Instruction
Instructors and instructing
Instruction is taken very seriously at Disabled Sports, Orange County. Safety is always first. Secondly, we need to have fun! If we can learn how to ski or ride better, that's just icing on the cake. Our monthly trips have three instructional sessions during the weekend when our volunteer instructors help our students have fun skiing or snowboarding and work on improving their on snow skills.
Here's an outline of a typical weekend trip:
Arrive by at least Friday night or very early Saturday morning.
Meet at the Main Lodge at Mammoth Mountain Resort before 9:15 am.
Receive your teaching assignment and lift ticket.
Teach from 9:30 to 12 noon.
Lunch from 12 to 1 pm.
More instructing from 1pm to 3:30 pm.
Instructors meeting from 4 pm to 4:30. (usually)
Group potluck Saturday evening about 7 pm.
Meet at the Main Lodge Sunday morning before 9:15 am.
Teach from 9:30 to 12 noon.
Your Sunday afternoon is yours . . .
That's it!
How to become an Instructor
We are always looking for instructors to help us teach adaptive skiing and snowboarding.
What are the requirements for becoming an instructor with The Achievers?
The most important quality that we are looking for is someone who wants to help in any way they can. Volunteer instructing is not for everyone, but if you want to help and make a difference, we can teach you the rest. Second, you should also be at least an advanced beginner with your skiing/riding skills. If you can ski/board the runs Sesame Street, Gingerbread, Schoolyard or Pumpkin at Mammoth Ski Area without much problem, then you probably have the minimum skiing/riding skills that we need. Note that the majority of our students are skiers, so potential instructors need to be aware that they should have some skiing skills (which we will be happy to train them on) if their usual snow sport is boarding.
We highly recommend that first time instructors attend our training seminar in Orange County in October and the on-hill clinic at Mammoth in November. These training sessions will give you a greater idea of what is involved in teaching adaptive skiing as well as give you information and hands-on experience with adaptive teaching techniques.
The first year that you instruct is generally an apprenticeship. Ideally, in most circumstances, rookies will not be responsible for teaching a student on their own during their first season. You will be grouped with one or more experienced instructors to observe and help out as directed by the veteran instructor(s).
All instructors are expected to have instruction as their first and main priority; we are there for the students, and free skiing is an extra bonus. If, for some reason, your student should decide to quit for the day or become ill, you should check with the V.P. of Instruction or a designated leader for further assignment.
Contact us at:
949-460-6969