Rookie Academy Offers You Ski Training Over the Summer

Attending Rookie Academy will help you improve your ski instruction technique over the summer months. With a variety of course options featuring top trainers, New Zealand’s Rookie Academy offers you an instructor training course to fit your goals and timeframe. Attend to train with coaches from around the world, including including PSIA Alpine Team member Jonathan Ballou.

Here, Camp Director Dean Hunter explains how this camp came together, and why it might work for you.

How did you come up with the idea of an inter-continental opportunity for ski instructors?

Rookie Academy takes place in the Southern Hemisphere and is based out of Treble Cone, one of the best ski resorts in the world for challenging in bounds-terrain. It is truly breathtaking.

I started the Rookies in 1992. I have taught around the world for over 65 winter seasons and through my travels I’ve built a great network of talented trainers. As Rookie Academy grew its instructor training courses, I started to add other international instructor associations as training and certification options in the early 2000s with the Canadian Ski Instructors Association, British Association of Snowsports Instructors and later PSIA-AASI. This attracted some of the most talented examiners within these associations to Wanaka, New Zealand for our winter season.

Seven years ago, we started offering three week instructor camps to advance instructors skiing in all terrain and as they trained to becoming better instructors.

Who is this for and what can they expect to gain from participating?

Because all our trainers train and ski together, we all have a similar understanding of what is “great skiing” and the fundamentals we need to get there. We work hard to give each participant ownership of how they get to great skiing.

There are 3 opportunities for participants:

• Longer courses give you the opportunity to pass international level 1 & 2 qualification.
• Shorter courses give you the opportunity to pass international level 2 or 3 qualification.
• Rookies Camps are for strong intermediate to expert skiers who are focused on mountain terrain and ski performance.

When you learn to ski Treble Cone you can ski anywhere in the world. Each training camp will push your skiing fundamentals on all Treble Cone has to offer. You’ll ski with a different talented trainers all with a common goal of helping you achieve great skiing.

How great does it feel to have international travel opening up so that camps like this can happen?

Awesome. It’s great to travel again. We are looking forward to 2023 and beyond.