Requesting a lot of info, answers needed quick.

For the skis, I'd recommend going with a wider freestyle ski with a reasonably short turn radius (90mm or more and 20-m sidecut or less). Something like the Line Chronic, K2 Recoil, Atomic Theory, Rossignol S3, Line Blend or K2 Kung Fujas, depending on how wide you want to go. It just depends on your preferences.

For the boots, you might just need them adjusted a bit. A bootfitter might be able to work some magic for you without you having to buy a new pair. I'd try that first.

Helmet: comfort and fit are most important. Take your goggles with you when trying on new ones so you can make sure they fit comfortably with the shape of the helmet.

Where to work and where to ski: there are so many options. You could apply at the big resorts like St. Anton and Ischgl, just in case you get lucky. But most likely, one of the smaller resorts will be where you end up. You might want to browse a bunch of ski resort guides to get an idea of what's available. You can check out the guides here, on the Ski Club of GB site, Where to Ski and Snowboard, and Skiinfo.com.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diethert 

Thanks for the quick reply.

Those ski's look and sound good, but do they also carve good enough so that I can properly show my students how to carve?

 

A bootfitter? I'm hoping every regular sportshop in the alps has such a guy? If so, thanks for the tip:)

 

hm I'll just look around on where to work then. Also, why am I lucky if I get a job in st. anton or ischl? Just because it are big resorts?

As long as you don't go too long on those skis, the turn radius should be short enough for you to do demonstrations while teaching. The skinnier ones like the Chronic and Recoil would be best for that, while the wider ones will be better for your freeriding time.

Most big resorts will have a couple of shops with professional bootfitters. Just ask around and you should find one.

St. Anton and Ischgl are big, popular resorts, so I would imagine they get a lot of applications at the ski schools. But, there are tons of resorts in Austria to choose from, so you should be able to find a job somewhere.

If you're going out there to work, get you skis and equipment at a discount from the instructor friendly shop. Also often there are good deals on rentals so you don't need to buy and can pick up a pair to suit the conditions and what terrain you are skiing that day, that week. 

The shops just ask that you point your client their way.

Instead of a helmet camera, a friend who is a ski instructor bought a hand held camera with a lot of zoom and decent size viewer screen. He uses it to take vids of his students and then shows them the replay on the chair or on slope. I'm guessing that the video record of a students lesson just might earn my friend an extra tip or two.

I think you'll be more than happy in Ischgl, they have 230+ km inbounds and a friend who goes there often says there's plenty of runs off piste. I wouldn't go out of bounds alone, though - securitywise it's not really smart, if you have a fall and brake a leg, who's gonna call for help?

Good luck in the Alps!

You need two pairs of skis. 

As a new instructor you will have a lot of beginners who constantly ski over your skis and crash into your bindings.  The instructor skis will get trashed in a hurry - buy used ( cheap! ) and do not get too attached to them  Also, shorter is better as you will be very close to your students most of the time. Short skis allow better manueverability around the students while you are assisting them.

For your personal skiing days  get a decent all mountain or carving ski.  Europeans are more sensible in their ski choices and tend to get narrower skis.  European snow conditions are different than American and American conditions vary widely.  Buy skis that meet the conditions that are usually encountered ( 90% groomed and/or hard), not the conditions you rarely encounter ( powder).

Good luck, instructing can be a lot of fun.  If it isn't fun you picked the wrong thing to do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgrezmer 

Buy skis that meet the conditions that are usually encountered ( 90% groomed and/or hard), not the conditions you rarely encounter ( powder).

 

 

 

That's strange, I've been on 8 trips in the Alps and have only had one where I didn't run into whiteout conditions at some point during the week. The first time I went to Val d'Isere, the entire mountain was shut the first day because of the avalanche danger from the recent dumps (avalanches reaching street level in some parts of town). Even last winter, which wasn't all that great for snow, about 4 or 5 of my 12 days in the Alps were snow days; not huge dumps, but enough snow to cut visibility down dramatically and keep off-piste conditions nice for another couple of days. I've never had much difficulty in finding powder somewhere on the mountain.

That's not to say Ischgl will get constant dumps every week. But, it's not going to be sunny skies every day. In fact, the biggest challenge I found in skiing the Alps is learning to ski blind because so much of the terrain is above tree level and so many days have low clouds or snow storms.

I'd suggest getting a pair of skis that can run over/through unseen bumps and unexpected patches of soft snow you might encounter on a whiteout day, something you'd feel comfortable on when skiing blind.