GAP SKI INSTRUCTOR PROGRAM

2008 GAP Ski Instructor Course Review

George Lovell, 31 Lycra Crash Test Dummy, Hampshire I was on an extended career gap and possible change of direction when I realised that I had some time to spare before any further commitments.  Luckily for me this was over the winter season as I absolutely love skiing.  I have been skiing since I was 4, have done two previous seasons in Val d'isere and since working as a professional have been doing a number of ski races on quick weekend trips each year.

Although Val d'isere is very close to my heart I decided that I could not possibly go back there and started to look at other resorts.  I also realised that I could not just be a ski bum again and was looking to acheive something over the season.

A BASI gap course was the obvious choice and my cousin has always raved about Verbier.  On looking at the various Gap courses in Verbier Warren's looked by far the best and my cousin confirmed that Warren was indeed a great chap and fantastic skier.

The course was great fun with a large and varied group of people.  Being more mature I was glad to see that there was a variety of ages on the course and I was not just thrown in with a bunch of 18 year olds.  The coaches were great people, fantastic skiers and imparted their wisdom with ease.  This was born out in the fact that the BASI qualification weeks were a breeze and the awesome 100% pass rate of all those on the course.

The whole season has been brilliant and I would highly recommend doing the Warren Smith Gap course.  Even if you have no intention of being a ski instructor the course is still worth doing.  It will do great things for your skiing and it is always interesting to see how the sport is being taught today, especially if you have been skiing as long as I have and have not had a propper ski lesson in years.

Verbier is a world class resort and the Warren Smith Gap course has been an amazing experience.  Warren, his coaches (Charlie, Phil, Rob & Tom) and all of this years gappies have become like a second family to me.  I will definately pay a visit to Verbier next year so sign up now as I look forward to meeting next years gappies when out in 2009!

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