Ski Instructor Level 1 or Level 2? Here is What You Need.

‍

Instructing gives you freedom, purity, and powder. The qualification is just the key that lets you live this lifestyle. 

Most people planning a ski instructor season ask the same question. Do I need Level 1 or do I need Level 2? The answer depends on what you want out of it. If you are dipping your toes in and want a taste of the mountain lifestyle, Level 1 is your starting point. But if you want to teach higher levels, ride great snow with likeminded souls, teach at resorts around the world, and turn a gap year into something much longer term, Level 2 is the way. Here is the breakdown.

‍

‍

Ski Instructor Level 1: Your Entry Point Into the Ski Industry

‍

Level 1 is where it all begins. You learn the teaching fundamentals, refine your own technique, and qualify to teach beginners and early intermediates. First-timers, kids, people linking their first turns. It is the foot in the door. The first lap of many.

Find out more about EA Ski Instructor Courses

‍

Ski Instructor Level 2: This is Where the World Opens Up

‍

Untracked powder begging for turns, soft alpine glow on a bluebird morning, Pacific Northwest powder, feather light Japow, Kiwi corduroy. A Level 2 qualification makes that lifestyle yours. Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the USA. This is the benchmark most ski schools around the world look for and the qualification that takes you from one country to many.

It means higher pay, career progression, more opportunities at better ski schools. It allows you to take higher quality lessons, teach a wider range, get into the nitty gritty of technique, and get off instructing on the magic carpet. You are not stuck teaching first-timers forever. You are teaching people to carve, to parallel ski, to hit jumps and side hits. You are out on the terrain you actually want to ride, helping people progress in ways that actually excite them.

The jump from Level 1 to Level 2 is large. You are expected to teach higher-level intermediate skiers on more advanced mountain terrain, analyse movement, adapt your teaching on the fly, and demonstrate stronger technical skiing ability. It is more demanding and significantly more rewarding. Riding incredible snow with likeminded people, getting paid to shred, living the instructor lifestyle. That is the brotherhood, that freedom that Level 2 unlocks.

Learn how to get your ski instructor qualification

‍

‍

Do You Need Both Ski and Snowboard Instructor Certifications?

‍

If you are serious about teaching skiing for a living and want to work at resorts across multiple countries, Level 2 is the goal. Level 1 is the warm up lap, Level 2 is where the progression occurs. At EA Ski and Snowboard Training we run programs that take you from a solid intermediate base through Level 1 and Level 2 in a single season. You train, you qualify, and you step straight into a guaranteed paid instructing job. Most people come in planning to do Level 1 and end up doing both because once they are on snow every day with world class coaches pushing them, they do not want to stop.

Tom Sharpe hit the nail on the head. After his first season instructing in Niseko he said the qualification and the paid job were obvious wins. But the bigger thing was less obvious at the time, being inside a ski school, around experienced people, watching how the whole industry works. That is what a season with EA Ski and Snowboard Training gives you. Not just a qualification, but a foot in the door to a beautiful life in the mountains.

Chat to one of our training consultants about the qualification

‍

Get Qualified, Follow Winter, and Get Frothing.

‍

Level 1 or Level 2, gap year or career change. One season or got that endless winter bug. Whatever your goal, the first step is the same. Find out if you qualify and we will help you figure out the rest. Our training consultants are former instructors who have been in your boots and will give you a straight answer.

See if you qualify

‍

‍