 Poster: A snowHead
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Hey guys another question for the forum. Do you think that there would be interest from people in the UK to do a season long ski guide course in Canada. The the outline would be something like:
4 day ski instructor course
4 days AST 2 course avalanche skills training
9 day professional Level Avalanche course through the CAA
9 day Canadian Ski Guide Level 1 course
15 days of ski touring
25 days of cat skiing practice and mentoring.
12 rest days.
Cost would be something like GBP5,500 and 78 days in total and would include accomodation but no airfares.
We are trying to decide whether we should run a course like this this winter.
Kieren
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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kierengaul, you're bound to get quite a lot of interest.
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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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kierengaul, what would the qualification allow you to do? would there be any prerequisites to get on the course?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Arno wrote: |
| kierengaul, what would the qualification allow you to do? would there be any prerequisites to get on the course? |
I would hope so.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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achilles, as far as I can see, the the level 1 CSG course is just an introduction, or the first step on the ladder.
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| The Level 1 course is designed as an introduction to the mechanized back country ski industry. It is intended for individuals with previous ski industry experience, who have formal training in avalanche awareness and who are familiar with travelling in back country terrain |
The avalanche courses provided in the list above meet the prerequisites for taking the course.
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achilles, there are a few canadian ski guide qualifications and none of them claim to be equivalent to UIAGM (although one of them can be combined with other qualifications to get you UIAGM IIRC) - they cover ski guiding, not mountain guiding
i did look into this a while back and one required that you log 50 snow profiles, for example. others required CSIA qualifications, but that looks like it may be covered in this course
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Hmm - can you sell it - well if it includes accomodation & lift pass for resort days then it seems to compare favourably with "Instructor" courses. The real question is as articulated above - what is the point/what can you do afterwards? Tail gun for a Cat op? Thought there used to be plenty of qualified volunteers willing to do that job.
We know that most "instructor" courses don't equip people to make a living as ski instructors and really provide the "ski instructor experience" as a justification for a gap year or career break. Although obviously they can provide a stepping stone.
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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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I tend to think that it is alot of money for no real gain..in terms of being about the use the qual to earn anything.
If I had a season free and £5000... I'd just hook up with as many like minded people and just ski whatever we fancied... but then I have no real
interest in making a living in the alpes, ski-wise anyway.
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From a CV perspective if you're going to take a career break this would be better than just bumming a season in my view. If you're into back country skiing you'd also learn a huge amount.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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On reflection there seems to be quite a lot of decent stuff there - you'd probably want to pitch it at a slightly more "mature" market than the gap year courses.
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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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If I were to do another season I'd consider it, not because I particularly want to be a ski guide, but because it looks like a really good way to spend a season, pick up some really useful skills and do some good skiing. I'm with fatbob on pitching it towards the slightly older market though.
Unfortunately chances of another season are now somewhat reduced at least until MasterH is on skis 
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beanie1, ok...but you'd learn stuff anyway.. more to the point, what could you sell..??
I think I could put my time to better use AND save some money.... but that could depend on who you could hook up with.
For example... if you are in resort and a last minute offer comes up....you would want to be able to take it up.
I can think of an instance where this happened countless times...
don't really want to rain on this parade but all it will amass is experience....which is fine..but is this the way you want/need to do it..
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You know it makes sense.
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Looking at this from another perspective, I'm asking myself whether I would want to be guided by someone who needs all this stuff put on a plate for him/herself. I'm thinking probably not!
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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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JT, I see your point that by committing yourself to a course there is potentially an opportunity cost of other things missed but although I've no clue as to how the offering would work I've spent enough time with Canadian skiers to know that its highly unlikely you'd be skipping the powder day of the year to sit in a classroom.
I also see that its not necessarily in the industry's best interests to lay everything on a plate for people who might essentially be gapers to hold themselves out as pros but if the bundle of things is right then its not necessarily a bad thing to give punters the benefit of demand aggregation. The putative offer is enough to make me consider it if I were to do a season while the likes of Nonstop & other "ski academies" hold little attraction. For me though it would largely be an economic evaluation - do the bits I could price independently add up, then throw in a little on top for convenience factor. For others who might not know how to access individual elements there may be a more ready market particularly if they are blinded by the "glamour" of cat-skiing.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I was thinking about this kind of hole in the market talking to Kiwi1 a couple of days ago - I think this has real potential for those who want a "career break" season that can already ski and don't want to get a pointless qualification like a CSIA2 (that a lot of the season courses culminate in, at least in Canada - that requires reasonable dedication to achieve). I'd question the relevance of a CSIA1 (I assume that's your 4 day instructor course), but otherwise - it seems very cheap at the price above. I'm assuming that's not an "all inclusive" price like the gap year companies advertise though.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks for the feedback - basically the qualification that you would get at the end of it - would allow the person to be a tail guide at a Heli or cat skiing operation in Canada. This is the 1st step of 3 steps. The Current pay rate for this position is between C$100-C$150 per day plus tips. So not great pay but it is a really fun job! Also the person would get tonnes of back-country experience in a way that is much safer than just heading out into the back-country and hoping for the best. If anyone else has any feedback please let us know.
Kieren
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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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Sounds a pretty good arrangement to me, and were I to do a season I'd certainly be thinking about something like this. The choice would be between something structured like this, which would give you superb back-country experience, against a more free-rolling arrangement where you'd probably get a better "sightseeer-on-skis" range of terrain.
There is a caveat though. I know a SCGB rep who got just this qualification, or something like it (Heli tail guide), and he's essentially had to let it drop. He found that the only way to go on beyond that (to head towards the stage II qual) would be to emigrate to Canada and take it up full-time. I can't remember now whether the problem was just commitment or whether there was a visa problem as well, but it ended up being a dead end qual for him. So, for someone from this side of the pond, this would need evaluating as to whether it was worthwhile stand-alone for personal development purposes alone, or as a first stage in an longer term emigration plan.
For me personally, I would probably be more interested if it were part of a European programme, and would tip towards the more free-rolling approach if it were a once-in-a-lifetime season in Canada. I am a moderately experienced backish-country skier though - 20+ weeks skiing with guides, but little experience in any position of responsibility.
(There are also similar problems now with low-level CSIA instructors being "stranded", as CSIA has essentially pulled out of Europe).
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Sounds like quite good value to me judged as a holiday - by North American standards anyway. Not enormously more than my Whistler + heli-ski 2 weeks. But as people said - could it count towards a further European qualification? I doubt it
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Tue 16-06-09 17:59; edited 1 time in total
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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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| kierengaul wrote: |
| The Current pay rate for this position is between C$100-C$150 per day plus tips. |
That's way better than you get instructing...but you can get sponsored to instruct. You're selling a pretty empty qualification if you're targeting the UK if you can't get sponsored to tail guide.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Where exactly is Canda?
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