The Ski Instructor Podcast

Welcome to part 2 of The Ski Instructor Podcast's episode with Helen Trayfoot who is an independent instructor based in Chatel, France. This week we chat more about teaching children to ski, female representation in snowsports, teaching in a french ski school and some general technique chat, including pole swing weight.  I really enjoyed chatting with Helen and I think that comes across in this pod. Link to the best ski video on you tube.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9agAh1Nmu4E You can find Helen at https://www.facebook.com/helen.trayfootwaugh For the upcoming QandA episode where I attempt to answer your questions along with a special guest, please write to me at dave@snow-pros.ski happy listening Dave www.snow-pros.ski/lessons music by www.bensound.com

Welcome to part 1 of episode 43 of The Ski Instructor Podcast.  This episode is with Helen Trayfoot who is an independent instructor based in Chatel, France. We chat about her twin journeys towards French nationality and full certification.  We then go on to discussing teaching children to ski, which is the main focus of these episodes. New York City cabbie does French numbers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp2J09orYWY   For the upcoming QandA episode where I attempt to answer your questions along with a special guest, please write to me at dave@snow-pros.ski You won't find me on facebook because I have quit that. happy listening Dave www.snow-pros.ski music by www.bensound.com    

Welcome to episode 42 of the podcast and to one that I have been a long time getting round to recording.   Colin Martin is a boot fitting specialist who looks after my own boots.  He is based in Bicester in the UK and is always on my list of places to visit when I go back to Blighty.   In this episode we chat all things feet and boots, as well as some random chat about boats. You can find Colin at www.solutions4feet.com on social media or email on fitting@solutions4feet.com Happy listening and I'll be back next month with the next episode. Dave dave@snow-pros.ski www.snow-pros.ski/instructors music by www.bensound.com  

Welcome to episode 41 and this year's Christmas special roundtable chat. Joining me were Phil Brown of Impulse Racing, Julian Griffiths of European Snowsports and Steve Hindman from the US Nordic Demo Team.   We chatted on a wide range of topics from topics as diverse as mince pies to the last two years running a ski business during covid.  We talk also about digital tech and it's place in skiing as well as the lack of meaningful teaching and client care training in instructor systems. We had great fun making this, I hope that you enjoy listing to this over the holidays. Merry Christmas and a happy new year! Dave www.snow-pros.ski/lessons dave@snow-pros.ski music by www.bensound.com  

Welcome to episode 40, the second part of my interview with Jon Ahlsen. In this one, we go a lot more in depth about skiing and we get into detail about different national ski systems, lots (more)chat about the Japanese technical champs, an insight into the mind of a national team race coach, in depth technical discussion and a review of last winter. You can find out more about Jon and his work here: https://www.instructorcourses.skinewgen.com/ski-instructor-courses/verbier-prof-dev/#trainers https://www.projectedproductions.com/jon-ahlsen happy listening Dave www.snow-pros.ski dave@snow-pros.ski music by www.bensound.com  

In episode 39 and 40 of the podcast, I chat to Jon Ahlsen.  I went to his place in Verbier and spent a wonderful 2.5 hours chatting all things skiing and life in general.  Jon is a deep thinker on most subjects and I very much enjoyed getting to know him more that I already did. We chat in part 1 about summer skiing on the glacier, corparate life vs skiing life, fashion, his journey in skiing and much more. You can find out more about the higher certification level training program that Jon and Tom run in Verbier here: https://www.instructorcourses.skinewgen.com/ski-instructor-courses/verbier-prof-dev/#trainers and you can find Jon on instagram @jon_ahlsen Happy listening Dave www.snow-pros.ski/expatskiguide dave@snow-pros.ski music by www.bensound.com  

This week I have a great interview that I did with Dan Egan, US ski hall of famer and author of a new skiing book '30 years in a white haze' which you can find here https://www.white-haze.com Dan has featured in numerous Warren Miller ski movies and runs his own ski camps in the US and Europe www.skiclinics.com We chat about all things skiing, growing up in Boston, skiing as a kid and then growing up and coaching them, polar exploration, Mount Elbrus and much more. This was a great interview and I hope you enjoy listening to it. Dave Burrows dave@snow-pros.ski https://www.snow-pros.ski/ski-school-portes-du-soleil music by www.bensound.com                                                                                                                          

Welcome to episode 37 of The Ski Instructor Podcast and part 2 of this interview with Peter Kuwall.  I had so much to talk to PK about that I had to extend this interview across two episodes. We carry on our interview and talk about the effects of Brexit, transcendent performance, his time on the BASI board and the long awaited living in a barn story.  If you want to get in touch with PK, you can contact him at www.britishskischool.com/chatel chatel@britishskischool.com   Happy listening Dave dave@snow-pros.ski https://www.snow-pros.ski/glacier-3000les-diablerets music by www.bensound.com  

Welcome to episode 36 of The Ski Instructor Podcast and one that I have been looking forward to since I first began drawing up my list of people I wanted to speak to. Peter Kuwall is my guru, a guy who has probably forgotten more about skiing than I will ever know. We talk about how he came up in the industry, the boom years of Scottish skiing, how teaching and mechanical engineering relate and the old French technical test that was the forerunner to the Eurotest. I always love chatting to PK and i think it really comes out in this interview.  If you want to find him you can catch him at www.britishskischool.com/chatel Happy listening Dave Dave Burrows SnowPros Ski School dave@snow-pros.ski https://www.snow-pros.ski/instructors music by www.bensound.com  

Welcome to episode 35 of the ski instructor podcast which will be the episode that takes it past 50,000 downloads.  I'm a bit late publishing this one, I've been out recording podcasts and generally doing other stuff not related to skiing. This week, I had the chance to record a lovely interview with John Greenwood, who runs the Silksworth Dry Ski Centre in the North East of England https://www.everyoneactive.com/centre/silksworth-sports-complex-and-ski-slope/ We had a great chat covering topics as diverse as school ski trips to Norway, quirks to teaching on a dry slope, ski prep for dry slope skiing and load of other stuff in-between. You can reach John at https://www.facebook.com/john.greenwood.16 It's a good interview with good energy.  I hope you like it. Dave dave@snow-pros.ski https://www.snow-pros.ski/summer-ski-camp music by www.bensound.com    

Welcome to episode 34 of The Ski Instructor Podcast and this week's interview is with Alessandro Cambon of Beau Soleil International School and Alpine Italy. Ale is a BASI level 4 and trainer but is originally from Italy.  We had a lovely chat in his home in Gryon and we covered lots of ground in this podcast including pole vaulting, life and work skiing at an international school and lots more. I hope that you enjoy this chat with Ale and you can find him at www.alpineitaly.co.uk Have a great spring Dave dave@snow-pros.ski https://www.snow-pros.ski/summer-ski-camps   music by www.bensound.com  

Welcome to episode 33 of The Ski Instructor Podcast. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Federico Sollini from Sub Zero Coaching in Zermatt.  Fede runs ski instructor training and physical performance coaching and has worked at high levels with professional athletes as well as aspiring ski instructors. We talk at length on topics such as why national instructor instructor systems develop in the way that they do, the work that he does at Sub Zero and blending agility and strength in skiing. I really enjoyed chatting to Fede and you can reach him at www.subzerocoaching.com Happy listening Dave dave@snow-pros.ski www.snow-pros.ski music by www.bensound.com  

Welcome to Episode 32 of The Ski Instructor Podcast and the one that will take us past 45,000 downloads of the pod.  Every now and then I look at the blog stats and I'm amazed by how many people are listening to this podcast. This week I have an interview with Giles Lewis of The Development Centre (TDC) in Val-d'Isere.  Giles is also a member of the BASI National Education Team. We had a great chat on various topics but the real gem in this one is the moguls talk and there are some real nuggets in this interview about bumps skiing and why it is so rewarding.  You'll also find out my guilty secret this winter amongst other things. You can see Giles at work here in the BASI Level 4 technical standards videos: https://www.basi.org.uk/BASI/Courses/Alpine/Tech_standards/Alpine_technical_standards.aspx?WebsiteKey=211cffca-c436-4a06-844e-527af5a19586 You can contact Giles at www.tdcski.com Happy listening Dave Burrows SnowPros Ski School dave@snow-pros.ski https://www.snow-pros.ski/lessons music by www.be

Welcome to episode 31 of The Ski Instructor Podcast.     I went to Verbier to meet up with Toby Mallock who runs both Performance Ski School and Powder Extreme. We had this chat in mid December and so some of the content relating to covid is a little out of date but there is still some great chat about off piste skiing and all things Verbier. I love these in person chats and I think the fun that we had recording this interview really shines through in the podcast. You can contact Toby at toby@performanceverbier.com https://www.performanceverbier.com https://www.powder-extreme.com happy listening Dave dave@snow-pros.ski https://www.snow-pros.ski/blog/covid-skiing-switzerland?fbclid=IwAR0KdprAqs4EWVwxxe2KB6JQLFk0mLjKf3OrzCR-xRpHrZsErii1mJ4DZL4 music by www.bensound.com  

Welcome to episode 30 of The Ski Instructor Podcast and this winter's Christmas special. I had the chance to interview Blair Aitken of British Backcountry and we talked on numerous subjects including his skiing and racing career, Scottish skiing culture and how that has changed in recent years.  We also talk about skiing in the Scottish backcountry and the courses that Blair runs during the winter.   The sound is a little low on this one so you'll have to turn it up. I hope you enjoy listening to this interview, I really enjoyed this chat, it's one of my favourites. I wish you a very merry Christmas and a fruitful and positive 2021. You can reach Blair at www.british-backcountry.co.uk Dave www.snow-pros.ski dave@snow-pros.ski music by www.bensound.com  

Welcome to episode 29 of the Ski Instructor Podcast this week featuring Alex Armand from Tip Top Ski Coaching in Les Deux Alpes in France. In what has turned out to be a very timely interview, we discuss the french state's current position on skiing, Alex's skiing history, brexit (again!), skiing in the mask age and much more. I really hope that you enjoy this interview.  Alex was a great interviewee and it was a pleasure to speak with her. You can find Alex at www.tiptopskicoaching.com or search for Tip Top Ski Coaching on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.   Happy listening Dave Dave Burrows https://www.snow-pros.ski/resorts dave@snow-pros.ski music by www.bensound.com  

Welcome to episode 28 of The Ski Instructor Podcast sponsored by www.kaestle.com  This week I chat with Richard Fetherston of Snowbility, a company that specialises in inclusive snowsport.  Richard and his team work with skiers of all ages who don't thinking or learn like the rest of us.  I tripped myself up a few times calling this adaptive but it's not that, it's more in the realm of those with learning disabilities. I chat to Richard about his journey in skiing, how he came to start Snowbility and how it works teaching his clients year round indoors in the Hemel Snowdome.  We also touch on mental health and a couple of tangents to do with golf and sailing. I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I did making it.  You can get in touch with Richard at https://snowbility.co.uk Dave Dave Burrows SnowPros Ski School dave@snow-pros.ski https://www.snow-pros.ski/blog/covid-skiing-switzerland   music by www.bensound.com  

Welcome to episode 27 of The Ski Instructor Podcast sponsored by Kaestle skis. This week I am joined by Andy Rose of Snow Camps Europe in Kaprun to give us an Austrian perspective on skiing.  I know Andy pretty well and I think this comes across in the relaxed style of this interview. If you're into cats or dogs, you're in for a treat in the opening of this one before we get down to a long discussion about ski instructor formation in Austria. In the second half, we cover topics as diverse as old and new Austrian style, skiing in the 80s and eagles. If you want to catch Andy, you can reach him at; www.snowcampseu.com info@snowcampseu.com or search on facebook for Snow Camps Europe. Happy listening Dave Burrows SnowPros Ski School dave@snow-pros.ski https://www.snow-pros.ski/ski-instructors   Music by www.bensound.com    

Welcome to episode 26 of the podcast and one that will push us through 33,000 downloads!  Thank you for all of you that have been in touch, downloaded the podcast and been a part of it.  Thank you also to www.kaestle.com for their kind sponsorship. This week I have a recording that was made in late July in Zermatt with Demian Franzen.  Demian is an educator for Swiss Snowsports, was on the Swiss Demo Team until last year and is one hell of a skier as I know from first hand experience! We talk at length about the Swiss Snowsports qualifications, life on the demo team and his life on the road as a ski racer, as well as the Swiss style and skiing culture in the country. I always enjoy chatting with Demian.  He's a great guy and this really shows through in this interview.   If you want to reach or book Demi you can find him at franzendemi@gmx.ch Happy listening Dave dave@snow-pros.ski SnowPros Ski School https://www.snow-pros.ski/making-ski-school-easier-parents music by www.bensound.com  

This week, I travelled to Verbier to meet for a second interview for the podcast, Julian Griffiths of European Snowsport.  This podcast is sponsored by www.Kaestle.com This was something of a covid special and in this episode we attempt tomato sense of the season just gone and what skiing will look like this winter for instructors and ski schools. We also chat about the new regime at BASI. You can find Julian at www.europeansnowsport.com Happy listening Dave Burrows https://www.snow-pros.ski/get-the-most-out-childs-ski-lessons dave@snow-pros.ski music by www.bensound.com