Poster: A snowHead
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I'm thinking about signing up for the Peak Leaders Anwarter Course in St Anton this winter - has anybody done the course? Any thoughts/advice?
Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes, I did.
Busy atm, I'll write you a proper reply later. Bare in mind I did the first ever course run there, so things may have changed a bit too.
If you've got any specific questions, pop them down here now.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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My Daughter did her snowboard BASI 1/2 with PL in Morzine last season. She loved the whole experience.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Oli - just a thought for you. We are giving away a two week BASI level One course in Three Valleys this December in a competition - might be worth a shot? The winner will be announced in September, which still gives you time to sign up for the PL if unsuccessful. http://bit.ly/snowskool
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hi Oli,
I did my Anwarter with peakleaders and it was great! I passed and luckily got straight into the private section of the
ski school and had an excellent time. Im not Landeslehrer and luckily passed this first time aswell so really ive just
been training none stop. You do need german if you are planning on continuing through the austrian qualifications though. But you will learn plenty there!
The peak leaders course is quite expensive and i probably would have gone for it without the course if i knew now. Although it was an amazing 4 weeks, i met some awesome people and made some brilliant contacts!. So it probably balances out.
Good luck mate
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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thesnowmanuk, Cheers for the advice mate, sounds like you had an awesome time. What level was your German and your skiing before you headed out? I've heard fairly mixed things on how good both have to be to qualify and get a job!
Cheers,
Oli
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Oli,
You should also contact Ski Instructor Academy in Kaprun / Zell am See Austria, they are cheaper than Peak Leaders, include a really good German course and will guarantee you a job in St Anton or Kitzbuhel or loads of other resorts they place people. I did mine with them and they were amazing! couldn't fault anything and have had some awesome seasons since.
www.siaaustria.com
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Hi Oli,
I was wondering whether you went on the St Anton course in the end? I am doing it this year and have exactly the same questions as you. How good does your German need to be before you start the course to pass the Antwarter exam? Thanks.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thats great thanks, but I was more wondering how good the peak leaders course was for allowing you to pass the exam.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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pdunn141, are you going direct to exam through Snowsports Academy for example or combining with a prep course?
If going direct to exam you would have to be a very good german speaker, if not fluent, to even understand what is being asked of you and to then be able to actually do what is required.
If you are doing a prep course then you may not have to be as good as, if like our Academy (SIA) they include german lessons then you may well be taught everything you need to get through the exams.
Hope this helps
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Hi, no I'm not going straight into the exam but doing a 4 week course with Peak Leaders. I was wondering whether this was good training for the Antwarter and how much Gemrna you needed before going to the pre exam course with Peak Leaders.
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pdunn141 wrote: |
Hi, no I'm not going straight into the exam but doing a 4 week course with Peak Leaders. I was wondering whether this was good training for the Antwarter and how much Gemrna you needed before going to the pre exam course with Peak Leaders. |
Was ok when I did it - as a poor German speaker at the time.
You don't do the actual 10 day Anwärter course in your Peak Leaders groups, you get split up with the 100+ other people doing the Anwärter. For the most part in these groups you don't need to speak German, though you will have to do a short teaching demo in German. Just memorise the phrases you'll need form the booklet you'll get with German-English translations of common phrases you might need whilst instructing. You'll also have to do a short written test in German. It's not that hard (piece of wee wee if it was in English), and you're allowed to take dictionaries in. Our trainers encouraged us to write notes in the dictionaires, and encouraged the German speakers in our Anwärter groups to help us too. Due to being an idiot and trying to do mine alone I failed and had to re-do it two weeks later in Fiss - one of the examiners came and sat next to me and translated all the questions and my answers.
You should get some German lessons with the Peak Leaders course though, and the more you learn beforehand the better, obviously.
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You know it makes sense.
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My niece did peak leaders in St Anton last season, and she said the leaders said they had put up the standard of German you needed to pass the course by a lot compared to previous years. Many failed. She did one month intensive language in innsbruck before heading to the mountains, and had never spoken german in her life before, and passed. I speak german and I'm pretty sure she did it with lots of shouting "mochen sie ski? Ja? Wir skien!!!" If you see what I mean. They gave her lots of kids classes!!!!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thanks, so did your Niece enjoy the course itself? It seems like you need quite a high standard of German which worries me. What if you fail the exam?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Not done the Anwätrer so can't say but on my list to do one day as think it is best to do the qualification of the country you want to work in if you can. I don't so much think the standard is high so much as the general standard of language learning is pityful in the UK. It normally takes a year of full time study to get to a reasonable standard in German. Just think how many years you spent learning English. From what I've heard though the one month course should do it for the purpose of the course. Thare are also some free courses on the Deutsche Welle website which is sponsored by the German foreign office which would be a good starting point in advance. Really if someone is serious about being a ski instructor they should be looking to invest as much time in learning a second language as skiing to insure they can interact with natives and increase their employability. There are suggestions also that the language requirements imposed on ski instructors may quite rightly increase under the application of EU law as the current requirements are indequate.
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