Tag: ski

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]

 

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

Would you… risk learning?

What level of risk are you prepared to take when you’re skiing?  Are you a risk averse, fair weather slider or driven by the adrenaline of skiing fast and steep?  It takes all sorts and at TDC we ski with a huge range of performers and that is part of the attraction of this wonderful job. One of the great fascinations is observing, and sometimes influencing, how people approach learning and seeing how learning and risk interact.  In order to learn one has to risk attempting something new.  It may be a small step and a small risk but it needs to be there nevertheless.  Without it the dreaded plateau beckons, and at worst – decline.

Terry James Walker TDCski
Skiing hard with rocks hiding under the surface

For some the very mention of risk is enough to set knees trembling yet most people want to get better at skiing.  Fortunately it is not the level of actual risk but the level of perceived risk that is central to learning.  For a nervous intermediate who feels frightened of pointing the ski downhill on a blue run, the perceived risk of doing so is potentially greater than that experienced by an expert skier who descends a steep, rock-filled couloir.  The actual risk of failure is indeed greater in the couloir but because the performer is within their comfort zone and perceives minimal risk there is likely to be minimal learning.  By overcoming a greater likelihood of failure we access a more significant learning episode.  So who is in fact the risk taker in this example; the extreme skier or the nervous intermediate?

At TDC we frequently reflect as a group on the way we coach and upon how we build relationships with our clients.  A common point of discussion is how to manage the expert skier who books lessons with the intention of improving.  It is difficult for adult learners to relinquish old habits and accept the risk of failing at something new.  More often than not a change in performance necessitates unfamiliar sensations, and a certain vulnerability as motor programmes adjust, proprioception recalibrates and expectations are reframed. Here progress depends on two factors;

  • A willingness to embrace perceptions of risk
  • The relationship forged between coach and learner.
TDcski Coaching
TDCski Coaching Sharing their Knowledge

Most people when asked “what do you wish to achieve during this lesson” will focus on success, however, it is openness to failure that sets the really successful learners apart.

This memoir has been forged by Coach Paul, from a reflective foundation of many years teaching people ‘how to learn’.  He is a director of TDC, an inspirational ski teacher and lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire in Sports Coaching.

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]

tdc early season clinics

Once again in December 2009 tdc will be running the very sucessful and popular early season clinics.

tdc‘s early season ski clinics are a great way to get yourself up and running for the season.

tdc early season clinic - Fri 12th Dec 2008

Val d’Isere and Tignes early season snow has been amazing the last few years, and this is the perfect opportunity for keen skiers of all levels to take a week out at low peak time and get the best tuition, in a fun and friendly enviroment.
The early season clinics have been very popular and are at discounted prices.

Get the best ski improvement courses early in the season, improve your ski technique so that the rest of the season you are at your best.

For December 2009 the early season clinics in Val d’Isere and Tignes are;

Mon Nov 30th – Fri Dec 4th 2009
Mon Dec 7th – Fri Dec 11th 2009

The early season clinics are 5 half days – Monday – Friday 9am – 12noon or 1pm -4pm
Cost – 250€ – 280 €

If you are looking to improve your skiing technique, in a fun, friendly and challanging way then tdc‘s early season clinics are ideal

The early season ski improvement clinics run at the same levels as our normal coaching clinics

discovery – discover your talent, ski with confidence …for strong blue run skiers…

development – develop your performance, feel your skiing flow …for strong red run skiers…

development Plus – take on steeper and varied slopes …for strong red run /ok black run skiers

challenges – take on new goals, challenge yourself …for strong black run skiers…

At 250€ – 280€ for 5 days of high quality coaching these clinics are very popular and excellent value.

Email us now to book your place, for you and your friends.

or call +33 6 15 55 31 56 or book online

tdc ‘s BASI prep courses 2009/10

tdc have been running BASI prep courses very successfully over the last number of years. We would like to say congratulations to all those who have then gone on to be successful at their BASI courses. We are running BASI prep courses throughout autumn 2009 and winter 2010 so let us know when you want to book.

These courses are designed to help you get ready for any forthcoming exams or BASI courses. With 5 BASI trainers within tdc‘s ranks these courses provide an ideal opportunity to prepare for success.

All courses include in depth video analysis.

NEW for Autumn 2009

BASIlogoOctober Courses – why wait until the onset of winter and the November storms. Enjoy the longer days and warmer conditions of skiing in October on the Tignes glacier. Very often the afternoons in October can feel really summery, training feels very different at this time of year.
Cheap accommodation and equipment testing at the Melezes Hotel in Tignes les Boisses. The guys at the Melezes run a ski and board camp where you can test all the latest kit the prices for accommodation and airport transfer have to be seen to be believed, check out the deals at:
http://www.skiandboardcamp.com/

Course Details

basiprep1
tdc BASI trainers

Autumn Weeks – Monday to Friday

Prepare for BASI Levels 2, 3 & 4

5 – 9 October
12 – 16 October
23 – 27 November – Train for your teaching course
Cost 200 €

Winter Weeks – Monday to Friday

Prepare for Levels 3 & 4

18 – 22 January

basiprep2
be ski ready

Winter Cost Options

  • 350€ full week
  • 200€ 5 half days
  • 50 € per half day

There will also be training throughout the winter season for those people in or near the resort, with less regimented timings – same winter costs apply.

BASI Level 1 & 2 Prep

If you are new to BASI and are thinking of embarking on your first course this level is ideal for you. Equally if you have completed the trainee instructor module and need to brush up your technique before you undertake the Level 2 Instructor Training assessment this is the perfect way to ensure success.
This is best suited for those going for Level 1 Instructor and Level 2 Instructor Training modules.

tdc basi prep courses
tdc basi prep courses

BASI Level 3 Prep

This is for people who have successfully completed the Level 2 Instructor assessment and feel they need some training before they take the next technical or teaching level.
Prepare to be at the level before your assessment.

BASI Level 4 Prep

This is for people preparing for their final technical and teaching level. These courses will be run by BASI Trainers who are involved in trainer education and who regularly deliver the BASI ISTD technical and teaching module. With a proven track record for helping people pass their final test this course is a valuable option.

book you tdc BASI prep course now

email or book online

If you need help with accommodation or transfers please let us know and we will do our best to help.