First Time Instructor Ski Recommendations

You can usually find instructors turning over Volkl's 6 stars or AC 30s/50s from previous years.

While Bushwacker is certainly correct that it is possible to succeed on exams on a softish twin and this is a practical teaching ski for beginners, it is my experience that certain examiners, especially those of a certain age, are put in a less convivial mood by examinees on twin tips or wearing any clothing that is remotely baggy.

Failing the L1 as a first year instructor is pretty much impossible, but some places will let you hustle through the 2 in your first year.  If you're buying a ski to teach on, it might behoove you to be on a ski that makes the examiner happy.

 prudent thought dictates that i just wait until my on-snow pre-evaluation/orientation, which is in late December and then go from there. i am working under the presumption that during the 3-day orientation they will go over such things as recommended gear, joining PSIA, getting on track to take/pass Level 1, pro form benefits, etc.

again, thanks for all the feedback.

examiners should examine based on skiing skill not what skis your on...I told heard the stories about this and already ran into an examiner from PC that is totally full of himself and a jackass. So what can people like us. Not all twins are soft either... Making examines happy is super lame and is pandering. Its smoothing a weak person would do, not someone who can think on thier feet and can actually ski.

trust me if I would have failed my examine on twin tips after my peers coming up and telling me that I was clearly a good skier. I would of bad mouthed them publicly for being skiist(racism based on skis lol;)) and encourage anyone else who failed an exam due to being on twin tips to do that same. We need to get rid of the dinosaurs and encourage fair examination, by sitting by idly and trying to appease examiners all your doing is making the problem worse and not better.

forums like this are very powerful tools for keeping things fair trust me.

with that said I want to again say that Paul Brownie, Keith Hower, and Bill(from stratton) are all great guys to ski with even though one of them failed me. Tons of fun, made the exam process not so scary, and were IMO fair. The people who passed are exactly who the group of 6 us thought was going to past. Id say that pretty fair in my book. Now Ron Kipp from Park City failed people that the Dteam head coach thought should of passed on thier worst days of skiing. Ron Kipp didnt pass a single soul that year though supposely.

Hi,
I taught for 6 seasons.. Australia/Austria ...my advice is

teach on anything you don't mind getting trampled on.. if you've got beginners.. they'll be all over them..

Keep your nice demo/new ski's for advanced groups and training, exams, and of course free ski!

Dave

As posted above there is a "perception" that twins belong to the baggy pant crowd, but as an instructor you must not only be able to demonstrate in a manner that your student can understand, they also must be of the belief that they can duplicate your actions.  One thing that assists that is having gear that closely resembles theirs.
Another thing is that a first year instructor will spend allot of time with kids and if a parent sees the instructor as a professional with a professional appearance they are already one step ahead in the trust issue.
Also as an instructor myself nothing aggravates me more than this attitude:

trust me if I would have failed my examine on twin tips after my peers coming up and telling me that I was clearly a good skier. I would of bad mouthed them publicly for being skiist(racism based on skis lol;)) and encourage anyone else who failed an exam due to being on twin tips to do that same. We need to get rid of the dinosaurs and encourage fair examination, by sitting by idly and trying to appease examiners all your doing is making the problem worse and not better.

Bushwackerin PA may not be this person but I see late teen/early 20's instructors showing up with the oversize hoody on under their jacket, pants halfway down their butts, wearing a toque that makes them look like they stepped out of the seven dwarfs.
Went on a training session and one of the other instructors showed up on a pair of K2 Hellbents.  Hadn't snowed in a couple of weeks and the trainer commented that it may not have been the best ski choice for the day but he commented that he could only afford one pair of skis that year and that's what he chose, to be able to "ride the sick pow".  Watched him later in the week with his class, and they were duplicating his actions to a "T", hands it their sides, sitting back skidded, pivoty turns, perfect terrain park style.
I agree that the performance of some non park specific twins is now acceptable, if I was out specifically training for progression within the PSIA, or whatever professional sanctioning body I would use one of the best tools for the job, and if I was out doing for example high speed dynamic parallel turns I would rather be in a Head Supershape Magnum rather than a JO Pro.