'How much skiing/snowboarding experience do I need?' and ‘Do I need to be fit for the course?’ feature in our FAQs! (Click to see more frequently asked questions).
Your level of experience and fitness are both important things to consider when thinking about booking a ski instructor course/ snowboard instructor course. You don’t want to find yourself with jelly legs by 11 o’clock, or out of control down a steep run on day one. A little embarrassing!
However, your fitness and experience will skyrocket on your journey to become a snowboard or ski instructor – they’re both things that the course will help rapidly improve.
How much experience do you need for a SnowSkool instructor course or internship?
This will vary from course to course. This is because the qualifications, and courses require to achieve them, vary in intensity. It’s also dependant on your personal character/guts/dedication – if you’ve got those in droves, then you’ll probably be able to get away with the minimum experience required:
SnowSkool Banff: minimum 3 weeks ski or board experience. In practice, this means the ability to ski/ ride down a blue run with good speed & control
SnowSkool Big White: minimum 3 weeks ski or board experience. In practice, this means the ability to ski/ ride down a blue run with good speed & control
SnowSkool New Zealand: minimum 6 weeks ski or board experience. In practice, this means the ability to ski/ ride down a red run with good speed & control
SnowSkool France: minimum 10 weeks ski or board experience. In practice, this means the ability to ski/ ride all on-piste terrain with good speed & control
SnowSkool Zell am See: minimum 12 weeks ski or board experience. In practice, this means the ability to ski/ ride all on-piste terrain with good speed & control
Read more about what to expect on each course here: www.snowskool.com/blog/what-to-expect-on-a-snowskool-instructor-course
Do you need to be fit for a SnowSkool instructor course or internship?
Your fitness will improve really quickly when you start training for hours every day at altitude.
That said, getting fit before the course will really help with fatigue and preventing injury, so we do recommend it. Work on cardio, lower body and core strength, and some yoga/flexibility work to improve upper/lower body separation.
Try this month-long pre-course fitness plan (or just general ski-fit fitness) with abs/core workouts and legs workouts.
Hopefully this helps you on your way to booking a SnowSkool instructor course!
View our ski instructor courses here, our snowboard instructor courses here, or our ski instructor internship here.
Browse our blog for literally hundreds more articles on every element of our courses - from finding an instructor job, to being a good roommate! If you still have questions, get in touch by calling, emailing [email protected] or filling out this form.