Who doesn’t love wearing the all-time favorite sandals and loose shorts? Everybody does, especially in the fall when the temperatures are warmer than usual all over the United States. But long the warmth is going to be, the snow – and skiing – will always come around at the end of the year. “Downhill skiing represents one of the most popular winter sports worldwide,” Martin Burtscher and collaborators wrote. If you’ve been planning to hire an instructor to help you master the art of skiing, check out a few of the things you should know about ski instructors, secrets about why they like bad weathers and how they’re paid not so great but still love to teach the young and old alike!
- They Can’t-Wait For The Heavy Snowfalls
The weather is inevitable, but what you don’t know is that ski coaches love bad weather and just can’t wait for the frosty temperatures to come by. The heaps of snow and the cold are the skier’s dream, the great opportunity to practice their glides and slides and to see their students lining up for them to train.
- They Don’t Quite Like It When The Snowboarders Share With Their Snow
Some ski instructors do love snowboarding, but most of them try to steer clear from the snowboarder’s way, especially when they’re teaching. Snowboarders tend to crush all snow on the hills and slopes and leave the skiers with nothing but a flat surface that takes away the excitement that the students are waiting for in their lessons. Hey, snowboarders, won’t you share the mountains sometimes?
- They Don’t Think Skiing No More Dangerous Than Any Sport
This is based on statements from a majority of ski instructors who have been teaching kids to ski. There are, of course, risks of doing it as a hobby or a sport. However, from their experience, they have not encountered serious injuries other than a concussion, a shoulder dislocation, and a broken nose or leg. According to Lynne J Warda, MD and co-authors, “Skiing and snowboarding are popular recreational and competitive sport activities for children and youth. Injuries associated with both activities are frequent and can be serious.” The worst that a ski instructor ever experienced with one of his students was a spinal fracture due to a fall on the back. There are still dangers, but they are relatively the same as with any physical activity.
- Pay Isn’t Very Good
With good, they mean great – big dollars. Skiing may sound ‘expensive’ like the gears they use, but they pay for teaching the sport isn’t that great. Depending on their level of expertise, ski instructors get paid as low as $10 an hour for group classes (a little higher for one-on-one classes) to as high as $40 for level 4 instructors. For most of them, they admit that if not for the love of skiing, they would have looked for another job!
- They Like Teaching Kids – It Improves Their Creativity
Teaching a group of curious, eager, and noisy kids is not an easy task. Some of them are not that strong to handle a ski yet, but they’re just so persistent. Some are too energetic that they easily get bored with the activities prepared for them. What ski instructors do is to make creative games out of the moves that the students are required to learn. They also use pictures that the kids can guess by using the skiing moves. This way, they don’t feel lousy teaching the same routine.
Dr. David Eagleman, Ph.D, explains, “Trying new things increases the connections between neurons in your brain and provides perspective. Now apply this to your skiing.”
- They Are Happy When People Win Over Their Fears When They Ski
As much as skiing is a great form of exercise and fun winter activity, it is also a way for people to overcome their phobias. Ski instructors have encountered several students who have dreamed of learning how to ski but never started earlier because they just can’t step on those skis. And part of the challenge – and joy – of their job is to be able to help these people become great skiers who have won over their fears in life. They can’t begin to explain how amazing they feel every time this happens.
“It’s not all about teaching people how to ski, but it’s also about helping them fulfill their goals and overcoming their lifetime fears.”