There’s now more reasons than ever to be a Crossover Instructor; being able to teach both snowboarding and skiing. We know you love snowboarding and want to share that as an instructor. But the snowsports industry is always changing. There’s now more reasons than ever to be a crossover Instructor; able to teach both skiing and snowboarding. You might be dead set against ever putting on a pair of skis, but being able to teach both skiing and snowboarding gives you so many new opportunities.
Not convinced yet? That’s OK. Read on to see why you might want to pick up a pair of skis, add to your instructing skill set and become a crossover qualified instructor.
Work More
Being a ski and snowboard instructor is one of the best jobs in the world. It’s fun, challenging and really rewarding. So you’ll want to spend plenty of time teaching lessons. Maybe you want to get as much experience as you can, maybe you want to earn more money to travel after the winter. Being a snowboard instructor who can also teach skiing will almost always get you more work.
In most ski resorts, the majority of guests are skiers. Because of that, there’s always going to be more ski lessons than snowboard lessons. On the quieter days with less people, this is even more true. If you’re standing at the snowboard lesson line up and see a lot more skiers than snowboarders, no problem, if you’re a dual qualified. Getting more work is a great reason why snowboarders should also be ski instructors.
Get More Job Offers as a Crossover Instructor
It’s really hard for ski schools to predict what the ratio of skiers to snowboarders will book each winter. This makes recruitment tricky. You’ll always be that much more hireable if you can teach skiing as well as snowboarding. Some ski schools, especially specialist private lesson ski schools prefer to hire crossover instructors over snowboard only instructors.
It’s also a great way to stand out from all the other snowboard instructors when you’re applying for your dream job. Even if, as a crossover instructor, you can only teach the basics of skiing, this will give you an advantage. More doors will be open to you, imagine instructing in Japan, Canada, China, Australia, South Korea and so many other places.
More Lesson Variety
Being a ski or snowboard instructor is amazing. You get to travel the world riding the best ski resorts like a local. Your workdays are different, exciting and engaging. So it makes sense to want even more of that.
Some days you might be riding the whole mountain with a group of rippers, other days though you might be teaching back to back first timer lessons on a magic carpet. A lot of ski school guests are beginners so you’ll spend a lot of time teaching that level, at least when you have less experience.
Being able to teach skiing really mixes it up. It might big first timer day for the whole ski school, but your day might be snowboarding in the morning and skiing in the afternoon. It keeps things fresh when teaching those same level kind of days.
Be better for your Guests as a Crossover Instructor
You’re a snowboard instructor. You want your guests to have an amazing experience learning while they get hooked on snowsports. So you want to be the best instructor you can be for them right? Being a crossover instructor will help you get there for two reasons. Being versatile to switch between sports and better understanding how people learn.
Unfortunately, snowboarding is tricky to learn for at least some guests. You’ll sometimes hear the question “do you teach skiing too?”, from your beginners. For some people, they will simply have a better time with skiing. For these guests you can gain more lessons by switching to your skis and teaching them. If they pickup skiing a little easier and fall in love with snowsports, you can probably get them back on a snowboard after they feel more comfortable on snow too! Guests always love a versatile crossover instructor.
It might be years since you learned to snowboard. You might have been too young to even remember those first few milestone or learning to stop and turn. Sure, there’s always something new to learn even as a snowboard instructor, but there’s a big difference between tweaking techniques and learning brand new ones. Crossover instructors usually learn skiing later in life, this can give you a really great insight into the beginner experience and will help you relate to your guests. Because of this, you can emphasise with your guests much easier.
It’s Easier to Learn Skiing as a Snowboarder
You’ve spent all that time and effort training to be a snowboard instructor. Guess what, those skills are completely transferable. For most people, it’s much easier to learn skiing when you’re already a great snowboarder.
So even if you’ve never skier before, it’s still very achievable to get a basic ski qualification and become a crossover instructor. Remember that ski instructor qualifications are in levels, so you don’t have to be an expert skier to get qualified.
Your balance, skills and understanding will transfer to skiing. You already know how your edge feels in the snow and how skis and boards slide around. You have a huge advantage that it’s worth the extra effort to become a crossover instructor and reap the benefits.
Looking Ahead: Higher Qualified Crossover Instructor
More and more instructors are realising that they can maximise their client reach, work hours and even pay by becoming highly qualified in both skiing and snowboarding. If you really want to stand out and be even more successful, you should consider going past the basic ski qualification as a crossover instructor.
Speaking from our experience, a higher certified crossover instructor will always rise to the top of a recruitment shortlist. Instantly a ski school will know that they can schedule any lesson to you. Matching instructors to lessons can be like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle when you don’t know what the picture should be. When a new lesson is booked the picture changes and you’ll need to rearrange pieces to make it all make sense. If you’re a highly versatile crossover instructor, your piece fits anywhere.
As a higher certified crossover instructor, you’ll do really well with your guests too. Being able to teach both skiing and snowboarding to a wider range of abilities makes you a more valuable instructor. You might find yourself teaching different members of one family to ski and snowboard during their stay. You’ll become their go-to instructor very quickly with your versatility, generating repeat bookings season after season.
Find you Passion for Skiing
Hopefully now you’re a little more convinced about being a crossover instructor, teaching both snowboarding and skiing. So here’s some final advice, find your passion for skiing.
We get it, you’re a snowboarder who loves to ride and share that with others. Give skiing the same amount of energy and enthusiasm. Try to get into it not just because of all the benefits, but because you want to share skiing with your guests. You’ll probably realise that you love both snowboarding and skiing, and that could take you places you never even realised.
