Fiorini is one of very few remaining "concession" schools on the west coast. Many ski areas, having been purchased by large conglomerates in the past decade, have rid their mountains of these kinds of schools in an attempt to limit losses of business to outside providers.
As the Summit at Snoqualmie is such a magnet for beginners, there is so much business that we all happily share customers, and sometimes even training staff.
Fiorini has been in operation for some 65 years. Started by Julie and Buzz Fiorini, an old time Seattle family, the school now operates under the leadership of their daughter, Georgeanne Fiorini. The school is directed and trained by some of the finest instructors in the Professional Ski Instructors of America NW Division (see thesnowpros.com and psia-nw.org).
Ski teaching is a fluid thing that faces a lot of challenges in retention of instructors and therefore delivering and maintaining a high level of knowledge in new instructors.
Certainly world class resorts with full time operations can sustain a full time job for a ski instructor where in Washington skiers and their instructors alike largely indulge their passion on the weekends.
If you have the resources - I would definitely recommend a private ski lesson in Park City once or twice in one's ski career as a supplement to group lessons! While I would never put down our instructors, it's important to point out the difference between someone that is teaching daily vs. 1x/week.
That said, Fiorini does a great job at addressing this issue by limiting class sizes (8 max) and selecting instructors that have a capacity for interacting with students on a meaningful level while assuring their safety and their having FUN. Even with a deep base of ski teaching knowledge, simply connecting with an instructor and having a "ski role model" usually yields the most success.
I would take our program and put it up against anyone else’s - we are the best on the hill. I only rated 4/5 because I always think we can do better! ;) fioriniski.com
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