Travelling The World As A Ski Instructor - Jack's Story

Jack did the 11 week ski instructor course in Fernie with us in 2014. Now he's heading all over the world chasing the snow. Read about his journey so far.

When I was 15 my parents asked me what I was going to do with my life (pretty big question!). My answer was that I just wanted to ski. With this in mind I Googled ski jobs and Nonstop popped up - one of the first things that jumped out was Fernie, BC, which happened to be the second place I ever went skiing as a child! So from then it was pretty much set that I was going to Canada to become a ski instructor, which led me to working whenever I could to pay for it and studying outdoor education.

The three months I spent in Fernie were all-time! I met some incredible people and skied some of the deepest and best snow of my life (that’s a big claim after just spending a season in Japan!). So many stories of skiing, partying and generally what I call the 'Fernie Factor' - the atmosphere of Fernie is found few and far between, and the best way to understand it is to experience it!

A very hazy highlight was my trip with Nonstop to Whitefish, Montana ('What happens in Whitefish stays in Whitefish'). It’s fair to say that trip got a bit wild, met the nicest border security man ever! Turns out Americans actually wear cowboy hats not in an ironic way and don’t appreciate jokes about them. Had a day of great skiing then hit the town! 

Obviously the main highlight was after 12 weeks of hard work, finishing with my CSIA Level 2. This qualification now gave me options to work all over the world! Having missed out on a Canadian visa I got talking to one of my Nonstop coaches who had connections with a ski school in Japan (AKA Japow due to the insane amounts of snow they get), so I emailed the ski school director asking for a job and easy as that... I had a job!

After one of the longest waits of my life, waiting for the next winter to come, in late November I headed out to Japan. I would advise anyone to go here even if you’re not going to ski. Eventually... after getting lost many times I arrived at my staff accommodation with an awesome view from my window!

The time came for me to start work again. Not really knowing what to expect, naively thinking that I was just going to get to rip around the hill all day skiing powder with some people following me. This did not happen! I was given six first time three-year-olds which was an interesting experience, but after a few weeks I had getting six three-year-olds ready to go skiing on a hangover down to a fine art! Work usually started at 10 and went to 3:30, unless you had morning duties or were on privates and I got paid about £11 an hour.

Again, like Fernie, the whole season in Japan was unreal. Nothing beats getting to ski every morning, or night, usually getting fresh tracks with my buddies!

It's all about 'who ya know' in skiing and in an effort to keep me sane over the summer, I’m going down under to do a season teaching in Australia, which I got though a friend of mine! And with a Canadian visa in hand I will be heading back out to Canada eh!

USEFUL LINKS

If you fancy a career in the instructor industry, take a look at the course in Fernie Jack did, or check out our other ski instructor courses or snowboard instructor courses. They are also a great way to improve your skiing or snowboarding even if you don't plan on teaching after. Or if you want an awesome way to spend your gap year, we have great ski gap year courses and snowboard gap year courses too.