First taste of ski instructing – Going blue
After completing the BASI GAP Course some of us were lucky enough to be employed by Altitude Ski School during the busy half-term week in February. We were all very excited to receive our log-in details for the online planner, attend the staff meeting and most of all to get the coveted blue Altitude ski instructor uniform – which we rushed home to try on straight away!
Half-Term ski instructing
The new instructors were assigned to a variety of group and private lessons with children aged between 3 and 9. All of us thoroughly enjoyed the week of instructing, everyone was met with different challenges; from managing a group of 3 year olds experiencing their first time on skis to encouraging a nervous 9 year old to ski to her full potential.
My client for the week was a lovely 9 year old girl called Maddie. On our first day Maddie was quite nervous so we stuck to some gentle blue runs to let her get her ski legs back. We did lots of fun exercises to help improve her technique. These included pretending to play tennis while we skied and singing ‘Reach for the stars’, much to the amusement of other skiers! Through the week as she gained in confidence we tried a couple of red runs, had a go on the small jumps in the snow park and Maddie even mastered her first black! My week was topped off by getting to know Maddie’s family at lunchtimes and the promise that they will be back next year.
Onto BASI Level 3
Having had my first taste of ski instructing I can’t wait to do more! The BASI GAP Course with Altitude was a fantastic way to gain the BASI Level 2 qualification and, for me, kick start a career in ski instructing. I am now looking forward to further improving my skiing and teaching skills by going onto the BASI Level 3 ISIA qualification next season.
Author
Tori Redmond
Hi, I’m Tori (21) from Manchester in the UK and I’m currently on the BASI Gap course with Altitude. I hope this blog will give you some insight into what a brilliant time we’re all having here in Verbier!
