Paul Boag 

    I spent 17 years serving in the 4th Royal Tank Regiment. In 1976 I started skiing as a member of the Regimental cross country ski team and raced for 4 seasons. Unfortunately my Olympic team trial was put to rest by an operational tour and with hind sight I don’t have any real regrets. I switched to Alpine skiing in 1981 and that was the start of my career teaching alpine skiing as Chief instructor at 2nd/4th Royal Tank Regiments' winter lodge. In 1986 a change of direction occurred and I was appointed the Chief Instructor of all four of The Royal Tank Regiment's summer and winter adventurous training lodges .This lodge was one of the largest in the area with 75 beds and 12 instructors’ positions. Whilst in post I founded the first British Paragliding School in the Alps. As the hay days of adventurous training dwindled, due to draw downs, my position changed and I worked in, what was then, the British Alpine Centre Bavaria B.A.C. I worked as a trainer assessing services personnel aspiring to be Mountaineering leaders and instructors in Mountain leadership and climbing. Winter, of course, was spent training services personnel to instructor level in both Alpine and Nordic disciplines and it was during this time that I ran the first Telemark instructors course for the services.

    In 1992 I left the Army. This heralded a move into the civilian ski industry, working for a large sports hotel learning how to teach civilians and perfecting my German! Three seasons working in the civilian industry saw me being invited back to work for the Army in their Mountain school as a trainer running mostly Alpine ski instructors courses. During this time I worked my way up the BASI ladder of ski instructor qualifications and in 1997 I opened my first ski school, dedicated to the classic form of Telemark skiing. A German club was subsequently formed for the more dedicated and still runs to this day .I am proud to preside as their president.

    It wasn’t long before the urge to be more involved with the outdoors returned and I was appointed as a civilian instructor in an army lodge here in Bavaria. It was here, amongst my other responsibilities, that I channelled my efforts into kayaking. This era of training saw the birth of Ski Touring as well as Alpine and Nordic disciplines. I was responsible for taking groups and instructors into alpine off piste areas, touring and sleeping over night in snow holes. Summers were spent training services personnel in climbing, mountaineering, kayaking and trekking. Qualified Army personnel were hard to find during this time and I was appointed Civilian Chief Instructor. As redundancies were looming I spent my last few months training and assessing Alpine Instructors, Ski Tour leaders, and Nordic Instructors. I am perpetually grateful to the Army who nurtured me through the world of outdoor activities and without whom I wouldn’t be where I am now.

    I have now branched out alone! My main concern during the summer months is my kayak and canoe school. It is such a specialized performance sport that I also find myself working for local kayak schools, and raft firms as a kayak safety guide. I am also involved in youth development training, working with Outward Bound. Occasionally I work for a local German mountaineering school and the German Alpine Club taking climbing and mountain tours; this helps me maintain my mountaineering skills. I believe in quality training and will only employ full time, professional coaches; these are dedicated people who earn their living from sport. I recently completed my Certified Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming N.L.P. (ABNLP standard) which adds an edge to our training courses and gives us and our clients outstanding results.

    I am married to a local German girl called Gabi and we have a daughter called Christina. My family are also superb skiers and on the rare occasions that we get to spend time together we like nothing better than an afternoon skiing on our neighborhood mountain called the Grünten.

Paul Boag Managing director SKI4FUN-K4U