Peak Leaders St Anton … the powder days.
Posted on December 20, 2011 at 9:22 am

After the successful results from the Austrian Anwarter Ski Instructor Exam (celebrated by going big on the trampolines) the St Anton group had a well earned day off.
However, with so much snow falling and fresh powder all over St Anton everyone on the course was looking forward to 3 days of skiing with Alberg Ski School Mountain Guides.

We were not to be disappointed…….. 3 of the most epic days of powder skiing anyone will ever have.

On day one Guide Harry took us on a tour of all of the St Anton ski area. Which was great for the trainees who have secured jobs with the Alberg Ski School either for the whole or for part of the season. He showed the group where Ski School meets, the best slopes for all the different lesson levels, where to take the groups for lunch and all the other information that will ensure that the Peak Leaders newly qualified instructors have a seamless start to their season with the Alberg Ski School.

The last 2 days of the course we had the return of Fossi the Mountain Guide and Ski & Snowboard Trainer who had taken the pre Anwarter training with the group.
Fossi took us on a tour of his secret powder stashes…… continues thigh to wait deep powder. Fresh lines every time. With over a metre of snow falling in 48 hours it was simply an unforgettable experience for the group.

Tired and thirsty bodies were replenished with trips to the famous Krazy Kangaroo apres ski bar!

Trainees, Rob, Oliver and Carl are already teaching for the Alberg Ski School. Jes and Arnout have jobs with Ski Schools in other Austrian Resorts and other trainees are returning to St Anton later in the season to work as instructors.

It has been a very busy 4 week course. Skiing in Ischgl, Fiss and then St Anton.Thanks to Eva for the German Lessons. Richard and Birgit for being fantastic hosts at the beautiful Hotel Thonihaus. Thanks to the amazing Fossi for his brilliant teaching and guiding. Thanks to trainee Glyn for driving his car everyday to Fiss. Thanks to Oliver and Craig for making room 103 the best pre dinner and post dinner apres ski bar!

And most of all thanks to all the Peak Leaders St Anton 2011 trainees who have made this course hugely enjoyable and successful.

Tony
Peak Leaders St Anton.

St Anton 2011 Anwarter Ski Instructor Exam Day…
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 4:29 pm

The St Anton 2011 crew in a minibus and a car (cheers Glyn) rolled out of St Anton in the dark yesterday for the exam day of the Anwarter Ski Instructor  Course. It was a 07.45 start in Fiss for the theory exam followed by 3 different practical ski exams.

The guys were all numbered up with “Aussie” Craig the first to go of the Peak Leaders  entries in the total of 130 taking the exams. Last of the Peak Leaders crew to go was “where is” Rob who drew number 13 vest (numbers went down in the running order) it was lucky 13 for him!

Once all the 3 exams were completed it was a long wait until the results were announced.
100% PASS RATE on the 3 practical exams for the Peak Leaders Trainees.

Then followed the usual celebratory Austrian Apres scene….. disco dancing  in ski boots at  4 pm in the afternoon …… along with trampolining (once the guys had cleared the fresh powder off).

Today, those who were wishing to work as Instructors in St Anton took their newly gained Instructor Certificate to the Arlberg Ski Schule where they successfully gained Instructor jobs.

For the next 3 days the group are skiing with mountain guides and fresh snow is forecast…. excellent!

Carl in the funnel exam

Arnout styling it

Johannes working those skis

Oli trying to impress the watching examinors

Jes going up or down?

Party party party

“put your hand up in the air”

Well done guys.

Tony

Peak Leaders St Anton 2011
Posted on December 7, 2011 at 8:56 pm

The Peak Leaders St Anton 2011 Group are half way through their Austrian Anwarter Ski Instructor Exam. Having had pre exam German Language lessons with Eva and then five days of ski training with the legendary Fossi (mountain guide, world cup snowboarder and ski and snowboard trainer). The group are putting the training to good use during the Anwarter having to be able to teach ski lessons in German and demonstrate their skiing technique to the watching trainers.

With hardly any snow in Europe we were lucky as the nearby resort of Ischgl had great snow for the ski training. The Anwarter is taking place in the resort of Fiss. Which means early starts and silence (due to everyone sleeping) in the minibus both on the way to and on the way back from Fiss!

The last 48 hours the snow has not stopped falling……  today we had thigh deep powder off piste and ankle deep on piste.

Thanks to Oli and Craig room 103 in the hotel has become the central social place. The door is always open for a beer, a movie or even some German revision.

Everyone enjoyed Krampus Festival with the exemption of Amy who we used as a shield /  sacrificial lamb against the whipping devils!

It is still snowing in St Anton and Fiss and it is looking good for the rest of the course.

Tony

1 more day….
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 10:32 am

Only one more day left of the Anwarter exam…and everyone is very excited to finish! The exam seems to be going well, over the last few days they have been testing their skills (as part of the exam) going snowblading and snowboarding. They have had avalanche safety training and the lessons on how to interact with kids…..lots of new games coming out of the woodwork!

Tomorrow is the ski practical exam and the theory exam…all in German. Nerves are running high, especially as I have promised the video camera will make an appearance. Today’s practical exam practice over a 120m length of narrowing piste looked close to impossible on the sheet of ice on which it took place but the group handled it well.

It is still snowing so hard out here, I seem to be having the best day skiing of my life everyday, the off piste out here is silly good, lots of tree runs, now waiting for that sunny day to hit the back country! Still no snow park, so a few of us have resorted to building backcountry kickers, the hilarious videos will follow.

Tomorrow, following the exam results it is straight off to the Moosewirt Apres-Ski pub for course (hopeful) celebrations.

TOUCH WOOD!

And the Anwarter begins…
Posted on December 8, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Following the end of the ski training with Fossi last Friday, the group are now in the middle of their Anwarter exams; an intensive theoretical and practical exam testing all their ski knowledge of parallel turning. They are being tested in particular with their knowledge of German as the whole 10 day exam is in German!

We have had one 21st Birthday party out here and another of the trainee’s 19th Birthday is upcoming. Slowly everything around the resort is opening and I’m sure that Charlie and James are proud to be the first to dance on the Moosewirt après ski tables last Friday.

The snow out here, much as I hear from the UK has been awesome, powder day followed by bright sunshine….the trend only continues! The backcountry area’s are become more and more accessible, St Anton is an incredible place for some hardcore off-piste riding.

The evening’s, despite being a lot busier now with the desperation to pass the Anwarter Exam are still occupied by climbing, bowling and tonight’s tennis match! The competition is getting ever more fierce as time goes on, and the styles of bowling despite more practice are still a hilarity.

Everything is great out here, with everyone very much looking forward to finishing the exams, having a huge party, three more days of general

training (no more snowplough!) and starting work!

Week 1
Posted on December 1, 2010 at 7:26 am

So….1 week of hardcore German lessons and 3 days of ski instruction so far. The arrival of the group didn’t unfortunately mean the immediate arrival of the snow, in fact when I arrived 4 days earlier, St Anton looked positively green.

Slowly but surely however the white stuff fell and the fun began. The first week was planned around the intensive German sessions, ILM training, orientation and giving everyone a chance to organise themselves. This also left an opportunity to try some extreme sledding… broken pride and mud everywhere.

We have been eating five nights a week in the ‘Skiing Buddha’ restaurant above the Arl Rock sports centre, which has been a fantastic facility not only for the great food but the endless hours of fun and games ranging from incredibly competitive games of bowling, climbing (hilarious), tennis, and our weekly football match is yet to commence. Following the German lessons in which the group were bullied by 10year olds who were on detention with a task to teach our group German, the skiing started on the Friday. It was blitzing it down with snow, the visibility was poor, which definitely made the quality of falls more hilarious. Immediately we started a scoring system according to the style upon each fall, with a variety of ideas of prizes for the winner. James was a close contender with a great fall within ten metres of being on skis, however Luke came out with an 8.5, losing both poles and skis. It was a hard day in the deep snow and poor visibility but we made sure to celebrate the opening of the St Anton season and the true beginning of the road to becoming ski instructors.

The following day was epic, all the snow from the previous day’s storms and we had blue sky and no wind all day, no one around…incredible. We were unfortunately having far too much fun to take any good photos. The rest of the weekend has brought lots more intense ski training (in German) more very competitive bowling.

The day-to-day instruction has been taxing especially with regards to the German aspect of teaching groups, but the progression has been very clear. With the 10 day Anwarter exam approaching, everyone is focused on the steps or ‘ubung’ to teaching classes how to ski. It is clear so far that it is the German not the skiing that is going to be the hardest part of the exam.

The snow is continually falling, we have had two good powder days so far and more runs are opening daily, it is looking to be a great season, the mood within the group is nervous but good, we have had one 21st birthday already and everyone is looking forward to the exams.

Anwarter & the end
Posted on December 23, 2009 at 9:22 am

As the course is coming to end, the atmosphere amongst the group had taken a different direction. On Friday during breakfast the shear focus of the group was phenomenal. The facial expression said only one thing, failure is not an option however there were some exceptions. The expression on mine and Ben’s faces said only one thing too much jagermeister… despite this we strived on with the determination.  As the day went on most of the group had the first part of the exam. This involved taking a mini lesson, whilst being watched by our examiners. I think that on a whole everyone did super. Especially Phillip who got a 1/5(1 being the best.).  Later on we had our last theory lecture another roller coaster of emotions. For dinner that night most of the group went to Scotty’s and had a beer and pizza for ten Euros. Dan and I went to the opening night of the Moosewirt with some Danish guys also doing the anwarter. The place was booming and was being filmed for a German T.V. Channel.

On Saturday we all enjoyed our first lie in since the beginning of the Anwarter - a much need rest! The day proceeded with more training and practising the three practicals. Later as we prepared for the theory you could feel the tension between the group. Most of the group spent the whole night striving back and forth until the early hours.

Nevertheless all this hard work paid off and everyone passed the theory. As the day went on the concentration of the group remained and everyone did the last part of the exam to a very high standard. Much to our surprise, everyone passed the Anwarter and headed straight to the crazy kangaroo. It wasn’t long before everyone was stomping on the tables in a child like fashion.

Monday: The first day off since the start of the Anwarter. Most of the group spent the whole day in bed trying to remember the shenanigans of the night before however myself Ben, Dan, phill and Robbie made it to the first lift. The best cure for a hung over is clean mountain air and by lunch time most of the group were enjoying the blue sky’s and empty slopes. At the museum restaurant the general conversation was toned towards trying to piece together the night before. The whole group is now looking forward to wearing the slightly gay blue uniform with pride. It just goes to show that hard work and concentration really does pay off.
 

The snow has arrived!
Posted on December 10, 2009 at 9:01 am

After a fairly green couple of weeks the snow has arrived in St Anton and the group is now working hard for their Anwarter exams…..

What started out as a quiet beginning to the week, has rapidly become an intensive and very busy Anwarter course. Snowplough drills, avalanche training and Ski touring by moonlight with Schnapps and hot punch after a 2 hour climb set us up for the week, followed by snow and some of the lifts opening to the relief of management and Skischule Arlberg. Meanwhile, we have settled into the intensive instructors course, which is entirely in German (of course), but we are nevertheless a bit worried about how well we will do in our theory exams, and at the same time a nasty bug has struck several members of the team. But, the group dynamic remains excellent despite some highly perfumed, personal sartorial items arriving in the post from the UK.

by Chris

4.12. – 7.12.

The Anwarter Course began on the Friday with the group turning up at the meeting point for the start time and realising that we weren’t the only ones on this course. The other hundred and fifty or so of the trainees came from all over the world including Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The spoken language on the course is German and many of us were worried about how we would cope with the level of German required; especially in the theory sessions. Despite some lows due to our incapacity to do a simple snow plough turn and understand even ‘good morning’ most of the group are understanding more and more as time goes on but it is by no means easy with some lectures going by without anyone understanding anything.A classic moment was Joe being asked by his instructor in front of the entire lecture theatre in a talk when most of us only recognised every third word:  “Verstehst du Josef” to which his reply was simply “Ja”.

The day begins at eight before the sun rises with an hour and a half of theory before everyone hits the slopes to start the practical exercises. These seem to vary between instructors but most seem to consist of endlessly doing the snowplough and ‘Alpines Fahrverhalten’ on slopes that would normally fly by in the blink of an eye. Highlights include Ben being told by our instructor, Eva that she would like to take a picture of his ‘Alpines Fahrverhalten’ to show future students because it was so perfect and Philip being asked one day why he was so good at ‘kurven’! Most of the time, however, we are told we can always improve, whether it be at the snowplough or when taking the warm up; often a “nicht schlecht” is a reason to celebrate. The evenings have been much more restrained than in the last few weeks with most people far too tired to go out, especially with the prospect of a seven o’clock start the next day, and most electing to cram in as much German and ‘Schussfahren’ exercises as possible! After such hard days, supper was always looked forward to but often made more exciting by Dan drinking a shot of vinegar and Joe M and Ben bringing up some pretty filthy areas of conversation.

by Nicholas