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Have any ski instructors here decided to stop instructing?

MissySki

Angel Diva
Do you have generous vacation benefits? The five week sabbatical sounds great. Just curious (and definitely off topic) as I worked local government for 24+ years and as a manager had probably 8+ weeks paid vacation every year in addition paid holidays and sick time.

We have unlimited time off (so vacation and sick) and a shut down for Christmas week in addition to paid holidays. Also since Covid started we have had 1/2 days every Friday, which I love!

Though I must say, I think I take less vacation time than I used to other places because I am not tracking it and gung ho on using every single one by the end of the year. On the other hand I am never worried about it if I need to take a day off here and there in addition to ski trips and whatever else we plan.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
@MissySki what a great perk, and what a shock to read that it's almost 5 years since you started.

Right??? I cannot believe it's been almost 5 years since I asked here about the dreadful commute I was planning to embark on! It's definitely been a match, and I truly love my company. Big bonus that I now got out of the commute due to working from home full time.
 

skinnyfootskis

Angel Diva
We don't get a full year, but my company (and I've seen others in my industry doing it) gives a 5 week sabbatical for every 5 years of service fully paid. You can do anything you want, but they will also kick in some additional funds to you if you are doing any volunteer work. I will hit my 5 years this December and have no idea what I want to do for mine yet. Not sure if I'll take it right away or not, we'll see what I come up with. Very cool perk that I'd never expected to have available to me.
Amazing! What line of work? I have been with my Company 18 years :smile:
 

mustski

Angel Diva
I Luckily, got hired on with Rod Roy Ski School (Montreal's oldest travelling ski school) and taught groups of (mainly) women once a week for quite a few years.
Rod Roy changed my life. Prior to joining that ski club, I believed that I could not become competent at any sport. Granted, I am a slow learner but skiing allows for that. I will forever be grateful to those instructors for opening up a whole new world to me.

On another note, I was a theater arts teacher for 30 years. I do miss it and have often though of starting a club or volunteering to direct a community theater show. Inevitably, I remember the time commitment and pull back. There is something to be said for being in complete control of your own time. That said, I take great satisfaction in seeing former students succeed. I had one student nominated for a Tony (set design) this year (he didn't win ... but still!). Another student is headlining the Broadway tour show of Anastasia (as Anya) and I just flew out of town to see it; I cried through most of the show because she is so amazing. In the last 10 years of my job, I fed a performing arts high school, in which 2 of my former students taught. So I fed THEIR programs! A former student is teaching in my current position and continues to feed that same high school.

Would I go back? NO! It was a great career and I had the privilege of influencing and affecting many great kids; I will enjoy all their successes and love that they want to share them with me. However, retirement is the promised land!
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
20 full time years in and the cogs are often turning, wondering what quitting would be like. I absolutely adore my work and dream of teaching if my body holds up for another 20.

Yet, I am not happy with my employer, amd not sure I can continue to afford to teach full time and part time is not worth it. If i stop teaching I doubt I would stay in my ski town, but maybe I would.

Two more years, and I get a lifetime pass. If I can manage to keep my mouth shut that long and after too.

Quitting with money and time to ski new places would be so great....
Best of luck staying for another 2 years. I understand your frustration. It cost me money to teach, significant money, because I did not live in ski country. I had to do a seasonal rental, and pay for travel back and forth. And I worked part-time, which is close to volunteering even if you live nearby.
 
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liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Best of luck staying for another 2 years. I understand your frustration. It cost me money to teach, significant money, because I did not live in ski country. I had to do a seasonal rental, and pay for travel back and forth. And I worked part-time, which is close to volunteering even if you live nearby.
Whoops, I got distracted and didn't finish that post.

Given the financial expense of my part-time teaching, when the frustration level increased last season I just quit. Had I the prize of a life-time season pass looking at me two years in the future, I probably would have stayed.
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Though I must say, I think I take less vacation time than I used to other places because I am not tracking it and gung ho on using every single one by the end of the year.
I recently read that unlimited vacation is overall an economic loser for most employees because many people take less vacation time than when they had a set number of vacation days, with marginal salary increases, so they are earning less per day worked (i.e., working more). Additionally, many people are timid about actually using an unlimited amount of vacation time. But the security of knowing you can take vacation is nice.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
I recently read that unlimited vacation is overall an economic loser for most employees because many people take less vacation time than when they had a set number of vacation days, with marginal salary increases, so they are earning less per day worked (i.e., working more). Additionally, many people are timid about actually using an unlimited amount of vacation time. But the security of knowing you can take vacation is nice.

I think that is pretty true, and overall a win for the company. Especially with new employees, but I think as you are there longer you become more comfortable.

My first year there I took almost no days off.. but now I'm much more comfortable with it and don't feel limited in the least. We also get Christmas to New Years off every year which many people save vacation time for.. or at least I did before. So I feel even more free to take time off other times during the year since that week doesn't count against me anymore. Sometimes when I'm looking at people's calendars I'm like geesh they're off for another week?? lol People definitely take time off.
 

NWSkiGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I stopped instructing after two seasons because I'm pregnant. I had a great first season getting trained with my class, and in my second season I was so happy to have a part time on mountain job during Covid. No one was carpooling any longer and I wouldn't have had a lot of people to ski with if I wasn't instructing. I got my level one PSIA certification in my second season, and that was a lot of fun too!

But there were some drawbacks to instructing that I didn't foresee:

-I lost touch with my regular skiing friends. It was hard to meet up with them on the mountain.
-Many ski instructors don't like to ski the top of the mountain/steeps, so I spent a lot of time on the lower mountain.
-If you are part time it's hard to feel a part of the mountain community. Although I think this was probably more due to Covid than anything else, as I didn't feel that way in my first season. I think during Covid full time ski instructors were more of a cohesive group.

I guess I answered in the opposite way than you asked! :-)
 

geargrrl

Angel Diva
20 full time years in and the cogs are often turning, wondering what quitting would be like. I absolutely adore my work and dream of teaching if my body holds up for another 20.

Yet, I am not happy with my employer, amd not sure I can continue to afford to teach full time and part time is not worth it. If i stop teaching I doubt I would stay in my ski town, but maybe I would.

Two more years, and I get a lifetime pass. If I can manage to keep my mouth shut that long and after too.

Quitting with money and time to ski new places would be so great....
Hang in there. My hub was very done with ski patrolling at 23 years but at 25 he would get two lifetime passes. He made it work (switched up his [volunteer] schedule) and now we have a pair of lifetime passes and he has zero obligations on the mountain.
It's very freeing.
Just in time for retirement.
 

snoWYmonkey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hang in there. My hub was very done with ski patrolling at 23 years but at 25 he would get two lifetime passes. He made it work (switched up his [volunteer] schedule) and now we have a pair of lifetime passes and he has zero obligations on the mountain.
It's very freeing.
Just in time for retirement.
2 passes! If only. Now husband wants to teach. Just wish I could keep the hill amd colleagues and switch up the structure
 

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