It is funny to me that this thread has picked up steam again on a day when my guest excitedly tells me he will contact me for more lessons and tips me 2.1% per cent of the lesson cost, after telling me about the second pandemic home they just bought, this one with a pool.
I still prefer a heart felt card and fun lunch to a tip, but as a seasonal full time career instructor I could not survive without them.
I am guessing I get about 3 years out of a ski (2 base grinds per season), new liners every 2 years, boots every 4 or 5. Thankfully we get good deals. 240 dollars minimum to PSIA each year. 900 a month for health insurance, pre deductible. Yes, I would get workmans comp if on the job, but getting hurt in PSIA clinics or unpaid in house training I am not covered. My pay rate and the priority ranking for getting work depend heavily on both of those continuing education clincs throughout the season. Most of all the cost of housing in the richest county in the US is absurd. Add to that limited work options 2 months a year, that my lesson earnings have to cover.
It used to be that the ski area returned 30 per cent on average of the private lesson cost to the instructor. That still happens, after a 20 year multiple certification career, on some lessons, but many days average 15 per cent of guest cost. On top of that those are the bummer days where I only get 3 hours of work instead of a full day that I want and need. Many days I show up, and get paid 14 dollars per day for spending from 8:30 am until 1:15 pm waiting for work that never materializes at all. The silver lining is the unpaid ski "break" between line ups. This year I've not gotten work around 8 per cent of my show up ready to work days.
The irony for me, after that lengthy explanation of the expense to earning ratio of teaching in my personal case, is that 20 years later the tips have not increased much, while lesson prices have skyrocketed and the cost of living in an affluent ski town and gear have as well.
Tips can often account for 20 to 50 per cent of my income for a season. I have never stopped teaching guests who year after year ask for me and don't tip, with the caveat that they have to be the ones that bring immense joy to my existence. I am a rare instructor at my home mountain in that sense as most turn their noses up to non tippers and keep passing them on no matter how nice they are.
That bright eyed brand new to teaching kids group lesson instructor will likely only last one or two seasons if they actually want to survive teaching without a trust fund or if they don't supplement their income with tips and of course one or two night jobs.
It takes a few years at least of training and experience to develop a fairly skilled instructor/coach that can teach to all levels and lesson dynamics.
I don't know what the answer is as tipping should absolutely be earned by the instructor and should never be an obligation and placing the burden on the customer is wrong, but it is the American way.
The next time I get a $20 on a $945 dollar lesson I will likely return it politely explaining that clearly the guest must need it more than I do and should use it on a couple of overpriced 10 dollar resort cookies for his kids, though it would have covered my daily parking cost in the budget parking lot for the day. This year I am driving as I don't dare ride the bus, plus my car doubles as my locker and my dining room.
I adore my chosen career, and even on days with less than lovely guests I come home so thankful for my life choice, looking forward to the next day and dreading the eventual snow melt of the longer and warmer days of spring. Sadly, after 20 years I am inching closer to not being able to afford to continue doing what I love even with generous tips. Perhaps going back to hospital nursing will win out.
3 more years full time and I will have earned a lifetime pass... Just skiing without teaching sounds dreadful though.
Only tip if it is deserved, but more importantly help us improve by explaining why there is no tip if you are disappointed. Not tipping is a clear message of dissatisfaction, unless a guest does not know that it is customary in the US, so not sharing the reason only leaves us confused and wishing we understood where we failed. Trust me, most lifers don't teach to be able to ski hard all day, we would work evenings if that was the case, we actually for the most part teach because we do care about delivering a quality product/experience.
Now, the ones that actually really deserve tips and pay raises: ski patrollers. Some really big snow years we do a collection for them. Handling explosives day in and day out in the dark and cold for very low wages is madness! Add to that belligerent injured guests during a pandemic, and I have only one word, respect.
Please note that my views reflect only the experience of one instructor out of thousands, and each of our experiences are as different as the resorts we work for and the lessons we teach. Thank you to all the divas for providing a safe space to occasionally share the odder and starker side to our mutual passion of skiing.
