Cardrona and Treble Cone are home to New Zealand's largest ski instructor training programme. Photo / Real NZ
Cardrona and Treble Cone are home to New Zealand's largest ski instructor training programme. Photo / Real NZ
Sharing ski tips is a normal part of a trip to the snow, but could it cost you your lift pass?
A disgruntled visitor has complained a New Zealand ski field threatened to cancel his pass for teaching on the slopes.
James Sorrenson, from Hawea, said he was sharing some tips with two friends on the Treble Cone learner slope last weekend, when he was approached by staff at the ski field.
“I was told that if I came up with anyone else and seen teaching that they would ‘explore options with my pass’,” Sorrenson told the Herald, calling the encounter “super strange”.
“There was no money exchanged, and they couldn’t afford a lesson.”
An adult group lesson at the resort is $150 for the day.
“How could anyone ever learn to ski without spending several thousand dollars?”
In New Zealand, teaching groups on commercial ski fields is not allowed without prior approval. As many offer ski instruction packages, there are measures to stop private guides from teaching clients on premises, without concessions or prior arrangement.
According to the terms and conditions of operator Real NZ, which runs the field: “Whenever a group is skiing or snowboarding at Cardrona or Treble Cone with a coach / trainer or instructor it will be considered a commercial coaching situation.”
New Zealand Snowsports Instructors Alliance, which runs training and certifies instructors in New Zealand, does not have guidelines as to where instructors take their clients.
“The NSIA have no influence on how resorts choose to deal with someone that is teaching on the mountain without permission.”
Hard lesson: James Sorrenson's post caused a stir on the Clutha community Facebook group.
Sorrenson says he has no formal ski instructor training and says he had learned to ski from friends. “Lessons have always been something that is out of reach,” he says.
Now he was concerned he might lose his pass if he was caught skiing with friends again.
Sharing the experience to a local ski forum, it is clear he wasn’t the only skier pulled up for offering tips on the piste. Some claim they had been cautioned for offering one-on-one ski advice to a friend.
Comments on the post called it “protectionism gone mad”.
“Where do they draw the line? Can you teach your own kids?” asked others.
The Treble Cone ski area manager took a photo of Sorrenson’s pass for future reference.
Operator of the Treble Cone ski field, Real NZ, said the interaction between staff and the visitor was professional and it had since reached out to Sorrenson directly.
The operator’s GM of experience Laura Hedley said illegal lessons at resorts had been an “industry-wide issue” this season.
“People give friends and family tips all the time, but crossing the line into commercial agreements is where the issue arises.”
Hedley said most ski areas in New Zealand had comparable policies with regards to independent coaching and the resort’s crackdown on “teaching under the table” was as much about public liability as it was protection of their profession.
“Our team are not trying to single out groups of friends or families, instead they are trying to address a season-long issue for our industry,” she said.
The resort’s terms and conditions say that groups wishing to take their own coaching staff “must make prior contact with the head of sport or the HPC department heads”.
“It is at our sole discretion who will be permitted to coach on the Cardrona and Treble Cone ski areas.”
