 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello all,
Bit of a random one. I am looking to do my BASI level 1, when I google somewhere to do this or what company to go with there are about 100000 pages and companies.
Can anyone recommend a company to do this with? I only want to go for the level 1 as I want to teach at the local dry slope which is 5 minutes from my house. Seasons abroad are out of my reach sadly due to family commitments here in the UK.
If I have posed this in the wrong forum then I apologize.
Any help/advice would be very much appreciated.
Thanks all
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just look at the courses run by BASI on their website.
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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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@Math1984, Talk to the dryslope - do they use BASI, or Snowsports England (the SSE qualifications are quite popular with dry slopes as they sometimes perceive that BASI are not interested in them).
They may well do on-site courses for whichever qualification they prefer - and you will need them to do your hours anyway.
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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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If they accept a CSIA qualification I can thoroughly recommend https://www.instructor-academy.com/index.php?page=andorra
They run a 4 day course to get your level 1 with an optional 2 day warm up before hand. Did mine in December and was booked onto a level 2 course that had to be cancelled. Just received a full refund for everything I had paid them. They are a pleasure to deal with and I recommend them.
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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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@Math1984, Another recognised body that many on here have gone through is IASI (Irish Association of Snowsports Instructors). They run parallel courses to BASI but are better. 
Their course calendar is here - but of course, none are currently running!!! https://iasisnowsports.ie/education/course-calendar/
You should be able to do either BASI or IASI level 1 in an indoor snowdome in the UK, I did mine at Hemel one summer.
No indoor slopes local to Devon unfortunately, so hopefully you might know someone that you could stay with near Manchester or Hemel Hempstead.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Math1984, What @RobinS, says. SSE qualifications cheaper than BASI, IASI and perfectly applicable to dry slope. Have a look at Snowsport England website for more info.
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I have booked Iasi L1 with ski definition June but it was mainly because the dates fitted my schedule I haven’t got experience with them yet.
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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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when i looked into this a couple of years ago i was told the best way was to ''Go to spain and do their weeks course...at least youre out in the proper snow and they speak perfect english, the qualification is better recognised as well''
not sure if this is still the case, but if i ever do the course thats where i'd be going
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@yorkshirelad, not sure that'd give you any benefit for the increased cost of travel/accomodation/food etc vs doing it on a local dry slope or snowdome?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Math1984, If you want to do some preparation before the L1 exam week and get an honest appraisal of your personal performance we offer a 3 day Instructor FastTrack course that is run over three months giving you time to practice between each session. Have been running this for 8 years now and have around 45 clients go on to achieve their L1 and higher. First session for this summer is meant to start in May at the SnowCentre Hemel but...
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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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| skimottaret wrote: |
| @Math1984, If you want to do some preparation before the L1 exam week and get an honest appraisal of your personal performance we offer a 3 day Instructor FastTrack course that is run over three months giving you time to practice between each session. Have been running this for 8 years now and have around 45 clients go on to achieve their L1 and higher. First session for this summer is meant to start in May at the SnowCentre Hemel but... |
I think that would be time well spent, or at least get an appraisal and tips for where you need to improve before doing the L1.
Don't forget for the L1 you need 35 hours post course time in a ski school, then a further 35 hours if you want to go for your L2 (which you say you don't). Plus cp + first aid. It is quite a lot all in all.
For the local ski slope check the foreign options mentions will be accepted.
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Your easiest and cheapest option would be the SSE level 1. I think this qualifies you to teach beginners/early intermediates on artificial slopes. With level 2 you can teach more advanced skiers but check the website for more details.
https://www.snowsportengland.org.uk/ukss-ski/
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You know it makes sense.
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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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@kitenski. Benefit is when nit doing the course you get to ski on proper snow down proper runs, chap who did it told me it was far more rewarding and a better course than indoor .. I've still not bothered doing it, especially when i found out a chap i skied with 3 years ago who could not get down a red run in italy managed to get his level one BASI at an indoor place 3 months later... i can see why the French were not to keen on recognising our qualifications..
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Poster: A snowHead
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@yorkshirelad, that's not why, since L1 is only for plastic / indoor anyway.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Tubaski wrote: |
| @yorkshirelad, that's not why, since L1 is only for plastic / indoor anyway. |
I've done the L1 course indoors and the L2 outdoors, if money was no object clearly a week in the Alps would be more enjoyable. However it's not really about skiing loads of runs, you'll be repping the same slope outdoors the same as indoors! But if cost is important then IMHO you get just as much from doing it indoors (perhaps even more as no bad weather) and more "runs" and very focused feedback than outdoor.
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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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@Math1984, you say teaching in the mountains wouldn’t happen due to family, but I thought that and have managed to fit in feb half term weeks still, just need to bribe the family 
Personally I’d do IASI rather than BASI less politics and the L2 is a shorter course.
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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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@yorkshirelad, France don't recognise until L4, and I can assure, if you get to that stage you're an incredibly good skier!
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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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@swskier, France (of course) is complicated, but the OP currently wants to work on dry slopes.
Pass the ‘Test Technique’ as a BASI Level 2 or BASI Level 3 instructor. This enables you to teach at a French ski school as a trainee for 4 years. During this period, you must reach BASI Level 4 ISTD, which is the highest level an instructor can reach under the BASI system.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@kitenski, Just to be clear I was refering to the limits of the qualification (in response to @yorkshirelad's comment about the French) not the venue of the course). I did my L1 in Morzine, for a heap of reasons including no spaces on the course at Hemel - if I'm going to book a hotel it might as well be in resort. I think if you're well prepared, near the standard, then either works, if you think you've got more work to do then indoors is arguably better since you don't spend time moving around the mountain. e.g. for the longs pitch in Morzine each run you had to lap the chairlift and ski the rest of the run (admittedly some of that the terrain was useful for practice).
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| Quote: |
Personally I’d do IASI rather than BASI less politics and the L2 is a shorter course.
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IASI Level 2 is longer than BASI. 2 x 6-day courses vs 1 x 10-day course. Unless the training course is optional, don't know.
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| swskier wrote: |
| @yorkshirelad, France don't recognise until L4, and I can assure, if you get to that stage you're an incredibly good skier! |
One of the L4s was telling me that he was with some French instructors watching L1s and the French were guffawing and saying "see that's why we don't want you guys teaching". My L4 friend explained that they were entry level and invited the French to ski with some L3s / L4s; they were much more reassured after. The thing in France is that most people entering the training system have come from a club background and have the TT and can already ski to a pretty high level - although I bet they might still have difficulty with the legendary L1 snowplough  .
He also told me the ENSA have a good understanding of the BASI system, they like certain aspects and understand why things are different and have a lot of respect for the top level instructors.
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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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@stevomcd, it is optional.
Also with IASI, if you fail an aspect of the L2 test you only have to retake that part, not the whole L2.
The examiner that took my L2 was an ex-BASI examiner and told us that in his time with BASI it was expected that some of the course should always fail the BASI L2 (whether or not they were to the required standard). Whether that is still true or not, I don't know, but that was his experience of the two examination boards.
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| davidof wrote: |
| He also told me the ENSA have a good understanding of the BASI system, they like certain aspects and understand why things are different and have a lot of respect for the top level instructors. |
There was a BASI blog entry here on a recent exchange visit to ENSA.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Ray Zorro wrote: |
Also with IASI, if you fail an aspect of the L2 test you only have to retake that part, not the whole L2.
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With BASI you can fail either the teach or tech component and can then do a 5 day reassessment course, not the whole L2.
I think given that the final standard for L2 BASI/IASI is similar the difference between the 5 day / 10 day L2 is only relevent if you are already skiing at or very near the standard. I did BASI 2, and had I done IASI 2 I would have failed because I wasn't skiing to the level until the middle of the second week. So with IASI I'd either have done the course twice or had to invest more in training before.
That said I like what IASI are doing and I think there are good reasons that some prefer them over BASI.
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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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| rjs wrote: |
| davidof wrote: |
| He also told me the ENSA have a good understanding of the BASI system, they like certain aspects and understand why things are different and have a lot of respect for the top level instructors. |
There was a BASI blog entry here on a recent exchange visit to ENSA. |
Yes, it is interesting reading and it was one of the guys in the photo who I was talking to.
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| stevomcd wrote: |
| Quote: |
Personally I’d do IASI rather than BASI less politics and the L2 is a shorter course.
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IASI Level 2 is longer than BASI. 2 x 6-day courses vs 1 x 10-day course. Unless the training course is optional, don't know. |
Yes it's optional, I just turned up for the course week.
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks for all the replies peeps. Lots of food for thought here!
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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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@Math1984, Doing both the Snowsport England and IASI \ BASI systems is worth considering and they complement each other in different ways.
Starting with the SSE L1 training and shadowing gets you a real taste for Instructing with less investment and will set you up for the other systems if you then want to look at on snow qualifications.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
@Math1984, Doing both the Snowsport England and IASI \ BASI systems is worth considering and they complement each other in different ways.
Starting with the SSE L1 training and shadowing gets you a real taste for Instructing with less investment and will set you up for the other systems if you then want to look at on snow qualifications.
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I'd agree with that. I did SSE L1, and then Scottish ASSI in the days when it was almost the same course as BASI 1, and have since had it accepted as a BASI 1.
In my experience, SSE put more emphasis on how to teach people, and BASI's focus was more on understanding and being able to perform all parts of the central theme. So both are useful. BASI 1 will cover the same ground as SSE 1, and a bit more; SSE will get you a perfectly adequate qualification you can use to teach beginners on a dry slope, in a shorter time and for less outlay.
The are 2 potential drawbacks with SSE. If you want to do more than the basic qualification, it is hard finding a SSE L2 that actually runs; I know several people who have tried to do level 2, and none of them succeeded in getting on a course that ran. If you decide you do want to teach on snow, you can't go from SSE L1 to BASI 2, you will have to do BASI 1 first. Last time i investigated, BASI didn't even recognise SSE L2/ASSI as equivalent to BASI 1, but that was over 5 years ago, so may no longer be the case.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
The are 2 potential drawbacks with SSE.
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But if the OP starts with SSE L1, and then chooses to do BASI/IASI or whatever, BASI L1 will be much easier having completed SSE L1.
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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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@ski, Definitely agree, and as I said, that is effectively what I did. Also, repeating the basic stuff from a different trainer's perspective gives a much broader base of understanding, and let's be honest, on a UK dry slope you spend an awful lot of your time teaching that stuff!
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