Freestyle park lessons: setting levels, groups and sessions

Split freestyle sessions by level, not by age or by how brave a rider says they are, and write the prerequisites for each level in the service description: a rider who can't yet link turns on a red run has nothing to do on a kicker. Keep groups small, with a fixed number of places per slot, so everyone gets enough attempts on each feature. Then state your rules before anyone books: helmet required, back protector recommended, what you do when the park is closed or icy.

A freestyle session is not a regular lesson with a few jumps at the end. Riders spend their time walking back up or taking a lift for the next attempt, watching others, and waiting for a clear run on a feature. The pace depends on how busy the park is and on how many riders share each feature. A group that is too big means few attempts each; a group that mixes a first ollie with a first 360 means one rider is bored and another is scared.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. Each slot belongs to one service, with its own start and end, and its own number of places. Riders pick a service, then one of its free slots. When all places are taken, the slot is full and no longer shown on your page.

Lengths, places and prices are examples: set your own. The public form books one place per booking, so a group of three friends makes three bookings, or one of them calls you and you book the group from your calendar with the number of people.

Vague levels such as "intermediate" mean something different to every rider. Describe what the rider must already do, in terms they can check on their own:

Ask in the booking note for what the rider already does in the park, their stance, and any injury. The public booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, plus that optional note, and you read it in your new-booking email. If a rider is clearly in the wrong level, contact them before the session and move their booking to the right service from your bookings list.

The description is the place for rules that aren't negotiable on the day. Keep them short so riders actually read them:

Parks change with the weather and the grooming schedule. In the morning after a cold night, landings can be hard; in late afternoon they can be rutted. Some parks open later than the rest of the resort, after shaping. Place your slots when the park you teach in is at its best, and say in the description what you do if it is closed for reshaping or conditions make it unsafe: move to the slopes and work on flatground tricks, or move the booking to another day.

Create your park slots on the days you teach and repeat them each week until the end of the season. In spring, when the snow softens and landings are more forgiving, you can add slots for progression sessions. The public page shows slot times in your business's time zone, with its name.

A rider who landed a first jump will want the next step. Suggest the next level or a private session, and book it with them from your calendar: first and last name are required, email and phone optional; with the email, they get a confirmation. Riders can't move their own bookings online: they contact you, and you reschedule or cancel from your bookings list. Book doesn't email them about changes or take payments, so tell them yourself and say in the description how you're paid. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.