SnowSkool Review

I have just spent the last 3 months in banff Canada with snoowskool and I’ve had the best experience I’ve ever had. Meeting lots of incredible people and making strong connections while improving your skiing to the best of your ability and develop you into an instructor ready to smash it on the slopes. Highly recommend

I’ve been out in Banff - Canada with SnowSkool and I’ve had an awesome time! The incredible tuition from the instructors here almost everyday has meant my skiing has improved more than I thought possible in such a short time. Living and skiing with everyone has been great and I will leave with new friends and amazing memories! I’d recommend this experience to anyone wanting to improve their skiing, qualify/work as a ski instructor, or just have the best 3 months you could wish for.

Great experience, really improved my skiing ability and teaching skills. I would recommend for anyone wanting to become a ski instructor!

Snowskool. Wow. Where do I even begin? What an excellent 11 weeks in Meribel, made some great memories. Would recommend it to anyone and would like to give special mention to the CG Junther, who’s impressive organisational skills have not go unnoticed.

Was good fun, money well spent haha. Met a few wigs from around the world was great.

Awesome experience if your willing to put in the time and effort feels very rewarding too be apart of this years Snowskool team and can happily say was a blast! 💥 Also other than the odd recovery from having too much fun had a lovely time overall

Had a 10/10 time on the course. The process was super streamlined with high quality teaching in a beautiful resort that you couldn’t ask for more from. The accommodation and food was also beyond expectation with puddings five nights a week!! Also had a great rep who made things so easy by liaising with BASI and the chalet company and sorted any problems, no issue. Would recommend this to anyone looking to have an amazing season, improve their skiing, and make some solid friends :)

The 11-week ski instructor course in the Three Valleys was an amazing experience! The instructors were fantastic, the scenery breathtaking, and the skiing unforgettable. It's the perfect blend of learning and fun, with a supportive community of fellow skiers. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to improve their skills while having a blast!

Had so much fun as well as getting my BASI level 2 qualification. Big love to CJ (rep) for helping us all out along the way <3

Well worth the money for what you get out of it. A great way to get your qualification and meet people from around the world.

Instructors are 10/10

Minor issues with admin and accommodation however all in all a great experience

Might need to make it easier to leave a review

One of the best experiences I have had. Met friends for life - and got my BASI level 2 ski instructor exam. Thank you CJ for making things run so smoothly.

Have been following the 10 weeks course in Meribel to become BASI level 2 ski instructor (winter 23-24).
As a starter, and to address the negative ratings below:
-There are three chalets on site, each one with its own hosts. As far as I am concerned, I have no complaints. Let's just say that if (like me) you are not a keen connoisseur of the Commonwealth cuisine, you are in for an earth-shattering epiphany
-I can understand that the COVID experience may not have been the most pleasing, fortunately no such problems this year
-As for the "greedy company" comments, all successful companies need to be profitable. Snowskool is no exception and I never felt that they were only interested in their bottom-line. The comment below about not being greeted when arriving is borderline parody.
-Talking about parody, insinuating that one-review people (I am one of them) are paid shills for Snowskool is beyond stupid
Now for the positive parts:
-Our BASS trainers over all those weeks were fantastic. Benefiting from their huge experience was paramount for making the best of these 10 weeks
-The infrastructure (chalets, Snowskool rep, yes CJ, I'm talking about you) were providing the necessary support for us to focus on us becoming (hopefully) better skiers / snowboarders (who BTW are as close as their stereotypes as possible)
-Special shoutout to CJ who, despite his young age and naivety was key in making everything work smoothly.
That's my experience, of course your mileage may vary (I've been told that all reviews had to end with such a compliance warning)

Snowskool has been an amazing time for me. I’ve met lifelong friends and had unforgettable experiences through this course.
It gives you enough structure to not feel lost and enough freedom to enjoy all aspects of the mountain.

Live, love, laugh

I obtained my snowboard instructor certification by spending 10 wonderful weeks in the largest resort in the world "The Three Valleys" in France.
172 hours of training on the slopes, and two exams (4 days the first, 8 days the second).
As an Italian I can absolutely recommend this training course which opens up a very broad professional perspective (the world).

I joined SnowSkools Piste to Powder course in January 2017 to improve my off piste performance. We were lucky enough to have fresh snow fall on 3 out of the 5 days, someone did the snowdance for our arrival! Great snow along with the brilliant tuition from our instructor really made this a worthwhile week. Thanks SnowSkool, and sorry for the delay in saying so :) Hopefully i will join another course in the future.

In a word awesome!

I have some of the best memories of my life, great mountain, great people, excellent instructors and our apartment in look like something out of MTV cribs. Really well organised cant fault anything about it except that Canadian beer is rubbish

Great time that I'll never forget, even for an old age pensioner..

Great skiing and tuition. Everything else 1/5. Nobody greeted us on arrival or picked up phones. No transport to and from piste. Steve (manager) has anger management issues - be aware!

I went on the Ski Instructor course in Banff in 2013. From the moment I requested information about the company and subsequently booked on to a course with them, the service that SnowSkool provided was exceptional. They made the process of heading over to live the other side of the world aged 18 a seamless one, easing any nerves I might have had. I had the time of my life spending the season in Canada, improving my skiing no end by gaining both my Level 1 and 2 Ski Instructor Qualifications and doing it all with the best bunch of people. The course has provided me with lifelong friends around the world and I would urge anyone to book on to one of their courses.

don't trust this company with your money!! they sold me the course on false pretences and refused to pay back any money i gave them.

a bunch of charlatans

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!- better schools are out there, I would warn anyone NOT to sign up with this company for their course as they over-charge and under-deliver in a massive way...

From the very beginning the owner Phil was 'urging' me to pay more to upgrade my room. I told him I was looking for a larger room which he told me he had for a significant upgrade fee which I ended up moving forward with. The room was actually smaller than others in the chalet and ended up being much more expensive - with only two shelves each, and no dresser or other storage facility it was impossible to organize all our gear for the winter. I brought up the fact that I felt deceived upon arrival however Phil and Steve basically replied - too bad, so sad. It was off to a bad start right away. I truly felt misled and unfortunately it cost me a fair chunk of change. They refused to offer any reimbursement or any other solution whatsoever throughout the entire season despite multiple complaints regarding service.

SnowSkool has an affiliated chalet hosting company 'The Chalet Company' which was used during our stay for the season. I've never had a chalet host before and let me tell you I would NEVER get one again after this experience. I'd rather eat at McDonalds every single day than eat what our host was preparing for us - and I don't eat at Mcdonald's! Some of the highlight meals she made include 'Potatoes and Rice', 'macaroni' with no sauce because she self admittedly was too lazy to make the sauce, 'corn fritters' for breakfast comprised of canned corn and prepackaged pancake batter, and every other meal that was comprised of the EXACT same ingredients - canned tomatoes, onions and bell peppers served in every imaginable way with a different label including 'moroccan stew', 'chilli', 'lasagna', 'curry', 'soup' and others which got old REAL QUICK. Zero imagination, Zero skills, and Zero %$#!s given by Anna - great job!!!! Is there even training for this position - how in the heck did she get hired AND keep her job for the entire season?!?!? I'm beyond baffled.
And the kicker is they told us we could'nt even use our own kitchen for the season AFTER we had already paid them money for the course!!! Can you imagine being a 32 year old and not having access to basic facilities required to nourish oneself over the course of a winter after paying eight thousand pounds?!?!??! When confronted with this the owner Phil responded that this is 'not really something that comes up during the sales process'. This is obviously a critical component to any living situation. Truly despicable behaviour.
In addition to this the course advertised 6 cooked breakfasts which we were only provided sugary cereals and bread that tasted like cardboard for 3 out of every 7 days - unacceptable. When the host did come in during the morning she slammed drawers, banged pots and pans aggressively, blasted music and then only served breakfast during a half hour window of time with an ugly attitude - unbelievable! And this went on all winter.

With numerous complaints piling up which continuously were landing on deaf ears, my chalet mates and I began to feel like there was nothing else we could do but suffer through an uncomfortable dynamic with the host for the rest of the season - which it truly was. We did not feel at home in our chalet and it just became incredibly awkward for everyone.
In the end the season got cut short due to Coronavirus and I received confirmation that the Resort refunded SnowSkool for the unused portion of the passes from the students (which I myself, intended to stay and use). SnowSkool pocketed this money that was clearly intended for season pass holders as they are undoubtedly consumed with greed and not AT ALL concerned with ethics, best interests of their customers or even keeping their own word.

SAVE YOURSELF A LOT OF MONEY TIME AND FRUSTRATION AND GO ELSEWHERE!! - let the reviews speak for themselves.

As a former snowskooler in 2017 and employee this year I can't rate snowskool enough, I've made amazing memories and lifelong friends! My snowboarding improved way beyond my expectations and I have had the amazing opportunity to snowboard in dreamy places and unreal conditions!

SNOWSKOOL IS THE BEST!

Last winter I joined snowskool to do my ski level 2 BASI course in France.... Best few months of my life! The tuition was top knotch and fun, getting lots of slope time as part of tuition and free time, was gutted at the end of leave resort and finish my training!

I completed SnowSkool s course in Big White and had the best time of my life!

Prior to arrival and whilst booking the course, the office staff were fantastic, very knowledgable and able to provide great advice when I couldn t decide which course to book. They were also very flexible with the payment schedule which was an added bonus. Arriving at our apartment, we were pleasantly surprised by the lovely accommodation and beautiful views of the valley. The organisation in resort doesn t stop once you arrive, our two lovely reps have kept us entertained and made us feel at home throughout the season.

The quality of ski instructors was second to none and they improved my skiing dramatically - they are also all legends.

Would definitely recommend booking with SnowSkool, I ve made friends for life and gained lifelong skills.

Hello there! My name is Nicolas and I m from Belgium. Since I was a child, I wanted to become a snowboardinstructor. Last year, the time had come to fulfill those dreams. I looked up on the internet and Snowskool was the first website that popped up. The website looked amazing! I saw that they did snowboard courses in Canada, my favorite country that I never have been before. I ve compared Snowskool with other organization that did the same courses, well I can tell you that nothing looked better then Snowskool himself! Payment, organization, communication, It is very professionally done.
Although I was a little bit suspicious, as a non UK-citizen, it was scary to book a three months during course. After a couple of skype-meetings, reviews and emails, I had enough confidence to book the course and I can tell you, Snowskool people are so kind and helpful!

Snowboarding ( or skiing ) in Canada is definitely something that you never have done before. It is a great experience to explore such a big country, especially the backcountry! For wintersports, it is a paradise.
After 2 days, lessons began and the main thing is just doing that thing you love, yes it is snowboarding ( or skiing ). 5 days tuition per week with well experienced snowboardinstructors for over three months. Can you imagine a winterseason where you can snowboard every day? If this is a dream that would come true, don t hesitate and book this course! It is worth the money!
Ow and for the poor English speaking people, language isn t a problem! After three weeks you speak proper English. I spoke a bit English before I began the course and after three weeks it wasn t a problem anymore. Sorry if I made some writing mistakes in this review, something you don t learn in that period .
Book the course! Book the course!

Kind regards
Nicolas
snowboardinstructor

I completed my SnowSkool course at Big White in 2016 and it was once of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I was 37, a pretty average skier and looking for a change of direction in my life...the course proved to be a major catalyst in making these changes.

I made some really special new friends, improved my skiing dramatically and managed to get a job with a ski school for the following season.

I know form my research that there are lots of companies offering similar products, I chose to go for the one who had been doing it the longest, and they did not disappoint. Accommodation was great, social nights were wicked, they had a great team in resort and the guys in the office back in the UK were really helpful too. Snowskool also had a really good reputation at Big White and it was reassuring that several instructors working there had started their instructor journey by participating in one of the Snowskool courses.

Highly recommended from me...good luck with your journey xx

Awesome season with SnowSkool in Big White...lovely accommodation, great hill, incredible group of people. What more could I ask for? Became a Level 2 snowboard instructor, currently working in New Zealand and just been accepted for a job back in Big White. So stoked!!! #lovesnowskool

A disappointing company.

If you're doing a ski instructor course you'll be hard pressed to not have a great time. Unfortunately SnowSkool as a company seemed to do everything they could to detract from our time. There are many better (and cheaper!) options out there.

While I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the course, this was not due to SnowSkool and was instead a result of the environment we were in. The profit first, client second focus of the company drew away from the experience both at the time and in retrospect. If you're considering doing an instructing course I would highly recommend it - just do it with a different company (there are plenty!).

Our entire chalet of 8 had continuous issues with our host over the duration of the course. These included very poor cooking, complaining to us about her role and even at one point admitting while drunk that she was deliberately making excess noise in the morning to wake and annoy us. This host was the definition of the young English girl in the mountains to party and to whom her job was an inconvenience to her partying.

While this was obviously disapointing and made for a hostile living experience, what was more disappointing was that SnowSkool (and the 'Chalet Company' which they own and through whom you get your accomodation) at all times blamed us the guests and attempted to silence us, making us feel bad for even voicing our concerns.

Unfortunately our course was cut slightly short by Coronavirus. While obviously a difficult time for everyone, SnowSkool took the view that they had our money, so no longer cared what happened to us. This led them to refuse to pass on refunds for season passes which had been provided by the mountain (essentially profiting from our misfortune). In addition this view saw the company offer no communication or assistance during the evacuation of the mountain and instead they were hostile to everyone who tried to contact them.

Overall a good experience that the SnowSkool company put a dampener on. Do yourself a favour and use a different company.

EDIT: Just thought I'd point out that every person who has left a 5 star review has only posted 1 or 2 reviews. Seems like the company has made a few accounts in an attempt to boost their rating? They sure need it...

Awful company do not give them any money whatsoever. Threatened to file bankruptcy papers on me when I was 19 years old after a pulling off one of their courses 3 months in advance. Even though I had already paid my non refundable deposit.

Truly horrific experience.

Whatever you do do not sign up for Snow courses with this company. They are a rip off and as soon as they have your money the service drops.

Before you sign up you ll see picture of amazing chalets - these are nice but once you ve signed up you ll find out you can t use the fireplace, or the kitchen which you wouldn t think would matter except the food was uneatable, and the friendly host was awful and made us uncomfortable in our own home, we made numerous complaints but all feel on deaf ears, dinner was mostly vegetarian that wasn t cooked well (not ideal when you need protein for a day on the hill and had no vegetarians in the house. Breakfast is mostly cardboard toast and cereal, with hot breakfasts a couple of days a week in a half hour slot 730-8am, the cooked breakfast was so bad we barely bothered.

Now aside from the food, horrible host and all complaints being ignored - if you do sign up they ll try to talk you into an upgrade, it ll sounds good but DO NOT BOTHER, I paid even more for absolutely nothing, private rooms do not exist, at least not in France as they ll just keep cramming people onto the course as they are greedy (also note they own the host company.

The final nail in the coffin with this company was the Covid quick exit, we all had to leave a week early, fine couldn t be helped not their fault BUT the ski resort gave us a part refund on our passes out of good faith for us missing the rest of the season, and they messaged us individually to let us know but bulk refunded it to the Snowskool company, and Snowskool pocketed the money as sent very rude emails about it to anyone who asked.

Save yourself a large amount of money and go with a company who are decent people, the course itself was good and I met some great people but it is a LOT of money for not a service, you d be better off doing it with another company or just booking onto the BASI courses.

Best decision I've ever made and 100% the best company to book with!!!! unforgettable experience

Snowskool for me was the best thing that I have ever done to date. The guys that organise what must be a logistical nightmare do it perfectly, and they completely changed my life if not the lives of many others as well. I have always wanted to travel and I love snowboarding but I could never figure out how to put the two together. One random Tuesday in November last year that all changed, I did a bit of googling in the morning, looked at many different companies and by the afternoon and a very long chat with Chris I knew that this was it. Chris is very informative and tells you every piece of information you need to know, and he'll do it 5 times over if need be. The course itself was immense, the location, the people and most importantly the SNOW, all of it was amazing, and now 5 months after my course has ended I am heading back out to Banff to become a fulltime snowboard instructor. All because of Snowskool! One day I hope I can return the favour and instruct the future snowskoolers where ever that may be.

Adam Blackwell