Getting a private lesson can be a big investment of time and resources. Here are a couple tips about picking the best ski or snowboarding instructor for your lesson.
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Do it early. Whether you use ShredBetter or just call the local reservation desk in advance, time is your friend. The best instructors are often filled up many weeks, or months in advance with their regulars. During busy times (MLK weekend and President’s Week), ski schools are often sold out and have no one to sell.
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Be clear about your goals. Tell the reservation agent what you are looking for, or you can search here on ShredBetter and find instructors that you think match your desired outcome. Total beginner and just want to have fun? Make your first set of good turns on blue terrain? Ride your first park feature? Clean up your steeps or bump technique? Have an honest goal in mind, and let the reservation agent and your instructor know when you meet him or her.
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Ask about certifications. The Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (AASI) provide certifications for instructors at Level I, II and III. Respectively, these instructors will be wearing a bronze, silver, or gold pin on their jacket, representing the levels. There is another post about certifications and what they mean in more depth, but after, I would ask for the highest certified instructor that is available. This is a gross generalization, but if you get someone who is Level II or higher, I’d wager you are likely to have a very good time.
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Years teaching matters … I also would ask how many years someone has been teaching. When you have been teaching a long while, you are likely to have encountered hundreds of different types of people, lessons, goals, snow conditions, etc. Sometimes they don’t have national certifications, but there are wily, veterans at every mountain that are worth finding.
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… But years skiing or riding rarely does. I would not care about how long someone has been skiing. As a staff trainer, I would tell you that there is a very little correlation to teaching ability to skiing/riding experience.
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Think like a dater. When people try dating sites, they are very specific, I am looking for a person ages x to y, dark hair, outgoing, etc. While you don’t have to be that discriminatingly specific, the analogy makes the point to try and think hard about how you learn best. Ski schools, especially the private desk, is a service business, so be as specific as you can about getting what you need. Do you learn best through breaking things down analytically? Are you more just a doer? Do you learn better with women teachers? Men? Are there age groups that you work better with? The more honest thought you put into your successful situation, the more fun you are going to have.
Hopefully these few tips can make sure you get the most out of your private lesson and help ensure that you get matched with the best pro available.
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