[Merge]Ski/board Instructor Training in NZ

acurno

Hey All,
Am seriously considering doing a snowboarding instructor course in NZ this summer and just wondering whether anyone else has done it or have heard good,bad, indifferent things about it.
This is the company I'm looking at: http://www.skiinstructortraining.co.nz/snowboard.html
8 weeks, about 6 grand plus flights, equipment.

Are the career prospects good these days in resorts in the international resorts? I would assume based on the worldwide recession a lot of people have cut back on winter holidays.

Gonna cost a pretty penny so wanna make sure it's the right course for me rather than wait for one of the European Alpine training courses which would be next winter at this stage.

Cheers

Printer

Hi,

I currently work as a Snowboard Instructor for ES Ride in Zermatt and I trained in New Zealand in 2008. At the time I already had quite a lot of experience riding so I didnt do any of those long term courses.

After the Level 1, myself and two others got 1 day of training a week for 5 weeks with The Rookie Academy guys and we all passed our level 2. The NZ system is really highly regarded in terms of getting jobs so I highly recommend it. Ive never heard of that company you mentioned but I cant speak highly enough of the rookie academy guys. Amazing trainers.

Send me a PM if you want to chat more about it.

Liam

robinph

I did the NZ ski instructor course in Queenstown last year with Peak Leaders.

Them and SitCo. courses both end up providing you with the same qualifications at the end, assuming you pass, but from chatting to the people on the SitCo. course I think the cost of their may have been a bit cheaper than the PeakLeaders one. The difference come not in the course, training and qualifications, but the extras each company arranges.

I think that SitCo. had several courses running on at the same time. Some people on our exams that were out there for 4(?) weeks training before the level 1 exam had actually not got all that time spent training and teaching practice because there was another group of people who only started two weeks before the course so some bits of the training were rushed into the end before the exam. The Peak Leaders course only provides the one 10 week option so everybody is out there for the same time and doing the same schedule.

Peak Leaders were put up in a nice hotel a distance out of Queenstown but at the bottom of the Coronet Peak access road. Breakfast and evening meal every day, free wifi, bowling alley, cheap bar in the hotel, free shuttle busses to take you into Queenstown and back each hour ( only until 10pm though, but taxis were cheap enough if there was a few of you coming back from being out on a session).

I think that the SitCo. people were put up in a hostel in Queenstown, with possibly 8(?) to a room and no meals provided.

We also had things like heli-ski day, basic avalanche training, a couple of freestyle days one at SnowPark, and a cheap deal on some skydiving. Most packages will have some combination of those kind of extras though I'd guess.

acurno

Thanks a million for both replies really appreciate it.
I've had a look at those other two schools that were mentioned.

The rookie academy looks great.12 week school though is quite expensive so I'd probably look at the 10 week one.costs around 8000. Quick question on that, they offer the BASI qualification level 2 instead of the NZSIA one. Is there a big difference in this? Can you work in all the European resorts with the British qualification? Also, how good is the treble cone ski area compared to the coronet peak and remarkables. Obviously I'm there to learn but I don't wanna get bored of the slopes either.

The Peak Leaders school looks great as well. Quite a bit more expensive than the SitCo one (8500 v's 6000), but you are there for 2 weeks more and breakfast and dinner is included, which has got to save a pretty penny. Accomodation looks far better as well, and I like the fact it's on the slopes.

Other than that, most of the extra's are pretty similar. I've been to Queenstown and Wanaka a couple of years back so I know the towns, and would assume Queenstowns the more exciting place to live.

All about the cost then really, I'll have to hit the bank for a loan it seems!
At the moment I reckon the Peak Leader one seems to be the most promising at the moment.

One other question, do I need a visa to complete this course? Seeing as I won't be in unemployment, and is this technically education(?), could I just go in on a normal holiday Visa?
Also, if I want to make a career out of this do you need to get full working Visa's for work in NZ, the States, Canada etc?

I'm a beginner-intermediate snowboarder but heading to Chamonix this Saturday so hopefully will improve the technique. I'm pretty competent and confident on the board so don't wanna be spending weeks learning the basics. Don't have equipment either so I'll have to take that into account but I'm sure there's good deals around if I look.

Any other information would be greatly appreciated!
Might have a few more questions as I go along and will PM if I've any specific ones.

Thanks,
Alan

robinph

Just a quick clarification, I'll come back with more later probably, but the Peak Leaders accomodation is not on the slopes, it is the closest that you can get to the slopes though. It is about 10k out of Queenstown, but that really wasn't an issue with the hotel having their own shuttle busses to get us into QT and back.

You don't need any special visa to do the courses, just the standard holiday one. With an Irish passport by default you can stay in NZ for 3 months on holiday, you can stay for 6 months on holiday with a UK passport.



Throw up any more queries you have, they may be of use to others as well.

robinph

acurno wrote: »

I'm a beginner-intermediate snowboarder but heading to Chamonix this Saturday so hopefully will improve the technique. I'm pretty competent and confident on the board so don't wanna be spending weeks learning the basics. Don't have equipment either so I'll have to take that into account but I'm sure there's good deals around if I look.

As a boarder I doubt you'd have any problems with the standard or riding required. The guy who was effectively our "tour rep" during the course working for Peak Leaders had done the course a couple of year previously and passed the boarding level 2 after only having done 2 weeks of boarding before the start of the course, allegedly. I doubt it was easy though and you'd need to be able to pick things up quickly if that was all the previous experience you'd had. He is now working for Peak Leaders as well as the local ski schools.

I'd expect a skier to need more years of previous experience to reach the standards needed.

Printer

robinph wrote: »

As a boarder I doubt you'd have any problems with the standard or riding required. The guy who was effectively our "tour rep" during the course working for Peak Leaders had done the course a couple of year previously and passed the boarding level 2 after only having done 2 weeks of boarding before the start of the course, allegedly. I doubt it was easy though and you'd need to be able to pick things up quickly if that was all the previous experience you'd had. He is now working for Peak Leaders as well as the local ski schools.

I'd expect a skier to need more years of previous experience to reach the standards needed.

Sorry mate but you are well off the mark here. The Level 2 Snowboard Exams through both NZ and BASI system is NOT easy. There were a lot of failures on both the BASI 2 course I did and also the NZ 2 course I did too. Your riding needs to be really solid, you need to have 4 way 180s down, ollys, nollys, nose rolls, tail rolls, straight airs with grabs, butters, and be able to come down off piste switch looking good with all the right technique.

To say that you think as a skier you need way more experience than a rider to pass the same level is just wrong mate. Sorry. I have 10 mates in Whistler who passed the level 1 ski and had only done 3 days skiing before the course. The Canadian level 1 for ski and board is notoriously low in level and I ahve met some "instructors" who had their CASI 1 who were not good riders at all... BUT to get the NZ 2 or the BASI 2 you need to be a solid rider and it is not easy to pass. Not to mention the whole teaching side of things too.

To the above question about BASI vs NZ system. I have both BASI 2 and NZ 2 and I found the NZ 2 much better and much more highly thought of around the world when applying for jobs but having said that they are fectively the same and the BASI 2 is gaining more recognition all the time.

Sorry if that was a bit of rant but it needed to be put straight.

robinph

Not saying that either of them are easier than the other. You need to be good at either skiing or boarding, just seems that people pick up the boarding quicker than skiing so someone who has been boarding for X years is probably going to be at a higher standard in that discipline than someone who has been skiing for the same X years.

acurno

I would be of the opinion that skiing is far easier! First time I was boarding I nearly gave it up after 3 days after the amount of headbutts I was giving the ice!

I'm under no illusion that the level 2 would be a walkover. I've had a look at some of the school results on their websites. Level one generally has a 100% pass rate, but the level two averages over the years in or around 70%. But with 10 weeks training under my belt I'd be confident I would get it. And these sports are all about confidence really, I don't need to be a teacher to know that!!

One more question. Do you think these courses represent value for money? I've no problem paying the cash if it's worth it, but what are you getting for your 8k? ( Lift pass x 10weeks - 1500? accomodation x 10 weeks 2000? The rest - 4500 on instruction? ) How much are the actual exams to do?

Suppose the reason I'm thinking of NZ is i don't wanna wait till next winter to do the training in the Alps or NA, and if it's a bit pricier, so be it.

Printer what do you think of the differences between the two ski areas?
Remarkables and Coronet V's Treble Cone.

robinph

They have the exam prices up on www.nzsia.net somewhere, but I cannot find them at the moment. Cannot remember the price of the level one, but leve two was something like 1000 NZD last year. Those prices are all included in the course fees with the likes of PeakLeaders/ SitCo. /Rookie Academy etc, assuming you pass first time.

When I was deciding between them this time last year the fact that the Peak Leaders one was catered was a big part of it. The initial outlay is more but you would need to be fairly disciplined to not end up spending more than that difference on food during the time your out there. After a day on the mountain how much are you really likely to want to cook for yourself?

With doing the 10 week or so long courses though you do then get the option of re-doing the level one exams before the scheduled level two if you need to. There were a few people that needed to do that on my course last year due to various reasons including injuries/ swine(?) flu/ having a bad day. They did all pass level one on the second attempt.

Doing the course in Queenstown has the advantage that there are the two ski fields to chose from, so if one is closed then the other is probably still open so they just move the training/ exams across the valley to the other one. I'm not sure if they switch to Cardrona in the event of Treble Cone being closed on the Wanaka courses or not though.

Edit I was clearly being blind for not spotting it but the prices are on the site:
Ski Exam Prices
Snowboard Exam Prices
Those are for their Japan courses though as they don't have any listed for the NZ season yet, surprised that the board level two is so cheap though.

gavkm27

Don't want to get into a which is harder debate,but i will back printer up in saying that to pass a BASI 2 is not easy and you need to be a solid rider.
I did mine this summer last in Argentina with Peak Leaders,i highly recommend that as a great expierence,although i have been trained by Rookie Academy instructors in the past and they were the best.. Dan Burton is the man

Printer

Dan did a few days training with me aswell. Yeah he is awesome, such a good trainer. Did you have Rob Norton over in Argentina? He is head of ES Ride, the company I work for here in Zermatt.

Im hoping to get back to NZ this season to do my level 3 with some training from the Rookie Academy.

If anyone is thinking of going to New Zealand this season to do an instructor training course please let me know as my business, The Learning Curve Institute, has close ties with the guys from The Rookie Academy so I may be able to help out a bit.

www.rookieacademy.com is their site and ours is www.thelearningcurve.ie

acurno

I see the places for the courses are already filling up so I better get my skates on! It's very helpful to hear such good things about rookie academy so I think it's the favourite at this stage. Though all 3 schools offer pretty much the same program. If I had a 3 sided coin it'd make the choice easier.

Will let you know for sure Printer if I'm gonna book it. Don't suppose this help you're offering is financial!!??

Printer

Yes possibly. Im trying to sort stuff out with Rookie Academy right now actually.

acurno

Really?? Good stuff sure keep me posted! The more help I can get the better. Do you know offhand if you can pay in installments?

robinph

They claimed that the places were rapidly filling up last year as well. I think I finally booked my spot around April, and there were a couple of people who had only booked in June. Doesn't mean that they are not filling up and that you might end up missing out if you leave it too long, but remember they are also trying to sell you stuff so will say things to try and persuade you to part with your cash and commit to their course as soon as they can.

As far as the training goes, between the SitCo. and PeakLeaders courses at least in Queenstown it won't really make a whole lot of difference, assuming the 10 week course. The trainers themselves were swapping between courses depending on how the different training days worked out or if they were covering when for someone else being unavailable. Last year the PeakLeaders training days were Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri each week and SitCo I think were doing three days training then three days off so ended up with different days each week and some weekends. All worked out as the same number of days in the total 10 week long course, but might be an issue if you like to have your weekends free.

I just spotted that one of the guys pictured on the SitCo. home page for the skiing was actually my trainer for the 11 weeks with Peak Leaders, he switched because the more regular week suited him better. One of the other guys was also one of my examiners for the level 2 exam, but things all get mixed up between a whole bunch of groups and examiners at that stage anyway.

AndRoiD

Just on a side note, to anyone whose currently working or has been working as an instructor in the recent past,

did you find it difficult to find a job? is there stiff competition? etc

sarmer

I've been toying with the idea of doing a ski instructor course for a while and have been hearing of people heading off to New Zealand to do it. I googled a few companies but I'm just wondering if anyone has experience of doing it there and what they thought?

Thanks

gavkm27

Printer wrote: »

Dan did a few days training with me aswell. Yeah he is awesome, such a good trainer. Did you have Rob Norton over in Argentina? He is head of ES Ride, the company I work for here in Zermatt.

Im hoping to get back to NZ this season to do my level 3 with some training from the Rookie Academy.

If anyone is thinking of going to New Zealand this season to do an instructor training course please let me know as my business, The Learning Curve Institute, has close ties with the guys from The Rookie Academy so I may be able to help out a bit.

www.rookieacademy.com is their site and ours is www.thelearningcurve.ie

Yeah i had Rob as my examiner in Argry,top bloke he is,small world,i think you know my flat mate,another irish fella Tim Russell?

Printer

Yeh man I know Tim! Rode with him last year in Whistler and he is big in the Irish scene too! Top guy and awesome rider too.

gavkm27

Printer wrote: »

Yeh man I know Tim! Rode with him last year in Whistler and he is big in the Irish scene too! Top guy and awesome rider too.

Yeh he sure is,just found you on fb:D