Gaining ski qualifications ADVICE NEEDED

A snowHead

Hi -
I'm a 19 year old skiier looking to acquire a working visa that will allow me to travel to Austria and complete the Anwarter qualification. Brexit has hugely complicated this process and I cannot seem to uncover any route to gaining the sufficient documents other than applying for a Visa D with the Austrian embassy. If anyone can provide me with guidance or any recommendations to help me with this it would be appreciated.
In addition, I just want to ask in general about what ski qualifications are worth earning, and how I should go about getting these. I've been skiing for a large part of my life and would love to teach for a couple seasons in the future. If anyone has any advice towards this it would help greatly.
Cheers,
Evan.

A snowHead

Hi @EvanThomas24, as far as I'm aware in Tirol you do not need a job offer/ski school sponsorship to do the Anwärter (as you would in Salzburg, I believe) so you should not need a work visa or permit to simply do the course as you can do it in way under the allowed 90 in 180 days. In Salzburg presumably you would, as you could not get the ski school job sponsorship needed (if that's still required?) as a pre-requisite.

Of course actually teaching is a different matter and you would need a visa and work permit. Unfortunately unless you had already established your residency here before the end of 2020 this is likely to be difficult, and presumably the only option will be to go through the embassy as you say above. Given there are so many Austrian and EU ski instructors already here, I think it may be a challenge to demonstrate that the job cannot be fulfilled from the local supply, but the only way to find out is to try!

It is so so sad that opportunities like this have been taken from your generation.

If this is something you are considering for only a few seasons, you might actually find it easier on a working holiday type visa in Canada?

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

Thanks for the reply @clarky999. It seems like I would be able to work towards my qualifications without any documentation, however once I've earnt these moving onto a work in a European ski school appears extremely difficult. Instead, I was looking into earning my Anwarter in Austria, then utilising this in a subsequent season in a non-European country where the Anwarter qualification applies, like Japan or Canada.

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

@EvanThomas24, my stepson spent his first northern hemisphere winter teaching in Japan. He had just passed his BASI L2 aged 18 and that was more than enough to get him the job. He worked for Evergreen Outdoor centre in Hakuba https://www.evergreen-hakuba.com/ . Despite Covid, it might be worth checking them out if you are keen to get working after getting your basic qualifications. He went to Japan on a working holiday visa (so despite having a firm job offer,I think it was a bit of a fudge).

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Or he could go for a CSIA qualification.
Which doesn't require race training to become an instructor.

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

It is possible to do an internship according to at least one of the Austrian training companies (can't remember which), that comprised of 3 months course and 3 months work. I believe this was just for Anwarter as I don't think you could make most rec skier skiers gates and off piste anywhere near well enough for Landeslehrer in 3 months. This is probably expensive too. I do know of 2 Brit instructors working locally who have obtained work permits but these are only valid until end of Feb. They are both long standing employees of the Ski Schools they are working for and the schools were prepared to do the legwork required regarding advertising etc to make it happen. I don't think a Ski School would do that for someone new.

After all it is free

@EvanThomas24, Welcome to Snowheads.

Ski Instructor Academy in Austria offer a good package: https://www.siaaustria.com/product/ski-instructor-courses-austria/, although note the caveat on working in the EU as mentioned in other posts. Strangely, my Ski School is actually short of instructors for peak periods this year. Puzzled

My 19 yr old daughter already had her BASI 1 Licence but opted to go with "Wearesno.com" instead and is now having a great time in Silver Star working as an instructor for the season and getting her CSIA Level 1 and 2. https://wearesno.com/ski-instructor-courses/

If those options are too expensive and you can't earn money between now and next season then you could do a lot worse then spending what you do have in a Fridge and doing your BASI 1 on home turf.

Don't forget that after your Level 1 course you will have to work a number of hours before your licence is granted.

Good luck.

To my knowledge the CSIA and the Anwarter both dont require race training to become an instructor, I think that is mainly the BASI. ATM I'm looking more towards the Anwarter simply because I've found the Ski Instructor Academy which offers the qualification over a month course, after which I have the potential for employment outside of Europe.
I looked into BASI but with Brexit it doesnt seem as viable as other qualifications which open up opportunities for seasons outside of Europe.
Would people recommend gaining the Anwarter through the SIA? Or is it more worth my time to work towards CSIA? I'm not well versed on the subject so I find it hard to differentiate between the two.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@Perty Was he able to get his BASI L2 while in the UK?

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@EvanThomas24, you don't need any race training for Anwarter.

snow reports

I should say that my comment (as an over-the-hill 40 year old!) is based upon what I wished I knew when I was 19. Some say that this sort of advice is the most useful Razz

If you want to reach the highest levels in ski instruction (i.e. you dream of making a living from it), then you need to start ski racing. The level required is not enormously high, but can be extremely challenging for those who come to it later in life. I've personally seen multiple British skiers who had the time, money and will to become ski instructors later in life, but simply could not pass this barrier. If you are serious, start now.

In addition, you will find that the continental system (i.e. the places you want to work), has huge respect for people who have done ski racing in the past. Dipping a toe in this (fabulous) sport will open doors in the future in places where you least expect it.

Did I mention that it is one of the most fun things which you can do on skis? snowHead

Seriously, you will love it, and meet some very welcoming people in the process.

You know it makes sense.

@EvanThomas24, he did his L1 and L2 in NZ. FWIW, Evergreen worked really well for him as an 18 year old. The ski school provided basic accommodation and food, he gained huge experience, had a great time, and it set him up for working all over the place. He did back to back seasons in the northern hemisphere (USA, Zermatt, Japan) and NZ. He got as far as passing his L3 tech (by then, easily), but then COVID came and put a big spanner in the works…He was coaching freeride in NZ, filming and competing in FWT Qualifiers by then and had job offers in NZ he couldn’t take (and still does). Instructing isn’t his thing really, but if it hadn’t been for COVID, I think he’d have found a permanent job in the NZ ski world.

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

For all those saying to practice racing -
I've done bits of racing in the past but have never committeed fully to it. How would I go about getting into this? For context, I've got around 15-20 weeks of skiing and a couple weeks of racing practice.

A snowHead

@EvanThomas24, I'm semi in your shoes, semi not.

For starters i'm a bit older at 31, but am currently L1 qualified with IASI.

https://iasisnowsports.ie/

I agree with @JamesHJ, re race training, if you think you want to get beyond level 2. I've started this since October 2021 at my local club, which is at Gloucester ski centre. Your best bet to finding a local club is via this website:

https://www.snowsportengland.org.uk/clubs-facilities/

If you're looking to work somewhere like Canada, then i'd argue there's not much point in doing the Austrian qualification. For starters you'll need to speak German. Why bother when you can do a BASI or IASI course in English? (unless you can already speak German?)

A level 1 course can be done in the UK for both BASI and IASI, so that saves money, and then after some teaching/shadowing you can do a level 2 course abroad in either 1 or 2 weeks depending on which qualification you choose.

From there, you've then got enough of a qualification to work in Canada or Japan.

Just my thoughts, I have tried to document my journey so far here:

https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=155699&highlight=

Feel free to drop me a PM on any of this if you want.

A snowHead

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

@EvanThomas24, welcome to snowHeads

You could try sending a pm to Timberwolf. His son has just done exactly the same thing in Radstadt and he may well be happy to share how his son accomplished the process. He’s a lovely guy and I’m sure he’d be only too happy to help.

Help!!

Gaining ski qualifications ADVICE NEEDED

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