It’s a bright new snowy year – 2018 came in with a bang! The Peak Leaders are halfway through the course now and they’re focused on making their training days count and fulfilling their New Years resolutions! We have had more big dumps of snow with some of the biggest on record in the last two decades. The weather was tough at the beginning of the week but all the trainees still turned up each morning with a big smile on their face eager to get skiing and work hard.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to ski! #peakleaders #gapcourse #skiing #winterwonderland #verbier ❄️⛷👌 @elementconcept

A post shared by Peak Leaders (@peakleaders) on Jan 3, 2018 at 11:33pm PST

A lot of snow has fallen over the past few days but finally as the week went on the clouds shifted and the sun came out once again. It’s easy to start taking for granted what an amazing resort we live in so it’s important to take a few seconds every now and again to appreciate what an awesome place it is! Not a bad office view!

The mountains looking epic after the week of snow storms has passed 👌 #peakleaders #gapcourse #skiing #winterwonderland #verbier ⛷🇨🇭 @elementconcept

A post shared by Peak Leaders (@peakleaders) on Jan 5, 2018 at 11:49am PST

Each week the coaches will ask the Peak Leaders to concentrate and work hard. Equally it’s important for the coaches to come up with new ways of keeping training focused but fun. Here the trainees having a crack at some synchro skiing. This is ideal training to work on timing and coordination, which are two essential skills for skiing.

The #peakleaders team practicing for the national demo team … #practicemakesperfect #skiing #verbier #gapcourse #trainhard ⛷❄️👌 @elementconcept 🎥 @will.peek

A post shared by Peak Leaders (@peakleaders) on Jan 2, 2018 at 8:07am PST

The course is always action packed and it feels like is goes so fast with lots to do on this course. This week one of the groups was training with Will whilst the other group shadowed ski lessons with Les Elfes. Shadowing is an important part of learning to become a ski instructor. So far all the Peak Leaders have taught lessons in both training and in their level 1 exam but this was a chance to shadow real lessons and learn how a good lesson is actually delivered. The technical content has to be spot on, of course, but learning about group management and safety is vital to running a fun and enjoyable lesson. It’s also a great way of learning about ‘real world’ ski lessons.

Below Jemima is shadowing Annie, a former Peak Leaders graduate from our Argentina course who is now working full time for Les Elfes this winter!

Jemima shadowing and learning from the best instructor today … Annie who is an ex PL trainee ⭐️👌⛷#peakleaders #shadowing #verbier #skiing #instructortraining @elementconcept @leselfes

A post shared by Peak Leaders (@peakleaders) on Jan 9, 2018 at 3:10am PST

As usual the groups had dryland training this week. The trainees are definitely getting fitter and stronger now. The plan is this will put them at a massive advantage for the rest of their training and in the exam. If they are fitter and stronger then they’re more likely to complete more quality training days and improve faster!

The halfway point of the course has come now, and the Peak Leaders have five more weeks to get ready for the BASI Level 2 exam. It is time to train hard and make the most of the remaining five weeks. It will pass in a flash … and soon we will have lots of qualified ski instructors ready to teach for February half term! #watchthisspace