A Career in Snowsports
Posted on July 13, 2011 at 1:16 pm

In a bid to help aspiring snowsports instructors get their footing on the career ladder, Peak Leaders are offering a number of instructing jobs to their clients  after completing instructor courses in Europe. 

‘Having successfully partnered with European Snowsport in Verbier over the last 5 year and trained over 150 instructors, we are delighted to extend this partnership to Zermatt too. Our instructor training programs provide the ideal recruitment pool for European Snowsport and other snowsports schools to handpick our best clients to join their team of staff in Zermatt and Verbier. It’s a fantastic opportunity for those wishing to work in the industry to put their qualification into practise following our course,’ says Mhairi Hughes, Marketing Manager for Peak Leaders.

 European Snowsport’s Director Julian Griffiths agrees, ‘Over the last 5 years we have added some fantastic instructors to our team through Peak Leaders instructor training programs. Throughout the coaching, we are able to monitor clients as they develop their skiing and teaching skills, then we are able to bring the best to our team. It’s also a great way for newly qualified instructors to start their career in some of Europe’s most prestigious resorts.’

Mike Joyce, Operations Director for ES (and former PL client) has found that, ‘I have been in professional contact with many Snowsport Instructor companies over the past 6 years and have failed to find one with a more comprehensive programme, higher standards or greater exit opportunities than Peak Leaders. They are without a doubt the stand out organisation in their field.’

Our ski and snowboard instructor courses give you gap year or career break that adds value. Everyone on these courses will gain ski school experience during the courses and given the skills to graduate with the BASI Level 2 qualification, an internationally recognised & highly regarded instructor qualification. Aside from finishing the course a much improved skier or rider, the course helps develop commercial skills such as improving interpersonal communication, team leading and interview technique, all of which will lead to a stronger C.V going forward.

Styling It In Zermatt
Posted on February 27, 2011 at 2:31 pm

Charlies Trade Mark Daffy Big Air

Peak Leader Jake is clear to take off

All this hard work can make you thirsty, Olly demonstrating the importance of rehydrating on the mountain

The view can be breath taking

We are all having a great time in Zermatt, A lot has happened in the last few weeks….we are all now ski instructors having all passed our BASI 1! Charlie and Harry have taken an interest in freestyle, actually that is putting it mildly….Charlie and Harry are obsessed with freestyle!

We have just completed our first weeks work as real live ski instructors. It is amazing to finally put on that red jacket with the stars and all!   We have been making maximum use of the 7.00pm no uniforms in the Pamperla pub rule. BASI Level 2 assessments are just starting but no stress we are shredding the mountain on the freshly fallen powder!  OkK apres is calling so until the next blog…Take it easy and enjoy the powder…we will.

Peak Leaders Zermatt

Half Way to a Red Jacket
Posted on January 30, 2011 at 4:02 pm

BASI level 1,Done! The week got off to a cold start but the -28 temperatures did not faze the Zermatt team. We wrapped up and got stuck into it. All participating trainees passed with flying colours which means we are now officialy half way to our Red Ski School Jackets. Here are some photos of the week.

Some of the views from the glacier were really stunning and we could often see as far as France and Italy with the clouds swirling below us. We have skied all over the mountain now and sampled some fine resturaunts! There are of beautifully built huts and old buildings strewn around the mountain.

Apres has been a fairly regular affair and there is nothing better than a well earned beer at the end if a good days training. We have made ourselves known and been welcomed in the local apres bar - The Pamperla Pub which has been a good end to our strenuous days on the mountain.  I would have to say though, some of the shapes bieng busted on the dance floor are some what questionable!!

We have all completed a mountain first aid course with Tom Durham from Collective Training. The course was really informative and left us all feeling much more confident to deal with any potential First Aid scenarios we may come across over the rest of the season.

We are now looking forward to the Freestyle training day with one of the local Freestyle coaches from the red school - Felix. He has a rep for hitting massive jumps and always lands on his feet just like a cat!

We are all looking forward to the next few weeks when we will start training for  BASI level 2. Untill the it is goodbye from the Zermatt team and may Feb be a snowy month.

Week 1 under the Matterhorn
Posted on January 15, 2011 at 10:57 pm

Week 1:

On the evening of 3rd January, we were sat around the North Wall bar for a post-dinner drink, trying to remember the names of each of the other people sat around us. Even though we’re now only nine days in, that seems like it was a long time ago. And a lot’s happened in that first week.

From our first day finding our skiing legs, to our fourth day of training with Liam, one of our two BASI instructors for the course, it’s clear to see how far everyone has come in terms of their skiing.

Before training began we had one day on the slopes ourselves, then we were taken out for orientation with a local Swiss instructor, Frankie ‘The Bear’. It took a little time to adjust to the swiss teaching style,lots of short turns made for an intense two days of skiing. Frankies skiing was inspiring and his sense of humor matched his exuberant style. It seems now, a day can not go by without a Frankie quote. We had a rather welcome day to ease off before the BASI training really began.

Following the ‘work-hard, play-hard’ ethic of the course to the letter, we have taken advantage of the strong party atmosphere of the town, leading to a couple of late ones, although if anybody was struggling on a morning’s skiing it was difficult to tell – Liam himself came to the conclusion that certain members of the course ski better after a night out than a good night’s sleep. With a variety of nights on offer, our evening entertainment has ranged from rock night, where we enjoyed a good set of covers from the local band on their first performance of the season, to a fourth place position in the pub quiz, which, according to some of the chalet girls, “isn’t bad for a bunch of instructors.”

….and the BASI Level 2 begins….
Posted on March 10, 2010 at 11:59 am

The last week of preparation is over……and the time of the final assessment of BASI 2 has arrived! The last week has been busy with Brendon fine tuning everyones skiing and saying goodbye to the Schneewitchen parties for a few days. Theory-lessons instead of apreski and early days on the mountain with the BASI Trainer Ben are now on the agenda for the next two weeks!

Good Luck to everyone!

Kaspar Stettler – Group Leader

Busy times for the PL instructors!
Posted on February 26, 2010 at 10:42 am

This past week has been quite an eventful one. Not only did we help out the ski school as part time employees, but our skiing also came together. Everyone’s carving looked very sharp and fundamentally sound. Kasper continues to make sure that our off-time is well spent.

For anyone serious about their skiing or about pursuing a snow sports career, Peak Leaders in Zermatt is a must.
Lukas

Red jackets and underpants….
Posted on February 18, 2010 at 3:26 pm

This week began with shadowing groups in the Swiss Ski School, our first experience of teaching a group. We all found it very useful as we hadn’t had much of an idea of what to expect from groups of kids up to that point. We learnt lots of teaching styles and got lots of helpful advice from the insructors we met.

On Thursday we went back to training with Brendon, which we had all missed a lot during the last couple of weeks. Training has got slightly more intensive now that we’re doing BASI 2, and we’re all having to work much harder during our time on the mountain.

Thursday also saw the biggest night out so far in Zermatt…Super hero night at Schnee Wittchen. Much time was spent carefully selecting costumes, ending up with Superman, Batman, Captain underpants, and for some reason a couple of ipods.. And finally, training resumed on Friday and Saturday where we all made some more improvements to our technique.

Sunday was a day off, used for rest and recuperation
 

By Rosie