When I am coaching my groups in off piste private lessons or off piste clinics, I often see others near us with absolutely no safety equipment.  They are usually thrashing around all over the place, all on the same slope at the same time, charging over convexities and showing absolutely zero off piste safety knowledge or etiquette.  It infuriates instructors and mountain guides when we see these people!  The main reason for this is that they may start something (ie an avalanche) above you, and put your group in danger.  As coaches we are very aware of this, we always try to ensure we are never placed in this position.

      5. Massive ski school groups snaking across the piste!!  We have all seen it, an instructor, with about 10-15 people snaking down behind them (sometimes even more!) taking up the entire piste. There is nothing wrong with skiers following an instructor down a run, as they may be working on line, or turn shape, or speed control, but 15 people!  How can anyone in a group this size receive any individual attention or feedback, it is practically impossible for the instructor to develop peoples performance in groups this big.  At TDC, we never take more than 6 people in a group, maximum feedback, development, safety and enjoyment per person!

Kieran is normally an entirely positive guy and absolutely loves: Really big dogs, Savoyade Food, Good Whisky, Powder Snow and Working lots of hours. [ed]

Tignes Glacier skiing

Whilst the final touches are being made to the renovated chalets and Hotels in Val d’Isere and Tignes, the glacier is being put to good use. Not only are TDC coaches running pre-season BASI prep courses and slalom training, but national teams have been up on the hill making their final preparations for the World and Europa cups.

See how the slalom training is getting on at: http://www.youtube.com/thedevelopmentcentre

All our coaches regularly use video analysis as a tool for teaching and all you need to do is ask you coach. You may even feature on this site!

Ski Clubs Unite

Thank you very much to the members of the Ski Club of Manchester and the Ski Club of Great Britain for their enthusiasm and good humour at the Chillfactor in Manchester over the past week.

We have run nine sessions together and they have been really well attended. Over the nine sessions there must have been a few thousand runs completed. We have covered topics like balance (a lot), rotation, edging, pole plants, relaxing, flowing, skidding, gripping, jumping, arcing, carve turns, short swings, short turns, punchy turns and more. Thank you for listening, talking and asking questions, the sessions have passed really quickly.

We all need to extend warm thanks to John Weatherell for organising everything, a great effort.

We are back next year so if you are around next September then put the dates in the diary. Unless i see you in the Alps, until next year.

See the videos on our youtube site http://www.youtube.com/thedevelopmentcentre

Giles x

Ski Club of Manchester kick off the season

What a good start to the winter season!

The Sale Sharks were improbably victorious against the reformed but unloved Harlequins at Edgely Park and the Ski Club of Manchester were enthusiastic and dashing at the Chillfactore indoor snowdome in Trafford Park.

The combination of these two events is becoming a much loved fixture in my diary and the dates for the SCM 2011 are already confirmed. The skiing was good and the Chillfactore was busy. More dates throughout the coming week. On snow dates for BASI prep and preformance training available on the website.

Neil and Shane

From Neil and Shane rip up val
From Neil and Shane rip up val

Really nice to have Neil and Shane come and stay for a few days. Managed to get a few shots of them skiing that look good and i promised to show them to the world. The off piste pics are a long way away from the piste and took us a few days to walk in to but on arrival they both still had the energy to stick some lines down.

From Neil and Shane rip up val
From Neil and Shane rip up val

gapski.com

tdcski.com
gapski.com

Gap Ski instructor training

Starting January 2011

In association with the development centre, Tignes and Val d’Isere

Gap Ski is a new 10 week ski instructor training programme based in Tignes, part of the Espace Killy, one of the greatest ski areas in the world. Whether you are looking for an international qualification for a career in the ski industry or simply a way to maximise your skiing potential whilst doing a season, the Gap Ski programme is the most comprehensive and effective ski training programme out there.

gapski.com
gapski.com

Gap Ski offers the most effective and best value for money gap programme possible. The course is designed to train students up to and through their BASI level 2. The course includes all BASI fees including level 1 and 2, the child protection module, first aid course and all the required shadowing hours. Basically, everything is included, no hidden costs, no extra charges, it’s all in there.
Gap Ski training is provided in association with the development centre who boast six BASI examiners within their ranks. All training is with BASI examiners and fully qualified ISTD’s.  Check out below to see why this gap course is a cut above the rest….

  • 10 week all inclusive course taking you right through to and including BASI level 2
  • BASI level 1, 2, first aid course and child protection fees all included
  • Pair of high performance Head skis, perfect for your exams
  • Collection and drop off from Geneva airport
  • Fully catered HOTEL accommodation. 3 meals a day including hot mountain restaurant lunch 7 days a week.
  • Train 5 days a week, enjoy your accommodation, lift pass and food 7 days a week
  • Work opportunities in Italy on successful completion of BASI level 2.
  • Full season lift pass – you can ski before, during and after the course for no extra cost.
  • Nightly workshops including video analysis, ski tuning, fitness and more.
  • Free soft goods
  • All for £7495

These are just some of the benefits of Gap Ski, others include freeride, park and avalanche awareness sessions. There are also opportunities to learn ski tuning and maintenance, lesson planning, group management and so much more. These are all included in the stated price – there are no hidden fees

Gap Ski, in association with the development centre, invites you to take advantage of the best training in the Alps. Simply take your skiing to a new level or kick start your career in snowsports.

contact us now
contact us now

For more information contact Ben Harris at [email protected] or on
+33 (0)6 14 28 54 26
or
+44(0) 7967 330 187