After spending a long time looking online at the variety of gap year courses, I was confident that Interski offered the best package on the market. With food, accommodation, lift pass, teaching / tuition and exams covered in the price. There was no need to take a huge amount of extra spending money; making budgeting/saving for the course much more achievable. The unique selling point is the guaranteed teaching after you qualify.  After passing the final exam on the Friday I got my first group of students on the Monday , it was an amazing feeling as there was no time wasted before I was able to start honing my newly acquired teaching and instructing skills!

Interski Gap Year. Course student George Diffey

Aosta is renown for its beautiful town square, quaint restaurants and shops lined by cobbled streets. Its slopes are well known for being immaculately groomed, with a nice progression from beginner to expert it’s got something for everyone. There is a big snow park to get sendy in and also a Narnia like tree run that is always a hit with the fantasy lovers and students alike.

Interski Gap Year. Aosta Valley

We were very lucky with the accommodation Interski booked for us during the training.  Even though Caesar never stayed there himself ‘The Norden Palace’  was our home away from home for the first 10 weeks. The rooms were cleaned on a regular basis, there was a hearty selection at breakfast which is well needed before a solid day of skiing, a consistently high level of service from the staff, smiles every morning and hugs when I was missing mum. The heart wrenching moment was our final day when there were tears and best wishes for the future on departure (you don’t get that at Travel Lodge!)

The main Interski building is in prime location, only meters from the gondola. It’s a well-oiled machine regularly fitting and kitting a wide range of teachers, students and families week in, week out. You can tell it’s not their first time by the efficiency and high level of organisation that meets you on your first day as a client. There is a positive energy that runs through this building which is like no other, you can walk up the stairs to get your boots and receive a smile, a “good morning” or “enjoy the snow for me” from every member of staff you cross on the journey to get your kit.

Interski ski hire, Aosta/Pila

Interski ski hire, Aosta / Pila

My favourite thing about Interski as a company is that its hard work ethic is demonstrated from the top down. The men and women in the top roles of management lead by example, you will regularly find them taking out the bins, re-stocking the boot shelves and really getting their hands dirty along with other members of staff . It’s then that you realise this is a company where responsibilities are not passed down and no job is too small for the boss. All the managers show an epic work ethic that earns respect and creates great moral that is felt across the team.

The 10 Weeks Training starts on the first Monday and is lead by the head of the Training Academy, Andy Mac. If I only had a sentence to describe him I’d say he was hard working, dedicated, optimistic, professional, compassionate, a true mentor and a friend. They say never meet your heros but I was fortunate enough to spend 15 weeks with mine. For the first two weeks training duties are taken up by Andy and his sidekick, Danny, they are both phenomenal skiers and also excellent teachers. The first two weeks are a wake up call , time to dust the cobwebs off but also to realise the path ahead is not an easy one. If you haven’t got roughly 10 weeks experience it’s a chance to catch up and if you have well over 10 weeks expertise then it’s a very valid time to realise “you aren’t as good as you think you are”. These two weeks are designed to get you ready for the BASI Alpine Level 1 (the first exam) It is time to get your head around the special language used to describe skiing called “BASI Tongue” think Parseltongue.

Interski Gap Year Course Trainers. Andy Mac and Danny McCabe.

Interski Gap Years Groups 17/18. Alpine and Snowboard students

Interski Gap Year Course Trainer, Danny McCabe, Swiss Patente Brevet Federale

The BASI Alpine Level 1 is a one week exam that involves skiing every day with an external BASI trainer where they will teach you how to teach and how to ski to set criteria. It’s your first time to get used to being examined on your skiing ability with video analysis and feedback and also your teaching skill. It’s a chance to show off what you can now do that you couldn’t 4 weeks ago and they will want to see progress, not perfection at this stage.

Interski Gap Year. BASI L1, Pila 17/18

After the BASI Alpine Level 1 you then have 5 weeks to prepare for the BASI Alpine Level 2. This involves continued training days working on your skiing but also shadowing days where you are assigned an instructor and their students to ski around with. You learn what it truly means to be an instructor throughout the shadowing period and the experience is invaluable. The Level 2 Exam is 2 weeks with a different BASI trainer, this time they are asking for a higher level of performance skiing and the teaching sessions are slightly longer with a higher degree of accuracy when it comes to terminology, evaluation and feedback. Subject to passing this exam you made it! After passing on the Friday and celebrating that evening you will get your infamous red jacket on the Sunday and will be teaching your first class on the Monday. It’s a quick turn around but its definateley best to get stuck in so there isn’t a chance to forget anything and a great chance to start using those teaching skills while they are still sharp.

To summarise…

I was skeptical about committing to the gap course, I thought I’m not on my gap yah I’ve done university and I might be older than everyone else. When I arrived I soon realised it wasn’t a mistake. I met a group people that were different ages, from different backgrounds and professions. The level of tuition we received from both the Interski Training Academy and the BASI Trainers was world class, it blew off the roof of what I thought was a good standard of skiing and gave me a new admiration for the true professionals. I learnt way more than I thought was possible about what was just a hobby, now it is a passion. I learnt a lot about myself, I met friends for life and can honestly say I had the most amazing 5 months with almost ‘no regrets’

Interski Gap Year celebration 2017/18!

To learn more about the Interski Training Academy and the Gap course please visit….https://www.interski.co.uk/Academy/gap.php