Important Lessons

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Teaching skiing in Scotland taught me a lot, in fact I would recommend a season there to anybody starting out on an instructing career. It is a long way from the glamour of Switzerland for example, and conditions are often challenging. Learning the instructing trade in a Scottish ski area will prepare an instructor for teaching anywhere in the world. That said the Scottish Highlands are beautifully scenic, the people are friendly and when the conditions are right offer fantastic skiing.

A lesson I learnt early on was to take the customer's opinion of their own ability with a pinch of salt. One morning I turned up to work to be given a private lesson with a boy in his early teens. As usual I quizzed him about his experience, ability and what he wanted to learn. He told me he had spent a week in Switzerland with his school.

"So you know the snowplough?"
"Yes"
"And you can turn?"
"Yes"

On that basis I decided to start on a reasonably long blue run, giving us some space to work with. We took the Alpha T-Bar, and on the way up he told me that the week in Switzerland had only included three days actually skiing. I still was not too worried as he was confident he could snowplough and turn. At the top of the run I suggested he do a few turns while I watched before I gave him some feedback. He set off in a nice narrow plough position, making reasonable turns. His plough was the kind of gliding snowplough that makes turning easier but offers little speed control - the kind we teach when we have the luxury of a gentle enough beginner slope. The kind we never taught at Nevis Range where nothing was very gentle. The boy gathered speed, each turn moving faster than the one before. It only took a moment to realise he was out of control and I set off in pursuit. It was amazing how much speed he was gaining and I had to work hard to catch up. It was still early in the season and the snow cover was patchy. This meant the pistes were narrow strips of snow between Highland heather and it was difficult to overtake. I had a vague idea that if I could get in front of him I could spin round into a reverse snowplough and catch him. Before I managed to try this he finally fell over and tumbled into the soft heather beside the piste. Fortunately he was not hurt.

"So, on your week in Switzerland," I began to ask, "did they teach you to stop?"
"No. Just turning."
"Ah."

So a lesson was learnt (by me) and luckily nobody was hurt. It could have been worse.

Thin early season snow at Nevis (this was 2005 - recent seasons have been snowier)

My First Day as a Ski Instructor

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The rain poured on the car as I pulled into the Nevis Range car park a couple of days after Christmas. Everything was shut for the day due to the weather. There was little snow on the mountain as yet and the wind was stopping the Gondola from running. I approached the ticket office, getting soaked in the short walk across the car park. The people inside looked surprised to see anybody, and more surprised when I asked for the ski school. When I explained that I was the new instructor they seemed relieved that I was not looking for a lesson. It was a day for drinking coffee and watching the rain through the window, not a day for learning how to ski. I was taken inside and introduced to Davie the head of the ski school, Dave the chief instructor and a couple of instructors who were around the building at that point.

A couple of days later saw me delivering my first real ski lesson for an actual wage. I was given a beginner group for two hours, starting at midday. At first it was a struggle as there was a mix of nationalities - not everybody spoke good English - and the weather conditions were less than ideal. Several of the group were underdressed for a Scottish winter and getting cold. I had to learn class management skills quickly before the lesson disintegrated completely. It was quite different from teaching in the closed environment of an artificial slope or the simulated lessons of the instructor courses. Just over an hour into the lesson I had things under a bit more control and I was actually starting to enjoy myself. My students were standing in line waiting their turn, rather than sliding uncontrollably around the slope. They were learning as well and they seemed to be enjoying themselves despite the increasing wind which whipped snow and cloud across the nursery slope. Just as I began to relax into the role I was interrupted by the message that the mountain was about to close early and the lesson had to be cut short. There was a fear that the access gondola would not be able to run to get the customers off the hill if the wind increased any further. My first day as a ski instructor seemed to be coming to a premature end. It turned out that although the lesson was finished, my first day was a long way from over.

The Nevis Range top gondola station seen from the beginner area

At the top of the access gondola was the main lift station building on the hill, with the bar, restaurant, shops and so on. It also held our locker room, which was where I headed to change out of my ski boots after my lesson was cut short. I was expecting to be heading down the mountain soon when Davie told me that I needed to stay when there was an evacuation in case I was needed to help. I was not sure what he meant by an evacuation - was he referring to the mountain closing early and the customers having to head down? From the conversations around me I gathered that a number of climbers were trapped in the back corries after being avalanched ice climbing. To make things worse a member of the mountain rescue team had been blown over the edge of the corries by the extreme winds at the top of the mountain. Davie was a member of the Lochaber mountain rescue team so he drafted the ski school and ski patrol in to help with the rescue. I had to borrow some ski mountaineering boots for this and put my gloves and goggles back on before a group of us piled into and onto the Kassbohrer piste basher that was waiting to take us to the top of Aonach Mor. I was lucky enough to get inside the cab, where three of us shared a space meant for one passenger. Others braved the elements and sat outside, hanging on to the back of the machine.

It was dark by the time we reached the summit plateau and there was no sign of the wind letting up. I was glad of my instructor uniform which had been well chosen for Scottish winter conditions. One of my colleagues was roped up before disappearing over the edge with ice axes and crampons to reach the stranded climbers, one of whom had been injured, and to assist the rescuers already at the scene. My role was limited to staying away from the edge, keeping out of the way and waiting for instructions. The uninjured climbers were brought to the top first, whilst the stretcher and pulley system was being set up. They were able to sit in a ski patrol hut to get warmed up. Like having a piste basher to hand, this is unusual in a UK mountain rescue and the whole experience felt quite surreal to me. Once the stretcher was securely attached to ropes I was given something useful to do; pulling on the rope to haul it to the surface. After it felt like we had been on the plateau for hours the stretcher appeared with the injured climber. It was loaded onto the back of the piste basher to be taken down to the gondola station and then to the ambulance that was waiting at the bottom station.

As I set off walking down the mountain with my new colleagues the sky cleared and the wind dropped. It was a beautiful night to be walking tiredly through the fresh snow, and a lot of that fresh snow had fallen through the day. The gondola was switched on again for us to get down when we arrived at the top station and my long first day was finally finishing. Nevis Range advertises itself as a 'Mountain Experience' and I had had one of those. My first day had been unlike any I have experienced since but my learning curve as an instructor was only just beginning.

Next post - Important Lessons

Becoming A Real Ski Instructor

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In the last post I described how I qualified as a BASI Ski Instructor. In summer of 2004 I became the proud owner of a shiny new Ski Instructor Licence. Obviously I was eager to put this to good use as soon as I could. It is perfectly possible to work as a part time instructor - at a dry ski slope or on working holidays for a week at a time. This would have been the sensible thing to do in many ways. I could have kept my regular job and had a steady income as I worked my way through the system. Being me, I did not even consider doing the sensible thing. I was determined that one way or another I would spend the following winter teaching skiing full time. Unfortunately I had no idea how difficult it would be to get a job doing just that. I had naively assumed that it would be a simple case of choosing a resort I wanted to work in and calling the ski school. After all, I had my shiny new Licence to prove I could do the job. I decided to work in Verbier as I had just done my exam there and knew one or two people from that course. I sent a couple of emails and had a telephone conversation with the director of one Verbier ski school who was encouraging and suggested I had a good chance of getting a job if I got some experience at the dry slope and my CV looked good. I considered my CV to be pretty good for someone with no experience, so I took this to mean I had as good as got the job. I did send a couple more letters to ski schools in Switzerland and Andorra as a backup but to be honest I did not try too hard after this. I sure I was going to Verbier.

Summer faded into autumn. I had no replies to my half hearted backup job applications but I was not worried. I called the ski school director in Verbier to follow up my application, as we had agreed I would do. I was quite surprised when I he told me that I had no chance of getting a job due to my lack of experience. It turned out that due to a rule change a lot of instructors who had worked as trainees in France no longer had jobs there and were applying to Switzerland. A lot of very experienced and better qualified instructors were applying to work in Verbier and the ski school was not interested in employing anybody with less than a full season of teaching behind them.

At this point I began to frantically look for a job in any ski school that would have me. Most had finished their recruitment process months before and it dawned on me that I had left everything far too late. I scoured the web and the BASI News (a ski instructor newsletter) looking for ski schools who were recruiting, and I wrote prospective letters to many ski schools who were not advertising. I did have a few phone interviews but in each case I was rejected in favour of somebody with more experience. Most ski schools did not reply to my letters.

Two pieces of advice then for the would be instructor wanting to avoid my mistakes. Firstly - don't be in such a hurry to give up the regular job. Part time teaching is a great way to gain experience and fund more courses and may put you in a better position in the long run. Secondly - if you do want to work full time apply for as many jobs as you can and do not be too picky about where you want to teach. At the start of your career the important thing is to get some experience. If you really want to work in a particular place - if you live there already for example - then talk to the ski school(s) before you book the instructor course. Find out what the chances are of them giving you a job, and what you would have to do to get it. The best thing would be to get a conditional job offer guaranteeing you a job if you pass, but do not expect the majority of schools to give these out.

Back to my job search; I was getting worried by now. I had already confidently told my employers that I was leaving in December to teach skiing. With every day that went by it seemed more likely that I would have to go back and sheepishly ask them to keep me on. Just as I was losing hope the BASI News came through the door with the possibility of job adverts in it. There were one or two companies still recruiting for that winter and I applied immediately to all of them. Two days later I was called by the head of the ski school at Nevis Range, Scotland. After a brief chat and confirmation of my qualification he offered me a job.

My Destination - Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg from the ski slopes of Aonach Mor

A few weeks later I was driving north rather than south. I was relieved to have found a job at last, but disappointed to be going to Scotland and not the Alps. In the end though it turned out to be the best way to start my ski instructing career. At this point heading up the M6 I was poised between worlds - my career, home and girlfriend left behind me and my unknown life as a ski teacher waiting ahead.

Next post: My First Day as a Ski Instructor

BASI Instructor Course in Verbier - Part 2

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Mid-way through week one I found I was really struggling to make my big Dynastars turn quickly enough for the exercises we were being given. After a word with the Julian, the trainer, I decided to switch to my Rossignol Scratches - a much more forgiving pair of skis. This was great for a day or two, until one evening I came into the Bunker (the hostel - see last post) feeling like I was coming down with a cold. I left my skis outside the dormitory with everybody else's rather than locking them in the shed on the edge of the grounds as I did most nights. Then I had an early night and was in bed by about seven. I slept well and woke feeling a lot better, as though I had avoided the illness I thought I was getting. I got up and saw that my skis were missing, along with everybody else's. It seems somebody had been into the hostel in the middle of the night and helped themselves, taking advantage of the lax security. It still amazes me how many people have told me that there is no theft in Verbier - I was there less than a week before my skis were stolen. Even the police seemed surprised when I reported the theft. Luckily my Dynastars were safely locked in the ski shed, so at least I had a pair of skis to use for the rest of the course.

Continuing my run of bad luck, my jacket disappeared from an apres ski bar the following evening. As it had my skipass in the pocket this was a bit of a disaster. I bought a one day pass the following morning, and fortunately I found the jacket again that evening - it had been taken by mistake as it was next to a pile that belonged to the same group. This would not be the end of my bad luck on this trip though.

The weekend and the midpoint of the course soon arrived. This brought two days of relief as BASI courses give students the weekends off. We were given a midweek debrief with advice on what to practice and made arrangements to meet for a ski on the Saturday. As it was earlier in my BASI career and I was younger and more foolish I went for a biggish night out on the Friday. I do not remember that much of it - more because it was a long time ago than because of how much I drank. I do remember wanting something to eat at around two AM. There was nowhere open as Verbier did not allow late night takeaways, but I saw a queue had formed below a small high window in an otherwise blank wall. This was the back of a bakery - the famous 'secret bakery'  - where ham and cheese croissants could be purchased semi-clandestinely.

Over the weekend I took advantage of the opportunity to ski some of Verbier's legendary off piste, as did everybody in the group. On Monday morning, Julian asked each of us what we had been practising over the weekend.

"I worked on variables."
"Yes, variables."
"Me to."
"Variables."
And so on.
"You all just went off piste, didn't you?"

Well, yes. We did. Skiing is supposed to be about having fun after all.  However passing exams is about hard work as well so we were soon back to it. We had theory sessions in the evenings and skied hard in the daytime. We also had to fit in teaching sessions were we delivered mock lessons to the rest of the group. Mine went well enough, just about, so I passed that part of the course. I also passed the written exam on the Wednesday evening. That just left the skiing part to pass.

On the Friday afternoon we stopped as a group. Julian went ahead and had us ski down to him one at a time to get our result. I learnt later that this meant not all of us had passed. I skied down nervously and stopped next to Julian. He said 'Welcome to BASI', shook my hand and that was it. There was a more detailed debrief later on but that was it for on the slopes. I had passed. I was officially a ski instructor.

I would finish this post here but for a couple of incidents on the way home which completed my run of scatterbrained bad luck. After the course and the obligatory big night out in Verbier I had a few days of leave left so I had arranged to meet up with an old friend Neil, in Les Arcs, France. Buses and trains got me there without too much trouble and I had a pleasant two and a half days of stress free skiing with Neil and his brother. The problems arose when it came to leaving. I could not find my passport anywhere and eventually concluded that it had been lost in transit somewhere. I called the airline for advice and they just said to arrive extra early at Geneva airport to sort it out. I left Les Arcs late-morning on the funicular to Bourg Saint Maurice from where I planned to take the 1PM bus to Geneva. It was only when I got to the desk to buy my ticket that I discovered the small print on the timetable. The one o'clock bus only ran on Saturdays. I needed to have taken the 8AM bus. I tried the train but it would have taken seven hours to reach Geneva and my plane took off in six. My only option was a taxi. For one person. For a two to three hour drive. I'm sure the taxi driver couldn't believe his luck when I headed to the rank and asked the price for Geneva airport.

I threw my bags in the back and we headed off. Around Annecy we hit heavy traffic. I was clearly getting anxious as the driver told me not to worry, I would have plenty of time. He handed me a cigar and lit one himself. My one good memory of that day is enjoying the view across Lake Annecy, smoking a companionable cigar with the taxi driver. The traffic soon cleared and we were on our way. As we approached the Swiss border I began hoping fervently that we would not have our passports checked. Fortunately checks are rare at that border and we sailed through. What I had not expected was the meter switching to a different rate as we left France. The numbers on the display began to spin and the few short miles on Swiss soil caused my already hefty bill to jump extortionately. I was relieved when we pulled up at the airport and the numbers stopped moving.

I had a few hours to spare so I could sort out my passport issue. I presented myself at the Easyjet check-in and was directed to an office at the end of the airport. They were expecting me. I was sat down at a desk in front of a severe looking Swiss official.

"So tell me," he said threateningly. "Who did you sell your passport to?"
"Um, I didn't," I tried to say. I was not expecting an interrogation.
"Ha, ha, only joking with you." An airport official with a sense of humour. I was expecting that even less. He explained that he just needed to get clearance from UK immigration and I would be allowed to travel. It helped that I had my driving license to prove who I was. After endless calls to UK border control offices around the country who were having tea breaks he managed to find somebody at Luton who actually answered the phone and gave permission for me to travel to Liverpool. My somewhat over budget month away could finally come to and end.

Next week I begin my actual teaching career in Scotland. That coincided with getting my first camera-phone so expect to see some pictures at last.

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BASI Instructor Course in Verbier - Part 1

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On the Trainee Instructor course I had been advised to ski for two weeks to practise what I had learnt before embarking on the Instructor course (now known as Level 2). Taking this to heart, and because my younger sister Clare was spending the winter season in Les Menuires, I decided to visit her for a fortnight and then do the Instructor course in Val D'Isere immediately afterwards. The first challenge was to get four weeks off work. I put my annual leave request in and my boss at the time signed it without looking at it. He was not entirely happy when he realised he had given me a month off in one go. With return flights to Geneva and a BASI course booking made I was committed. BASI had yet to confirm the course and advised against booking any accommodation until they had, so I set off to Les Menuires with no idea whether my course would run and nowhere to stay if it did.

I took the public bus from Geneva to Les Menuires, changing at Moutiers, and met my sister Clare without any hiccups. Staying with somebody who lives in the resort means getting to meet a lot of people quite quickly so it was a fun two weeks. I skied hard and practised the things I had to work on from the Trainee course. These included edge control - keeping the inside knee in to avoid an A-frame, and using a tighter arc to control my speed. I have just dug out my course report form from ten years ago and it is interesting to see that the same issues have tended to crop up again over the years. I also got in a bit of informal teaching practise skiing with Clare's colleagues. During this fortnight I managed to lose my phone through the elementary mistake of skiing with my pockets unzipped. BASI cancelled my unconfirmed course in Val D'Isere at this point, a week before it was due to start, and I remember spending a lot of time and money in payphones trying to sort out what I was doing next. I managed to transfer to a BASI Instructor course in Verbier instead, so at a few days notice I had to organise transport to Verbier and accommodation once I arrived there. I booked a bus to Geneva airport via Moutiers again and worked out train times from there to Verbier. Continuing the theme of making simple but expensive mistakes, I somehow left my bus ticket in the laundrette on the last evening of my stay so I had to buy another on the morning of my departure.

From the airport it was fairly straightforward to negotiate the Swiss train system, which does run like clockwork. Three trains, one bus and three and a half hours later I was in Verbier. I did not realise until much later that it takes about half that time to drive the distance.

I still had nowhere to stay in Verbier so I had a quick beer in the first bar I saw and met a few locals before heading to the tourist office. With the budget I had I was pointed to the Bunker - about the only cheap place in Verbier. This is a large hostel underneath the town's sports centre. As you might guess from the name it is inside a nuclear bunker. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this aspect of Switzerland, the country is full of underground fallout shelters to be used in the event of a nuclear war. Private houses and apartment buildings have private shelters stocked with provisions and there are also large public shelters - I am not sure whether they are for those too poor to have their own shelter, or for those caught away from home when the sirens sound. Anyway, for about twenty four hours it was quite exciting to be living underground in a concrete warren with 12 inch thick steel doors and no windows. Then the novelty wore off and I was still living underground in a concrete warren with 12 inch thick steel doors and no windows. The accommodation was twelve or so people to a concrete dormitory on bunk beds. Meals were provided in the sports centre cafe, and we had use of the sports facilities as well so it was not all bad. The instructor course is one of only two courses I have taken with BASI that lasted longer than a week, so I was there for a while and had to make the most of it.

I met the rest of the candidates and the trainer the following morning. Three of them were already instructors working in Verbier but wanted to switch to BASI from other instructor systems. People often switch for one reason or another. In this case it was because the qualifications have to be refreshed every couple of years to stay valid and it was easier to do BASI refreshers than Canadian or Swedish refreshers in Verbier. Nationality wise we had a mix of American, Swedish and Brits on the course and like the Trainee course there was a fair spread of ability levels, although it was not quite as pronounced this time. I soon discovered, as I would do so often in my BASI career, that the goalposts had moved slightly. What had been the 'Speed' strand on the Trainee course became the 'Piste Performance' strand and now included short turns as well as high speed carving. As I understand it short turns were kept within the 'Steep' strand up to that point. If this sounds confusing that is because it is, and I still struggle to remember which are strands and which are threads in BASI speak after nearly ten years.

We started with some clean carving which seemed to go alright although on my Dynastar 4x4 Freeride skis I struggled to make as tight an arc as those on slalom skis. The task was clean carving rather than tight carving at that level though so it was not too much of a problem. One early difficulty that the group had was when asked to do a basic parallel turn at slow speed whilst being watched. Every one of us used a stem or slight snowplough to start the turn. Julian, the trainer asked if we were really ready to be ski instructors if we couldn't even manage a parallel turn. It can be surprisingly difficult to perform manoeuvres on skis at very low speeds, but of course as instructors we need to be able to do good demonstrations. To correct this we were split into pairs and had to follow one another shouting 'stem' loudly every time we saw the skis deviating even slightly from parallel.

Over the next couple of days we ran through the four strands - piste, bumps, steeps and variables (off-piste snow) as well as the central theme (beginner progression). Those involved with BASI will know that it has its own language for many things using a mix of North American ideas, translated French terms, educational theory and a few inventions. I was not surprised to find that my bumps and piste needed work but I was surprised to find I needed to work on my variables as well. After my first variables run I was told,
   "If you can keep your knees apart you might - might - pass this course." Which burst my bubble a bit as I had thought I had been doing quite well.

I am going to finish here and make this part of the story a two part post as it is quite long. Click here to read part two.

A Note On Skis

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This is not really a proper post in the story, just an addendum. It occurred to me that the question of what skis to use comes up so often than I ought to mention my own ski choices as I go along. Those readers who plan to take ski instructor exams will hopefully learn something from my choices (both good and bad). Apologies to the more general readership for throwing in a slightly technical post - I will continue the story with my BASI Ski Instructor Course in Verbier later in the week.

The question of what skis to use has two parts to it - what to use for exams and what to use for teaching. At this point in time I owned two pairs of skis - the original Rossignol Scratches (the red/yellow ones) and a pair of Dynastar 4x4s. The former I believe was Rossignol's first venture into the twin-tip market and the first freestyle ski that I owned. I loved those skis at the time; they were responsive and forgiving and seemed happy to do anything. I found they suited me much better than the Salomon 1080 which I had tried out previously. Also the graphics were slightly risqué but not in an obvious way which I liked. My other skis - the Dynastars - were a long, stiff freeride model. These days they would be considered far to narrow underfoot for an off-piste ski, but this was not long after the days of straight skis so long and thin seemed fine. I did the Trainee Instructor exam on the Scratches and my shadowing hours on Ski Rossendale's rental skis. I used the rental skis partly because it made sense to be on the same skis as the customers but mainly to preserve my own skis from the abrasive plastic matting. At this time the Scratches seemed the ideal ski. I have since learnt that most ski instructor trainers/examiners are not keen on twin-tips and prefer to see candidates on piste oriented skis - more on that in future posts. For the entry level exams though the best advice is probably to use a ski you are comfortable with and not to worry about its pedigree.

Next post - the BASI Instructor Course in Verbier - Part 1

Shadowing Hours – My Work Experience

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Having completed the Trainee Instructor Course the next step was to start on my shadowing hours (70 logged hours ski school experience). The rules were in the process of changing at the time. They are always changing something in the system. Several people on my Trainee course were keen to take their Instructor course the following November as that was the last course before the 70 hour rule came in. I was advised that I was not ready to go for the exam so soon so resigned myself to doing the work experience. As a concession during the first year it was not compulsory to finish the hours before taking the Instructor exam, only to do them before being awarded the qualification.

I duly got in touch with my nearest dry ski slope, Ski Rossendale in Rawtenstall, North Manchester and arranged to come along and do some hours. This was before the Chill Factor^e opened so it was the only place to ski near Manchester. It was council run and had a nice atmosphere. There was a friendly ski school, an active freestyle scene and fairly regular competitions. Most of the lessons were beginner sessions so I began my shadowing with taster sessions and beginner groups. At first I either watched or joined in as a group member, trying out the exercises. I soon learnt that teaching taster sessions on a dirty strip of plastic outside Manchester is not the most glamorous side of ski teaching. In the winter it was damp, in autumn the slope was covered in leaves and in summer we got eaten by midges. As the instructors got to know me they allowed me to deliver parts of the classes, and eventually I was doing whole lessons by myself while the paid instructor watched. I soon learnt the drill – explain the kit and the rules, mess about on the flat with one ski. Sidestep up the hill. Do some straight running exercises: jumping, catching, dancing (heads shoulder knees and toes), eyes shut and so on. Finish with how to stop. On that beginner slope they never needed to stop, so teaching them the snowplough brake was a bonus. If the group were really good we might have a go at a turn but that was unusual. And that was the end of the hour.

The two hour lessons were a bit more challenging. People on these had already completed the hour long taster session and were ready to start turning. I learnt that there are many ways to teach the plough turn (wedge to my North American readers, widge to the Kiwis). Many tricks are used by instructors to encourage turning, some of them by the Book, most not, some imaginative and innovative and some invented on the spot to help a particular struggling client. The big difference as an instructor was that the customers taking these lessons had differing abilities and expectations depending on their previous experience. This surprised me given that their previous experience was only supposed to have been an hour, but some had learnt quickly in that hour, some had been taught by different instructors with different approaches (not better or worse, just different), some had skied the day before, others weeks earlier, some were more advanced but felt they should start again after a break. Some were at similar levels but had learnt different ways of doing things. This is something I have found throughout my career - the closer the class is to being complete beginners the more it is possible to follow a script, but the more advanced they are the more the lesson has to be adapted on the spot to cater for the individuals in the group. Even in lesson two I was beginning to understand this.

As I was allowed to take more responsibility for delivering the lessons I was shadowing I found to my surprise that I was not just enjoying myself. I was getting a real buzz out of people's achievements in my lessons. The first time somebody managed to turn, or when they finished the class with a big grin on their face I felt a deep satisfaction to have been part of that process. Those hours learning my trade on the plastic matting at Rossendale gave me the first insight into how much I was going to love (and need) this career. If I am completely honest, up until that point a large part of my motivation had been a simple case of wanting to ski more and to live and work in the mountains. From this point on I began to realise that I loved ski teaching as much as skiing itself, and I do feel privileged to have spent my career doing what I love doing.

I met some great characters in my time at Rossendale who really helped both in my career and as role models for how to inspire a class. People like Geoff with the bad jokes, or Rob - now working in Verbier, or Peter who I think was the boss. All of these helped and encouraged me and showed me how to manage a class. Although if I had taken my BASI exams six months earlier I could have avoided the shadowing hours, I am very glad that I did them. They prepared me for the ski teaching world, helped me pass the teaching parts of the exams and made sure that I was not completely incompetent when I came to teach my first paid lesson (that is for another post though).

It did take me some time to manage the required seventy hours. Rossendale is a fair distance from where I was living, I was working full time, and often when I went there would only be one or two hours available to shadow. Looking back these are all excuses, and I could have made the time to go more often. When I got to the Instructor exam I was only about halfway through my hours, and it was quickly obvious which members of the group had done more and which ones less. My advice to anybody in the same position is to get the hours done as quickly as possible and begin teaching for real.

I should finish with a word about Ski Rossendale. The slope was in decline for several years with council cuts and competition from the shiny (and expensive) new Chill Factore - an indoor snow slope on the other side of Manchester. The council eventually closed the slope early in 2011. The story has a happy ending however as the slope was taken over by a group of former instructors there and was reopened later the same year. The slope is now run with an emphasis promoting ski participation within the local community, and the slope is used by local groups and schools as well as offering the usual range of lessons and activities. Find out more at www.skirossendale.co.uk.

Next post - A Note On Skis