Ski Instructors/parents of NS

skiP.E.I.

skiP.E.I.

Active member
What's up folks! I'm managing a small snow school in Labrador this season. I have years of experience instructing and coaching but I haven't been an admin before.

Does anyone have input for things that work, things that don't, things that make your workday better/worse at your snow school?

Anyone with children enrolled in a snow school program, what are some things you appreciate and things you can't stand about dealing with your local snow school?

-I'm planning to do relaxed staff ski sessions at least once a week for skill development and to troubleshoot if something isn't working in their lessons.

-Also freestyle oriented sessions for any instructors wanting to improve their park/bumps/ off piste skills.

-Keeping some snacks and lots of hand warmers on hand for general use

-Making hot drinks available for free
 
Also planning to have some mini rollers and berms built in the beginner area for terrain assisted teaching and to make it more fun.
 
As a coach I generally like to have the same group so I know what people are working on and what to look for. Switching up groups every once in a while is necessary but having set groups for the most part makes coaching easier.

You seem to know what you're talking about as far as individual coaching is, but I figured I'd chime in anyway. I think tree skiing helps teach a lot of mogul skills such as quick decision making and planning a few turns ahead.

I'll usually start out the season leading the group on runs, and once we know a few places where we stop and group up, I'll ski in the back of the pack so I can watch the kids skiing to look for things that might help them.
 
Do you have a small building/area at all for kids to have breaks and whatnot in?

Ive worked for a while at a resort with a heavy focus in snow school, and has their management and setup pretty much perfected. Let me know your general situation/setup and I can elaborate in whatever direction

I absolutely fucked up my thumb today so id rather type about specifics

a good way of rewarding instructors for good work, receiving multiple lesson requests, and going above and beyond is little meal cards to get something from the cafeteria menu for free. Just make a bunch with meal items written on (ie hotdog and pop), sign, and laminate. Obviously needs to go through upper management.
 
14224766:freestyler540 said:
Sound like dope project! Where are you working? I hope they gave you a budget to have fun with
Click to expand...

Money is always the deal, but lesson programs should be self-sustaining. It's about what a program can charge. To keep good folks, they need to be compensated well. Tips are one thing, but it's way more than that.
 
For the employees have a set schedule, not some "check in" kind of BS. Ruined ski instructing for me
 
14224576:skiP.E.I. said:
Also planning to have some mini rollers and berms built in the beginner area for terrain assisted teaching and to make it more fun.
Click to expand...

ahh yes the old "Camel Humps" the best part i can remember from learning to ski as a 5 year old!
 
At the place I used to work at we did a 6 week. Once a week lessons and it was awesome as an instructor to watch their progressions. That was cool. I think the best thing to do is not over book instructors keep the lessons ideally no more then 6-7 imo. Good luck!
 
I like the ski school I work for because the best ski instructors do the clinics for extra $. On or offsnow. This is for nutrition, taking advantage of the pay system to make more mkney, movement analysis and cert prep.

The supervisors work for the instructor where I work and they all have a seperate management role. They are never too busy to help take a crying kid off the mountain.

My supervisor lets me shadow any class I want at any time, this helps me learn a lot about the application of what we learn for exams. Its unpaid and no comp if I get hurt.

We also get $10 for every kid we can roll over, this motivates us to keep the kids happy and do our part for the marketing of the school.

Without covid all group lessons are full day, this is great for the student, drills in the morning guided practice in afternoon and there is a premium goup lesson option with smaller class size.

Free hot coco for kids is nice.

I write comments on my class list to keep the next instructor informed of students' progress. (*non-covid) the supervisor give the class lists with comments at beginning of lesson. This helps a bunch at split. And there is sometimes an extra instructor at split to take 2 badly paced classes and make them into 3 well paced classes.

The checkout process is slick.

I like being able to ski 1 run before morning meeting. Its my warmup.
 
14224655:iced said:
Do you have a small building/area at all for kids to have breaks and whatnot in?

Ive worked for a while at a resort with a heavy focus in snow school, and has their management and setup pretty much perfected. Let me know your general situation/setup and I can elaborate in whatever direction

I absolutely fucked up my thumb today so id rather type about specifics

a good way of rewarding instructors for good work, receiving multiple lesson requests, and going above and beyond is little meal cards to get something from the cafeteria menu for free. Just make a bunch with meal items written on (ie hotdog and pop), sign, and laminate. Obviously needs to go through upper management.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your thumb! I have 4 ski instructors including myself and 6 snowboard instructors, so it's pretty limited for scheduling. I'm looking into holding some certification courses, but it's a challenge since it's in a remote place and course conductors won't be able to travel in without self-isolating, unless travel restrictions change.

I'm actually thinking of having a few little sheltered spots, like snow forts basically in the trees near the bottom so it's a mini adventure to get to a rest spot.

Also it's a really small community resort, so the cafeteria isn't super established. I'm thinking of just having staff BBQs once in a while at lunch time.
 
14224766:freestyler540 said:
Sound like dope project! Where are you working? I hope they gave you a budget to have fun with
Click to expand...

I'll be at Smokey Mountain in Labrador City! I think the budget is going to be a bit limited but I can do pretty much whatever I want within it. I'm going to be doing some park designing too, but keeping that fairly simple and progression focussed.
 
14225090:skiP.E.I. said:
Sorry to hear about your thumb! I have 4 ski instructors including myself and 6 snowboard instructors, so it's pretty limited for scheduling. I'm looking into holding some certification courses, but it's a challenge since it's in a remote place and course conductors won't be able to travel in without self-isolating, unless travel restrictions change.

I'm actually thinking of having a few little sheltered spots, like snow forts basically in the trees near the bottom so it's a mini adventure to get to a rest spot.

Also it's a really small community resort, so the cafeteria isn't super established. I'm thinking of just having staff BBQs once in a while at lunch time.
Click to expand...

sounds like a fun situation

based on the amount of instructors id guess there isn't a huge crowd to manage but ill throw out some random things that help with organization and smooth runnings:

For kids programs:

-stickers as a reward for good behaviour

-edgie wedgie stock for instructors

-bamboo sticks for weak kids to hold on to

-radio playing kids bop or some shit

-catch and release train for learning stopping for 1st day of programs (maybe not w covid)

-gate/fence area to meet parents so they don't swarm you

-bibs for kids

-kids size picnic tables to sit at and have a water break

-instructor cards for kids progress/attendance/write what happened each lesson... these help with end of program report cards and if an instructor calls in sick, whoever comes in can see what the class was working on

-theme days (ie crazy helmet day, sports day)

-meeting flags for private lessons, discover snowboarding

-instructors line up side by side 2m apart to look good before getting sent to flag

hopefully I didn't write too much you were already aware of

any specific issues come up feel free to pm-

**This post was edited on Jan 9th 2021 at 6:11:28pm
 
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