# Becoming a snowboard instructor...



## Glade Ripper (Nov 12, 2008)

So my local mountain is looking for snowboard instructors and I was thinking about possibly applying. I have coached several other sports and have always found it very rewarding and figured this could be as well. After some research I have found a few questions to ask before applying.

Who is the training director or administrator running the snowboard program.
What is the number of level 3 snowboard instructors they have.
What is their training schedule and what they require from their instructors during the season.
If they offer level 1 exams and, if so, when they are offered during the season.

Any other questions I should ask upon initial contact with them?


I have just a few questions for the knowledgeable instructors/ex-instructors on here.

What can/should I expect as an interview? Obviously they must take you out on the hill and see how well you ride and then possibly have you demonstrate how to teach something?
What are the cons? I have heard some people say that you end up hating it because you never ride and just give lessons.


Any other information you might have that would be useful is appreciated. Thank you.


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## Guest (Nov 5, 2009)

Just to start, I say definitely go for it. I am an instructor at my local hill and it's an awesome job, I love it. Your questions all seem very reasonable to ask. As far as finding out about level 1 exams, if you are in NY just visit the PSIA/AASI Eastern division website, PSIA/AASI Eastern Division and they have a schedule of the yearly events on there. For pre-hire training you will have to go through an Instructor Training Course (ITC) that is normally administered by the snowsports school. They will give you on-hill and off-hill training necessary to become a new instructor. When I took my ITC 2 years ago it was over the course of 2 days. We spent time dialing in our riding techniques, learning teaching concepts and what to teach. As far as ending up hating the job, I highly doubt it. I love my job and we always have a blast there. The only con is that pay can be low. The way my mountain runs is that we get paid an hourly rate ONLY when we are teaching, so if no lessons show up, then no money. I have some friends that work at other mountains that give an hourly show up pay, and then an additional amount when they are teaching. The show up rate isnt much, the mountain would go broke paying instructors to do nothing, but its something. That all depends on your particular mountain. I definitely recommend it, its a great job.


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## jlm1976 (Feb 26, 2009)

*Answers*

I would change some of your questions. I would ask about whether they have a training program in place for certification(generally the mountain can't just give a cert exam, only host them) and what it is. I would also ask about the qualifications of the snowboard trainer. 
As far as attitude, the biggest thing that I see when I'm training new hires at my mountain are people that don't bring an open mind. Odds are you are going to be trained on how to teach and it's probably going to be different than you are used to riding. Don't just dismiss it, ask about why that's a good way to teach snowboarding. Also, you are going to get feedback on your personal riding and it's probably going to be spot on so listen to it and take it to heart. If you don't, odds are the trainer is going to think you aren't that interested in learning and therefor not interested in teaching. 
As long as you have a positive attitude and let your love of the sport and have a better answer to the question "why do you want to teach?" than "To get a free pass" and you'll be fine. Just look and act professionally(that doesn't mean serious, it's snowboard school afterall not ski school).
While on snow, don't be afraid to ask questions to you clinician about what he/she is talking about. As a trainer, I enjoy it because it shows the person is paying attention and thinking about what I am saying. 
As far as cons, the biggest mistake I see is people decide they want to teach parttime so they decide to work weekends but weekends are their only time to ride. So part way through the season they are bitter because they have no time to ride for fun and are spending all their on snow time teaching or in clinic. 
Also, it does get frustrating when it's a blue bird pow day and you are on the bunny slope teaching beginers. But, for me, helping someone link turns for the first time, or conquer a trick in the park or ride that black run that's haunted them gets me way more stoked on riding than pow turns. That's actually something I miss as a supervisor, since I'm a step further away from the real teaching.
I will say I wouldn't be 1/2 the rider I am today if I hadn't started teaching 10years ago.


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

You've got a good list of questions. The answers vary a lot depending on where you are in the country and even from school to school.



cubllsu8338 said:


> I have coached several other sports and have always found it very rewarding and figured this could be as well..........I have heard some people say that you end up hating it because you never ride and just give lessons.


You should be fine. It's easy to train someone with experience coaching or teaching something else. Solid teaching is following a logical progression based on your student's movement patterns to a desired goal, and how you interact with people. It's easier to train a 3rd grade teacher with basic snowboard skills to be a great snowboard instructor, than it is to train a Pipe/Park master with no people skills.

At our area if you were teaching group adult lessons the max amount of time you would be teaching is 4 hours a day. Sucks for $$$ but gives you plenty of time to ride.

If you are professional at your interview you should be able to ask for their employee manual to answer many of your questions and probably some you haven't thought of.


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## X1n54n3x (Sep 28, 2007)

I'm glad someone asked this question, I'm just interviewed for a snowboard instructor position at my local mountain and I'm pretty sure I got the job. Although it's only going to be over my winter break, I'm still stoked to get the opportunity and I'm looking forward to it. (not so much missing the blurbird pow days, but eh, it's going to by my best job so far.) Anyways, not thread jacking, just a thanks for all the write ups!


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## Guest (Nov 5, 2009)

If you love coaching already, DO IT. It is very rewarding and a lot of fun.

Getting the instructor job is the easiest part of the whole process. In your interview, be professional and personable. You don't have to be a stiff though, we're snowboarders... we have personality. I've been a trainer and supervisor at more than one mountain and have done multiple hiring formats. I have done interviews where we had absolutely no on-snow hiring, we just took their word that they could ride (obviously there was on-snow training). I have also done multi-day on-snow hiring clinics. Both worked equally well. To be honest, your riding skill doesn't really matter that much, within reason. We can teach you to ride, we can't teach you to be a people person.

That leads me to the next topic. A lot of people become instructors for a season. Not nearly as many come back. You have to realize that it is a job and sometimes your supervisor is going to make you work even when you don't want to. If you love to teach and see that what you did made a difference in someone's riding, you're set. Remember, you are getting paid to snowboard, even if it is the bunny slope.

To touch on Snowolf's reply, every mountain is different as to how lessons are assigned. Some have set rules as to who has priority on a lesson and some don't. At my old mountain, I gave upper lever lessons to full timers first. It seemed fair since they typically had to deal with so much throughout the week. When the part timers came on the weekends, it was my chance to give the full timers a treat. They also had way more experience throughout the course of a season than part timers. As far as certification of instructors and priority went, it was not typically an issue. As the supervisor who trains and works with the staff 5 days a week (and hangs out with them 7 days a week) and has known many of them for more than just one season, you get to know their skills. Regardless of certification, I always tried to match the right instructor to the right lesson. It is a better product. Typically, the better instructors also happened to be the more highly certified instructors, but not always.

As far as clinics go, attend to as many as you can. If the clinician is any good, you will learn plenty, even if it isn't the clinician talking. ASK QUESTIONS! GIVE INSIGHTS! Clinics are about sharing knowledge, not just absorbing what is being thrown at you. As a trainer, the best clinics I've had are when I was merely guiding the discussion and the group was doing the teaching.

On a final note, you have some good questions and you should ask them all, but don't worry too much. As a rookie instructor, you don't need a level 3 instructor around to make your season worth while. There is a wealth of knowledge in surprising places. Keep your eyes and your ears open. Simply by being in a school where everyone's main job is to think of how riding can be improved and to vocalize it, you will end your season 100 more skilled than when you started. Trust me.

Good luck and hold on for the ride!


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## Glade Ripper (Nov 12, 2008)

Thanks to everyone that has posted. All of your posts are appreciated. :thumbsup: 

I did know that snowboard instructors do not make mucho dollares. :laugh: I would be in it for the experiences that you have all posted about. Being able to share and teach a sport I love, taking classes that will teach me more about the sport and being able to ride with people of all abilities while learning from each others teachings is an experience I can't wait to revel in.

I am going to call them tomorrow and see if I can set up an interview.


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