Born in Switzerland Massimo was excited to be going back to his roots doing what he loves best.
‘I was born in Switzerland where snow was the first game of my childhood. At 6 years old my parents decided to go back to Italy and many years later (at 38) I tried boarding for the first time’
By then an established and successful goldsmith with his own business Formeoro making and selling jewellery, Massimo still had a latent snowboarding dream he wanted to explore. He thought that doing an instructor course would be the best way, firstly to improve his skills, and then to go on to share his passion.
So at 48 yrs young he booked onto the SnowSkool snowboard instructor course in the Three Valleys to do just that.
Never too late to follow your dreams
Massimo says he was a little bit worried that he might be too old, and also because English is not his mother tongue. But ‘I believed in the universal language of snowboarding and my solid skills riding my board’ and went for it.
And it paid off. Snowboarding every day in an awesome resort, enjoying live music with a good beer in the evenings Massimo says with his Italian inflection ‘every night I was going to sleep so happy for the next day coming’.
Being the only Italian on the course felt like a challenge but ‘after one month I felt totally integrated with all the guys in the chalet. I also cooked carbonara - the original italian recipe – for them’
Top Snowboard instruction
Massimo rated the brilliant instruction he received through SnowSkool. Seventy hours on the slopes with experienced instructors and – crucially in his view, training with real customers, led to his achieving his BASI Level 2 opening the doors to working as an instructor.
A gateway to snowboard instructing
After passing his exams Massimo cracked on with applying for instructor work which involved email applications followed by interviews on zoom or via the phone. He was thrilled to land himself a job in Davos, Kosters, Switzerland, is enjoying the instructor work at Ride and Smile Ski and Snowboard School and is continuing to improve his skills working towards his Level 3 qualification.
He couldn’t be happier - ‘teaching snowboarding in the most beautiful mountains in Europe, Wooooooow! I lived my season feeling like I was in a big dream – one of the best periods of my life’
He urges 'If being an instructor is your dream, you have a responsibility to make it happen. SnowSkool is a good way’
We are so glad SnowSkool could help set Massimo on his new journey and thank him for sharing his story and passion here on our blog.
Inspired? Get in touch to discuss what instructor course will work for you.
Writer: Kate Swainson Price