After being nervous for so long in anticipation of the ski season, my new job and new environment, I have finally started work. My new job as a skiwiland assistant involves teaches kids how to ski in the early childhood center. I got all my ideas about being a kids ski instructor from the previous resort I worked at. Even though I was not teaching myself, I got a fair idea of what it would be like. Waiting for the season to start I got very nervous about what it would be like doing it myself. It is nothing like what I pictured in my head.
After a three-day training and induction about the company and ski school, I had my first day in the center. Besides kids that come skiing, we also have babies and kids who just come to play. The first difference between my old and new ski field. Besides being outside with the kids, I have to learn way more about entertaining and taking care of them inside. Also, the kids are younger than what I was used to. Even though things are different than expected, I am glad I finally got started.
Day one only had one child for skiing in the afternoon and I went out with him for my first ever lesson. It’s the beginning of the season and we don’t even have snow going towards our magic carpet. So I had my student take off his ski’s every time we got to the bottom. Since it was just the two of us this was easy to manage. The next day I had a group of six. In the morning a colleague helped out, but in the afternoon I took them out by myself. Challenging to say the least. I am still figuring out how to handle a group of tired kids who are learning something completely new in an environment they don’t know.
Two days later and I am starting to understand the routine in the center, from the morning check in until the end of the day. At 7.45AM I’m in the bus to the mountain for an 8.30 start. After welcoming the kids, fitting their boots and ski’s (yes, I’m also a bootfitter now), the kids get to play. Next, it’s off to the toilets before we go outside for a ski session. Just before lunch we relax with story time and after lunch we get ready to get back outside. The afternoon session is much harder because the kids are getting tired and distracted. By the time we go back inside I am also exhausted, but while the kids play, I still have to sort out everybody’s belongings and write progression cards.
The school holidays are coming up and I have a few more days before our numbers will grow and things get a little bit more hectic. Hopefully we’ll also get a big dump of snow, because today the resort was closed because of heavy rain! While my old resort in Australia goes powder crazy, here it is even too hot to turn on the snow guns. At least I’ve started. All those days of uncertainty are over. I’ve got another awesome job in an awesome team. I’m preparing for an epic winter! In the meantime I’m anxiously looking at the weather forecast.