Why Canada Is the Best Place to Train to Be a Ski or Snowboard Instructor

Obviously the main advantage of the Rockies over the Alps is snow. Loads of the white stuff falls every year in western Canada - and not just your average wet flurry of flakes, but soft, fluffy, champagne powder. There is no experience more satisfying than an early morning glide making tracks through newly settled snow.

The dry air in the mountains of western Canada not only keeps the snow light, it also takes the edge off the temperature. So when the thermometer plummets to minus twenty degrees, the lack of moisture in the air means it does not feel as cold as it should. Nevertheless, Canada can still be colder than the Alps. Rather than worrying about the cold, snow sports enthusiasts embrace the challenge of frozen goggles and nostrils. True cold is a memorable experience. Honestly!

The lack of lift queues in Canadian resorts makes them ideal for ski instructor training. Instead of wasting time at the bottom of lifts dodging penguin skiers pushing to get to the front, in Canada high speed technology ensures you get to the top fast. Larger resorts with less people mean vast empty pistes (slopes) await trainee instructors giving them the chance to develop their skills without spending time avoiding hordes of holiday makers.

Now its is true that North American resorts may lack a little of the charm of quaint Alpine villages, but boy do they make up for that by investment in super fast lifts and giving smiling customer service in most of their cafes, bars and restaurants.

In many of the Canadian ski resorts, the mountain terrain is much more extensive than that in the Alps. There are long slopes to coast along and steep, deep bowls and chutes to test your skills. In addition heli skiing and cat skiing companies often operate close to resorts and offer the opportunity for skiers and boarders to sample the 'back country' where thigh deep powder and pure silence await you.

The Canadians,who also appreciate this wonderful environment, use the weekends to go boarding or skiing in their nearest resort. In comparison to the Alps, where many of us make the pilgrimage for our annual ski trip, Canada's slopes are amazingly quiet during the week and a bustling array of colour on the weekends. This phenomenon is yet another benefit for trainee ski instructors in North America. After a week's intensive tuition trainees can either choose take their weekends off when the slopes are busy or help out at the snow school and shadow a few professional ski instructors.

There is no denying the splendour and the beauty of the Canadian wilderness however, its isolation does have its drawbacks. Some of the major resorts where ski instructors can be accommodated are many miles from the ski areas. This may entail long bus rides in the morning to get out to the snow. The purpose built village of Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia has sited its hotels, bars and shops right beside the slopes. Skiers and boarders here can live and breathe the mountains every day and get to the lifts within a minute of stepping out of their hotel.

Skiing or boarding in the European Alps is a delightful experience. There is no better place to take your annual holiday on snow; pretty villages to travel between, excellent cuisine, a myriad of shops and plenty of like minded people with which to share your stories. However, when considering a full season in which to train to be a ski instructor, then Canada has to be high on the list. Canada not only has dramatic scenery it has a lack of queues, vast empty pistes, opportunities to shadow and work in a resort's snow school and professional long established instructor training centres providing Canadian qualifications which have set the standards for others to follow.