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BASI Nordic level 1

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Two level one courses have gone up on the site, Norway and Chamonix. Does anyone know how you get the 35 hours shadowing? The qualification allows you to teach "indoor snow slopes and dry slopes or in a mountain environment for a BASI Approved Ski School" but I don't know any dry slopes or domes where you can learn nordic, or am I missing something? Is it possible to get the hours in a BASI school in Europe?
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@moseyp, My reading of the page on the BASI website is that it doesn't all have to be shadowing, some can be just general customer support stuff that would be the same whether the punters were doing alpine or nordic.

I guess you could also ask BASI whether time spent shadowing the teaching of roller skiing would count.
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@moseyp, I can't imagine anything in the Uk indoors or artificial where you can do Nordic.

Does grass skiing count?
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@rjs, do you know what the deal is with alpine level 1 - is it 35 hours of any snow school experience or do some of the hours have to be actual shadowing? you might be right

@under a new name, I don't think there is but there are places you can learn (on snow) in Scotland, however I don't know if they fall into the "BASI approved ski school" - or if that could be somewhere in Europe

Yeah maybe rollerskiing counts

I think they've run L1 courses before but I don't remember seeing anyone talk about it here or on any facebook groups, I guess it has very little interest
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I think the 35 hours experience section is a copy and paste job- I like the suggestion of "hours completed at Skiplex", that would be entertaining
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moseyp wrote:
I think the 35 hours experience section is a copy and paste job- I like the suggestion of "hours completed at Skiplex", that would be entertaining


I think so. I don't know of any "artificial nordic slopes" so it sounds like cut-n-paste from alpine. In the summer the nordic skiers are on the road on rollerskis. Like the French team here:


http://youtube.com/v/qC1HTIGSfPw

mad descending skills - I've done that and steeper on skates but rollerskis are a whole different game.

There are a couple of indoor "snow domes":
http://youtube.com/v/nWV2jO9g_nk

There is a rollerski course in June run by the Snowsport England if you are interested. http://snowsportengland.org.uk/rollerski
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Rollerskis actually scare me a bit.

If that's the case then I can do the L1 and just get the hours standing in the ski school office staring at a computer or doing ski DINs (so utterly ridiculous...) it's just that I'd obviously prefer shadowing

I had no idea SSE did any of those courses! I wonder how much interest they get
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@moseyp,
There are some 'dry' XC loipes in Scotland. This one is the first google finds for me.
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@musher, I saw that too but I thought it was rollerskiing or downhill/alpine dry slope?
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musher wrote:
@moseyp,
There are some 'dry' XC loipes in Scotland. This one is the first google finds for me.


It is rollerskiing... but you can teach rollerskiing anywhere there is tarmac. Dorney Lake for example near London or Hyde park to cite a couple of examples.

What are your motivations for doing this course? Are you technically proficient in both skating and classic styles? The BASI will no doubt have all that boring common theory stuff to suck any enjoyment you might once have had from the sport. Happy


Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads on Tue 2-05-17 16:32; edited 1 time in total
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Mrs M looked into it and she's pretty convinced that there are 'dry' XC loipes up there.

Quote:
Huntly Nordic & Outdoor Centre is a wooden lodge in a delightful setting, with 400m of all-weather classic mat, 30m x 6m downhill matting and 800m of tarmac rollerski track. We use high level forest trails in the Clashindarroch Forest, 13 miles from the centre, when we have snow


Certainly suggests that they do have a mat for classic XC skiing.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
musher wrote:
Mrs M looked into it and she's pretty convinced that there are 'dry' XC loipes up there.

Quote:
Huntly Nordic & Outdoor Centre is a wooden lodge in a delightful setting, with 400m of all-weather classic mat, 30m x 6m downhill matting and 800m of tarmac rollerski track. We use high level forest trails in the Clashindarroch Forest, 13 miles from the centre, when we have snow


Certainly suggests that they do have a mat for classic XC skiing.


Ok thanks Musher, I've only every seen the Roller skiing track up there but I've just found a picture of their classic mat. Looks as much fun as sex with a soviet era condom. You can classic on wet sand if you live near a beach Happy.
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@davidof, I'd like to it for my second discipline. At the moment I only ski classic but I will get into skating too. And...ha yes no doubt
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You know it makes sense.
moseyp wrote:
@davidof, I'd like to it for my second discipline. At the moment I only ski classic but I will get into skating too. And...ha yes no doubt


Let us know how you get on, Chamonix doesn't exactly leap out as a place to go for Nordic skiing (yes I know there are some trails but I'm not sure breathing the Chamonix smog is a great idea plus it is expensive.

This may interest you, the basic techniques BASI is looking for

BASI Cross Country Teaching Progression from Official BASI
https://vimeo.com/175807997


Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Tue 2-05-17 18:03; edited 1 time in total
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
[quote="moseyp"]Two level one courses have gone up on the site, Norway and Chamonix./quote]

I don't see anything in Norway? Or am I looking in the wrong place https://www.basi.org.uk/BASINewWebsite/Footer/Events_Diary/BASI/Site_mock_ups/Footer_pages/Diary_of_Events.aspx?hkey=c91342fd-3376-4384-b3b5-fbc2bb1d9ab5
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@davidof, that does interest me, thank you

I live beside Chamonix so it's handy for me (handier than Norway!)

@Themasterpiece, https://www.basi.org.uk/BASI/Venues/Norway/Norway.aspx?WebsiteKey=211cffca-c436-4a06-844e-527af5a19586&hkey=77945b77-5a3a-4797-9abc-fb125712536f&Sjusjoen=1#Sjusjoen

Sjusjoen
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moseyp wrote:
@davidof, that does interest me, thank you

I live beside Chamonix so it's handy for me (handier than Norway!)


Yes that does make sense.

How have you got on with classic? I was overtaken by a young lady club skier last season, she had a fantastic kick, very impressive and made it look very graceful.
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@davidof, I love it. My skis have skins under the foot which is amazing. I'm always being overtaken by people about sixty years older than me.
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moseyp wrote:
@davidof, I love it. My skis have skins under the foot which is amazing. I'm always being overtaken by people about sixty years older than me.

That's the most frustrating thing about XC. At least with downhill the wrinklies usually have more sense than to try to ski at 90 kph.
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Stacey Cook last week - impressive! https://www.instagram.com/p/BTmXQWcFhbE/?taken-by=usskiteam
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BASI are a bit careless with the copy+paste - when I got my joining instructions for my course in Lauterbrunnen/Wengen they told me "The nearest airport is Innsbruck." Err, no, it really isn't. Maybe for Hintertux it is!

How about getting in touch with BASI's director for Nordic? I think it's john.mordue@basi.org.uk
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Mosey, something that may interest you as a comparison is the French system. I don't know any details of BASI nordique but the French nordic exam is quite useful as you can teach freeheel (telemark yeah!) and even tour on freeheel kit with clients as well as snow shoeing. Someone could build quite a nice business out of this if they had the right marketing skills. Tours like the multiday Haute Route des Escartons would be possible with clients.

So far so interesting and as any snowhead knoweth, they also let nordic instructors teach downhill skiing at beginner level.

The rub is, you have to pass a test technique and test de capcité - this is a, yes you guess it, speed test on nordic skis where you have to also demonstrate the 4 or 5 different skate steps and the classic skiing steps.
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Hi @moseyp. Been meaning to post you a note on here for ages but worktime web surfing doesn't let me get far on snowheads. I did the L1 in Sjusjoen 18 months ago and have been a keen Nordic skier longer than Alpine. Happy to give a few pointers - feel free to PM me. Can pick up now on a few things.

Fitness: on my L1 the others were: 3 mountain guides, 2 army, 1 ex-army, 1 racing car driver, 1 fireman, 1 elite cross-country runner. I was the only 'sedentary office worker'. It showed, but I had an inkling it might be like this (Nordic attracts fit types!) so thankfully I prepared as well as time would allow by running and cycling. It was enough, but only just.

Technique: wise to get some input and some practice to follow; a coach will pick up any glaring faults and you can fix them well before you rock up on the course. I hooked up with LRNSC as I am London based. With them I could get 4 or 5 coaching sessions which is something they run regularly for their members for minimal cost (from memory just a token amount for use of the roller skis they keep as club equipment). I likewise do not like roller skis but the benefits of doing this were quite significant.

Skating: you must learn to skate and become practised at it well before the course. Have at least a week's solid skating under your belt and get a coach to take a look and fix any fundamentals.

Shadowing / hours: on the course, the trainer said that the hours had to be Nordic-specific, which is a hard ask (opportunities are scant). In practice, I got my L1 badge straight away, with BASI granting a 'credit' for the hours the same way they do for snowboard when it's a second discipline. I have since submitted the additional hours (so I can do the L2) by sending in a sign off for the Alpine teaching weeks I do each winter.

You might also want to approach BASI themselves for advice. Not HQ but their Nordic director, John Mordue. He is very approachable and seems to have really turned things around on the Nordic front at BASI the last few years. I am sure he will give you good advice on preparation and will know of coaches in your area whom you could approach. If you PM I will send you his email, else BASI should be able to give it to you.

Just to reassure you, the Nordic course was one of the most enjoyable BASI courses I have done. Right up there with the mountain safety. Good luck if you decide to do it. Might even see you there if I opt for the L2 this winter!
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