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BASI Level 3
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

My 18yr old daughter has just passed her BASI L2 Very Happy . (She has been an L1 snowdome instructor for 12 months). Her BASI instructor said getting L3 nailed is the obvious next step and doesn't think she'll struggle with the technicals. As her parents, we're thinking funding a 10K full-season L3 course (including coaching & most modules) isn't out of the question. Hey, it's cheaper than uni.

Presumably, the alternative is for her to earn her stripes in JP/NZ/CA as an L2 instructor for a season or two (on her UK passport). Then consider pushing up to L3/L4 after that, if she is still highly motivated to do so.

I assume the benefits of L3 are along the lines of - higher salary and more interesting clients? But would the experience of staying and teaching as an L2 for a season or two actually be beneficial to her long term progression?

Can you advise on the benefits of her getting L3+ certified ASAP, versus teaching at L2 for a season or two? Are there any other progression options we should be considering?
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snow report
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

@AntonAusTirol, I don't remember the full details, but she's UK passport holder only right?

There's definitely benefit to working a season, her skiing will improve as it is, plus she'll get the actual teaching experience (something I lack, despite having just passed the L3 teach exam)

A lot depends on her actual skiing ability, which from the assessment of the trainer is at a good level. Don't under estimate the step up between and L2 and L3 tech exam, it's a big jump.

If she's at the top of a L2 with not too much work towards a L3, then perhaps you might look in to a plan of a mix of teaching and training/exams.

As an example, she could try and get a bunch of work with someone like Interski in Aosta where she can work 90 days a season, then go and do some training throughout the season. As an example, she could go from Aosta over to Verbier and do some weeks with Warren Smith and at the end of season do some so exams, L3 tech teach and mountain safety all run in Hintertux with BASI I believe so she might be able to do all in one hit.

At 18, she's got a lot of time on her hands, so plenty of time to teach and do exams.

In my position, not starting until I was 30 i'm trying to get through all 4 levels as quickly as I can and i'm going about it in quite a different way to most.

At a young age, future employers will be interested in her ability to actually work a whole season and turn up on time, not hungover etc etc, and that'll be just as important to them as the qualification she holds, add in the fact she doesn't know if she'll like teaching yet, I think it'd be worth her doing a season of teaching, and then maybe trying to do some exams at the end of the season.
ski holidays
ski holidays
 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?

Do a season. Level 3 is modular, so she needs to nail her other disciplines too.

200 Hrs Teaching Experience - Pretty straight forward if you do a season and it really needs to be on snow, not in the dome.
Ski Level 3 Teaching - will only get better if she does a season.
Ski Level 3 Technical - Big Jump from Level 2
Mountain Safety (Level 3) - Some Ski Touring experiance would be useful.
BASI Coaching Course - Pretty straight forward but she'd benifit if she's worked with a group of students over a year or so.
Second Discipline (Level 1) - What is it? Some are more difficult to achieve than others but if it is Snowboarding she needs to be competent.
Second Language Test - Which language might influence where she spends the season.

3rd Child did two seasons in Canada and nailed her ISIA in Canada at the end of the second season. Season 1 mostly bambini, Season 2 almost all adult clients and more money.

Not to debunk the myth, but actually there's not much more money to be had with a Level 3 qualification "most" clients don't need that level of tuition. The vast majority of folks booking lessons are the lower end of skiing ability. Working and establishing a good record with your ski school is a better way of upping your income. Most ski instructors of her age will be on fixed (read minimum wage) contracts. It will be the more experienced ski instructors in any school who will get the private clients.
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snow report
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.

Do a season. Experience the reality of making ends meet as an instructor. She wouldn't be the first to decide actually working evenings (possibly even at a better salary) and having all day to ski is favourable to teaching. She might decide the seasonaire lifestyle isn't for her and she'd rather be at home with a permanent location/job. Countless other reasons why she might decide it's not for her. Better to do that now than sink £10k+ into it and then find out.

The ski school she's working for may even be able to help with some coaching or even put her through things to lower overall cost.

Quote:

not much more money to be had with a Level 3 qualification "most" clients don't need that level of tuition. The vast majority of folks booking lessons are the lower end of skiing ability. Working and establishing a good record with your ski school is a better way of upping your income. Most ski instructors of her age will be on fixed (read minimum wage) contracts. It will be the more experienced ski instructors in any school who will get the private clients.


Exactly all of this!
latest report
latest report
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

boarder2020 wrote:


Quote:

not much more money to be had with a Level 3 qualification "most" clients don't need that level of tuition. The vast majority of folks booking lessons are the lower end of skiing ability. Working and establishing a good record with your ski school is a better way of upping your income. Most ski instructors of her age will be on fixed (read minimum wage) contracts. It will be the more experienced ski instructors in any school who will get the private clients.


Exactly all of this!


She's likely at a cross roads going forward, Level 3 allows independent working in some locations, in others you'll need Level 4. If she decides instructing is a career for her going forward, it's worth progressing through the system. If she doesn't think she'll bother going the whole way, don't waste your £10k.
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snow conditions



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