Instructor Tipping

[NYDrew]

Where do you work that patrol director does not get paid. Its unheard of anywhere I have been. Regular patrols even get paid although they do have a volunteer squad.

 

[ctenidae]

Instructor tipping can be fun, though you have to be careful. If an instructor is sleeping and you can sneek up on them, then sure, give them a big shove (do it from the side- you'll never get them to tip frontwards), but be careful- a startled instructor can get pretty angry.

Keep your eyes open on the approach, too- Instructor biscuits are tough to get out of bindings.

(didn't read the whole thread, will be surprised if Marc hasn't made this comment already)

On topic, I'd say it's appropo, if you feel the instructor (waiter/mechanic/window washer/etc) has done a good job and you're satisfied with the service.

 

[teachski]

Most patrol directors that are not "professional Patrollers" do not get paid. I know of MANY patrollers and Patrol Directors that do not get paid. This is NOT my primary job! I am a teacher. My area is open Thurs, Fri and Sat Night and Sat and Sun during the day.

 

[RISkier]

When we first started skiing I didn't tip because I assumed instructors, as professionals, were paid reasonably well. Just didn't even think about it. Now, for a good 1.5 hour lesson with an instructor that we feel we learned from and had fun skiing with we'll usually leave $15-$20 for both of us (sometimes it depends on what I have in my wallet. A little less if the lesson was mediocre or only an hour. Haven't had a lesson where I thought the instructors performance was so bad it didn't merit any tip. I'd think if folks are taking care of your kids most of the day, and if the kids are healthy and happy $15-$20 is reasonable.

 

[skibum1321]

I haven't taken a lesson in years, but I never would even think to tip an instructor. I feel that this is the case with most people.

 

[Sparky]

The hardest working instructors are the one dealing with your kids. How hard they work is not necessarily measured by how much fun your kid had or how much they learned a lot has to do with how willing the kids is to actually ski. If he/she is like the four year old that was so upset to see his father ski off and leave him with this complete stranger that he picked up his ski and tried to hit me with it like it was a baseball bat. (45 minutes later he was happy as a clam because he got to ride the big swing aka chair lift.). Dealing with a pack of 7 or 8 kids (the count can go much higher) is no easy matter, especially if the group is closer to the 4 year old range then 12 year olds. My daughter works in a kids program and I have seen her and co- workers dealing with the trials and tribulations associated with kids everywhere. She can get a group of kids suited up and booted up and ready for the magic carpet faster then I can get my own boots on. She is an expert at managing potty breaks for 7 or more kids, making sure everyone gets the right lunch, dealing with the “mommy melt down factor” resolving it before the crying kid infects the rest of the group and you have a pile of blubbering kids stumbling around in ski boots and helmets. She can just as effectively deal with the parents, from the ones who would like to just drive by and toss the kid out the window and say see you in 6 hours to the ones that want to tag along for “just a little while”. All this for minimum wage and they often don’t get off the bunny hill for days. I have been asked on occasion to help out at the kids program (something that I desperately try to avoid) so I know just how much work it is. Unfortunately most of the kid program instructors a very young themselves (high school age) so for some reason parents don’t think to tip them. I realize that it is expensive to put a kid or two in these programs, but anything you can give these instructors they will appreciate, and they have certainly earn it.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

ok, so let say we are at the end of the 4th day, my kid had a blast and is skiing great...whats the tip amount?

 

[BeanoNYC]

ok, so let say we are at the end of the 4th day, my kid had a blast and is skiing great...whats the tip amount?

That would be worth $100 for me. I figure $20 - $25 a day, depending on how good the instructor is with your child. ..... But that's just me.

 

[kbroderick]

Another thing to consider re: instructor pay is that it's fairly common to pay based on lessons taught, not hours at the resort. So if someone teaches a pair of 90-minute lessons, they might get paid 1/4 hour to show up, 3 hours for the teaching time, and 1/4 hour for the 4:30 meeting...and have to be at the resort all day. Or they might have to show up at lift opening to check in, not have any work that morning, and get told to check back for the 1:00 lineup. And not have any work then, either. When you figure that they're effectively on call for 8 hours and get paid for 3.5 hours, even a $15/hr wage doesn't work out all that well (and I don't think anywhere pays ski instructors $15/hr most of the time).

So feel free to tip. It will probably make you instructor's day.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

she's enrolled in the Kids Camp program

 

[Sparky]

ok, so let say we are at the end of the 4th day, my kid had a blast and is skiing great...whats the tip amount?

It's $75.00 for six hours including lunch 18% to 20% would make the instructor ecstatic, but I'm sure they would be happy with $10.00

 

[loafer89]

My wife wait's tables at a local diner to bring in some extra money, so I fully understand the importance of tipping. I ALWAYS tip the instructor that I/my son takes a lesson with.

Warren just took two private lessons over Thanksgiving weekend at Killington with the same female instructor on both ocassions and I tipped the instructor BEFORE the lesson began. I have never encountered a lousy private instructor before, but I believe in giving the tip before the lesson to encourage better service than to make them wait and wonder if they will get it anyway.

I now have this instructors contact information, and I will be arranging lessons for my son with her for Presidents week.

Maybe this is different from what most people do, but it works out well for me.

 

[Marc]

Instructor tipping can be fun, though you have to be careful. If an instructor is sleeping and you can sneek up on them, then sure, give them a big shove (do it from the side- you'll never get them to tip frontwards), but be careful- a startled instructor can get pretty angry.

Keep your eyes open on the approach, too- Instructor biscuits are tough to get out of bindings.

(didn't read the whole thread, will be surprised if Marc hasn't made this comment already)

On topic, I'd say it's appropo, if you feel the instructor (waiter/mechanic/window washer/etc) has done a good job and you're satisfied with the service.

Good form, you beat me to it.


Although I must say, you had best have a snowmobile running and waiting for when the instructor farmer comes running out of the ski lodge with his loaded 12 gage.



And watch out for instructor pies too, those can be messy and notoriously hard to clean off of nylon. :dunce:

 

[ctenidae]

I tell you, no amount of GoreTex will stop a double load of rocksalt.

 

[HDHaller]

Most patrol directors that are not "professional Patrollers" do not get paid. I know of MANY patrollers and Patrol Directors that do not get paid. This is NOT my primary job! I am a teacher. My area is open Thurs, Fri and Sat Night and Sat and Sun during the day.

A patrol director receiving no pay? That's not common... sounds like a small mountain thing.

At most mountains, patrolling is more lucrative than instructing. As kbroderick points out above, an instructor may have to show up for work first thing in the morning and stay all day, but get paid for only an hour or two of teaching, or receive no lessons and not get paid for that day at all. Patrollers work all day, clock all the hours, and most are paid for all of those hours. That's pretty standard.

-HDH

 

[bvibert]

Most patrol directors that are not "professional Patrollers" do not get paid. I know of MANY patrollers and Patrol Directors that do not get paid. This is NOT my primary job! I am a teacher. My area is open Thurs, Fri and Sat Night and Sat and Sun during the day.

A patrol director receiving no pay? That's not common... sounds like a small mountain thing.

At most mountains, patrolling is more lucrative than instructing. As kbroderick points out above, an instructor may have to show up for work first thing in the morning and stay all day, but get paid for only an hour or two of teaching, or receive no lessons and not get paid for that day at all. Patrollers work all day, clock all the hours, and most are paid for all of those hours. That's pretty standard.

-HDH

I always thought that most patrollers were volunteers. At the mountain I work at (granted a 'small' mountain) none of the patrollers are paid anything, with the exception of maybe the director. The rest only get skiing privileges

 

[HDHaller]

Most patrol directors that are not "professional Patrollers" do not get paid. I know of MANY patrollers and Patrol Directors that do not get paid. This is NOT my primary job! I am a teacher. My area is open Thurs, Fri and Sat Night and Sat and Sun during the day.

A patrol director receiving no pay? That's not common... sounds like a small mountain thing.

At most mountains, patrolling is more lucrative than instructing. As kbroderick points out above, an instructor may have to show up for work first thing in the morning and stay all day, but get paid for only an hour or two of teaching, or receive no lessons and not get paid for that day at all. Patrollers work all day, clock all the hours, and most are paid for all of those hours. That's pretty standard.

-HDH

I always thought that most patrollers were volunteers. At the mountain I work at (granted a 'small' mountain) none of the patrollers are paid anything, with the exception of maybe the director. The rest only get skiing privileges

...right, most patrol DIRECTORS are not volunteers.

Again, it's a small mtn vs. big mtn thing: the bigger mountains have bigger, paid patrol staffs.

It's also a weekend vs. midweek thing. Ski areas use lots of volunteers (patrol, instructors, ticket checkers, etc) on the weekends. Midweek, however, there's a much higher percentage of paid employees.

-HDH

 

[skibum1321]

I always thought that all mountain patrollers were paid, but National Ski Patrol was not. Guess I was mistaken and some smaller mountain ones are not paid.