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Journey to becoming a ski instructor

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Congrats for the L1 pass swskier!

Quote:


The BASI SNB L4 was French compliant as it had the FIS points as part of the qualif. The French also had a snowboard "eurotest" slalom. Again all unnecessary, in theory, under the EU 2005 act.



This is the weird bit. The BASI SNB L4 still has FIS points in it, but is now no longer recognised. Nothing changed - the French weren't forced to hand out carte pros for it before Brexit - they did out of the goodness of their own hearts. I guess once they realised that there was no way to circumvent the Carte Pro requirement for Brits any more they immediately shut it down.

Now the BASI L4 has FIS points in it that serve absolutely no purpose - you don't need FIS points for an ISTD. Word on the street is that they'll be ditched, which would make completing a BASI L4 SNB much more attractive - no more travelling Europe for a year to prove a point.

IASI got back to me the other day and nobody's tried to use an IASI SNB 4 in France yet. No reason why it shouldn't be able to be forced through like a Swiss or German cert, but the precedent is not yet there. Be another load off the mind of any snowboarders who can get hold of an EU passport when that precedent is established - a de-facto route into France taught 100% in English.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@AdamNotts, thank you.

Out of interest, does anyone know much about the Spanish Seasonal Worker visa?

https://www.spainvisa.eu/visa-types/work-visa/#How_to_get_a_Visa_to_Work_in_Spain

I'm tempted to do my L2 in Baqueira to try and make contacts if it's possible to get a seasonal visa out there.
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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?
Email Tim Eyte of bb ski school, he would be able to point you in the right direction
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@skimottaret, that was who I was intending on making contacts with whilst doing my L2. I'll drop him a line beforehand anyway.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Thanks Adam for coming back with that update
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So an update for anyone that's interested.

Summer was pretty busy with golf, holidays and weddings, so i've really struggled with my shadowing hours. I'd only managed about 5 hours before this weekend when I stayed overnight in Hemel after the ski test and spent almost all day shadowing on Sunday, which now gets me up to 11.25 hours.

Planning on getting up to Gloucester the next two Sundays which will get me another 5 or so hours, and then another full day at Hemel probably the 30th October and that'll comfortably tip me over the 20 hours needed for level 1.

I spent a whole weekend in the middle of September doing a First Aid course, so that aspect is done. I've also done an online child safeguarding course.

So just the final 8.75 hours and i'll be officially ticked off for my level 1.

I had hoped to try and do my level 2 this season, but realistically, I'm now looking at the start of Winter 22/23, maybe even a summer course to try and get some ad hoc work over the winter, thinking Interski type stuff (visa pending).

I'm starting some race training at Gloucester from next Monday, and plan on doing that most weeks if I can, and I've made up the decision to not renew my golf membership next year to try and focus on the skiing and see how I get on.

I think I'll try and get a zero hour teaching job at either Gloucester or Mendip Activity Centre after I've done a load more shadowing as I need the teaching experience, plus the hours as well to do level 2. With IASI you need a further 70 teaching/shadowing hours before going on the level 2 course.
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@swskier, interesting so IASI is 20 hours to get level 1? I think BASI is 35 to pass L1, then another 35 before going on the full L2 course.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
swskier wrote:
With IASI you need a further 70 teaching/shadowing hours before going on the level 2 course.


Hmmm. that's new, used to be 20 hours for L1 and a further 50 hours before sitting L2 for a total of 70. So you now have to do a 90 hours to get your L2 ? BASI only require 70 total for L2.

have fun with the remaining shadowing and teaching once your L1 is in the bag. snowHead
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swskier wrote:
... thinking Interski type stuff (visa pending).
Visa pending in the sense that you've applied for a work permit? Interski sent out an Instructor Recruitment email yesterday which said that they need instructors with an EU passport or proof of working rights for non-EU passport holders. I think for instructors with a UK passport and no Italian work permit the Interski option is closed off this coming season.
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@skimottaret, reading the website I read it that way, 70 hours total before you can do the Level 2 course. Ali at Ski Definition told me an additional 70 hours, so i'll check with IASI direct.

@rob@rar, Visa pending as in, i'll see what happens with visa's come next winter as I won't be able to get out there until 22/23 season, and perhaps things might have changed by then, you can live in hope!
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swskier wrote:
@rob@rar, Visa pending as in, i'll see what happens with visa's come next winter as I won't be able to get out there until 22/23 season, and perhaps things might have changed by then, you can live in hope!
OK, understand. I think there'll be more clarity next season than this coming season, although that might be a "definite no" rather than a "maybe no" that we seem to have now.
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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.
rob@rar wrote:
OK, understand. I think there'll be more clarity next season than this coming season, although that might be a "definite no" rather than a "maybe no" that we seem to have now.


It's looking like companies are taking on Brit passport holders in non instructor positions from what i'm seeing on facebook groups, so fingers crossed, you never know.....
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
skimottaret wrote:
swskier wrote:
With IASI you need a further 70 teaching/shadowing hours before going on the level 2 course.


Hmmm. that's new, used to be 20 hours for L1 and a further 50 hours before sitting L2 for a total of 70. So you now have to do a 90 hours to get your L2 ? BASI only require 70 total for L2.



reading the IASI website it seems to be 20 + 50, as others have said
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
davidof wrote:
reading the IASI website it seems to be 20 + 50, as others have said


Have emailed Penny the membership admin to see what she thinks. Will report back.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Have spoken to Penny and she's confirmed it's 20 + 50 as per how the website reads, so that's good in terms of me fitting it all in.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@swskier, you owe me a coffee Smile well worth not having to do 20 hours of picking up kids on the magic carpet
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
skimottaret wrote:
@swskier, you owe me a coffee Smile well worth not having to do 20 hours of picking up kids on the magic carpet


I've never been as hot and sweaty while skiing as I was on Sunday morning in Hemel picking two 4 year olds up! T shirt, Jumper, Coat combo was way too much, jumper quickly came off!
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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?
skimottaret wrote:
@swskier, you owe me a coffee Smile well worth not having to do 20 hours of picking up kids on the magic carpet

Amongst the many things I learned whilst shadowing not turning up before about 11am was high on the list Wink
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Tubaski wrote:

Amongst the many things I learned whilst shadowing not turning up before about 11am was high on the list Wink


I got away ok on the first lesson, 8:15 a family of 4 with 2 kids that were about 8 and 10, it was the 9:45 2 x 4 year olds that got me! Laughing

Going forward I won't be there as early, purely because it's a 2.5 hour drive from home, whereas on Sunday I only had to go from the Premier Inn in Hemel.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
skimottaret wrote:
@swskier, you owe me a coffee Smile well worth not having to do 20 hours of picking up kids on the magic carpet


if you did your shadowing in France one of the first things you'd learn from the French instructors is not to pick up any kids Happy
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davidof wrote:
skimottaret wrote:
@swskier, you owe me a coffee Smile well worth not having to do 20 hours of picking up kids on the magic carpet


if you did your shadowing in France one of the first things you'd learn from the French instructors is not to pick up any kids Happy
Teaching the kids “self-reliance” is a great excuse if you’re an instructor protecting a back injury or can’t be bothered to walk up the hill to pick up a small child. Not so great for the rest of the class if they’re hanging around because one child is unwilling or unable to get back to their feet.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Have just discovered/realised that the in laws new house is only 40 minutes away from Castleford, and we're going to go and visit next weekend.

Anyone have any contact for someone in the ski school there I can discuss going up and shadowing? If not I'll send an email to whatever generic email I can find on their website.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@swskier, ive got he the head of personel somewhere (i used to teach there), ill dig it out for you, the site manager used to be a lady called julie orell i would assume you will be able to shadow no probs though
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@ajc2260626, thanks that would be very useful. If it's anything like Hemel, they like having people there to shadow!
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castleford a lot better slope and set up than hemel i worked at both.....
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@ajc2260626, having not been to Castleford, what about it do you find is better than Hemel?
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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.
So latest update, i've done all the hours needed for Level 1, plus a couple of extras. Just waiting for my license to arrive.

I did half a day at Castleford the other weekend, and a full day at Hemel on the weekend just gone.

45 more hours before I can get on a Level 2 course. I'm planning on speaking to Gloucester dry slope to try and get my hours in.

Either hadn't realised or not read correctly, but for Level 3 you need 200 teaching hours, of which 50 have to be in the mountains, so in theory, if I could somehow get some Interski type hours in if/when they're able to accept non EU passport holders, or something of a similar ilk then I can get on to some Level 3 training/exams. Lots of "in theory" comments at the moment, but i'm holding out some hope.

Beyond level 2, I absolutely think i'll need to be doing seasons for working and training as I think it's quite a jump up from Level 1 and 2.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@swskier, you only need your 200 hours prior to your Tech or Teach modules, you can jump right in on Mountain Safety, 2nd discipline, coaching etc..
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@skimottaret, i'll get started on whatever I can manage. I had the impression that it was just a prerequisite for the teach module anyway. Does mean that once i've got my Level 2 done which i'm planning to do around this time next year, I can try and squeeze in some Level 3 stuff in the 22/23 season.

I was thinking of doing race coach asap anyway as I think they'll run some summer courses in Landgraaf or something similar, and will tie in nicely with having started race training at Gloucester. Not sure if this is a course you can do with just Level 1, but will investigate that one.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
swskier wrote:

Either hadn't realised or not read correctly, but for Level 3 you need 200 teaching hours, of which 50 have to be in the mountains

(Emphasis mine). Where do you get that 50 hours in the mountains bit from? They accepted my 200 with no question and I didn't have 50 in the mountains. In fact I can't remember if I logged any in the mountains, as I might have already had the 200 by then.
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@Tubaski, https://iasisnowsports.ie/education/alpine/

Level 3 says Teaching Experience (200 logged hours of which 50 hours need to be on snow)

Then in the notes it says,

For teaching experience, logged hours "on snow" means an open mountain environment/resort and NOT an indoor snow dome.
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deleted as was referring to BASI not IASI
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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?
@swskier, ah sorry had forgotten you were doing IASI. I am doing BASI.
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License has arrived, Sunday just gone was my first day teaching at Gloucester Ski centre, and i'll be able to pick up some hours there most weekends going forward now. Managed to fit some teaching and shadowing hours in last Sunday, so around 40 hours required now before a level 2 course.

Still enjoying teaching, so that's a good start! Laughing
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Latest update

Have done my hours now that allows me to do my level 2. Current plan is to do this in the Autumn in somewhere like Zermatt or Saas Fee.

Have emailed IASI to find about doing the Level 1 Race Coach course and whether I can do this prior to my L2 Alpine qualification. If I can, i'll do this over the summer somewhere indoors in the either the UK or abroad, depending on where it's being run.

I'm then intending to do my Level 1 Off Piste Security during the season of 22/23 these seem to run most months between January and April.

Depending on the amount of leave I have left, I might try and get a week or two teaching somewhere, current thoughts are Georgia or Andorra, but haven't explored that yet.
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@swskier, Hopefully next season IASI will have better numbers and can run an off piste course. SkiMottaretJunior had hers cancelled and I think she was the only one booked for this week. Always a problem with IASI is that with such low member numbers going onto L3 they struggle to fill groups.

Good luck on your L2 !
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Spent last weekend inside the Chill Factore doing my Level 1 Race Coach course with Phil Brown from Impulse Racing. Pleased to have passed that. Was a good fun course, with a real mix of racing backgrounds/experience amongst us students.

My Level 2 was supposed to have happened in Cervinia last month, but as we all know, virtually all the glaciers have been shut all summer, so that got cancelled.

I'm now booked on for my Level 2 in the first week of December in Hintertux.

I've also changed my Monday-Friday job to contracting with the aim of spending every winter in the mountains. As it stands I have plans for L2 start of December, a weeks holiday over Christmas, a weeks holiday in January, and then the plan is to spend all of April skiing. I've seen there's a L3 Tech course running in the 3rd week of April, and assuming my L2 goes ok, I might aim for the L3 Tech. I'm also tempted to have a punt at the Zermatt Speed test in the last week of April, mainly for a bit of fun, but also to see how I fare, and you never know, I might somehow scrape a pass (unlikely)
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
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Good work on the Coach 1 pass and good luck during the season. To be honest taking a speed test without having done significant GS gate training is a waste of time and money. Much better off doing a camp and a few mock tests to see where you are at. It is doable and several mates I have trained with have passed the ISIA test but you won't scrape a pass on your first attempt unless you have previously raced full length GS courses on FIS pistes in decent times.

You probably already know about em but check out PDS training who are doing preseason camps in Zermatt.
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@skimottaret, thank you.

My original plan was to spend 4 weeks in Tignes for April (and I might still do that) and try and get some GS training in. It's only when I looked at the calendar and thought about my own skiing as well that I thought about trying the L3 Tech, and the speed test is not too far away from the tech course, that made me think about giving it a go. It's only around 45CHF to enter, so not too pricey.

I'd like to get some training in, whether that's at Christmas or start of April, but we'll see how the season pans out
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Quote:

It's only around 45CHF to enter, so not too pricey.


You forgot to add on inspection/ training the day before, hotels, cat suit, race skis, a cool race bag for all your gear, x rays and physio after your first 10 crashes, etc. etc.. Toofy Grin

Seriously, if you are keen to have a crack at it before GS training ensure you have spent a bit of time free skiing on GS skis. Takes a while to get use to +20M radius skis. Although there aren't any min equipment requirements for the ISIA test, if you compete using soft turny skis and not in a cat suit you will give up a LOT of time and won't be in the mix.

PS I have a pair of Eurotest skis for sale, fast pair with a load of wax cycles and have passed the ET (by a mate, not by me !) I sold my training pair a while ago but couldn't bring myself to sell these ones but haven't done any GS for a few years... Dynastar Masters 185 23M with race plates...
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