Keystone Training Program

Clinic Attendance

For any and all clinics you attend at Keystone, you will be asked to fill out a clinic roster every single time so make sure you bring your phone with you.

For clinics at other resorts like Breckenridge, you will be asked to fill out that resort’s roster.

Use this link or hold your phone up to the QR code to access the roster.

For paid clinics, you will need to keep the roster open on your phone so you can complete the start AND finish times of each clinic. This roster is how you will get paid for any and all Training at Keystone.

Training Links

Thinking about becoming a PSIA-AASI member?

Check out this Non-Member Guide!

Click on any of the photos below to get more information about the various types of training at Keystone.

Mandatory & Paid Training

Basic Training

  • For our BRAND NEW INSTRUCTORS who have never taught before, you’ll undergo an intensive 5-day process followed by an audit day.

    For those with CERT 2 AND ABOVE, we recognize the time and experience you’ve put into your education and will require only 2 days on snow to make sure you’re prepared to teach at Keystone. We highly recommend an audit for those instructors as well.

  • Basic Training gives you the knowledge and know-how to not only survive teaching a Children’s Beginner lesson, but how to succeed!

    Being well-prepared, both with a technical skillset, but having the skills to teach a great lesson. Your students will come back because they enjoyed working with you and learned awesome things. Returning students and requests also means more money in your pocket.

Reboot Training

  • Newly hired instructors may be asked to attend additional training to see if they have questions, or collectively, if the new hire group needs more training somewhere.

  • New hires have a lot to learn in a little amount of time. We know it’s not possible to learn it all during your basic training, and even if we teach it, you might not retain it. This is a checkpoint to cover any bases that might still need some running.

Return Instructor

  • Every year is a different year. Some years you might hear about a “Welcome Back” presentation, in the form of meetings or Town Halls.

    For the 2023-24 season, we’re pleased to announce that we’ll be doing on-snow training.

  • Instructor education is ongoing. You will NEVER know everything there is to know about skiing or snowboarding, or about teaching adults or children.

    Continued education is required to make sure you have the newest and most up to date information possible, and also to make sure you’re on your game. Sometimes we get lazy in our own curiosity!

    This is a time to ask your team questions, to mingle with your peers, and check out the snow conditions of the new season.

    This is also a great opportunity to receive feedback from your peers, your trainers, and your supervisory team. Stay curious and look for more ways to engage with your own education.

Audits & Shadows

  • Shadow an inexperienced instructor. Watch how they interact with students. How do they set up the day? How does the progression progress? How do they give feedback to their students? How do they manage a group of 10 kids across several miles of snow safely? Lots to know and it helps to see it in real time!

  • Audits are a good way to shadow a lesson in its real format. What you learn is a hypothetical example, but we know nothing goes as planned. Shadowing will give you real examples of how to deal with the multitude of things that can occur in a lesson.

LIFT Training

  • Keystone instructors are required to take continuing education through the LIFT program every year. Some may repeat each year, and some are new each year. It is your responsibility to get these done by the deadline, usually within 30 days of their prescription. Keep an eye out for emails suggesting you have courses to complete.

  • The LIFT Training program is an easy way for us to make sure every instructor across Vail Resorts receives the same training. Since much of our training requires video, we can’t do everything on snow!

Prescribed Training

  • Your trainers and supervisors may feel like you need additional help in parts of your skiing/riding and/or teaching. They may require you to attend prescribed training clinics. This may be online or on snow. If it’s required, it’s paid.

  • We can’t always be perfect all the time. Sometimes, we need additional training, and sometimes, we need others to notice that we need additional help. This might be from a supervisor or trainer, and they will indicate that you need to attend a clinic that will help your skills in some area.

TownHalls & Meetings

  • Sometimes KSRS has meetings. You might be asked to attend one. Those are paid.

  • We have different ways to communicate at Ski & Ride School. Sometimes we do emails and newsletters, sometimes we present information to you in person or via Zoom. Townhalls are a good way to allow the Q&A format.

Crossover Training

  • Generally, this is for snowboarders learning how to teach skiing. The first part of this will be a skills assessment of your skiing ability, and at this point, you should be mostly parallel on green runs. You should NOT be taking this course unless you can already ski. Want to learn to ski? You can participate in a lesson as a real student (and ask a supervisor how!). The second half of the clinic is learning how to teach a beginner ski progression.

  • Snowboard lessons only make a small percentage of lessons in most snowsport schools. We are also always in need of more ski instructors.

    Slower days with no snowboard lessons can mean that you’re either let go for the day, which means you can go freeride, or you can opt to teach skiing and make some money. In many situations, instructors will learn to ski so that they can at least have the option.

    It’s also a good way to prevent burnout. Teaching on the tool you work at is different than teaching on the tool you want to have fun on.

All required training is paid, but not all paid training is mandatory.

Paid training is covered by Worker’s Compensation. Safety is imperative anytime while on snow, but in these paid clinics, it will be even more critical. Lack of situational awareness and/or reckless behavior in these clinics will result in your removal from the clinic and possible disciplinary action.

In order to be paid correctly, all clinic attendees need to complete THIS ROSTER. Your trainer will remind you to complete this, but it’s up to you to make sure it’s correct.

Elective & Non Paid Training

CERTIFICATION

  • PSIA-AASI Certification is your best bet to getting a raise. Find out how.

  • For the shiny pin…

Movement Analysis

  • Movement Analysis (or MA) is a heavy part of instruction. It requires the instructor to be able to quickly assess what they see in a skier or rider, determine the effect that performance is doing to the tool and/or the snow, and then make a short analysis or takeaway for the student to learn something from it.

  • How do you begin to prioritize what to work on with a student if you don’t know what’s happening? These clinics are generally held indoors with video in the evenings after lessons are done, but can sometimes be held on snow as well. Learn how to quickly make an assessment to get your student moving in the best direction they can.

Kids & Teens

  • Learn more about what makes kids so darn interesting… and fun… and sometimes really challenging… From the CAP Model to learning new games on snow, these clinics help you work with your youngest students, which is about 80% of our guests!

  • Kids are pretty different from working with our peers. Unless you have your own or spent a bit of time in childhood development, they can be pretty challenging to figure out how to connect the dots and make the

Ski/Ride Improvement

  • Become a better skier or snowboarder. Free lessons by the best instructors on the mountain and in the country.

  • You don’t know how bad you were until you look back on all the cool stuff you learned in clinics. And now you’re so much better….

MILK Runs

  • More I’d Like to Know (or MILK) on Sunday and Wednesdays, clinics will run early morning. Departing out of the base at 7:30am, SHARP.

    You will likely be in uniform for these because they run prior to lessons. That means you will be on your best behavior! And uniform does NOT mean you’re paid or covered under worker’s comp.

  • Early morning clinics are great for feeling out conditions of the day. It’s also great to learn some new concepts and implement them into your lesson for better absorption. This is a great place to bounce ideas and ask people things since it’s only an hour, and there’s not a lot of time for much else.

Impromptu AM/PM

  • Most of our clinics are scheduled in advance. Sometimes, they go out last minute because we have the trainers and people leftover at lineup.

  • Some of the best clinics on the mountain are those that are pulled out of the hat and designed for the participants who show up. Impromptu’s can cover anything and everything.

Freestyle Verifier

  • Freestyle In-House Program for leading lessons in the park.

  • Instructors aren’t allowed to take lessons in any Vail Resorts park unless they have a Freestyle Specialist 1 or higher, but that costs money. Here’s the cheaper version until you’re ready to become an FS.

Teaching Skills

  • You’re a professional snowboard or ski TEACHER. Not a pro skier or snowboarder. This job requires teaching skills and in order to get better at that… take some clinics from the best teachers on the mountain.

  • Unless you have a master’s in education, you probably haven’t covered the ins and outs of what makes effecting teaching. Or presenting skills. Or giving feedback. Or progression development. Etc. Want to learn how to do better by your students learning how to get into Intermediate terrain? Take a teaching clinic!

Keystone Culture

  • These clinics are designed to help you immerse yourselves in the Keystone culture. Where are the Kid Adventure Zones? What is the history of the area? How do I get more involved in my ski & ride community? Those little details can really put the zest in your lessons because YOU know all the goods.

  • People come from all over the world to see what Colorado ski resorts are like. No one wants an instructor that doesn’t know their mountain. Get to know Keystone like it’s been your backyard for decades. And if it has been decades, come share your knowledge!

Leadership Pathway

  • Newly hired instructors may be asked to attend additional training to see if they have questions, or collectively, if the new hire group needs more training somewhere.

  • New hires have a lot to learn in a little amount of time. We know it’s not possible to learn it all during your basic training, and even if we teach it, you might not retain it. This is a checkpoint to cover any bases that might still need some running.

Pro Development

  • Keystone instructors are required to take continuing education through the LIFT program every year. Some may repeat each year, and some are new each year. It is your responsibility to get these done by the deadline, usually within 30 days of their prescription. Keep an eye out for emails suggesting you have courses to complete.

  • The LIFT Training program is an easy way for us to make sure every instructor across Vail Resorts receives the same training. Since much of our training requires video, we can’t do everything on snow!

Trainer Pathway

  • Newly hired instructors may be asked to attend additional training to see if they have questions, or collectively, if the new hire group needs more training somewhere.

  • New hires have a lot to learn in a little amount of time. We know it’s not possible to learn it all during your basic training, and even if we teach it, you might not retain it. This is a checkpoint to cover any bases that might still need some running.

Elective clinics and programs are voluntary, and NOT paid.

Elective training is not covered by Worker’s Compensation. All skiers and rider in any clinic are expected to uphold the Skier Responsibility Code and any unprofessional behavior will result in disciplinary action.