Becoming a ski instructor and working in New Zealand and the UK

Ski instructor success story from Lucy Harris, who took part in our 11 Week Ski Instructor course in Fernie three years ago. Since then she has regularly instructed at an indoor ski slope and has just come back from a season in New Zealand!

I’m Lucy, a 21 year old student from Milton Keynes. I started skiing when I was 10 and immediately fell in love with it. Being lucky enough to live close to Sno!Zone I was able to get really involved with many aspects of skiing from doing some race training to a Saturday job working on the lifts and in rental.

I have always wanted to do a ski season. Whilst practically all my school friends went straight to university without a gap year, that option was never on my mind. I’d first considered becoming a chalet girl but decided that there would be nothing worse than being stuck inside working whilst everyone else was out on the slopes.

I would like to claim that doing a Nonstop course was my idea but in fact my sister had done one in 2007. I considered breaking the mould and going to a different resort or even with a different company but I couldn’t find one that offered the same experience. I had seen the pictures, heard the stories and even been to visit my sister out in Fernie; that was what I wanted!

I booked onto the 11 Week Ski Instructor course in Fernie for 2010. I went out a week before the course began, partly so I could get my ski legs back, buy new equipment, settle in and also due to FOMO (fear of missing out). The first week was incredible. After meeting everyone at the airport it was off to Fernie.

When we arrived the three weekers had one day left of their Level 1 exam, so the party that followed was a great way to get thrown into the Nonstop lifestyle. After a week of exploring Fernie’s famous bowls and getting our bearings, we were excited for the rest of the course participants to arrive and, of course, for the programme to officially start.

I was living in a four bed dorm in the Red Tree Lodge. I’m sure many people could think of nothing worse than sharing a room with three other girls but it really was so much fun. From girly movie nights to waking up to a trolley in our room, furniture upside down and the room filled to the brim with balloons! The lodge allowed us to easily meet all the other Nonstoppers, and access all of the facilities (hot tub, bar, meals etc) without having to venture outside. We were able to have pre-drinks in the rec room and even pool parties.

The course itself was incredible. The instructors were all so helpful and such fun. It was an incredible experience to be able to be taught by such talented people. Lessons were always enjoyable, there was never an option to be bored. Our time was spent focusing on our technique or just blasting around the mountain in a group. From the hours on the mountain and the drills we did, everyone quickly saw their skiing ability rapidly increase.

Even if some of the exercises were bizarre, such as carrying trays of cups full of water down moguls, (on the first attempt mine went flying in the air drenching me) in all fairness they all helped us improve. Considering it was supposedly not the best season for snow it was still the best snow and most powder I have ever seen. Having done most of my skiing previously in a race environment at an indoor slope I was not very confident off piste or on moguls, but soon my technique was tuned so I was able to not only do but enjoy both!

In the lead up to the Level 1 exam we had a go at teaching others in our group. The idea was slightly daunting so the ice was broken by being made to teach a partner anything we want as long as it had nothing to do with skiing, so from cartwheels, to animal impressions, to Spice Girls raps, we all had our first experience of ‘teaching’. We learned the basic progression to parallel, how to spot common problems and exercises to help fix these.

The actual exam was split into teaching and skiing and split between two examiners. One of our examiners had taught us previously so it helped put our nerves to rest. It was hard work but paid off when we were all celebrating up in the Griz Bar after being awarded our qualifications. Jugs of bear and naked table sliding seemed to be on the agenda before heading back into town to continue the celebrations. Stoked on being qualified, a group of us decided to swap skiing for snowboarding and vice versa, teaching each other and showing why we loved our chosen sport.

A few weeks later a group of us embarked on our Level 2 exam. I had been told that it was quite a large step up from Level 1 so was slightly nervous. On the first day we woke up to fresh powder, we were all a bit disappointed that we had to waste a powder day doing our exam, but it seemed the examiners felt the same way as we spent the first few runs in search for some fresh lines before getting down to work.

The course had so many extras on top of the tuition, which helped create an incredible season. Cat skiing, ice hockey, dog sledding… to name just a few. Night skiing was definitely a highlight for me. Two buses full of buzzing Nonstoppers headed over to Alberta for a couple of hours of skiing under the floodlights with access to an incredible park. Followed by an unforgettable bus bar crawl on the way home, from cowboy bars to karaoke. Another highlight has to be Hot Dog day. The sight of a mountain covered in retro ski gear, t-bar workers BBQ-ing giving out free food and followed, of course, by an epic après party at the Griz.

Leaving Canada was such a sad day. Although it was less than a week before a massive group of us all met up for a reunion night out before setting off on our summer adventures.

I went on the course as it was an incredible way to do a season and to improve my skiing. The instructors qualification in my mind was just an added bonus that I may use one day to get a cheeky paid week in the alps. But how wrong I was…

In August I returned from traveling around Asia, very much penniless. I approached Sno!Zone in Milton Keynes hoping to get a few shifts back in my old rental job to scrape some cash together. A colleague mentioned that they were short on ski instructors and next thing I knew I was hired.

I shadowed a few lessons to refresh my memory and then was let loose on my first class. Waiting for my first pupils I was terrified but then as soon as the lesson started it just all came naturally and I loved it. Most of the lessons I taught were based on building up snowplough turns and control as, in that environment, most customers were complete beginners.

I am so lucky that I have been able to return every university holiday to this job. During the summer holidays I was highly involved in the kids camp programme. This involved teaching ‘rookies’ or ‘pros’ in the morning and then doing a range of activities such as wakeboarding in the afternoon . Being able to work with the same children for a week is so rewarding, in particular when a child who initially refused to put their skis on is seen zooming down the main slope saying ‘I’m going to do your job when I’m older’.

Although I do love teaching in a giant freezer there is always that desire to want to go to a mountain. Having been stuck in England for a summer I decided to try and do a southern hemisphere season in my next summer break. Applying for my New Zealand working holiday visa was definitely a spur of the moment decision so I was in complete shock when less than five minutes after clicking ‘apply’ I had a phone call finalising my details and payment!

So I had the visa - now it was time to get a job. I was slightly limited due to uni exams and term time. Even so I was offered a full time ski instructors position at Whakapapa on Mount Ruapehu. I signed up for staff accommodation in the village, more affectionately referred to as ‘staffies’. Staffies was an incredible place to live, over 50 like-minded people all living under one roof.

Due to the open nature of the mountain (well, volcano to be precise) there were often closed days, so living with an awesome bunch of people was vital to prevent cabin fever. To some extent it felt more like a holiday than a job so pay days were always a bonus.

On my first day of work I was confident with the teaching side of things but petrified that I would lose a child! Suddenly being on a massive mountain instead of contained inside a ‘freezer’ I found myself re-counting my pupils every other second.

The snow school was quite large yet, cheesy as it sounds, everyone ended up becoming a close family. Especially during the school holidays when a lot of time was spent in the beginner’s area known as ‘Happy Valley’. You would think that being stuck in the beginner’s area with kids would get boring but it never did. There was a jug list so if you did something stupid such as falling over in uniform, losing a child, stopping a lift etc you could be nominated and then fined a jug of beer. Jug nights were always a highlight; a themed night with the whole snow school, where all jug fines were paid, which always resulted in an extremely big night out!

Even at back at uni I can’t escape the world of skiing. I’m highly involved in the running of DUSSC (Durham University ski and snowboard club). I’ve helped out teaching some of the beginners at the local dry slope and even with more experienced skiers as they try to adapt to that dreaded dendex. Races and events are always a highlight of my academic year, especially as I will always bump into at least one person that I met out in Fernie.

I’m not entirely sure what I want to do when I leave uni but I am sure that I want to get back out to the mountain and at the very least do one more season. My time in Fernie was genuinely a once in a lifetime experience and I loved every minute of it; the friends I made and all the incredible opportunities it has given me afterwards.

Find out more about Nonstop's range of skiing instructor training courses here.