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 Why take a career break?
A career break is your opportunity to do something totally different. You can travel, learn new things and take the time to really figure out what you want to do next in your life.
Perhaps you are bored in your job and are wondering if it's really right for you. Or perhaps you never got a chance to travel when you were younger, and now is the right time. Maybe you have decided that the time is right for a career change and you are taking the time to retrain.
The Benefits of a Career Break…
Many employers now see the benefits of allowing their employees to take a career break. Employees return refreshed, motivated and with increased self-confidence.
After a good constructive career break employees bring new and different perspectives which can produce innovative solutions to businesses.
Many employers are now also making efforts to keep valued and trained staff by incorporating sabbaticals and career break packages into the benefits they offer.
Why ski or snowboard for your career break?
Choosing to do a ski or snowboard course with Peak Leaders ensures you will be doing something constructive and worthwhile during your career break. Peak Leaders courses are designed to get you away from it all; to get you fantastic qualifications in safety and have the time of your life in dream locations – Canada, New Zealand, South America, Switzerland or France.
Career break courses with Peak Leaders…
Argentina |
In the spectacular Andes of South America, you can become a BASI ski or snowboard instructor. Peak Leaders work with a team of dedicated Argentine ski and snowboard instructors from the Alpine Club Bariloche.
You can learn spoken Spanish but it is not all work- you go to vibrant Buenos Aires, visit Evita's house, watch and learn to tango, travel across Patagonia to the picturesque city of Esquel; ride out with gauchos and see the Andes on horseback and swim in natural thermal pools.
With the qualifications from the course added to your C.V. you will be ready to apply with confidence for a job as ski or snowboard instructor the following winter in North America or Europe. |
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New Zealand |
You can train to be a NZSIA qualified ski or a snowboard instructor at Coronet Peak, Queenstown. Queenstown is renowned as the adventure capital of the world and home of the famous Shotover River jet, bungee jumping and white water rafting.
Technical training is at Coronet Peak 5 days a week with back country and advanced training at The Remarkables. You take a Certificate in Snowsport Instruction followed by the NZSIA Stage 1 Instructor Course.
When the snowsports' training is over, you can opt to join the popular 2 week trip to Australia to snorkel off the Great Barrier Reef, hot air balloon, trek the Australian outback, learn about the ecology of the Coral Sea and conservation of the oldest tropical rainforest in the world.
The NZSIA qualification is internationally recognised and many of the successful Peak Leaders from the NZ course get jobs in Sunshine Village Canada the following season |
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Canada: Whistler |
Whistler gives you the opportunity to experience some of the finest powder on 2 huge mountains in Canada's #1 resort and party town.
Top Canadian professional coaches prepare you for the Level 1 and 2 examinations. You have the flexibility to gain experience with the ski school, do freestyle, adaptive ski, and race coach modules or switch disciplines so that you are an instructor in both skiing and snowboarding.
Weekends are for eating out in downtown Whistler with all your new mates. Unlike other courses in Whistler, flights & weekday evening meals are also included. Optional trips are almost too numerous to list – firm favourites are heli skiing, cat-skiing, snowmobiling and the trip to Vancouver to see the Ice Hockey. |
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Canada: Banff |
This course gives your C.V. the maximum boost especially if you want to move into the snowsports' industry. You are taught by top Canadian pros based at Sunshine Village - more than 20 hours per week with video sessions and ski school experience. Your coach focuses on developing your personal skill level and makes sure you are fully prepared for the instructor exams.
Unique to Peak Leaders are certificates in team leading (ILM Level 3), resort guiding and an introduction to ski patrolling. Also available is a certificate in first aid and an avalanche awareness course. Banff is a great place to be based with Canadian ‘wild west' culture at its best. There are still some ‘old style pioneers' kicking around town. Optional trips include – retail therapy and ice hockey trip to Calgary, snowmobiling and trip to Kicking Horse. |
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Switzerland: Zermatt |
The world famous Matterhorn towers above the village where you live for 10 weeks.
Training is carried out by the official Swiss Snowsports School in Zermatt (founded 1929). Top Swiss professionals train you to take BASI examinations.
In week 3 you sit your Trainee instructor course with BASI and the Instructor Training Course is run at the end of your programme. Most successful trainees will be offered jobs in Swiss resorts the following season.
You stay in comfortable modern apartments near the après action and a short distance from the Sonnenblick where we meet and eat together.
What makes this course unusual is that it is endorsed by BASI and the Federation of Swiss Snowsport Instructors with the aim of providing a pool of BASI-qualified instructors for employment in Switzerland with English speaking clients. |
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Switzerland: Verbier |
If you're thinking of spending your career break qualifying as a ski or snowboard instructor and are wanting a ski job in Switzerland read on…
Peak Leaders working with European Snowsport Verbier will train you to be a BASI instructor and help you find a job in Switzerland. The course is for 11 weeks and you'll be based in a comfortable guest house on half board basis in Le Chable- a 12 mins ride down on the ski lift. During the course, you'll train to become a BASI Ski Instructor specifically with a view to gaining work experience with European Snowsport.
Along the way, you'll have time to party with people in Verbier who'll become friends for life. This course is for a small number of dedicated skiers only who wish to excel in their chosen sport. |
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France: Val D'Isere |
For 10 weeks from January to March you can experience great skiing in the world class resort of Val d'Isere while training to become a BASI instructor...
This course is ideally suited for good skiers and riders who want to excel in their chosen sport and then go on to a job in Europe as a ski instructor. Suitable for those on a career break who want to work hard and party...
Training will be delivered by French and BASI qualified instructors from Vald'Isere. BASI TRAINER Mark Jones will be working with the group to ensure the highest training standards are maintained.
Your all mountain skills will be developed, your knowledge of the Snowsport industry will increase as you gain work experience in a ski school during the course. You stay in a comfortable hotel in Val d'Isere - breakfast and evening meal with traditional French cuisine.
You will progress through a module on riding steeps and off piste. There will be an introduction to freestyle and a ski maintenance clinic. In your days off there is no end to the available extras you can try in Val d'Isere from cross country to ice climbing. |
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Whistler: Short Course |
For those taking a career break who can't make the 12 week course, Peak Leaders are running a 4 week course in Whistler, leading to Canadian level 1 qualifications. It is all about lifestyle and taking advantage of some of Canada's top performance coaches. You will be trained to ride on piste, steeps, gullies and your coaches will prepare you for Level 1 examinations. This course is competitively priced but retains the Peak Leaders quality approach to running training courses. |
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 Jemma Knowles,
Peak Leaders Canada 05
I was 26 years old and fed up with my job…I decided my life needed a boost of excitement and therefore chose to go on the 2005 Peak Leaders instructor course in Canada. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Throughout my life I have travelled extensively and spent 4 years at university and still my time in Canada will go down as one of the most memorable trips I have undertaken. I was a bit dubious at first that the course would be filled with 18 year olds who had never left home….how wrong I was! There was a strangely perfect balance of ages and backgrounds, on paper you would think ‘mmm, that'll be interesting' but in reality we all got on so well we became a little family!
Everyday on the course was an experience, albeit hard work at times but fantastic, there wasn't a day that went past that I didn't look around at the stunning scenery, look down at my board and the new friends around me and think ‘yes, this is what life is all about'.
I still can't believe how much we managed to fit in such a relatively short space of time and every activity was something to look forward to: the ‘holiday' to Banff experiencing more of the wonders the Rockies have to offer, the skidoo driving, the backcountry phase, disabled skiing course, the ice hockey match, the shopping in Calgary, the theme nights and parties and of course the snowboarding/skiing every day.
I came away from Canada with so many new qualifications. Obtaining my CASI Levels 1 and 2 were an experience in themselves. The nerves were on a par with any exam or test I have taken in my life and the exhilaration and feeling of achievement was almost more amazing than passing a degree!
The ski school was wonderful; we were quickly made to feel like part of the crew and the level of instructing we were given was exceptional. The resort became a home with the perfect bars where many a brilliant night was spent with the staff of both the ski school and the hotel. Our mentors on the course did a truly brilliant job of organising everything and solving our problems at the same time as fitting in with everyone and enjoying themselves.
Leaving Canada, the snow and the people was very hard and the feeling of deflation when I got home was almost unbearable. However, the Peak Leaders course has inspired me to leave my job and go to New Zealand for the season in June, it made me realise that loving life is far more important than how much money I earn.
So to anyone thinking of doing this course I'd say ‘Do it! Do it! Do it!' it's such an amazing opportunity. I have had a wonderful experience and have come away with great qualifications, fantastic new friends and hundreds of happy memories so thank-you Peak Leaders for quite literally changing my life! |
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Why choose to spend your career break with Peak Leaders?
Peak Leaders courses are designed to create balance between the work necessary to gain maximum qualifications and having fun on a life enhancing experience full of good memories.
Peak Leaders trainees benefit hugely from the company directors developing the programmes from first hand experience of years of leading mountain expeditions and teaching. During the course itself, you'll gain the all round knowledge essential for working a winter season with help after to find a job. You'll get more hours coaching on and off the hill per week than other courses and whether you go on to work in the snowsports' industry or not, your technique will improve beyond recognition. You'll get excellent accommodation and food (no bunk beds nor shopping in expensive supermarkets and trailing home with plastic bags to cook after a knackering day on the hill!). You'll also get the option of those trips out to experience the local culture. Return flights from the UK (Argentina & Canada) and transfers are included.
Peak Leaders courses focus on personal development and the acquisition of skills for both immediate employment and for life. Trainees can develop their own plans around the Peak Leaders' core programme and ethos with the assistance of the course leader. Individual goals and requirements are regularly assessed and met.
We have gathered together teams of top ski and snowboard professionals. You get job advice and are put in touch with prospective employers round the world. Peak Leaders courses deliver an excellent range of vocational and transferable skills providing a strong basis for gaining employment in similar or complementary fields. Whether you go on to lead groups of skiers or board meetings, you will have gained a powerful insight into yourself and will understand your strengths and weaknesses.
What are Peak Leaders Career Break Courses really like?
If you want the inside track it on a Peak Leaders course straight from the horses' mouths, check out the Course Diaries. |
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