GAP SKI INSTRUCTOR PROGRAM

2007 GAP Ski Instructor Course Review

Stefan Nilsen, 27 - Waiter I chose the Warren Smith Ski Academy GAP Ski Instructor Course because I wanted a course where the instructors were both young and experienced skiers. I was also looking for a course that would focus on training above and beyond training for BASI3. Additionally I wanted a course that was going to be fun and after talking to Warren I was satisfied that it was the right course for me.

The level required for the course was an intermeadiate level with a
moderate amount of experience. Once the course started I was impressed
by the general ability of the group as they very much matched my own
ability.

A Typical day would start with a warm up at 10am geared towards the specific muscle groups that are exercised whilst skiing. We would then be allocated a coach based apon our specific needs. We would then ski till about 12.30,1.00 then stop for lunch usually around 40mins. Coaching would continue till 4pm. The level of coaching was high and very dedicted and we all recieved very specific feedback. Each coach having thier own big personalities made me feel like they really wanted me to improve and made the whole experience very positive.

The coaching focuses on piste performance e.g. carving, medium and
long radius turns, steeps, moguls, skier symetry, effective use of
pole planting, activating and maintaining a strong core, use of and
maintenance of equiptment, teaching, group management and safety.
Video analysis is a big part of the course which takes place twice a
week. I was a classic "A" framer whilst turning and my left turn was
weaker than my right and this was something that I had to work very
hard on to correct. All of these faults are brought to your
attension early on in the course so there is plenty of time to work on
improving and correcting them.

In addition to ski coaching we did a mountain safety course which teaches how to asses avalanche risks and what to do in the event of an avalanche. A First aid course specific to skiing and the mountain. We also did pilates evenings and ski maintenance evenings etc.

The age range was from 16 - 50+ from all walks of life from lawyers and aerospace engineers to students and waiters. Everyone got on really well and there was a real sense of comraderie, everyone helped each other out and socialised together. Many of the people on the course I consider as close friends and despite living in different parts of the country I will continue to keep in touch and will hopefully ski with them again.

The training on the course included how to plan, structure and execute lessons for clients of varying abilities. We would then have to present our lesson plans to the group and then carry out our lessons on the mountain, this would include effectively manageing  classes on the mountain and effectively demonstrating to the class what we would like them to perform for us. The course also includes work experience with Adrenaline ski school, for two weeks we assisted Adrenaline instructors on the mountain with thier classes and it is a good opportunity to see how classes are run for different types of clients, different age ranges and types of suitable terrain for different abilities.

I have come out of the course with more confidence both on and off
ski's. I made some good contacts in the ski industry and now that I have my BASI 3 qualification in the future I hope to start working towards getting my BASI2 qualification.

I intend on using my qualifiaction to teach this coming season. My
skiing has improved massively since the start of the course. A lot of
the content learnt during the course has enable me to continue to go
on  improving beyong the end of the course.

Verbier is a very pretty village in the mountains with a great variety of on and off piste skiing terrain. There are always things going on e.g. Verbier Ride, Mardi Gras etc. It's close to Geneve, Italy and France. The night life is really good with several popular nightclubs. There is also a certain Apri Ski bar beside Hotel Farinet which is a must!

I would recomend this course to anyone who has a passion for skiing, wants to improve and has a desire to become a ski instructor.

Highlight of the course would have to be all the great people I met, seeing the lads falling over at different points throughout the course and the awesome mountains.

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