Tipping Ski Instructors?

[Mike King]

In PSIA-RM, you need to take a "certification update" periodically if you are not in a certification process...

 

[Steve]

I have to admit, I don't know if I'd be involved in PSIA or instruction if I were in the east. Lots of strikes against and what appears to be very little positive backing ($$$) from ski area management. But who knows?

The discounts on gear pay for the membership. That's why I keep current.

 

[Slim]

I wish that was true.
I'm philosophically opposed to a tipping economy, but I still tip generously.

Same here

 

[Pete in Idaho]

Also depends on where you are and what time of year.

Example: Tahoe, Homewood Resort, avaraged 20 $ tip with highest $100 for teaching family all day that were from Chicago. Silver Mt. No. Idaho my average tip was $5.00 with many no tips. People are different.

 

[rustypouch]

Please do.

As others have said, it's a very demanding and dangerous job. The responsibility is high. The pay is low. The expenses are high, including training and equipment. The hourly rate generally only applies to time on snow, and doesn't cover morning meetings, or showing up to be told there's no work.

 

[ThomasH]

I think recertification is an incorrect term except for cases where folks get out of teaching for a while and do not keep up the education requirements and dues. Attendance at some form of PSIA education event every two years is the requirement I've had to maintain for 50 years.

Some call it re-up, others call it re-cert. Either way if you don't do it, you lose your cert. So there's the initial costs of getting the cert, and the additional bi-annual costs of keeping the cert. PSIA basically has a gun to your head if you don't. So it's got a lot to do with "cert."
Btw at the event I just did I tried to take a collection for our examiner (excuse me- "clinician") as a thank you for the good job he did- I was surprised at the push back I got, from measly contributions to one guy who said "Why? They make us do this!" There's resentment out there.

 

[ThomasH]

I never viewed going for certs a quest to increase income. It's a learning process. I needed four exams to get what's currently LII, but only one to get the gold pin.

I just filled out the annual questionnaire from PSIA- the word "value" appeared in many of the questions, at least one asking about the value of my certification. I thought, what ''value'' are they asking about exactly? The value of knowledge? The value of experience? Of compensation? Of maybe a warm & fuzzy feeling? It's a squishy word & the more I saw it the more it looked like it had been chosen carefully. Funny thing, though- nowhere did I see the word "compensation."
Some guys do this for the warm & fuzzy feeling (they're very open about it) but if I don't cover my costs then the ski corporation essentially is leeching off me. And that has no value at all- for me at least.

 

[ThomasH]

For my kid's chess team, the parents do a collective gift at the end of the year for the coaches. I don't think we tip his guitar teacher, but his fees are not low.
I do not think it's practical or appropriate to tip multiple times a season for a coach or teacher with which you have an regular relationship. An end-of-season or holiday time gift makes more sense.

That's the decent thing to do. I wish more people were like you. That's the way I did it for my kids' seasonal coaches.
I've instructed those multi-weekend kids' ski programs. Guess which day the parents disappear after you've seen them every time before? Or if they do show up on the last day, it's "oh sorry, I'll hit you up next weekend," and you never see them again. I don't do those groups anymore, nor do most guys I work with.

 

[ThomasH]

Total times I've gotten tipped by someone with a foreign accent: 1 (I'm serious!)

What's up with that?

 

[jimtransition]

Total times I've gotten tipped by someone with a foreign accent: 1 (I'm serious!)

What's up with that?

Probably related to most countries not having the same tipping culture as the US.

 

[markojp]

Some call it re-up, others call it re-cert. Either way if you don't do it, you lose your cert. So there's the initial costs of getting the cert, and the additional bi-annual costs of keeping the cert. PSIA basically has a gun to your head if you don't. So it's got a lot to do with "cert."
Btw at the event I just did I tried to take a collection for our examiner (excuse me- "clinician") as a thank you for the good job he did- I was surprised at the push back I got, from measly contributions to one guy who said "Why? They make us do this!" There's resentment out there.

Are you sure you aren't just referring to required continued ed credits? I have admit, the animus regarding tipping a clinician is weird, but that said, I don't think they expect it at all out our way. Which div are you in?

 

[Mike King]

Some call it re-up, others call it re-cert. Either way if you don't do it, you lose your cert. So there's the initial costs of getting the cert, and the additional bi-annual costs of keeping the cert. PSIA basically has a gun to your head if you don't. So it's got a lot to do with "cert."
Btw at the event I just did I tried to take a collection for our examiner (excuse me- "clinician") as a thank you for the good job he did- I was surprised at the push back I got, from measly contributions to one guy who said "Why? They make us do this!" There's resentment out there.

What division are you in?

 

[IllinioisNastar]

I have been a part time ski instructor for the past 3 winters in the Midwest. Over a hundred lessons each season. The vast majority of the lessons are group lessons with beginners being the majority of lessons. $12 an hour with the max of 6 lessons a day and you are working your tail off. You do the math. For some reason you hardly ever see a tip on a group lesson no matter how hard you work or how well you do. In the Midwest it is hard to even make expenses for the day. The only way to make any money is to work full time and they don’t make much. I am a very good instructor and get a lot of compliments but don’t become a ski instructor for the most part unless you are there just to promote skiing because you are most likely not going to make your expenses for the year unless you are at an expensive resort.

if you are in a group lesson make sure you tip!

 

[Wilhelmson]

20%

Lol one time my friend invited us to a restaurant where he had won a dinner for 6 at an auction. This attorney from town who has always been a show off starts comping us bottles of very expensive wine. The other couple and we pay the tip and suffice to say we could have dined well for less than the tip alone.

 

[fatbob]

Probably related to most countries not having the same tipping culture as the US.

This plus ski instructors go around representing they are professionals. You don't tip a doctor, dentist, vet, lawyer, accountant, architect etc so the whole tip an instructor feels a bit weird. Plus people genuinely don't know that instructors collectively suck at negotiating a decent wage from their employers.

 

[jimtransition]

This plus ski instructors go around representing they are professionals. You don't tip a doctor, dentist, vet, lawyer, accountant, architect etc so the whole tip an instructor feels a bit weird. Plus people genuinely don't know that instructors collectively suck at negotiating a decent wage from their employers.

My post was in response to why he never receives tips from foreigners, not people in general.

Seems like you have an issue with both instructors calling themselves professionals, and with them getting paid poorly. Did someone harshly critique your skiing or something?

 

[markojp]

This plus ski instructors go around representing they are professionals. You don't tip a doctor, dentist, vet, lawyer, accountant, architect etc so the whole tip an instructor feels a bit weird. Plus people genuinely don't know that instructors collectively suck at negotiating a decent wage from their employers.

In the upper left hand corner of the US, you know that with the exception of Whistler and Sun Valley, there are no destination resorts. The vast majority of instructors, including many of the best at a particular area, are part timers. Most are unwilling to 'take it to the man' because there's a legal, but unethical monopoly that areas have over instruction*, and I have a feeling that a bunch ski instructors blocking the road on a powder day for more money wouldn't go over very well with the skiing public.

You also may or may not know that different areas offer different pay structures in most regions. The hourly at Crystal is near the top nationally (less than the 4 Aspen resorts, but better than pretty much everywhere else), and yes, it does make a difference in helping make it worthwhile to teach. And yes, I do teach where I can make the most money. If I were a aerospace engineer teaching 12-15 days a season for fun I wouldn't worry about it, but I'm not, so I do. If I lived out east, from the stories I hear here, I doubt I'd bother teaching at all. Race coaching would be a better option. Out here, it doesn't pay enough, but it (race coaching) would be fun for sure. So why do people bother teaching? Because most have found a tribe of great friends that they just enjoy being on the hill with, and most really do want to give back or 'pay it forward' to the sport. Suckers? Fools? Maybe. Fun? If it weren't, we wouldn't bother.

* there are areas like Steven's Pass and Snoqualmie/Alpental that allow a few concession schools to operate, but their future at Steven's is probably highly in jeopardy.

 

[markojp]

My post was in response to why he never receives tips from foreigners, not people in general.

Seems like you have an issue with both instructors calling themselves professionals, and with them getting paid poorly. Did someone harshly critique your skiing or something?

Seems that way, eh?

 

[udailey]

You tip ski instructors because it's the decent thing to do. Obviously the situation where all instructors rise up and demand great pay so you don't have the uncomfortable situation of putting your head down and quietly walking away after the lesson is a fantasy and it's a straw man argument to use that as an excuse. The argument that "its his own fault he's not getting paid enough" is weak. In the US it's a traditionally tipped job, just like your waitress. They've potentially both got kids at home and they're out there trying to keep the bills paid. If you can afford to go out to eat you can afford to tip. If you go ski AND buy a ski lesson you've probably never had to worry about actually bringing home the bacon. My favorite ski instructor literally lives in his truck. So lemme get this straight... $20 is worth your conscience? How about this? How about every time you're about to get a lesson you just be honest and say "I don't believe in tipping ski instructors." That would be an honest way of approaching the situation. It's disingenuous to use the services of a traditionally tipped job and then walk away as if it's normal to walk away. It's not normal.

 

[Eric@ict]

The discounts on gear pay for the membership. That's why I keep current.

This why I taught gun safety and different shooting disciplines. It was mostly volunteer work and never received tips, but always received calls to teach. I did it for the love of sharing the knowledge of the sport. I kept current, so I could get the deep discounts on firearms and related equipment.

I hire two instructors a year; one for me and one for my wife. We call them and find out when they are free and they book the lessons for us. Sometimes its a half day each, others its a full day. They are great people/instructors and I feel the best at Breck. We know their pay is crap, and the resort takes the money. 1/2 day is 700ish and full day is 900ish per person. They have both been instructors for 25+ years and are friends as much as they are hired instructors. We stay in contact thru out the year, send birthday gifts and bring a few pounds of fresh home made bacon each time we come up and visit with them while we are in town. I have always tipped those in the restaurant industry and really don't do much tipping outside of that.

At the 10-20% rate, we would be looking at $70-140 or more per person. YIKES! Ive never thought about tipping my instructors and now this thread is getting me to question what we have been doing. Ive never tipped coaches for any sport or class in the past.