Week 7 of the Verbier 10 week ski instructor course and the group are enjoying massive dumps of fresh snow, not for the ‘fair weather’ hearted! Here’s group leader and ski instructor Charlie with the update…

It’s STILL snowing!

Great mountain views with fresh snow.

Here in Verbier we’re now into a second week with Element Ski School and more days seeing snow than not – and we aren’t talking just a smattering here and there either; since 3rd of January there’s been over 5 ft of fresh snow! No mean feat for our trainees as the snow comes with a drop in temperatures too, so we are wrapping up warm to keep cosy on the lifts, though the flip side is that clouds and frosty temperatures scare the less hardy away and significantly reduce the time spent queueing for lifts…and we like that a lot! 

Training this week again focuses on the development of the skills our team will need to coach for their rapidly approaching Level 2 exams and here the fresh snow actually works against them. The heavy snowfall means that the piste bashers are unable to go to work, leaving the pisted runs very “choppy” and can make it quite difficult to practice, the trainees rise to the challenge though and the occasional tree run lifts everyone’s spirits and reminds us all why we’re here and learning how to teach the sport that inspires us all!

Training this week again focuses on the development of the skills our team will need to coach for their rapidly approaching Level 2 exams and here the fresh snow actually works against them. The heavy snowfall means that the piste bashers are unable to go to work, leaving the pisted runs very “choppy” and can make it quite difficult to practice, the trainees rise to the challenge though and the occasional tree run lifts everyone’s spirits and reminds us all why we’re here and learning how to teach the sport that inspires us all!

Empty lift queues…just the way we like it!

As we started this week as well, Billy, having been out for 3 weeks due to injury, is finally able to make a return to the slopes. Having made a few tentative runs away from the lessons last week, he now returns to training with enthusiasm in the hope that he will still have enough training time for the Level 2 exams.

In other great news, two of our trainees who just missed out on a pass for their Level 1 exams before Christmas nailed their technical re-assessment on Sunday, joining trainees from several other ski instructor courses for their re-sit. Despite heavy snow, temperatures of -20 C and closed lifts, we’re happy to say that both the Peak Leaders trainees passed – congratulations Ed and Olivia, welcome to the trained ranks!

Eyeing up a tree run (L-R Background: Olivia, Chloe, Max, Joe (Camo Jacket) Emma) Foreground: Dita McKenzie, joining Peak Leaders for Level 2 assessment)

Good news for our future ski instructors

The end of the week sees more snow forecast for next week, though not as much as the past 2, and the gods of mountains and weather must be smiling on our team as well – the pass to Mont Blanc is open and Monday is forecasted some great weather for the trip to Chamonix, which is the main draw for some of our trainees.

Joe taking a well-earned break in the powder!

Want to get your ski or snowboard ticket?

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