“” Make your dream come true and become a ski instructor! “”

With my senior general secondary education (HAVO) diploma in my pocket, I was ready for an adventure. I didn’t want to go to university right away. I wanted to discover the world. I decided to take a gap year abroad and get out there. I enjoyed the sun in California for the first 3 months of my gap year. The following 3 months I was in the mountains in Tyrol through Yseasonal. I had a great time during this period working as a ski instructor in Austria!

Working in Austria

I already knew in advance in which area I wanted to teach during my gap year abroad. I wanted to teach in Serfaus, a village in Tyrol. I have skied here for the past 10 years of my life. My brother went before me a few years ago. I saw how much fun and friends he made and thought I want this too later! I kept my word and I too went to work in Austria during my gap year.

Ski Instructor in Austria

Before you can be a ski instructor or snowboard instructor, you have to follow a certain training. I followed this training in the same village where I taught. This training was doable. The training consists of a theory part and a practical part. It was sometimes a bit of a struggle, because everything was in German, but this did not cause major problems. The training lasts a total of 10 days. This is not too bad, but it makes the days heavy and long. The nice thing is that after 10 days you can say that you are a ski instructor in Austria. My dream had come true!

More than just Working Abroad

Many Dutch people come to the ski village of Serfaus every year for their ski vacation. The ski school in the village therefore hires many Dutch ski instructors. This is great for the team. We slept in a house with 30 beds with only Dutch people. Good friendships quickly develop, with which all kinds of fun activities are organized. For example, we played football in a gym, the Dutch against the Germans. Some evenings we also all shot down the illuminated toboggan run. Where we were most often to be found was of course in the après-ski. Here we drank a few beers every day after work to end the working day well.

Working as a Ski Instructor

Of course, there was also work to be done. Working in the mountains of Austria is not a punishment either. Especially not in the red ski instructor suit. Sometimes it is a bit heavy in the morning if you have stayed in après-ski for too long, but when you are back outside among the mountains you feel top fit again. The fresh mountain air works wonders! Once up there, you do what you love most: Skiing! Teaching people the profession that you are good at is the best thing there is. I have given many different types of lessons, from young to old and from beginners to advanced. It was very nice to have these differences in lessons.

Responsibilities as a Ski Instructor

In addition to the great experience, you also learn a lot. You get a lot of responsibility when you are a ski instructor. For example, you can get a class of 12 children. You have to make sure that you safely deliver them back to their parents in the afternoon. You also learn to plan well. You must always think ahead to be everywhere on time. And what is of course also very important is that you teach them to ski better. Over time you see that you are getting better at it. In addition to teaching, you also have enough free days in the season. There is a clear difference between the high and low season. This gives you the opportunity to improve yourself, but also of course to enjoy yourself. All in all, I really enjoyed my time as a ski instructor in Austria. I would recommend an adventure abroad through Yseasonal in the mountains to everyone!

Do you want to know more about Yseasonal’s services? Then take a look at www.yseasonal.com