ski instructor course in france or swiss

A snowHead

Hello,

Very likely I am going to take 3 months off in the coming winter and thinking to get my BASI 1 and 2. I have checked quite a lot ski instructor course providers such as basecamp, new generation etc…generally it takes 10 weeks and costs around 8000 pounds. May I ask:

1. Did anyone do this before? Any recommendation? Personally I prefer to do it in France.

2. Is it going to be much cheaper if I book all these things one by one? Accommodation ,courses, exams, etc….. and then I can go more places. Example, I can do BASI 1 in Meribel and then level 2 in Verbier.

anything else?

Thanks.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

thanks for your prompt reply.

i think so. i am checking online to see if there are some multi-resorts ski pass and then i can move around to ski different areas with lower cost. It is so expensive to buy the pass one by one.

anyone have done these courses before? share some experience?

thanks.

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8k could get you an AMAZING season, plenty of coaching and probably cover the cost of the final course too. I've just done my BASI L1 at Hemel and have plans to do my L2 at some point, but don't see the need to do the 10 week course, and agree with Haggis_Trap

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

ya i think so
but i am doing it alone so i thought may be doing a 10 week will be less "solitude" for me
for the last two seasons i kept doing ski weekends alone in france or swiss

i was considering to do BASI 1 at Hemel as well
it cost around 600 pounds, does it worth?

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After all it is free

davidof -> becoz i am going to move to another job, so i got sometime and i am addicted to skiing. so i decided to ski around europe. but u know, it is not easy to find some friends to take such as a long leave. so i was thinking to take a 10 weeks instructor course. but it seems it will be more interesting to ski around europe.

feef, how did you do it? tuesday night? is it near london? i am working in london right now.

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attelas, may I ask how old you are?

If you're younger then the camaraderie of an organised group might suit. If you're "more mature" then you might benefit from doing something that provides the training and exams element, but not the accommodation.

In Morzine, BASS do a training course without accommodation, but otherwise includes everything you'll need (including first aid and shadowing) - http://bassprotraining.com/become-fast-track

PDS Training (also in Morzine) will also be running some GAP training, but haven't got details up yet - http://www.pdstraining.org.uk/pds-gap.html

I certainly wouldn't move around if it's your first season otherwise you'll find it hard to build any relationships and you could end up mighty lonely.

Prior to going then Hemel is certainly an option - either the Tuesday night job or something - or you could do some stuff with Inside Out Skiing at Hemel. Rob & Scott are both active on the board here and great guys to ski with - http://www.insideoutskiing.com/inside.html#4

Oh, and get fit. Even if you think you're fit then get fitter. Your first season is cumulatively hard on the body. If you're training towards something specifically then injury becomes a much bigger issue than if you're aR$ing around for the season.

Personally, I wouldn't subscribe to Haggis_Trap's recommendation unless you know people in the BASI system who can help you. BASI has a specific way that it wants to see you skiing and it's easy to pick up bad habits that become ingrained over a season.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Oh, if you really do value the skiing around Europe bit more then I'd suggest focussing on that and ignoring BASI! There's nothing wrong with just cruising around for a season.

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I've got to agree with you FS. Euro-road trip should be done with some mates spending a day or two in each resort, with knowledgable locals/guides and be of limited duration. A season should be in one resort for the reasons you give.

You know it makes sense.

i am 29 now and am i consider to be "matured" ?
this is not my "first" season, but this will be first my first season to ski only everyday.
i have been in position for a few years already and now i decided to have a move thats why i can have a short break and i want to SKI!

in the last few years i was working in london and i kept skiing alone in europe for the weekends, example: i spent all my weekends alone in chamonix in last march. flight on friday night and ski two days and back to work on sunday night.

but this season i decided to do something special!
anyway, i found it is difficult to build relationship in these ski trips. Sometime i met some people very nice and shared the dinner tonight but most of the time i was skiiing alone. ( except every year i organized some ski weekend trips for my very close friends.)
perhaps i am too addicted to skiing....

anyway
i found this : http://www.salzburgerland.com/en/ski-board/super-ski-card/salzburg-super-ski-card.html
this ski pass allows you to ski 22 different resorts in austria
do you know something like this in france or swiss or in germany? perhaps i can ski around alone all over the europe!!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

attelas, Why not have a look at the SCGB Leaders in various resorts if you're going to tour around like that. It'll mean you will be able to ski with someone who knows the resort and lets you meet other folk in each place for the duration.

A snowHead

attelas, that's not 22 resorts it is 22 REGIONS, i.e. it is the whole of a province and some! Those are individual ski areas and include some of the biggest inter-link ski areas in Austria. Another one you could look at is the Tirol Snow Card which covers most of the resorts in Tirol.

I had both last year and although I got good use out of the Salzburg one, I really didn't get the best use out of my Tirol Card except pre and post season. It ran from 1st October 2013 until 15th May 2014 and includes all the Tirol glacier resorts.

A snowHead

Out of interest, why BASI? I am about to do an instructors course for this coming season. Mid Oct-Mid Dec, costing just over £5000 which includes tuition, exam fees, accom, lift pass and a job at the end of it for a dual course (skiing and boarding) in the Austrian system (basic level, so the Anwärter). Chosen based on having spoken to people who have used the same course provider (albeit for the single ski Anwärter) and recommend it, and the fact that to I am wanting to teach in Austria.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

the salzburg ski pass is a good deal indeed and it only cost 5xx euros. i checked, the seasonal ski pass for 3 vallees cost 11xx euros already.

Sitter, actually i do not really if it is BASI, but it seems there are more choices with BASI. Personally i prefer somewhere in france or switzerland and i can practice my french.
i cannot decide it yet...

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So, taking a step back here it sounds like you're changing jobs, can afford the time and financial cost of a 10 week gap course, and definitely to ski a season but not on your own.

How set are you on the instructor route? Do you intend to teach full or part-time and go for higher levels later, or is it just a structured way to meet people / improve? How much time do you want to put in to demoing on nursery slopes and shadowing lessons versus skiing the whole mountain?

If I was in a similar position I probably wouldn't go the instructor route because I don't see how I would use the quals, so would either spend time/money for a multi-week off piste course (e.g. Non Stop in Fernie), or pick a friendly resort, rent somewhere, arrive early in the season and try to meet people. There are agents who put together shared houses in resorts by the season or month, for example. If you do it in Europe you could even mix in some of the snowheads bashes to meet a wider group of people and ski somewhere else for a week at reasonable cost.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

actually i "wont" do ski instructor for my living i guess but i just want to get the qualification. and if there is a chance, i want to do it again in the future to get level 3 and 4 to prove myself only.

ya, i considered it is just a structured way to meet people and improve. and i think you asked the very right question and seems i do not want to do the shadowing. is it a must to get 35 hours shadowing to get to level 2?

i think i probably will stay in europe and will not go to canada.

thanks for much for your advices! cant wait for the season come. i hope the snow will be as good as year 2013. hahaha last year was not too good.

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If you went for the Tirol card, it would also still be valid for the L2 course at Hintertux at the end of April, which I think is about £400. If you did the L1 in the UK, you would easily be able to pick up some shadowing in the Ski schools, which would also help you meet more people.

After all it is free

i found this salzburg superpass is really cheap.
http://www.salzburgerland.com/media/ski-board/SSSCardPreisblatt.pdf

do france, germany or switzerland offer something similar?
i went to skiing with my friends in austria last year. i guess they prefer to go france this year.

There is a pass covering most of the Valais.

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Valais Ski Card, points based system. Would work well if doing Basi in Verbier. Most Basi level 2s find getting paid work difficult anyway so may make sense to get something which allows you to ski other places. Having said that, Valais is fairly pricey o spend your season.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

you could also look at skialacarte.fr if you want France multiple resort pass. last I looked, a whole season pass in one domain was cheaper though

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Chamonix MBU gives you Coumayeur and 8 Verbier days...

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

As others have said if you don't have any desire to teach there are better things you could be doing with the money in terms of ski development although short of working for a Tour Operator it's hard to see the same way of capturing instant camaraderie in the same way as a course.

I've no idea whether it would work in Europe but for instance in Canada it's a doddle to stay at a ski town hostel at least initially and have a bunch of people (often significant long termers) to find a place to live and ride with. (Whistler and Banff don't necessarily apply because the housing market is so tight) or use a seasonnaire service like marcellus's to get put in a suitable property with like minded people.

A snowHead

Dave of the Marmottes, depends on where you are. Some towns have better saisonnaire experiences than others. Morzine, Chamonix, all pretty easy to get into.

Champoluc less so just because there aren't so many TOs.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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ESS Swiss Ski School at some out-of-the-way resort? About 5 years ago, my son booked a week's group snowboard lessons to improve his skills, here in La Tzoumaz (4 Valleys). No one else turned up so he had 1:1 training for the week, and the instructor worked through the first week of 'proper' instructor training. He seriously considered completing the remaining 5 or so weeks of training needed to qualify with the ESS, as he could have used our apartment for the period. Costs would have been recompense for the 2-3 weeks rentals we would otherwise have got and about £5-6,000 training course fee. You would probably find that most rental agencies would give you a reduction for hiring a studio etc. for your 6-8 weeks, especially if this covered the quieter January/Feb period. You'd have to allow for bad weather days, and the course is hard work, so you might want some rest days. The instructor recommended that the easiest way (relatively) is to do it all in one go - as opposed to, say, a week at a time separated by time off. My son enjoyed the training and found the Swiss instruction much more friendly and effective than that he'd got from the ESF, but this might not be representative, of course.

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ski instructor course in france or swiss

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