GAP SKI INSTRUCTOR PROGRAM 2008 GAP Ski Instructor Course Review
Ruth Whalley, 37
HertfordshireI’ve just successfully completed the Warren Smith Gap Course which has to be the best way to spend most of a season skiing. If you are looking to get into the mountains, improve your skiing and meet great like minded people from all walks and of all ages this has to be the best way of learning a skill and a trade which can be used straight after the course or in years to come.
It’s quite a physically demanding course and test of character which is made so much easier by passionate, driven coaches and a great bunch of people to do it alongside. Getting uber fit before you go is not essential however it does help and there are some great exercises to do to improve flex and hip rotation which will greatly aid your skiing once there.
Location in Verbier is key if you intend to go out after the buses stop running at 8pm and don’t like to hike up hills to get home.
I would recommend getting a place in one of the chalets. This way you get loads of support, have people available to discuss the days events/skiing/partying and you don’t have the worry of shopping and preparing food. I stayed at the Bouton D’or which has the best location, is very close to town, the bus and you can walk to all the key places easily.
On snow in the first couple of days you’re split into groups of similar ability and the focus is to switch you on to ski mode. The rest of the week is spent preparing for BASI 1 which is not a difficult exam but introduces you to BASI and awakens you to the fact that it is not all about the skiing but learning to teach as well. There are five weeks of the Academy and the coaches are rotated each week as they all have their own style which is rightly distributed equally throughout the course. There was a mixture of all types of skiing and many hours were spent lapping runs practising technique from snow plough to gnarly variables. These weeks were full of all aspects of skiing and whilst you needed to be fully focussed on what you were doing on your planks they were also rammed with funny incidents and huge amounts of banter.
I have to admit I didn’t quite realise how much was packed into the programme as you not only have to focus on technically understanding what was going on under your feet but you also need to understand mountain safety, first aid and video analysis takes place twice a week off snow. However it never seemed much like hard work to me. I had the mountains, a challenging task to achieve and I was doing this in the company of great, humorous people, and coaches that really wanted us to succeed. The gap course had a great spirit to it and this was never far from any of us whether it be skiing, studying or playing. There is a week spent shadowing with the Suisse Ecole du Ski as you need to get a certain amount of hours with a school to pass the exam.
This was the first year the Swiss Ski School had worked with an outside company and I think we were very lucky to get this opportunity. Their commitment to us was shown by allocating all their top instructors to show us the ropes and the vast majority of them gave us great advice and support during this week. All the students that wanted work after the course were given work and a commitment to work next year if we want. Oh and there is definitely only one ski school uniform worth wearing and its red!!
Verbier is a great resort for après and eating out and many an après session was attended by an alarmingly large number of gappies who often then went on to party till 4 am. However seldom did a gappie fail to get up in the morning for the simple reason of not wanting to miss out on the days happenings and anyway the best way to cure a hangover is heading up the hill.
If I had one thing I would change it would be that the academy weeks finish before you take your BASI 2 exam and after what is quite a serious two week exam I would have loved to have had a couple of ski days back with the coaches. I definitely recommend staying on after the course for at least a week to ski and to chill out and enjoy and equally if you can get there before the course starts to warm up then do it.
If you are reading this and are in any doubt whether to do the course or is this the right course I cannot recommend it enough. If I could do it over I most definitely would. Go on get involved….
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