While on the mountain, the students got an introduction to the snow industry from NZSki Ltd staff, along with a snowboarding lesson on the trails.
The lesson was part of the practical component of the two-year diploma run by QRC - the only one of its kind in Australasia.
Taught by experienced industry practitioners, the diploma course is aimed at developing successful adventure tourism managers by blending business management and leadership skills with practical work experience and adventure education.
Since beginning their diploma course three months ago, the students have made behind-the-scenes visits to several Queenstown adventure tourism businesses and have gone sky-diving, jet-boating and canyon-swinging, along with spending 10 days on an outdoor explorer programme.
Their studies, which have covered emergency care, risk management, accounting and trip organisation, are preparing the students for six months of paid industry training in an adventure tourism business.
Following their snowboarding lesson, the students returned to class to write a four-page report on mountain safety and specific industry training courses.
Coming up for the students are tuition on management and leadership, tourism law, cross-cultural communication, sustainability, accounting, marketing, first aid and risk management, alongside a six-month paid tourism internship, allowing them to make an impact in their chosen area of the industry.
Adventure tourism management graduates can continue on to a bachelor degree at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, Canada's leading specialist in adventure tourism education and training.
