Twenty-Two Reasons Why I Love Being a Ski Instructor 

In honor of my twentieth anniversary of teaching skiing at the Telluride Ski Resort, I thought I’d post some of the many reasons why I love being a ski instructor.

-I’m paid to ski in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

-I’m part of a big family that is the Telluride Ski & Snowboard School. The camaraderie we share among our fellow instructors, supervisors, managers and other mountain workers is tops.

-It’s wonderful to spread rainbows and sunshine everyday; we are truly the cheerleaders of the hill and the people who spend the most time with the guests.

-I love teaching.

-My job requires me to be playful, especially when teaching kids, however, I’ve found that adults respond well to play also.

-I love socializing. Instructors need to be very social; we are people people. We are often social planners, especially when it comes to facilitating a guest’s experience on the mountain.

-Teaching children to ski and spending time with them fills a big whole in my heart that was created when I was not able to have children of my own.

-It’s most convenient to have a locker right at the base of the slopes.

-Ski School provides us with many opportunities to work on our own skiing and I take advantage of as many training sessions as possible.

-I like being a part of PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America) where the emphasis is on continuing education. They can be kind of nerdy but that’s part of what we do, particularly when it comes to technique.

-I think of my father most every day when I’m on the mountain and feel gratitude toward him for introducing me to skiing and Colorado. 

-I do like wearing a uniform and red is my favorite color.

-There’s nothing like fresh air and exercise.

-I eat pretty much whatever I want during ski season since as instructors that are out in the cold many, many long days in a row, we burn a lot of calories.

-I like the perks we have, including pro discounts on lots of goods and services and free skiing at many resorts. It’s also nice to receive reduced price and complimentary lift tickets to Telluride that I can share with friends and family.

-It’s interesting to meet all kinds of people from all over the world and to turn them on to skiing.

-I like to play chairlift games.

-I feel that I’m pretty good at chairlift therapy i.e. convincing a woman why should she cultivate an interest in skiing when she’d rather be at the beach. (I like to say that families that ski together stay together and also that maybe you don’t want to send your partner away on one more guy’s trip to the slopes.) 

-It’s a wonderful feeling to have worked out in the cold all day and go home to a cozy interior to thaw out.

-I like developing a side to myself that was not so apparent throughout my life, especially during my Paris days. Self empowerment through sport has become a theme for me these past two decades.

-It’s nice not to have to wait in lift lines when I’m teaching. (Although not nearly as busy as other big resorts, Telluride has become quite busy during the vacation weeks.)

-We are an eclectic group within the Telluride Ski & Snowboard School–young and old, from all kinds of backgrounds with all kinds of fortes that distinguish each and every one of us. It’s fun, for example, sitting on the bench (in the locker room) with a twenty-something and still feeling no ageism because our common language is the ski and riding experience that we all offer. Translation:  this ‘ole gal has some good pearls of wisdom to offer to many of the youngins, even if they can ski circles around me. 

Why twenty-two? It’s my favorite number.

Tune into KOTO.org tonight, Thursday, February 15 at 6:30pm MST to listen to my Travel Fun interview with Tim Williams, Director of the Telluride Ski & Snowboard School. Talking about sliding is almost as good as doing it.