Ski Instructor Courses Can Be Fun and Profitable
Your need to get the right certification to become a ski instructor
If you’re looking for a career that can be both fun and profitable, think about taking ski instructor courses. The skiing industry is undergoing a major change and will require the services of many more ski instructors in the years to come. One reason is that ski resorts are re-packaging themselves into winter theme parks that will offer more services and charge higher prices. Another factor is the declining prices of skiing gear which can be expected to attract more people to the sport.
The world of a ski instructor pays comparatively well for an activity that most people engage in for enjoyment. You can be a ski instructor in a ski resort or a ski school. A new graduate of a ski school can earn US$11 – 13 per hour. Top level ski instructors are said to earn as much as ₤25,000 in one four or five month season. These figures, however, do not include tips which can be generous, or special arrangements with private clients which pay more.
You go to a ski school or ski academy to become a ski instructor. There you can choose from different types of courses based on the level of expertise you want to attain. Before you can become a ski instructor, you need to be certified by the national organization that governs skiing in the country where the school is located. Different levels of certification are needed to teach different levels of students. If you are already a skilled skier, you can immediately take the test without going through training. Otherwise, you have to take the course under instructors who are often professional skiers themselves.
The courses can run from a 3-week course to get a Level 1 certification to an 18-week course which can qualify you as an instructor in the French system, where the big money is. In the lower level course, you are taught to ski like an instructor, correcting your flaws and developing the right techniques. The other major part of the course is how to teach skiing. At the end of the course, you undergo examinations to qualify you for your certification. The longer, higher-level certification courses involve more intense training but with the same objectives of developing your skiing and teaching skills.
The fun part of being a ski instructor starts during the training. You are exposed to different slopes and terrains, go on mountain tours and experience activities like dog sledding, snowmobiling, bungee jumping in a country like Canada or horse riding, jet surfing and glacier hiking in New Zealand.
The rest of the fun comes with working as a ski instructor. A good ski school helps its graduates to find jobs as ski instructors in resorts around the world. They give the graduates references, help them arrange visas and use their connections with the resorts to assist the applicants. All in all, ski instructor courses can be a key to an entirely new life style.
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