WWMD Ski Instructor Job

[ak_powder_monkey]

I got a job as a ski instructor meaning if I work 2 days a week (the weekends) I will get a free pass ($325) but I pretty much will oonly be able to freeski on thursdays and a run or two per day per weekend. So do i take the job and not really have a life for the season? WWMD?

[Sutter]

I don't know what you do otherwise AK, but my advice would be to leave as many days open as you can and try and find a night job the other days you work so you can have three days a week to rip. You'll hate yourself for being on the mountain all day, but working with kids and ugly cougars. Go for broke, work nights and buy that pass and have the weekend and thursday to rip all day.

[hemlock hiker]

Ski school girls are notoriously the "easiest" at any of the ski areas I have been to. You will have that going for you...just watch out for the Canadian ones.

[marshalolson]

drop out of school, and ski 5 days per week?

[PNWbrit]

what happened to patrolling?

[smmokan]

Isn't this the same thing you asked about a month ago, except replacing "patrolling" with "instructing"? I think you should not do it, and ski more. Is wasting all that time really worth a $325 pass and being able to ski whenever you want?

[ak_powder_monkey]

what happened to patrolling?

they don't give you a pass (or pay)

[Phatstix]

Tip:
You'll get to ski many more days if you show up when they assign classes a little late. Some days they won't have enough clients for every insturctor. When this occurs hide behind others and allow them to take the clients. Promptly remove your insturctor jacket and rip it up.

[PNWbrit]

Promptly remove your instructor jacket and rip it up.

Won't he get in trouble for that?

[seatosky]

Tip:
You'll get to ski many more days if you show up when they assign classes a little late. Some days they won't have enough clients for every insturctor. When this occurs hide behind others and allow them to take the clients. Promptly remove your insturctor jacket and rip it up.

classic Whistler protocol.

[HyRUPz]

Spoken from experience

[powstash]

classic Whistler protocol.

everywhere corporate protocol.

If there is a classic "line up" standing far, far down the line head down, shuffling your feet and generally looking uninterested worked for me. Although, when the supervisor tells the rest of the kooks "hey, let's go clinic on the step christie turn" be sure that you somehow get lost in the maze or that you have to go drop off the kids at the pool or you'll want to shoot yourself after 10 minutes of said clinic.

[squirrel_girl]

my friend was a ski instrutor at heavenly, it sounds like a shitty job, working with a bunch of punk ass rich kids... he didn't enjoy it at least

[aspenskibum]

they don't give you a pass (or pay)

you've got to be shitting me
i'm blown away at this, i don't even know what to say.
does anywhere else treat their most valuble employees like this?

[Z]

you've got to be shitting me
i'm blown away at this, i don't even know what to say.
does anywhere else treat their most valuble employees like this?

dood. i think he was like a junior rookie sort of part-part-time catwalk ski patroller.

[Camel Toad]

a. you don't "actually" want to teach.
b. you just want to ski
c. the pass is cheap
d. they have good instructional programs at eaglecrest, but if you are teaching noobs, which you will at least in the beginning, you will not be getting turns. don't be a part of it if you aren't going to be dedicated at all.


= just ski. only teach there if you are really into teaching others. (i know many of the instructors there, it's what they do for a living)

[sea2ski]

Won't he get in trouble for that?

It seemed to me that just the opposite was true. I can't speak for all resorts but I know that certain trails were off limits to instructors in resort jackets who were not at least a level 3 instructor at Keystone. I guess the idea of potential customer seeing an instructor "gape it" down a difficult trail is probably not good for business.

Also, AK I'd ask if the new instructors get the little kids. I know at some places that is how it works. Ever been in charge of eight little kids in a ski class, there is always one that is cold and one that needs to go to the bathroom.

[PNWbrit]

I know.

The way it was written it sounded like he was being told to tear or rip his uniform jacket

[Donkey Punch]

I would to it. The season that I was a fulltime instructor was the best season that I have had. The people you meet and all the stories are priceless. And you will very quickly learn how to get out of teaching, its not that hard.

[CWD]

I worked on the ski hill for two months.

On the powder day that all of your friends ski by saying "It's Epic" and your with some Wisconsin cheesehead teaching how to do stem christies or whatever, you'll consider how nice it would be to be washing dishes for minimum wage in the evenings so you can ski during the day.

IF YOU LOVE SKIING DON'T TAKE A JOB ON THE HILL....

[ak_telemike]

you've got to be shitting me
i'm blown away at this, i don't even know what to say.
does anywhere else treat their most valuble employees like this?

they don't pay volunteers (like me) - pro's (like my wife) just got a fat raise

volunteers get a pass and a free ticket (to give away) for every day they work, but only AFTER they get checked off as a patroller - CANDIDATES do not - the benefits of JSP are actually pretty good, but you actually have to make a commitment

I ski a lot.

You should have just bought a pass.

[aspenskibum]

dood. i think he was like a junior rookie sort of part-part-time catwalk ski patroller.

oh ok, i should have figured it was something like this
also i think i remember him saying that somewhere now that i think of it.

[ak_powder_monkey]

You should have just bought a pass.

Oh I did its just sitting on my credit card and a refund sounded nice. Unfortunately i'm still a canidate, finishing that off over christmas though don't worry I'm not quitting nsp. Maybe if I get checked off as a patroller compleatly over christmas i might transfer from denali to juneau but thats yet to be seen.

In other news I got a job tutoring physics again next semester where I set my own hours and basically sit around doing homework for 9.50/hr so I'm turning down the instructor job.

sorry i wasted everybody's time

[shirk]

IF YOU LOVE SKIING DON'T TAKE A JOB ON THE HILL....

Can we just make this statement a sticky or header or something. Every time someone asks about working on hill or moving to the mtns it's the same responses.

[skifishbum]

Keep practicin "catch and release" on the girlfriends till you find one that can/will support a ski all the time lifestyle and puts out.