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Annabel:

Hi. Mein Name ist Annabel und ich arbeite als Skilehrerin. - Hi. My name's Annabel and I work as a ski instructor.

Hi. My name's Annabel and I work as a ski instructor.

I work as a ski instructor, mainly in the Austrian Alps. I teach kids and adults of all different abilities, and in the summer I sometimes work in a snow dome. In my first season out in Austria, I worked mainly in kindergarten, getting to know the kids and kind of doing the more basic training, and then during my second season and onwards, I progressed to adults and more advanced technical skills, which is what I prefer.

Ja, die Kniegelenke sind gebeugt. - Yes, the knee joints are bent.

Das ist alles parallel. - That is all parallel.

Das ist die perfekte Skiposition. - That is the perfect ski position.

Depending on where you’re working, the ski season will normally start around October/November time and go through to March. The ski days are quite long, but after work I often trained because I'm planning to become a competitive freeride skier. I'm hoping that I will start competing in the winter of 2024 out in Austria, with the Open Ride Qualifying Tour. I love the fact that I can do my hobby, my passion, my absolute favourite thing, you know, skiing, as my job. I absolutely love being in the mountains. I love being outside, working with other people and watching their confidence grow as they work with me.

Super! - Great!

I think it's really important to do a job you love, because as they say, if you're doing something you love, you never work a day in your life.

Colleague:

Danke, danke! - Thank you, thank you!

Annabel:

Gerne. - With pleasure.

For me, it was really important that I spoke English and German, because it made me far more employable out in Austria. The ability to speak to different clientele, whether that was Dutch, Danish, English or German, meant that I was able to progress a lot further in my work, a lot quicker.

Hoch um die Kurve, wieder klein. - Tall around the corner, small again.

I am an Austrian Anwärter which is an SBSSV qualification. It's universally recognised as a Level 2 qualification. I have got that in ski and snowboard, and it took me ten days to qualify out in Austria. The Austrian system's great because when you do the qualification there, you're guaranteed a job afterwards as they put different people into different jobs across the region. I, personally, already knew the ski school I wanted to work with, so I had an email chain back and forward with my ski school and went into that job after I qualified.

Meine Skihose, meine Mütze. - My ski trousers, my beanie.

There are different challenges, obviously working outside and in the mountains, especially when you're working with kids. The conditions can vary and you need to make sure that you're aware of the weather changes and the fronts as well as making sure that all the kids are happy and safe.

Colleague:

Hallo! - Hello.

Annabel:

I was actually born in Germany and my mum is German, so I had a good foundation of German from childhood.

Annabel’s mother:

Hey Anni. - Hi Anni.

Annabel:

Hi, wie geht’s? - Hi, how are you?

Annabel’s mother:

Mir geht’s gut, wie geht es Dir? - I am well, how are you?

Annabel:

Ja, super gut. - Yes, super great.

I then moved to the UK in 2007 and went through the English education system. I then did GCSE and A-level German in the UK, which really meant that my grammar, spelling, reading was all really improved.

Info zur Ausrüstung geben. - Give information about equipment.

I am dyslexic, which meant that learning a language was quite difficult, especially mixing English and German at the same time. I really wish I'd known sooner that grammar and being really precise in your language doesn't really matter. It will come naturally eventually and people really appreciate when you're trying to speak their language.

Alles ist gut bei mir. - All is good with me.

Heute Morgen habe ich nicht so viel getan aber ja… eigentlich gut. - This morning I didn’t do much, but yeah, actually good.

If you have even the smallest inkling that you want to do a season, absolutely go do it. Ski instructing is the best job in the world and it gives you the opportunity to travel, which is just incredible.