GAP SKI INSTRUCTOR PROGRAM

2008 GAP Ski Instructor Course Review

Jake Galbraith, 18 School leaver, East Lothian I have skied for years and really enjoy my skiing, so it was pretty obvious that I would do a GAP course to become a ski instructor as soon as I got the chance.  My dad and younger brother had been on an Academy ski course with Warren in Saas-Fee in the summer and decided a GAP course with the Academy would be best for me because the focus is more on developing great ski technique than some of the other courses seem to be.

One of my friends agreed to come too so we shared a room and I was surprised to find we were the only real gappies in our chalet.  We had to share with a head master!  Who would have thought that when you've just left school.  It turned out really well and we had some fantastic conversations.  In fact there were conversations going on all the time in our chalet and for the quiet times we had internet access so we could play poker online.

The ski coaching was awesome and we had so much opportunity to really improve our skiing performance.  It was really good to have so much technical input from our coaches and they made it pretty good fun too and I was glad when everyone passed the BASI 2 exam.

We did some pretty good partying towards the end of the course which can be a little tricky if you are instructing young kids the next day.  But it was good to wear the Swiss Ski School uniform which made it clear we had done the work and are ready to move on to the next step.

I want to get my international exam before I go to uni so I am off to Wanaka in New Zealand to take the Canadian CSIA course which is a bit quicker to qualify than you can do BASI.  I'd like to be at that level before I go to uni so that I can be pretty sure of getting work in ski resorts in the Christmas and Easter holidays for the next 4 years.

It was an awesome course in a nice chalet, and with really good food.  I knew I would love instructing and I was right.  The Warren Smith Ski Academy couldn't have been better for me and I feel confident to go on to the next step straight away.  I don't think I could have chosen a better course for my GAP year anywhere.

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