Jake Prout grew up in a small town about 4 hours drive north of Sydney, and spent most of his child hood on a BMX riding around the streets delivering junk mail/flyers. He first saw snow at the age of 16 when on a Rotary student exchange to Dunedin, New Zealand. Here he fell in love with snowsports so much that on return to Australia he set about finishing high school and moving to the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, so he could go skiing on his days off while studying. After 18 months of his Environmental Science degree he took a semester off to gain some work experience with the California Conservation Corps.
Over Xmas break from the conservation projects in California he took two weeks to travel to Banff, Canada to see his sister Jodie, at Sunshine Village. After a brief lesson from his sister,(“press on your toes it goes one way”. “Press on your heels it goes the other”) he spent most of the first day trying to not crash into people, but before long was keeping up with his mentor on the blue runs.
On return to his studies in Canberra a few months later he found himself working as a snowboard instructor, part time at a small hill 2 hours from Canberra on weekends, called Selwyn Snowfields. After graduating in 1998 he gained a full time position at Selwyn Snowfields and passed his Level 1 APSI certification at the end of the Aussie winter and then headed for Vancouver, Canada to work at Grouse mountain.
It was here that Jake really improved his riding during one of the best winter’s Grouse had ever seen, when they accumulated a ten meter base!
Jake then spent another season in Australia achieving his Level 2 accreditation with the APSI, and returned to Vancouver to teach full time and became a demo rep for Élan Snowboards which allowed him to travel to most of the resorts in Western BC. This season Jake trained for his level 1 Race Coach accreditation on the race board and passed it in Whistler/Blackcomb late in the season. Back to Australia again, and then a move to Keystone, Colorado for the next Northern winter.
It is here at Keystone resort that Jake now spends most of his time. He achieved his Freestyle coaching accreditation at Breckenridge in 2001, and his Full certification (level 3) with the AASI on his second attempt in Steamboat in 2002.
Jake was named Snowboard instructor of the year at Keystone in 2003/04 as he had the highest return rate of any instructor. This season he hopes to maintain his high customer satisfaction rate and prepare for his trainers accreditation with the AASI and hopefully achieve his goal to become an examiner.

Jake is a full time professional Snowboard instructor willing to travel to anyone, any time to introduce them to snowboarding. He is friendly enthusiastic and adapts his lessons to provide the perfect lesson to each individual from kids to adults, from first timers to tricksters. He uses digital video footage to help you improve faster by getting instant visual feedback and is always willing to offer advice for how to enjoy your ski holiday whether you are a seasoned pro or completely new to the snow scene.