So You Want to Be a Ski Instructor
You've decided you want to look into being a ski instructor. You've seen a few ski movies, read a few articles about life in the mountains, or maybe have a friend tempting you to inquire.
Before you try to decide which resort(s) you want to work at you need to consider if you really want to be an instructor. Because there are many other mountain jobs that could be better for you. Ski patrol, chairlift operation, guest services, snowmaking, food and beverage services — all offering different schedules, social and technical engagement levels, training models and job availability.
In the United States, ski instructor job availability is extremely high in most places. We are talking about the traditional group and private lesson instructor jobs here and not the discipline-specific coaching jobs. But there is a catch: your first few years as an instructor will be a full-time commitment with part-time hours and you will spend the majority of your days on the magic carpet. Ski school hiring staff are aware of the tedious career curve that comes with becoming a ski instructor. If you are thinking of doing this long term or as a career, you must learn to love spreading passion for the sport to newcomers — it's what keeps the sport alive. There is a whole market for experienced instructors specializing in beginner lessons; some mountains even pay first-timer instructors a bonus.
As the nation develops and enforces certain standards for ski instructors, good teaching becomes more important than raw skiing ability. Most instructors don't rip deep carves or do backflips — they ski with proper technique and can go anywhere on the mountain. If you pop backflips don't worry, your attitude will be appreciated. Diversity and all that. When I started I was neither a good skier nor a good teacher. I had bad grades most of my schooling career. I didn't know how my life would pan out. All that was clear to me was: if I'm going to do as poorly in life as I did in school I will need to at least be doing what I love. And my best chance to turn around is to find a career in which I can educate myself at my own pace, choose to study and train by myself or in a group, have a mobile and flexible lifestyle, and work in a hands-on environment with high engagement standards. How well you did in school has little to do with your potential as a ski instructor. In fact, many people start teaching after 4–5 years of university. As a 15 year old my perceived competence was low — so was my confidence. Ski school gave me time to develop.
I didn't have the stomach or maturity for ski patrol and wanted to ski too much to be a lifty. I was not confident enough to be a groomer or on park crew, too restless to be in guest services, not disciplined enough to be in food and beverage services. I never met anyone who could relate to the type of child I was, but my first mentors in ski school understood who I was when I first showed up. Odds are some old timer will get you up to speed in your first few seasons no matter where you are from or when you start.
It's almost like a ski school ethos is built to attract a highly diverse set of minds. The experienced staff of a small ski school works up a unique culture of educational responsibility — some kind of extreme liability. They truly want this job to be for everyone. That's how they manage to have a workforce that can represent every snowsports consumer. Many mistakes made by a new instructor can be traced back to lack of training. Most problems that arise during or after a lesson can be summed up as "instructor wasn't told or shown at all or well enough." If you show up to ski school with intent to learn, the only thing left in your way is you. Get out of your own way, ski powder, meet people — the more fun you have, the more passion you will transmit to your students.
If you are still reading this you are ready to learn about every ski school's greatest asset: the locker room. This is where you can find an immeasurable amount of experience and knowledge. Every instructor has to boot up in the morning — this is your chance to ambush as many veterans as you can with your dumb questions and fun stories. You can learn more about a place and its community in a ski school locker room than at any local bar. Odds are most instructors have been involved with the community since long before they worked for the mountain. You will meet fathers and mothers, half-retired tech wizards, college professors, professional skiers and entrepreneurs. Some are career instructors, some don't even love skiing and just do it as a side gig. The diversity that can be found even just within a bunch of musty 45-year-old skiers and snowboarders is astounding. (You start to grow younger after 45. Unless you forgot to have fun while chasing that degree, in which case your maximum age is more like 49.)
Once you are taking full advantage of the locker room there is only one thing that can get in your way. It's about as tall as you, as ugly as you — you see it in the mirror every morning. Get out of your own way. You will also meet the dark figures of the locker room: those who aren't here to stay. They show up as locals, weathered travelers and everything in between. The half-committed false shepherds who befriend new employees from out of town and tempt them with late nights and alternative activities. Your first 2 or 3 seasons as a ski instructor dictate a few things: whether or not you travel the world and ski year-round; whether or not you work for an all-inclusive resort that feeds and shelters you for free; whether or not you build a private lesson client base that you can live off of. Keep in mind, most middle-aged instructors aren't there by chance — they had past careers in industries with much, much higher stakes. These instructors are so confident and competent they are daring to live off a passion. Your youth and starting young is your greatest asset. Time is on your side when you are 16–20, and if you dedicate your time you will be certified, sexy and unforgettable.
Certifications
There are many certification pathways. Your region may have special accreditation as well. Do at least 2 levels of your primary interest. Keep an open mind about pathways that sound different — you have time to do it all.
National categories:
- Alpine Skiing
- Children's Specialist
- Snowboarding
- Nordic (Cross-Country)
- Telemark
- Adaptive
- Freestyle
At the very least do your main discipline — it will be either skiing, snowboarding, nordic or telemark. Once you have a level one certification, go straight for Children's Specialist 1. It's relatively easy and very interesting. CS1 acts as a direct job difficulty decreaser. Once you've done it, you will never work as hard to facilitate fun ever again.
If building your certification portfolio is like building a sail, mentor relationships and meaningful connections will be your wind. If you have any say in locker assignments, try to get in on the elders' corner. So often I see all the J1 and Gen-X instructors on one side of the locker room with elders on the other. You can talk to people your own age and certification level in employee housing, training and on days off. A good locker assignment will get you close to potential mentors and at the very least lets you overhear an effective lesson recap now and again. If your lockers are assigned by a manager, urge them to move you closer to the fully certified veterans. If a locker in the veterans' corner opens up mid-season, ask a manager to give it to you. Invest in proximity.
Have a social goal for the season. For example: ask 1000 questions. Ask 25 Level 3s what their life looked like from age 20–30. Inquire about company benefits. Inquire about certification scholarships. I personally like the "ask 1000 questions" season goal — it's not meant to be taken literally. When paired with proportional use of ears and mouth, you can really get somewhere. Try 80% listening and 20% talking.
Have a guest experience focus — weekly or monthly, cycle and stack them. For example: call private lesson clients the night before. Help the first guest of the day three or four times a week. Offer to help carry something for a guest seven times a day. Making the guest feel important is not only critical for consumer retention, it gives you a chance to learn your job wholly.
Most ski schools match instructors with clients based on a priority list. Highly certified instructors teach higher-skilled students and more private lessons — they get more work too. Uncertified instructors get beginner lessons, get sent home, or have to teach lessons on the powder days when certified instructors backline. Supervisors may ask you if you want to work; others don't have to say yes, but you absolutely do.
Picking a mountain is simple — listen to your heart. If your research on a particular mountain tells you it's too corporate for you, it probably is. My favorite metric is density. If a resort is close to a big city, has trams and high-speed chairs, is known for being expensive and people go anyway, it's probably a dense resort. Housing is a crisis in small mountain communities. Many ski resorts offer employee housing to achieve full employment. Try finding a roommate on Facebook housing groups and requesting a room with them. Cheap non-employee housing starts at roughly $750/month in late summer and goes up to about $1,200 for people moving in December.
If you are considering a career in snowsports education, know that taking it seriously will put you ahead of about 40% of instructors right off the bat. Pick a resort that gives you incentives to take the job seriously. Most ski school employees have summer jobs, own businesses, etc. — building meaningful connections can help you find work close to the mountain even if being a ski instructor isn't for you long-term. And most importantly, remember to ski for yourself. Apply for the free ski pass and supervisors expect you to use it.