Once the snow finally melts, instructors often put their teaching skills in the closet with their parkas and boards. But Sherman White, chairman of the PSIA-E Snowsports Management Committee and administrative director of the Snowsport School at Smugglers’ Notch, Vt., says summer is the perfect opportunity to work on teaching skills either by becoming a student of a new sport or by teaching a longtime favorite.
“Many of the best instructors I know teach climbing, golf, tennis, canoeing or kayaking, once the snow goes,” says White, who, in addition to his 30 years of teaching skiing, has taught kayaking and has worked as a corporate trainer.
The obvious added benefit to teaching another sport is remaining athletically active, maintaining conditioning for the subsequent ski season. And there are benefits to picking up a new sport. On being a beginner, White says:
- Try something brand new
- Learn how to apply new and old skills to a new situation
- Discover lateral learning, taking a new technique and applying it to snow (and translating that to students)
- Be aware of your instructor’s methods and compare them to your own
If an instructor is particularly passionate about a summer sport, he or she should investigate the possibilities of teaching it to others. In many cases, that activity can take place right in the ski resort’s backyard if not at the resort itself. It also might be a way to inspire new summer programs and is a chance to earn some money while having fun.
Teaching is like any other activity. There are certain skills that any instructor needs to use to be effective, such as communicating, setting goals and developing an eye for analyzing movements. The more teaching situations he or she is involved in, the better the instructor becomes. In addition, instructors can benefit from self-evaluation and use the additional time to work on weaknesses. Finally, if certification is a goal, the experience of a such a process in another sport can be valuable training for PSIA or AASI certification.
Another opportunity is training at the corporate level. More and more companies recognize the importance of training for employees, and who better to do that than someone with a teaching background. There are consultants who facilitate team-building seminars and being a facilitator is great practice for working with ski and snowboard students.
According to White, teaching is teaching regardless of the topic and will only improve through practice. And that works whether the practice takes place full-time or on summer weekends. The more opportunities they get to teach, the more passion for the sport good teachers can pass on to their students.
