e3 Ski Academy

A snowHead

Hello fellow snowheads,

If it is ok, admin - please feel free to remove if not, I would like to invite you all to check out my website: http://www.e3-skiacademy.com/ski-academy/

My story:

It all started when I was stuck in an office in London dreaming snowy mountains and watching ski movies instead of working. I decided to travel bit and find myself or whatever it is you are supposed to do while travelling. I got as far as my first ski season, quickly realised I wanted to be the best skier on the mountain and put everything else on hold in pursuit of this dream. Snowheads end of season bash provided some great training and was good fun too! It lead to a fantastic 10 year period where I did in fact travel all over the world, studying skiing, teaching, biomechanics and much more with some of the best in the business until I was fully certified. At which point I started to train other instructors and racers.

The problem was that I became disillusioned with working for other people who's only focus was lining their own pockets and had no interest in long term promotion of skiing and mountain life. I was this close (imagine a very tiny small gap) to getting out and going back into an office.

10 years ago I was inspired by the people who trained me to become an instructor and we remain very good friends to this day. I want to do that, I want to inspire others to share in this fantastic sport and environment.

So before I left skiing behind, before I chucked it all in for "normal life" I decided that I should stop working for greedy people who don't care about anyone but themselves, and start something myself. I was lucky to meet a few super keen young instructor wannabes and trained them up, helped them find work instructing and we all had great time in Kitzbuhel. I personally had a great season and it re-kindled my fire for what I love to do.

So thats where I am coming from. If you think it is something you would like to be involved in, then please get in touch ben@element3.at

I have trained many fellow snowheads in the Alps over the years. My plan is to expand into offering courses to recreational skiers too, bumps clinics, race training, off piste guiding and avalanche safety etc. whatever fellow ski lovers tell me they want, I will try to deliver so we can all enjoy skiing and the mountains even more.

At this stage I need to try and get the word out to budding instructors and skiers, so if you fancy lending a hand that'd be amazing and I would be very grateful.

I hope you are all enjoying the summer and by that I mean training hard for next winter, bring on the snow!

Thanks for reading.
Ben

A snowHead

I would advise adding your qualifications to your "TEAM" page as it reads as though you are trying to hide something (I'm a cynic). As an ex-seasonaire now desk bound punter with an over inflated opinion of my skiing ability I want to know exactly what qualifications people have got before booking instruction from them.

I would also say some kind of blog/what we are up to style page would be good so people get a feel for you and your team. If people book over the internet, that personal touch is important otherwise they'll just differentiate on price.

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

Having had the pleasure of being trained by Ben on a Ski Improver Course in Austria two years ago and subsequently 1-1 private training with him this year I can wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone who is interested in becoming a ski instructor through the Austrian system.

Ben's passion for skiing is self evident and he has a very keen and genuine interest in helping skiers achieve their objectives and much more.

I started skiing late in life and did not take it too seriously until I met an inspirational trainer in St Anton who pushed me further and made me want to take my skiing much more seriously. As I improved ,and could do everything I wanted to do with my skiing, I started to get complacent again.Some training with Ben at the end of this season made me realise that there is so much more I can do and should do to improve my skiing and I was again inspired and motivated to train and try much harder next season.

Inspirational trainers are few and far between but Ben is definitely one of the them.

Good luck with your new venture.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

I've had the pleasure of training with Ben last season in Kitzbühel.

He got me the job at element3 after passing my Anwärter in November. Although the pre-Anwärter course taught me the basics, the things I learnt from Ben not only improved my ski instructing for my season and enabled me to gain repeat guests and recommendations, but also his advice has helped me in all other walks of life.

I'm looking forward to continuing my relations with Ben, e3 ski academy, and element3 over the coming winters. They helped me have the best time of my life, and I'm sure there will be many more to come... I'm also looking forward to seeing the new graduates come through this amazing new ski academy!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I have also been trained from Ben whilst I was on an Ski Instructor Academy course in Kaprun Austria, and whilst i thought he was a decent trainer, I personally found some of the other trainers much more knowledgable and their training suited me much better.

I will say that I disagree with what you are doing Ben, you talk of being 'ethical' and not being in it for the money, but as far as I can see you are simply trying to use someone else's customers to build your own reputation.

I was on a course the same time as JHead so know he didn't pass his training with your company and from what I hear brnttptr was also a clinic customer of SIA which you have obviously poached as a private customer too. So for someone who is committed to not lining their own pockets, i don't think you are doing a very good job of it.

I completed my Dual Ski and Snowboard Anwärter and then my Landes 1 with SIA and I have never found them to be greedy or uninterested, quite the opposite in fact, they are all really friendly and have always been lovely to me. I will be trying for Landes 2 this season with the aim to getting better and spending a life in the mountains.

One more point I would make since galpinos mentioned it above is that I'm sure if my memory is correct Ben you told me you were Landes 2 qualified too unless you have progressed since then, and if thats the case how can you even train people for Staatlich? Surely they would then be higher qualified than you which doesnt make sense to me.

Anyway just one persons opinion I guess, I just seen this and thought it was a little contradictory. Good luck in what you do, but I think your moral compass is a little warped if this is your idea of ethical.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I have encountered Ben. He seems a nice enough chap, with good skills as a skier and instructor also he is certainly passionate about his skiing and biking. He is definately far more professional than the two that run/own Ski Instructor Academy.

I don't see that he is poaching students from SIA in any way. They are free to go if they wish, however SIA do not give refunds because it's in their terms and conditions...is that ethical? Having heard the very unprofessional way that SIA students are spoken to first hand, specifically more by one of the owners, I am surprised more don't go elsewhere.

Anyone who is considering training should thoroughly research any providers, asking what the first time pass rates are for each element for example. The SIA rate would shock most potential customers I am sure. They also seem to have many trainers who do not seem fully committed to their students, as one in particular, spends more time juggling calls all the time on his many mobile phones, than skiing.

I could also tell you that sometimes the company doesn't have enough instructors for the students, and that the language training can be in classes of well over a hundred students, and that the gym session is all about an owner insulting people once again. But maybe I shouldn't.

It can also be mentioned that students are encouraged to buy skis, boots, poles etc once they arrive in Kaprun, and that all students are given an appointment time to go shopping. On arrival the boot fitters may have 10 or maybe 20 people being fitted at any one time....does that illustrate getting the students a great deal/service?

Returning to success....Now if a company has such a poor pass rate for the basic exams, how do they ethically charge for training for the higher exams, where the pass rates are equally poor? While we are thinking about morals....Ethically, why do SIA feel the need to give the answers of the German exams to the students the night before? I wonder what WSSV would say about that if they knew? Oh sorry, one of the owners is an Ausbuilder with WSSV....ethical???

If I had to choose an instructor for training between the two, Ben would be the better choice, he is probably more responsible. I am certain that Ken Dodd would be better than SIA. It seems SIA are giving out answers to exams to improve their pass rate statistics, because maybe like the practical stuff they are unable to get people to the required standard which the WSSV require. If they are poor at Anwarter then how can we expect better at Landes 1 or 2?

Perhaps my article will put the cat among the pigeons a little, but my intention is to be honest and give my opinion of the facts / occurrences I have experienced. For a long time I have wondered why there is little aired about SIA on this forum. Mums and Dads paying for courses for offspring, beware, if I heard a child mine being spoken to by SIA like I have others...grrrrr.

After all it is free

This post has been brought to our attention today and whilst we generally do not get involved with online chat forums, we felt it was necessary to respond to the latest post.

Firstly we would like to thank Ben for his service whilst he was working for SIA, and wish him the very best for his future.

All of the team here at Ski Instructor Academy take great pride in our work and the professional training services we provide to hundreds of snow lovers every year. We take customer satisfaction very seriously so we are very concerned to hear your opinion maxmorgan, perhaps you could get in touch with us so we can discuss your issues, you can contact us at info@siaaustria.com

We agree that those embarking on a career in snowsports should research their options very carefully and ask as many questions as they can. Our most recent courses had a 95% first time pass in Anwärter and 90% first time pass for Landes 1, which of course is a more difficult exam. Whilst there is always room to improve, we are proud of these latest results and we continually aim to improve upon this.

Whilst we do not intend on justifying our every training decision on this forum we would like to point out that SIA are able to attract some of the best coaches in Europe and we only employ L4 or high quality, experienced L3 trainers who can bring a wealth or knowledge and different techniques to the Academy. Because these trainers are so experienced and respected it is true that a number of them are also examiners for exam boards and governing bodies, which they have earned through years of hard work, coaching, training and teaching across the globe. They have reached these positions on their own merit and should be commended for this.

Every single trainee who comes thorough our Academy is asked to complete a totally anonymous online satisfaction survey after their course to help us improve and offer better courses each year, which is why your comments maxmorgan have come as quite a shock as we would have expected / hoped to have heard these grievances via this survey rather than a rather public forum, this together with the fact you appear to be a brand new poster within snow heads would lead us to question if indeed you have attended one of our courses at all.

We would encourage anyone who is interested in our courses to get in touch and have a chat with us, asking any and all questions you can think of to ensure you get accurate answers, backed up by facts to ensure you have an excellent training experience.

- Ski Instructor Academy

www.siaaustria.com

It is of no surprise that someone from SIA has appeared.

I certainly will not contact SIA directly. It is only right that members of this forum are given or permitted the opportunity to openly discuss matters as they wish.

I hope that this thread is not deleted as it is in the public's best interests to have this discussion openly and transparently. Many parents pay a high price to send their kids on instructor courses, maybe this will allow those parents about to make a decision about a course, some insight.

Previously there was a post where Ben was accused of not being ethical. I felt that to cast doubt over a person’s ethics and then publicly promote and support an organisation which is known by many people and organisations in the skiing world, to be unprofessional and unethical, was quite misleading and wrong to do.

SIA maybe you would like to publicly ratify your claim of 95% and 90% pass rates for Anwarter and Landes 1 respectively? As I understand it, these figures which you have provided were only for the last courses which you conducted and possibly these included students returning at the end of the season having failed their first attempt at the beginning of the season? How about providing figures for the whole season, for Anwarter, Landes 1 and Landes 2? Many people would anticipate that your figures should be consistent throughout the whole season. Perhaps this will be your opportunity to display how amazingly efficient SIA really is...call it free advertising if you like. Perhaps you would like to give the statistics for each course individually, which you ran during the whole of the 2014/5 winter season?

How many students were required to re-take any element to achieve an overall pass of their desired course?

What percentage of students pass each of the elements at the first attempt and achieve an overall pass at the first attempt?

I know these figures are key to gauging the success of a company and are commonly used to identify areas where improvement can be achieved. Therefore maybe you could show overall statistics for previous years, to show growth and improvement year on year?

I note and wish to highlight that you do not comment regarding students being given answers to examination question the evening before their exams. Or indeed the number of students per class in the language tuition. It seems very clear that you are only answering the parts where you can try to continue to promote your organisation. Of course you are at liberty to answer or ignore any part of this as you wish, I am just offering you the opportunity to justify and explain those doubts many of us have.

I don't doubt that SIA does use some very talented and professional instructor trainers, however there are those who, as I have previously mentioned do not provide the level of service paying customers should expect. I shall not name the trainer personally whom I referred to previously, but I am sure you know who I mean already.....MD.

You do mention feedback forms though. How many are completed and returned to you as a percentage? I do not believe my remarks come as any surprise at all. Maybe you are not able to detect from your students, their dissatisfaction when you make such constant referrals to m@sturb@tion in your briefings? These have been made both via the video blog message which you insist on clients watching before attending a course and in person 'en mass' once they have arrived! I wonder if anyone ever downloaded any of the video blogs for future reference? Or caught your remarks on a GoPro in the blue room? Not sure you are able to deny this ..... PS? Maybe I shouldn't mention the very unprofessional sexual relationships that develop between trainers and students (many of whom are teenagers) on previous courses.

A point worth mentioning about the feedback forms are that the forms are handed out between the preparation course and the examination course. Unless I am mistaken, this then misses the opportunity for students to give feedback on how well they feel they have been prepared for their exams once they have discovered how tough they are, or whether they have passed them or not. I do not believe that many of the teenager students feel confident enough to complain about the seemingly constant (and totally unnecessary) threats which are made by the company management in a very bullying fashion, over (ironically) conduct, housekeeping or attendance, for example.

I can assure you SIA, I am not a new poster to this or any other forum, and I think I have given sufficient information within this text for you to realise that I do have a very good grasp of how your company is run, and wish to highlight these issues to potential clients (or parents of) and hope they, and you, take note.

I do not believe that any of my very specific comments are spurious in any way, but are truthful and honest.

I would also like to add that I hope that you do 'up your game' a bit, it would be a great shame to see so many people not enter the snow sports industry. However I think it needs to be stated on a final issue of ethical behaviour, that it is not acceptable to encourage people who have not passed their Anwarter to continue regardless to take up a pre-arranged position as a ski instructor at a ski school to give paid instruction. It seems many ski schools are now becoming aware of this in that they have unknowingly employing an unqualified instructor.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Apologies to Ben for the Hijacked thread!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Anyone else following this?

snow reports

it may be news to you although as long as you have completed the Anwarter course and weather you pass or fail you are legally able to gain employment in a Salzburgerland ski school as it is legal, for them to employ you.

You also seem to be very hung up on this outfits pass rates, to be honest I would rather see it at 50% than 95% as it reflects the high level of the Austrian exam.

As to your comment of people giving students the answers to exams questions, every examining body does this in one way or another firstly in the classroom session, may be you did not listen first time round Laughing

On the ethical point.

Yes this is my fist post for some while on Snow Heads and from a new account as my last was linked to a business I ran although it is know more so I only think it be fair to not miss lead people by using an account that advertised a business that is know longer trading.

My credentials for the credential police:
34 years in the ski business within Ski Schools and Retail environment
Formally BASI, English Ski Council (Now UK Snow Sports) Qualified and also Landes II qualified. (And yes they all gave me the answers to the exams at some point)

@MH17, on subject of ethics, that is an appalling and insensitive user name. You should change it asap. It is not appropriate or decent for this forum

You know it makes sense.

@peanuthead, if my initials and day I was born offend you I am sorry.......! But then if your brain is the size of a peanut then I understand..... rolling eyes

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

Seriously@MH17, can you not go with your birth month or year. That's pretty distasteful on anniversary of such tragedy

A snowHead

Seriously @peanuthead, no I can not and I would never ask you to change yours even tho I am allergic to nuts....... It is just an unfortunate coincidence nothing more. Now do what frankie said and relax.......

A snowHead

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

Sadly I recognise the grammar in poster's text.

This MH17 character is a member of SIA staff and his initials are certainly not MH.

Tells you something about 'standards' within their organisation doesn't it?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@SOUPS

Ben DID NOT "obviously" poach me as a private customer from SIA .

After the SIA course,two years ago, we kept in contact ( as we both live in the Alps a few hours away from each other) and have hiked and skied together as friends. At no time has Ben ever offered to train me. Earlier this year I asked Ben if he would give me some end of year training which he did and as I mentioned in my original post it was inspirational.

I, like everyone else, am free to train or take lessons with whoever I want so your comment is both factually incorrect and pointless.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hi Ben, good luck with the academy. I liked the video clip.

Hi JHead, I hope your 2nd season goes well.

First, I wanted to say that Ben is very nice and friendly and a great skier. I did not get any coaching from him but the people I know who did were really happy with him. So I think anyone who chooses to take part in his academy will be very pleased with his/her choice.

Second, I don't think Ben was having a go at SIA when he mentioned 'people who's only focus was lining their own pockets' but ski schools in general which especially in Austria tend to severely underpay their ski instructors while charging their customers dearly.

Third, I thought I'd put my grain of salt on the SIA hijack on this thread. I did my Anwaerter and Landes 1 with them, had great fun all the way, improved my skiing greatly and learnt to teach skiing to others. Goals accomplished and for what I thought was good value (I'm sure some people might disagree but good accommodation in the Alps is very expensive and no one works for pleasure only, so yes the owners probably make some money, what a crime!)

One of the owner does treat the 100+ trainees like 4 year olds which is annoying but then it is only during group meetings which only happen 4-5 times during the 6-week course. I'm glad to say this does not happen during the Landes courses which are smaller.

All other aspects of the course are very professional but in a fun, friendly way. We're talking about skiing (ski training, ski teaching) here, not making a pitch in the Dragon's Den so off course it's not too serious. Skiing is meant to be fun after all.

As for the big classes for the German and getting all the ski equipment sorted on the 1st nights in 10 mins. Well, there are a lot of people in the course so yes it does get a bit messy at the beginning but I thought it worked fairly well and anyone who cared sufficiently was able to teach in German at the end of the course. For the equipment, after the 1st rush to get everyone equipped, there is the possibility to go back to the shop to get adjustments made free of charge and with the benefit of having one of the instructors on hand for advice. For example, my skis got damaged during the season and I got a brand new pair for free when I turned up to do my Landes 1. Talk of good service.

I'm not sure what the Anwaerter pass rate was before the retest a week later but probably 75-80%. The course only last 6 weeks and some of the skiing standards at the beginning of the course are shocking, then add sometimes some very low levels of fitness, sometimes some poor attitude and off course there will be a few people who fail the exam. However, I think only 4-5 people failed the retests. For the Landes 1, pass rate was really high with only 2-3 people failing.

There was indeed help for the theory exams and I thought it was really handy because there was a lot to learn in just 10 days and that's whether one speaks English or German. However there was help from both the SIA and Snowsports Academy staff highlighting what needed to be remembered. Of course SIA helped more because they helped in English so it was easier for us to understand compared to the Snowsports Academy's help in German.

To conclude, whether one chooses SIA or Ben's Element 3 ski academy, one will have a great time, improve one's skiing and if one's skiing is not beyond 6 weeks' of intense training, one will become a ski instructor.

Sorry again Ben.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Hi Ben, good luck with the academy. I liked the video clip.

Hi JHead, I hope your 2nd season goes well.

First, I wanted to say that Ben is very nice and friendly and a great skier. I did not get any coaching from him but the people I know who did were really happy with him. So I think anyone who chooses to take part in his academy will be very pleased with his/her choice.

Second, I don't think Ben was having a go at SIA when he mentioned 'people who's only focus was lining their own pockets' but ski schools in general which especially in Austria tend to severely underpay their ski instructors while charging their customers dearly.

Third, I thought I'd put my grain of salt on the SIA hijack on this thread. I did my Anwaerter and Landes 1 with them, had great fun all the way, improved my skiing greatly and learnt to teach skiing to others. Goals accomplished and for what I thought was good value (I'm sure some people might disagree but good accommodation in the Alps is very expensive and no one works for pleasure only, so yes the owners probably make some money, what a crime!)

One of the owner does treat the 100+ trainees like 4 year olds which is annoying but then it is only during group meetings which only happen 4-5 times during the 6-week course. I'm glad to say this does not happen during the Landes courses which are smaller.

All other aspects of the course are very professional but in a fun, friendly way. We're talking about skiing (ski training, ski teaching) here, not making a pitch in the Dragon's Den so off course it's not too serious. Skiing is meant to be fun after all.

As for the big classes for the German and getting all the ski equipment sorted on the 1st nights in 10 mins. Well, there are a lot of people in the course so yes it does get a bit messy at the beginning but I thought it worked fairly well and anyone who cared sufficiently was able to teach in German at the end of the course. For the equipment, after the 1st rush to get everyone equipped, there is the possibility to go back to the shop to get adjustments made free of charge and with the benefit of having one of the instructors on hand for advice. For example, my skis got damaged during the season and I got a brand new pair for free when I turned up to do my Landes 1. Talk of good service.

I'm not sure what the Anwaerter pass rate was before the retest a week later but probably 75-80%. The course only last 6 weeks and some of the skiing standards at the beginning of the course are shocking, then add sometimes some very low levels of fitness, sometimes some poor attitude and off course there will be a few people who fail the exam. However, I think only 4-5 people failed the retests. For the Landes 1, pass rate was really high with only 2-3 people failing.

There was indeed help for the theory exams and I thought it was really handy because there was a lot to learn in just 10 days and that's whether one speaks English or German. However there was help from both the SIA and Snowsports Academy staff highlighting what needed to be remembered. Of course SIA helped more because they helped in English so it was easier for us to understand compared to the Snowsports Academy's help in German.

To conclude, whether one chooses SIA or Ben's Element 3 ski academy, one will have a great time, improve one's skiing and if one's skiing is not beyond 6 weeks' of intense training, one will become a ski instructor.

Sorry again Ben.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Hi Fabricem, great to hear from you and thank you for your kind words!

Today I was skiing powder in the sunshine with some of the e3 ski academy graduates from this year. After having had a few days of intense night show/light suit (see photo's on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/e3skiacademy/) synchro ski training in slushy conditions, today was an absolute dream come true. What a great season, I love being able to share it with so many lovely and motivated fellow instructors.

I hope your season is going well too bud!

See you out there!
Ben

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