The Black Bump Run, the Cash, and the Camera
Private lesson, Saturday, 10:00. Your student is Noor, 10, level 4: parallel on blues, struggles in bumps. At the top of the gondola her father, who booked the lesson, asks you to take her down the black bump run under the lift 'because she's bored of blues', and offers 100 euros cash if you do. He also asks you to film her and send the clip to him, and says he will post it on the ski school's Instagram if it is good. Halfway down the blue, Noor catches an edge, falls, and bumps her head. She is wearing a helmet and has no symptoms. Her father, skiing elsewhere, texts that 'we don't need to mention this to her mother'. At lunch a colleague and friend asks you to countersign his lesson record for a lesson he left 30 minutes early.
1. Handle the black bump run request and the 100 euros.
Read the worked answer
Refuse both, once, briefly, then move to what you can deliver.
The run. The black bump run is outside Noor's demonstrated level. She parallels on blues and struggles in bumps; a black bump field combines steepness, fixed obstacles, and a fall line she cannot manage. Taking her there breaches duty of care. The money makes the refusal more important, not less: a payment offered before a decision creates an implied contract to deliver a specific outcome, and it will be in your pocket when the incident report is written.
Say it in one clear sentence and then move on. 'I can't take her down that run today - her bump skiing isn't there yet, and that's not a risk I'd take with someone else's child.' Do not lecture and do not apologise repeatedly; a long justification invites negotiation.
Offer a real alternative that meets the underlying goal. Her father wants her challenged and progressing. Offer a steeper blue, or a short low-consequence bump section with a defined entry and exit where you can control speed - plus a bump-focused private later in the week.
Return the cash. Not because tipping is wrong, but because a payment offered before a decision you are about to make is a bribe and looks like one.
Ask Noor what she wants to ski. The request is a signal that the parent's goal and the child's are not aligned, and the child's motivation is your strongest teaching asset.
Document the request and your response briefly.
2. Address the filming and posting request, and the head impact the father wants kept from the mother.
Read the worked answer
Filming a minor. You need consent from someone with parental responsibility, for filming and separately for publication. The father's request covers his consent to film and to send him the clip; it does not automatically cover publication on the school's Instagram, which is commercial use, requires its own consent, and is governed by the school's media policy and data protection rules. Say so plainly: 'I'll film it and send it to you. Posting it is the office's decision, not mine.' Do not film falls, tears, or other identifiable children in the background.
The head impact. Asymptomatic does not mean uninjured; a helmet does not rule out concussion. Assess and monitor for 20-30 minutes - headache, nausea, dizziness, confusion, memory, balance - and follow school policy, which in most schools means a patrol check after any head impact.
Do not agree to conceal it. You are not obliged to promise secrecy, and you should not: the mother may share parental responsibility, and a concealed injury is a safeguarding problem that exposes Noor to a second impact. Frame it to the father as protecting Noor, not as a rule you are enforcing. 'I'll tell you exactly what happened, and I'll also tell her mother - I can't ask a child to keep a health event secret.'
Record it: time, mechanism, symptoms observed, monitoring, action taken, who was informed. Five lines now is worth an hour later.
3. Your friend asks you to countersign his lesson record for a lesson he left 30 minutes early. What do you do and why?
Read the worked answer
Do not sign.
A countersignature attests that you verified the lesson occurred as recorded. You did not see the lesson and you know it ended 30 minutes early. Signing makes the record false and makes you the person who certified it - which exposes you, him, and the school, and misrepresents a service the client paid for.
Say it plainly, without a lecture: 'I can't sign for a lesson I didn't see. I'll sign if you write the actual times and the reason, or ask the supervisor.' That gives him a legitimate route out and keeps the relationship intact.
If this is a pattern, it is no longer a favour. Two options: a direct conversation about the standard, or a report to the supervisor. Loyalty to a colleague does not override the client's contract or the school's duty to record accurately - and a pattern of inflated records eventually becomes an insurance problem for everyone on staff.
Document your refusal briefly: date, the request, your response. Not to punish him, but because if the record is audited later, the question will be why your signature is on it.
The general principle: a colleague asking you to certify something they know is inaccurate is asking you to take their risk. The professional answer is to decline once, clearly, and offer the honest alternative.