Iona Pawson
Born: I grew up in London.
Lives: Home is now in Snowdonia, and Verbier is my unofficial second home, having spent the majority of the past ten winters living there.
Fave colour: Oooo, I definitely don’t have a favourite, I love all bright colours and often wear a hideous combination of them!
Fave mountain snack: My current favourites are peanuts, ambrosia rice pudding and ASDA do an amazing sweet chilli edamame bean packet.
What do you love most about being a mountain instructor?
I love being able to share the mountains with other people and there’s nothing better than seeing the look on someone’s face when they have gone from ’zero to hero’ or survived and enjoyed a day out in torrential rain. During the winter, watching your group do their first ever turns down the nursery slope is pretty cool too. I could continue writing answers to this all day so I’ll stop there!
What inspired you to become an instructor?
It sort of happened. I can remember hearing about the Mountain Leader qualification and realising I had the ability to be able to pass my ski instructor exams (with a bit of practice). The more I did, the more I realised that this was something I really enjoyed, wanted to get better at, and could see a lifelong career in (albeit with a few false starts here and there!)
What’s the most valuable lesson you have learnt?
Listen to your sixth sense. If you have a feeling about something not being right, even if you’re not sure why, listen to it.
What's your proudest moment?
Probably passing my Mountaineering and Rock Climbing Instructor Assessment, and then doing my first few day’s at work using it. It was a qualification I originally thought I would never be able to achieve, even after completing the training course.
What's tough about your job?
Being out all day, day after day can be quite demanding physically, but also mentally. This is particularly tough if you want to get out on your days off and there’s a good weather forecast, but know you need time to recover before the next block of work.
What advice would you give the next generation of female instructors?
Go for it, hang out with a group of people who are psyched and supportive to be out in the mountains with. For me, what made the biggest difference was spending time with people who wanted the same things as I did, or who were happy to give up their time to help me do what I wanted to do on a day off or evening after work. It didn’t matter what gender they were, or how experienced they were, what mattered was the environment they helped to create.
Name a fact about yourself not many people know (that you're happy to share).
Sometimes I still don’t have faith in myself to do the work I do. I still question what decisions I’ve made at work, and wonder why people employ me. But, the positive of this is that I’m slowly learning to accept this, and realised that lots of very good outdoor instructors have their moments of questioning too, and that maybe this should never stop and it can help you get better at what you do.
Contact IONA:
INSTA: @verbier_ski_conditions
E-mail: ionap@hotmail.com