Fernie 11 week Instructor course 2015.16 - week 5 Update from Jamie!

Do you notice something a little bit different about me this week? Well you should! Because I’m happy to report that I’m now a certified Level 1 Ski Instructor! Wahey! Congrats to everyone else in my group who passed as well! Go Team Honey Badger!

A very happy group of Level 1 ski instructors!

Whilst on paper the assessment itself sounded pretty grueling, being three days long, the reality of it was that it was really enjoyable and informative. Getting the chance to lead our own lessons and employ suitable tactics and drills we’d learned was great fun. Having received our certificates and thanked all the amazing instructors it was time to let off some steam so everyone headed to the Griz Bar for a well deserved beer (or two…).

To top off an already incredible week, an adventurous group of us headed south across the border, into the US, to ski Whitefish in Montana. The weather gods were surely shining down on us as the resort received 70cm of snow in 72 hours. Saturday was powder heaven and may well rank number one as my favourite skiing day ever. If there was a contender to that spot it would be the following day, as the powder was nearly unchanged but it was the brightest, bluest day imaginable and showed off the spectacular Whitefish in all it’s glory.

The weather gods were happy this weekend!

A quick peek at the resort map before heading into powder heaven.

About to explore the endless tree runs and fresh powder...

It’s decision time next week as we are asked to choose whether we’d like to continue our instructor progression towards our Level 2, or to take the All Mountain Pro (AMP) route instead which sees us concentrate solely on skiing development across various terrains.

See more of my fifth week on the Fernie 11 week Instructor course in my VLOG: