Fernie 11 Week Instructor Course 16/17 - Week 5

What a week Heather has had in Fernie on the 11 week instructor course! Passing her CASI Level 1 certification and becoming a qualified instructor, before experiencing ‘the best day snowboarding ever’ as she went cat boarding for the first time. Untouched fields of powder had her on a serious high. We have a feeling Heather is enjoying her career break.

This week started with a private lesson with my instructor from last week, Lucy. This was everybody’s last chance to ride with our instructors and make sure everything was dialled in before taking our Level 1 exams at the end of the week. The 90-minute session went really well, the focus was mostly on making minor adjustments to my riding style in order to meet the Level 1 standard. The one-on-one time is so valuable, the Nonstop instructors do a brilliant job of providing personalised feedback during the group lessons, but it’s so helpful to have that expert eye trained just on you. The adjustments, although minor, felt immediately more comfortable and powerful through edge changes, especially on steeper terrain. Lucy also managed to get me riding switch with a decent amount of flow, which is something that has always felt very uncomfortable for me, so I was super happy about that — it needs more practise though! I came away from that lesson feeling ten times more confident and ready for the exams, and also having seen a solid example of what an instructor getting the best out of someone looks like.

I spent the rest of Monday and Tuesday with friends, running through group teaching and demo practices on the lower mountain, which was a great way to test ourselves and discuss different ideas and tactics. Of course we also took a few runs in-between for pure enjoyment; that is snowboarding after all!

Wednesday was the first of the three-day exam period, it was mostly spent with our Course Evaluator focussing on improvements and running through the five step system for teaching beginner snowboarders, it was very relaxed. The less said about Thursday’s conditions the better, let’s just say it was a test of resolve; rainy, soaked-through resolve. This was our first opportunity to show our teaching skills in a group scenario. Friday morning included a short workshop on teaching children, then we did a kids teaching session which was a good opportunity to get creative with tactics, using games and imagination to make the learning process fun; it was a stretch to try and imagine your group of twenty-something friends were eight years old for the duration of the lesson! The last practice teach was a scenario based situation which meant tailoring our tactics to specific student needs, I probably enjoyed teaching this lesson the most as it felt the most natural. On Friday afternoon we all gathered nervously in the lodge to await our results. After a tense announcement from instructor Alex about things sometimes not going to plan, and with everybody’s nerves at an all-time high, came the revelation that we had ALL in fact passed! Cue cheers and high fives all round, it was such a great atmosphere! I’m now a qualified snowboard instructor. Needless to say there were a few sore heads in Fernie on Saturday morning. 

The perfect end to this milestone week was a day of cat boarding on Sunday with Fernie Wilderness Adventures. Was it the best day snowboarding I’ve ever had? 100%. It was incredible! Thirteen of us, a mix of skiers and snowboarders, piled into our huge yellow snowcat and were shuttled up a slow, bumpy, occasionally steep route into fields of untouched powder, the scenery was stunning. I was a little apprehensive about riding powder after a not so perfect start a couple of weeks ago when Fernie was hit with the ‘snowpocalypse’, however after a couple of dubious sideslips I found my feet.

This snow was like nothing I’d ever experienced, when you can cut your own line through untouched powder it feels like flying, it was so effortless and floaty. Our guides took us to a run called ‘Cloud Nine’, which is very appropriately named; a steep entrance into a wide, high-sided bowl, through a few trees and out onto a rolling field of white, I couldn’t contain the whoops and yells and ‘oh my god!’s, which subsequently ruined my GoPro footage. If I was impressed with ‘Cloud Nine’ then ‘Dark Side’ was in another dimension entirely. A vast hillside with a high tree line that opened up into roller after roller of the most perfect powder, it was magnificent, both to look at and to snowboard; I’ll be daydreaming about that one for the foreseeable. I can’t wait to week seven when I get to do more of the same, but this time with a helicopter! 

Become an instructor in fernie

Train in the five alpine bowls of Fernie and become a qualified ski or snowboard instructor, whether your want to start a life in the industry or simply want an epic gap year or career break.

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