Duncan's Blog - My SIA Season
- Jobs suitable for couples
- Ski Instructor Courses
- Snowboard Instructor Courses
It is difficult to put into words the experience that I and many of my instructor colleagues have had in the hands of Ski Instructor Academy (SIA). Comments like “life changing”, “tough”, “inspirational” come to mind and were all used by my peers, but the one I like best is “honest”. As the famous varnish advert on UK television says “it does exactly what it says on the tin”!!!!
From first contact with SIA you get straight honest advice. Why to use the Austrian system instead of the many others on offer? What will happen when I arrive? Will I have a good time? Will I get a job if I pass? ….and you are not guaranteed to pass, you have to EARN your qualification.
If you like people then you will make lifelong friends along the training journey. The people you will meet when you are working enrich your own life as well as opening up your mind as to what goes on in this huge world we live in. You meet people from all parts of the world, from Melbourne to Vladivostok, from Dubai to Glasgow, from Durban to Tel Aviv….. and everywhere in between. You discover the inventive ways people earn a living and you learn about their love of skiing.
Now its not all fun and games, there are pro’s and con’s to our industry…. You work hard, (but you also play hard), Ski Instructors are not the best paid people in the world, (but the view from your office window is always fantastic), you have to absorb a lot of new information about skiing, languages and managing people, (learning is a privilege and SIA have some of the best teachers and mentors that I have come across in 20 years of skiing). If you consider that these downsides are serious then read no further and go back to your boring day job, otherwise you could be like me and so many other ex and current SIA students, you get up every morning, put on your uniform and teach people from all walks of life to become better skiers……and helping them overcome their fears, be technically better skiers and complete that run that they never in their dreams thought they could ski, is so very very rewarding. Just look at their faces and the praise they heap on you at the end of the week or the private lesson and it is so worth doing….
SKI INSTRUCTOR ACADEMY
Related news
Will's Blog - My Ski Season, Part 1
Will-i-Pang is one crazy mo fo and at 31yrs old is clinging to his youth by a thread! ;-) Will has very little experience as a skier or a snowboarder
My Epic Ski Season
21yr old Ross from Belfast shares his ski season experience after training, qualifying and working the season in Austria with Ski Instructor Academy
Becoming a ski/board instructor
As the number of people looking to get into the industry "snowballs", here is a guide to give you the best chance of securing work in 2012/13.