Did I Mention . . .

. . . that in addition to patrolling, I'm also feeding my Jones by re-upping as a ski instructor this winter, as well?

No?

Well, here's an email exchange from someone on the Epicski .com message boards; someone I've grown to respect for his posts and wise counsel. I'm not going to use his real name unless he is ok with that.

Oh, so you're not confused, the thread starts with me asking for some guidance, then his response, and then my typically long-winded reply.

I may not be a good writer, but I sure have the "volume" thing down to a tee!

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Hey there <>.
I’m a regular reader and sometimes poster on Epicski.com and have read and admired your posts for some time now.

The reason for my email is a request of you. 25 years ago I was a ski instructor in Pennsylvania – that was during College. Since then, I’ve ski’d regularly but haven’t ski instructed. Through a series of acquaintances, I’ve been asked to become an instructor at the hill near my home in St. Louis.

“Training” begins 12.16 and while I’ve asked the SSD what type of training/evaluation I need to be prepared for, the answer came back as “we just want to see how you ski and how you teach” . . . not a lot of guidance.

So, I turn to you. Let’s say you’re the SSD and here comes a late 40’s type guy that has a bunch of skiing, formerly PSIA L1 certified and was a college professor for 10 years.

• What are you going to look for?
• How are you going to evaluate him?
• What should he (me) be prepared for?
• What types of ski-specific interview questions are you going to ask?
• ???

Granted, this all occurs in less than a few weeks so nothing I do, at this point, is going to turn me into the next Stache, but I’d like to at least enter into this with my eyes open and as prepared as I can be.

In advance, thanks so much!

- - - His Reply - - -

Hi Brian,

I am flattered that you would bring your inquiry to me. I will try to reward you with some valuable insight.

First thing an SSD is looking for is your pulse.

OK, you've got one. Can you pick up a four to seven year old when they fall ten times in ten minutes? Good!

Next is a SSN or green card, got it? Good!

Will you give me 25 or more days of being here on time in boots and at all line ups (not off somewhere free skiing)?

Ok, you're committed.

Now, do you want to pursue your own skiing and teaching and go for that L2 pin?

This won't be a deal maker or breaker it will just give us some idea of how to use you in our line ups versus you being in clinic and hopefully our investment in training you will come back as not only a better instructor but also a loyal employee who "owes us".

Your ability to get down the hill on skis rather than a ski patrol toboggan is a plus.

Your ten years as a professional educator a definite plus.

What you do with panamedia will help you on the job but not necessarily help you get the job.

Understanding the different psychographics of people and how different people respond or react to different impulses and stimuli will definitely give you an edge on what to do to connect with some of your students. Regrettably very few SSDs have the slightest, if any, idea of what the heck I just typed in that last sentance.

In fact, if you study the PSIA materials and embrace the American Teaching System you will find ideas and methods to help you in your "other" career. As a Sales Manager and Sales Trainer I have often said "The best sales training I ever received was learning how to sell folks on having more fun skiing more efficiently." Rather than teaching me how to teach, PSIA made sure that I learned how different people learn.

So what most SSDs are looking for is a reliable warm bloody body that will be there when they are supposed to be. If they can ski and teach that is a little less training we have to do before we turn them loose on the public. If they are committed to improving their own skiing and ski teaching by going after PSIA certification, then we may have them hooked for a few more years at least.

Last, but certainly not least, do they have a good sense of humor, can they tell a joke or entertain a group of people for a while? You don't have to be the life of the party but the fact is wall flowers just aren't the best ski instructors.

Notice we haven't said anything about pay? The only thing said about pay is that we ski instructors don't get paid anywhere near what it costs us to be ski instructors.

Hope this gives you some insight and doesn't miss the mark by too much.

Please let me know how you make out and what help if any this does provide.

Having just been fired by email and done a ski instructor job search myself this fall, I believe I have an accurate if not slightly jaded view of the scene, at least here in the east.

Again, please keep me informed as your season and career progress.

- - - And...my reply to him - - -
<>

Thanks so much for the thorough and kind reply.

As a quickie, instructing has never been about the cash; I’ve got a company for that. Now that I find myself in a life-position that allows me to spend some time enjoying a specific quality of life every now and then, I’m finding that just freeskiing isn’t nearly enough to satisfy my need to share skiing with others. The most fun I have is when I get to ski with other people. To that end, I’m also regaining my ski patrol certification this season as well…already passed OEC and CPR, doing the on-hill training presently.

Yeah, it’s going to be quite a season of “snow”…but that’s more than ok with me. Both of my daughter’s are boarders and they’re darned good at it (I had nothing to do with that). They both drive, are independent and love the snow sports as much as I do. Now, if we could only get my wife/their mom to come with us then, well, we’d have it all, but for now, I’m more than ok hanging with my children and teaching others to have fun and patrolling as well.

OK, to your thoughts…I get that ski instructing isn’t about instructing people to ski, it’s about showing people that skiing is fun, they can have fun, that they can master certain skills which will improve their fun and my job is to make it fun, while they learn. As a professor (aviation at Parks College) my job was to make sure people saw that all of the studying/learning was to make sure they could liveout their career choices and it wasn’t an end in itself. I view learning to ski in the same way.

I do hope that I get a bunch of adults to teach, as well as the youngsters. I just LOVE IT, when I get a mom or dad, or older person to see that they can walk, talk, not fall over, wedge, French fry and enjoy the activity of skiing. To feel the cold air, to feel that stinging in your nose and then go into a warm lodge with a roaring fire and let the warmth rush over you…is there anything better than that?

Oh, yeah, this is about ski instructing.

Frankly, I don’t know if I’ll go for an L2, L3, certificate…likely I will because I just like learning new things and testing myself. There’s nothing better than to humble yourself in front of a teacher and put yourself in a vulnerable position and then recognize the ‘student’ that you are and realize that all of your students are feeling the same thing. Surely puts a huge dose of ‘reality check’ into instructing.

You’ve given me some great guidance. I figured that this orientation/test/evaluation was going to be more about me as a person and my level of patience and communications capabilities more than my ability as the best instructor in the world. Let’s hope the SSD concurs.

My goals:

1. Get my business partner’s children to come out and learn to love skiing. They’re 7 and 9 (boys) and I’ve already been bugging them . . . “hey, you guys ready to go skiing?”
2. Get my wife out on the slops . . . that’s such a lofty goal I can’t even imagine it might occur but I know that I would revel in that. I won’t make the mistake of trying to be her instructor, but by the time she gets on-hill, I’ll know which are the best instructors and make sure she gets hooked up with them.
3. Enjoy the heck out of the time I’ll spend with my daughter’s. The hill is about a 20 minute drive from my home, add to that the ‘strapping it on’ time and I’ll be able to spend about an hour each time we go to the hill…cool, eh?
4. And finally, if by the end of this ski season I’ve been specifically requested to deliver a private lesson, that would be the ultimate.

OK, <> off. Thanks again and I’ll be in touch.

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OK, you wanna contact me? How about an email or a comment, below.