Description
A week of world-class ski training in the Chilean Andes – refine your skiing, prepare for certification, and ride with a small, motivated group.
Valle Nevado is one of South America’s premier ski resorts: expansive, high-altitude terrain that has hosted athletes like Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn and Marco Odermatt, with optional access to neighboring La Parva and El Colorado – three connected ski areas in a single trip.
Who it’s for
- Ski instructors – strengthen your teaching and technical skills
- Certification candidates – focused guidance for PSIA / AASI Level 2 & 3
- Advanced skiers – deepen your understanding with personalized feedback and drills
- Aspiring professionals & enthusiasts – immerse yourself in a high-quality training week
Your week, your way
Coaching is 100% personalized – your group shapes the schedule around goals, conditions, and pacing. On-snow tracks include:
- Performance On-Piste – master fundamentals and assessment tasks on the groomers
- Performance Off-Piste – technical and tactical skills for variable terrain
- Teaching on Snow – build progressions and tailor feedback to different learners
- Ski Guiding – lead groups safely across the Andes
Plus optional workshops – CARV sessions, race and gate training – and add-on heli-ski or cat-ski days at Ski Arpa.
A day at camp
- 8:00-9:00 – Breakfast
- 9:30-12:30 – Morning on-snow session
- 12:30-13:30 – Lunch
- 13:45-17:00 – Afternoon on-snow session
- 17:00-18:00 – Tea time
- 18:00+ – Optional activities and evening events
What’s included
- All camp activities and coaching
- Accommodation (multiple room options)
- Group transfers to and from the resort
- Lift tickets for Valle Nevado and La Parva
- Daily breakfast and dinner
- Resort amenities: heated pool, outdoor jacuzzi, fitness center, games room
Program Director & Lead Coach
Jon Jacobsen brings more than 20 years of ski coaching experience to athletes, instructors, and recreational skiers of all ages. His background includes PSIA Alpine Level III certification, Senior Specialist 2, Children’s Specialist 2, Resort Trainer, and Advanced Trainer credentials, along with extensive experience coaching everyone from first-time skiers to certification candidates, competitive racers, and high-level athletes.
As a coach, Jon has worked with skiers across the full spectrum of development, from a child seeing snow for the first time to athletes pursuing stronger race results and instructors working toward certification. His coaching ranges from private lessons to elite camps, with a focus on helping each skier build stronger fundamentals, greater confidence, and more effective movement patterns on snow.
Jon’s primary focus is improving frontside performance across groomers, crud, and race environments. He is especially drawn to the technical side of skiing, including pressure control, edge angles, rotation, ski-snow interaction, and center of mass management. His coaching style is individualized, feedback-driven, and often supported by drills, video, and targeted movement analysis to help skiers understand not just what to change, but why it works.
His experience has taken him around the world, coaching and skiing with passionate athletes from Ushuaia to the Arctic Circle. Along the way, Jon has also been part of achieving two first descents, in Argentina and Alaska. His professional coaching background includes 13 years with Vail Resorts, 7 years at Diamond Peak, and current work at Sugar Bowl.
Jon’s philosophy is simple: skiing is often made more complicated than it needs to be. As he likes to say, “Skiing is nothing more than a series of simple body movements that we like to complicate.” His goal is to help skiers simplify the process, move better, and discover how accessible great skiing can become with the right coaching.
All of our coaches at this camp speak fluent English, are experienced skiers at Valle Nevado, seasoned instructors, and hold multiple PSIA / AASI (and other) certifications. We also group you with like-minded skiers and snowboarders who share your goals and pace, so you learn faster, click with your crew, and have a blast on and off the snow.
Valle Nevado, Chile · August 21-28, 2026
This 2026 departure is sold out — join the waitlist to hear first when 2027 dates open.
