Being Inspired

It seems that the whole country is transfixed with the London Olympics at the moment. I'm convinced that even non-sports fans are glued to their televisions daily because it is such great viewing. Every four years we top up our knowledge of sports that we hardly knew existed, we marvel at incredible physical feats, we ogle at flat stomachs with admiration, and we even shed a tear as we get swept along with emotions. So what has the Olympics got to do with being a Private Méribel Ski Instructor?Let me explain. How many athletes have you seen in disbelief the last two weeks? How many have wept whilst being interviewed, or had that wobbly twitchy chin thing when their national anthem has played as they stand on the podium? Quite a few. But I had that feeling once, it was a very powerful moment that completely changed my life. No, I haven't competed at an Olympic games, but I have passed something called the 'Euro Speed Test'. This is the point where I swing this article back to skiing! In order to gain the highest, most prestigious, qualification in Ski Instruction, one of the hardest exams to pass is the Speed Test.

In a nutshell, it's a giant slalom race where candidates need to complete in a certain time. Many people love to have a debate about what a giant slalom race has to do with ski instructing, and I'll leave that to those who want to rant away in the bar or on a chairlift. The reason why it's a touchy subject for some people is that few candidates succeed in this exam. Most holiday makers think that it's a way of excluding British Instructors from working in France. This is nonsense because the French have to take the same exam - and they have the same high percentage failure rate. I think you get the picture; it is a very tough exam to pass.My problem was that I didn't have a ski racing background. I had to graft and graft, train like crazy, change my lifestyle and dedicate a huge amount of money to the cause. To give you an example of how hard I had to train, I spent two full ski seasons down in New Zealand (during the Northern Hemisphere's summer) only race training full-time. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not moaning - because I had some amazing experiences down there. I met Bode Miller, the US ski racer who is on my list of the most entertaining skiers in history. I also watched the Austrian World Cup squad train on the same piste as me.