PHILOSOPHYWritten by Alan Garcia, I
have been a qualified snowboard instructor since January 2001 and also a
ski instructor and tennis coach since 2002. I first qualified when I
was 15 in Whistler, Canada with what watches replica high quality
was then one of just a handful of professional instructor training
companies. Today there are dozens of companies and far more websites
which sell other people's courses making a minefield of good or tragic
possibilities on your path to becoming an instructor. Some courses offer
good service and results but at extortionate prices with huge profit
margins. Other courses are run by cowboys who can easily sell the dream
with the usual sound bytes and "imagine a life being paid to ski or
board" dream-pushing only for you to find that your £6,000- £8,000 ten
week course would have been far better elsewhere. Alan Garcia, Pro Skier Sponsored by 3Ryde The
end of the 2010- 2011 season marks the culmination of one of my biggest
goals, dreams and ambitions at Sunshine World as we have now had over
60 people qualify as professional ski and/ or snowboard instructors
through our training alone, all trained by our own Pro Team, and we
still hold a 100% pass rate for everyone who trained on our 10 week or
longer courses with full attendance. The Sunshine World instructor
training courses remain by far the cheapest in the world. We own our own
luxury chalet, have our own ATOL licensed Tour Operator through which
we organise professionally run, all inclusive ski and snowboard holidays
to the awesome resort of Zakopane, Poland's winter capital. As we are
based in Poland all the running costs of the business and our living
costs couldn't be cheaper and so our money goes that much further all
around. The ski areas have mainly brand new lifts and the resorts even
have features which you don't get elsewhere such as floodlit skiing and
boarding until 10pm every day of the season. Pro Skier, Alan Garcia, sponsored by 3Ryde The
ski and snowboard industry is actually rather small, especially the
part of the industry which is independent from the huge travel
corporations who control the majority of all travel including winter
travel. They have multiple brands which are all controlled centrally
making them appear smaller and more personal and masking their profit
driven, corporate approach to business. The ski and snowboard
instruction part of the industry is even smaller and is highly protected
in Europe by the (in
my opinion not far off gangsters on snow) who do everything they can to
maintain their stranglehold on the lucrative market of selling lessons,
even breaking EU laws on qualification recognition (particularly in
France). In the UK there never has been an official Government
body for ski and snowboard instructor qualifications. There used to be a
highly reputable and democratic Member's Association called BASI (the
British Association of Snowsport Instructors) who I qualified myself
with as a BASI 2 ski instructor shortly after my 19th birthday 7 years
ago. A few years ago however the BASI Member's Association was converted
by the BASI directors along with just 300 or so votes out of thousands
of BASI members (most of whom didn't vote at all, in my opinion because
they weren't aware of the severity of the vote's implications and or
because they didn't know a vote was taking place at all- members were
made aware of the vote by post along with the recommendation of the
board of directors to "vote yes" in favour of changing BASI's legal
status to a "Company Limited by Guarantee" or a LTD company to you and
me). Thus today there is BASI LTD. They still sell the "Official BASI
GAP Courses" to the "BASI Affiliate" companies. It doesn't take much
looking before you see the obvious links between the people who run BASI
and the people who run the BASI Affiliate companies. Pro Skier, Alan Garcia, sponsored by 3Ryde I
started Sunshine World when I was 20 after 5 years of training through
expensive courses while working full time to help pay for those courses.
As there was no viable, affordable alternative system for either full
service ski and snowboard holidays or professional instructor training I
figured I'd make a new system myself. I had grown impatient with
jumping through the hoops set out by people who may or may not have once
been good and dynamic athletes when they were younger but now were
clearly simply too old to be up to date with the latest styles in skiing
and snowboarding. Many of whom couldn't even hit a rail or nail a
proper 360! They control the highest levels of qualification even though
the most senior people in the organisations never had to take the tests
which younger instructors have to in order to get the same official
badge and status! (All the governing bodies of skiing and snowboarding
around the world work a similar, although not identical way) They were
automatically awarded the new top level status when they invented them.
For example CASI (the Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors)
only had 3 levels when I qualified with them over 10 years ago. About 8
years ago they brought in the CASI level 4 and most of the senior level
3s automatically gained level 4 status including my own coach, Greg
Daniels. Now Greg is a legend in every way I can think of and I love him
dearly. The only reason I mention his example now is that I know many
people who have tried for their level 4 who are clearly much better
riders than Greg as well as being passionate, experienced and extremely
talented instructors and yet they fail their level 4 time and again. The
people running the associations claim to be trying to maintain
standards whereas I think it's clear that they know that the fewer
people who have "their" level then the easier it is for them to maintain
control of these lucrative and powerful organisations. If you don't do
things their way you wont get the top level as they control who passes
and fails. Albert Einstein was refused entry to University for
not being at "the standard" set by the admissions board. Sometimes those
who the old guard try to hold back are able to evolve further than ever
through their own passion, intuition, freewill and refusal to quit. Alan Garcia, Pro Snowboarder Sponsored by 3Ryde There
are many ways into and through the industry. At Sunshine World we help
people gain qualifications more cheaply and with far more fun and
positivity than any other company on the market. Every person who comes
to Sunshine World has a name and a story which I care about genuinely
and I train them myself along with our Pro Team of internationally
qualified ski and snowboard instructors. We have trained many people now
who have gained employment both through Sunshine World and with many
other companies all around the world. Working in Canada, Japan, all
around Europe, New Zealand and many other destinations in both summer
and winter. This level of openness and simple honesty is what
you can expect from us every step of the way. We are different to ALL
the other companies on the market in virtually every way. One thing is
certain- we get great results, cost far less than every alternative,
have an amazing time and we don't let anyone stop us from helping people
have awesome experiences on and off the slopes every year. Please do
call or email us any time if you'd like to find out more. There's no
question that it's worth getting into the industry. Most importantly
believe in yourself, work hard, train hard, play harder and don't let
anyone knock your confidence or make you feel you aren't at "their
standard" and Never Stop Dreaming :D Al |