Train to be a ski instructor in Tremblant
Ski Le Gap was the first gap year programme to train ski instructors and it has a good claim to be one of the best. This is because it offers a four-week course to intermediate or advanced skiers and boarders before Christmas, so that they can stay on to teach at the most popular times. Generally, full-time ski instructor courses run from January to March, which leaves would-be teachers little time to make any money.
“We guarantee a job after the course,” says Ski Le Gap’s English founder Beryl Puddifer. “It’s not always full-time, but it’s at least weekends and busy periods like half-term and public holidays.”
The course boasts a 100% pass rate for Level 1 of the Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance exam, which enables students to teach beginners. Many gap year ski instructor courses have high drop-out and failure rates. The price includes tuition, full board and lodging. Ski Le Gap helps with visas.
Puddifer makes no bones about how cold the Laurentian Mountains get. She says: “With the artificial snowmaking it’s what allows us to guarantee that we can train you in November, unlike in the Rockies or the Alps.”
A good destination for family skiing
Yes, it’s bitterly cold, but provided you wrap your children up warmly and are prepared to make frequent hot chocolate stops, they will be fine. The best thing about the skiing here is that the hairiest run meets the gentlest run on every part of the mountain.
For one to six-year-olds there is the Kids Club, open from 8.30am to 4.30pm, also bookable by the half-day and with or without lunch. It arranges indoor and outdoor games, arts and crafts, snacks and other activities. Mother Nature Camp is specifically for children aged three to four years who spend half the day learning to ski and the other half at the Kids Club. It’s the solution for toddlers who are having their first experience of the mountain. For those in ski school, Tremblant has introduced the GPS Flaik system so parents can see where their children are at any time on the mountain.
Off the slopes there’s a nice ice-skating rink by the Saint Bernard chapel open all winter long. Skate rental is reasonable priced. Husky rides and sleigh rides are also available. Aquaclub La Source is a pool with slides and hot tubs, and offers family packages.
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