Taking a Gap Year to become
a Ski or Snowboard Instructor

Your reasons for enrolling on a SnowSkool ski or snowboard instructor training course may be varied but many of our customers are on a gap year between school and university or between university and their career.

The Benefits of a Gap Year Ski or Snowboard Course

Employers have been shown to value gap years - indeed a recent poll of
members of the Association of Graduate Recruiters concluded that 100% of those questioned believe a constructive gap year helps young people prepare for the workplace. The important word here is constructive. Travel or a year out will not in itself be a positive factor; however if you can demonstrate that you have learnt and developed as a result of the experience, it is certainly seen as a strength. Joining a SnowSkool gap year ski or snowboard course will give your time out just this focus.

A recent study by two economists at the University of Western Australia quantified for the first time the benefits of taking a gap year. They demonstrated that taking a Gap Year translates into better marks at university finding students who took time out scored an average first-year university mark 2.3% higher than those coming straight from school. The effect was strongest for underachieving males, who scored 3.7% more if they took a Gap Year.
(Sydney Morning Herald, 18/9/2007: Gap year sends uni students to top of class by Mark Davis and Harriet Alexander)

Qualifications

The snowboard or ski instructor qualifications you gain on any SnowSkool gap year course make you eligible to instruct in the 39 member states of the ISIA (International Snowsport Instructors Association). Former SnowSkool students have prolonged gap years to work as ski and snowboard instructors in many countries, including USA, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South America.

But even if you do not want to go on and work as a ski or snowboard instructor, the qualifications you gain will be seen as an achievement during your gap year: you can learn as part of a team, you can work with different types of people, you can teach a skill. The ski or snowboard instructor qualifications you gain on your gap year will demonstrate that you have set your mind to something, you have worked through the processes required to get there and you have achieved your goal.

Life Skills

The life skills that a gap year student can pick up on a SnowSkool course are less tangible than the qualifications but no less important. This may be your first time away from home and so domestic skills such as cooking, laundry, shopping and managing your money are important considerations. And there are lots of other little decisions along the way that you have to make for yourself that basically help you become that much more of your own person. It is not all about becoming a legendary skier or snowboarder!