Heather: I was told by my brother (who also did Nonstop) my season in Banff would be ‘the best 3 months of my life’ – a lot to live up to. I was naturally a little apprehensive to meet the people I’d be spending the winter with, but that quickly disappeared. Everyone was like-minded, super friendly and here to have blast. We were settled in with a tour of town and team meal, and Banff instantly felt like home – a beautiful setting, three ski resorts and a buzzy town we were straight involved with – karaoke and a bucking bull at Wild Bills firmly broke that ice.

Getting on snow for coaching was when it really hit. Our first day was at Sunshine Village – one of the three resorts we’d be skiing at, the others being Lake Louise and Mount Norquay. This first week was about meeting our coaches, finding our ski legs and getting a feel for what the season had in store for us, and we started by looking at stance and balance, playing around in different terrain.

We were also introduced to Nonstop’s MORE program and all the awesome trips and experiences we could get involved with. It’s like a menu of epic adventures with stuff like cat skiing and road trips in there. Nonstop give us $250 towards the MORE activities, but make sure you include enough in your budget to cover what you’d like to do, they are once in a lifetime kind of experiences.

Top tip: Don’t worry about getting all your gear before you arrive in Banff. The shops here are super knowledgeable and offer discounts for Nonstopers.

Highlight: Meeting the whole crew, 55+ of us

James: All settled in to mountain life, coaching ramped up. Each week the groups are shuffled to shake things up and we rotate between the Nonstop coaching team – this is awesome as it means you get challenged by different coaching styles. Coaching began to really hone in on personal areas of improvement to iron out bad habits – I was working on using a greater range of motion in the knee joints. We skied at all three resorts – Sunshine, Lake Louise and Norquay – and are aready getting exposed to so much terrain. Every week Nonstop lay on some socials and this time we headed out to cheer on the Canmore Eagles, the local ice hockey team – first ever game and I loved it. We’re also getting pretty good at pool and watching ski films in the hang out room.

Top tip: Don’t have an ego – everyone comes in at different levels and needs to work on different things. And don’t get frustrated if things aren’t clicking right away. It can take time for skills to sink in but you’ll get there.

Highlight: Snowmobiling in Panorama, hitting speeds of 95km/h and BBQing in the mountains. Such an awesome feeling charging around on a mobile in a massive bowl. The MORE program was underway.

J: The typical coaching structure with Nonstop is doing drills and working on technical aspects in the morning, with the afternoon for guided mileage and free skiing where we put new skills into practice on different terrain. This week we went back to fundamentals. With the Level 1 fast approaching, we worked on improving our demo technique and teaching for beginners. I got a lot out of the week as it showed us what being an instructor was really like. And this is no secret out here, working on your snowplough technique can improve your overall riding.

The week’s tech session was awesome – our coach Julian gave us a workshop on how to wax and edge our skis. I also opted for the Avalanche Safety Training course to boost my backcountry awareness. One day of theory and one day in the field. We learned about snowpack, how to use transceivers and practiced avalanche rescues – a lot of fun.

Top tip: Do the AST course – it gives you some fundamental mountain knowledge all skiers and snowboarders would benefit from.

Highlight: Realising that I wanted to be an instructor.

J: Final preparations for Level 1. We spent half the week at Lake Louise and the other half at Sunshine Village. In this week’s tech session, our coaches took us through ‘all things Level 1’, what to expect over the 3-day course at Lake Louise and a few tips as to what the CSIA are looking for. We had our first round of private coaching sessions, which was perfect prep for the Level 1 and focused on what I needed to improve – still access to knee joints. The rest of the coaching sessions revolved around practicing our Level 1 demos and teaching the group.

This week also featured what I imagine will be the highlight of my Nonstop experience – cat skiing. If you only do one of the MORE activities, do this. We headed out to an abandoned resort called ‘The Fortress’ where we got to ride a modified piste basher which took us up to untouched fresh powder. I honestly can’t put into words how fun this day was!

Top tip: Have a plan of what you want to work on in your private coaching session, you’ll get much more out of it.

Highlight: Cat skiing at ‘The Fortress’. This was the first time in my life where I got to shred some real pow and I will never forget it.

H: This was it! An early start on Monday morning to catch the 7.40am bus to Lake Louise – the location for our Level 1 assessment. I was feeling a little nervous but well prepared to face the 3-day exam head on. We were split into our groups and headed off with our CSIA examiners. They instantly made a point to make sure everyone felt comfortable and knew what to expect. Over the 3 days you’re assessed on two areas – teaching and skiing ability. For teaching, they’re looking to see that you can teach safely, communicate and engage with your students professionally, select suitable terrain, identify objectives and assess progress. For skiing, you need to be able to control your speed in a variety of terrain, use a variety of turn shapes, and show that you can demonstrate entry level to intermediate skiing.

The 3-days is a learning experience in itself, and my skiing continued to improve. Come 4pm on the last day, we were all handed our envelopes – and we all passed! Everyone was in the mood to celebrate. Nonstop had arranged a celebratory dinner at High Rollers, the local bowling bar for pizza and cocktails, then we headed to our favourite watering hole, Mel’s, for ski shots, lots of them…

Top tip: Don’t get too worked up over the Level 1, the whole vibe is so chill and the examiners want you to pass.

Highlight: Passing Level 1 with everyone and becoming an instructor.

Read Part II or join us in Banff for the season and  check out our ski instructor courses / snowboard instructor courses.