 Poster: A snowHead
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How about coming up with a set of suggestions for the new man at the top. Any and all constructive ideas welcome and i will happily collate and forward
for me i would be interested to hear what the new CEO's annual plan is, specifically what improvements and new projects will be undertaken, their respective priority and implementation timescales.
small easy to do type of stuff
add old basi news articles for download on the website
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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skimottaret, is there a name yet ?
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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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david@mediacopy, here's the info about the new guy.
I'd like the Fergus to look at way in which al BASI courses can be confirmed earlier, preferably as soon as they are published in the course calendar, so we can make earlier (therefore cheaper) arrangements for travel & accommodation.
I'd also like to see more use made of the website for things like back issues of BASI News.
I'd like to see a bit more money invested in pulling together teaching resources (suggestions for drills and exercises for different client groups, for example).
I'd like to see more effort to see negotiated discounts for BASI members (kit, clothing, lift passes, travel, etc). Andi McCann has started to a good job on this from what I can see, so keep on pushing that line.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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rob@rar, cheers.
I'd suggest a renewed focus on serving the needs and best interests of the wider membership, which of course differs depending on age, ambition and grade.
** typo **
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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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david@mediacopy, sounds like an improbable dream 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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0) I concur with rob@rar about confirming courses ASAP.
1) If they cancel a course then they should phone up all those booked on it to explain the situation. Current policy seems to be rely on an email - which, in my case, never arrived. I only found out some time later by chance!
2) Get someone with a logical mind to redesign the website. It always seems to take me an age to find what I want.
3) Don't get too carried away with the newsletter - concentrate on the website.
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How about common theory courses at locations other than Glenmore. (eg: Hemel/chill factore)
Training articles in the members area.
Build and Keep the website current with information pertaining to techniques, overseas working requirements, connections with ski schools willing to use basi members (Other than UK based schools organisations.)
Source cheaper accomodation options for people attending courses.
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Snowshark,
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How about common theory courses at locations other than Glenmore. (eg: Hemel/chill factore)
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I've asked that one before, it's a pet annoyance of mine!! Ditto being able to run it over 2 weekends so you don't have to take time off work to sit in a classroom. Apparently it's something to do with getting all the people needed to deliver the course together in the same place at the same time?!
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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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how about a simple video that they post on the members area with a trainer showing the correct way to do advanced drills like white pass turns, charlestons, etc...
the canadians have some excellent videos displaying skiing at each level in their system, (bumps at L1 through to L4 standard)
beanie1, annoying isnt it.. 36 people turn up and pay 380 each and they cant fly trainers to London. they could easily up the cost of london based courses a bit and no one would mind too much... All they need is a gym for the fitness day and job done... I am surprised that with a little work they couldnt assemble a team of southern based trainers that could deliver the new content. (looks much improved)
If i was the new boss the first call i would make would be to Sean L to see if he would come back
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| rob@rar wrote: |
I'd like to see a bit more money invested in pulling together teaching resources (suggestions for drills and exercises for different client groups, for example).
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The CSIA Instructor manual comes with a complete section written by Instructors, showing drills & exercises, as well as a section for faults, causes and cures, which is great. Manual also contains a CD-ROM with video demonstrations of drills. BASI could learn a lot from the CSIA Manual for sure.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Snowshark, beanie1, excellent idea about common theory being held further south. Also over weekends.
skimottaret, are the canadians' vids made with people who are actually at the pass level or by trainers pretending to ski down to that level?
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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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slikedges, i have seen both, but the one on their web site a while back had trainers dumbing down.... http://www.snowprobc.com/videos/ PSIA did something similar I seem to recall...
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skimottaret, real candidates I think is useful, trainers faking it is imho almost useless. I've seen a few of these, always with a trainer faking it, who doesn't look as though they've invested the hours necessary to put on a realistic performance.
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You know it makes sense.
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Snowshark, The Snow Centre would be happy to run a common theory course. We have the facilities, a running / athletics track next to us and 20 mins your are in the Chiltern hills which would be an ideal location to learn basic navigation. We also have great deals with local hotels.
PSG
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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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Just picking up on the comments of Spyderman, slikedges, and skimottaret. As a BASI newbie (starting going through the Alpine Instructors qualifications last year) having more instructor material to refer to would be a great idea
Whilst I appreciate that having the experience and the knowledge of how to correct student's problems by adopting different drills and approaches is all part and parcel of being an instructor and this will come time, having a more useful rescource to refer to would be super. There are various drills outlined in the BASI manual, but having these on paper as opposed to on a DVD with commentary, is sometimes difficult to follow
For me having a toolbox of different drills that can be adopted is so important to being a good instructor/trainer. Absolutely through the shadowing and teaching BASI requires, you see how different people adopt ways of achieving the same result.
I saw this myself first hand at half term in February in Austria where the Austrian/Danish instructors were doing different drills (to their British counterparts). A quick glance across to see what they are doing, a comprehension of how this compares with the BASI Central Theme/Manual and a run through in your own time to fully understand the drill and decide if it's one you can use, resulted in half a dozen 'new' drills in my toolbox 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Maybe a decent magazine on the lines of the RYA's Wavelength with teaching tips etc instead of what we've got at the moment, which is basically an advertisement for all the Trainer's companies!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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the_doc, the magazine is made up of members' articles, if you don't like the content why not write an article?
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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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Yeah I know, it's part of the problem for me, I'd love to write an article and have been invited before but to be honest just don't have the time on my hands working a full time job and running my own business. I do feel that the magazine is mainly aimed at advertising courses designed to take "the next step" that are run by the trainers themselves, and I get a bit sick of being sold to, it's not why I joined BASI and it's not what I would want to see in the magazine.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I agree with the_doc, most articles are in relation to the speed test etc, whilst it would be nice to do, I do not have the money to pursue the BASI system.
I am an RYA Dingy Instructor as well, and they quite often review things like learning styles and how to relate to them to your on water session.
What happens when you have a beginner trying to put there first turns in and they are bow-legged - they're on the wrong edges, how can you adapt the central theme to develop them. Or you're teaching an old fella, who's ankles have been fused together due to an old war injury - again what methods could you use to develop them.
It's all the weird and wonderful, the different that you come across during your teaching career, these surprises that jump out and bite you - you have to face them and know that someone else may have faced that very same problem in a student, but wouldn't it be nice to see what their solutions were, instead of banging on about race techniques and how to pass.
It's not only that, what happens when you have your first half-term session and are faced with 20 beginners/improvers - sure technically speaking you're not supposed to coach that many, in reality, yes it does happen, you might have half that number, but you still have a large group number, well above that recommended by BASI. You don't get that kind of group control on your instructors course, where do you even begin??? Alot comes with experience, but tips are always welcome, especially if you're green. Some would argue common sense comes into play, yes it does, but still it's nice to have some tips, some guidance notes....
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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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Would it be possible for you to publish to the members your annual plan? specifically what improvements and new projects will be undertaken, their respective priority and implementation timescales.
As someone who is not an ISTD can you bring a a renewed focus on serving the needs and best interests of the wider membership, which of course differs depending on age, ambition and grade.
Can you look at way in which all BASI courses can be confirmed earlier, preferably as soon as they are published in the course calendar, so we can make earlier (therefore cheaper) arrangements for travel & accommodation. Can someone negotiate cheaper accommodation options for people attending courses perhaps partnering with a tour operator or hotel group?
Can you put more effort on negotiated discounts for BASI members (kit, clothing, lift passes, travel, hotels, etc).
invest time and money in pulling together teaching resources (suggestions for drills and exercises for different client groups, for example).
How about offering common theory courses at locations other than Glenmore. (eg: Hemel/chill factore)
Can you use the existing website members area and put up all back issues of BASI News and other existing training material like course notes from Common theory etc, fitness strength training, ISTD thesis papers, etc.
Build and Keep the website current with information pertaining to techniques, overseas working requirements, connections with ski schools willing to use basi members
how about a simple video that they post on the members area with a trainer showing the correct way to do drills for advanced skiers
more articles with suggestions on how to correct common faults and teaching situations
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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skimottaret, sounds like a plan 
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All very sensible and I'd like to see that happen, although some of those have a time and/or financial consideration so I wonder whether I'd be happy to see a small increase in annual subscription to pay for stuff I'd like to see...
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We need to have more teaching training at Levels 1 and 2 for children's teaching. BASI teaching methods really don't appear to distinguish between adults, and children, and the only information you get is by shadowing other instructors. It would be great to do something similar to CSIA, whereby instructors are given concrete information/guidance/tools to teach children of varying ages.
The BASI system also doesn't appear to focus on causes of problems, like CSIA (you can tell I'm a huge fan of CSIA!). BASI assume that learners progress through the central theme, and reasons for variations/inherent problems aren't really focussed on. When I did my CSIA training, we spent lots of time trying to find out what the underlying cause of a problem might be, rather than what we think we see - often the two were very different!
Common theory courses down South - yes please!
Earlier notification, and more Level 3 courses - my progression through Level 3 is determined by the number of courses published, and there don't seem to be very many courses at all, and the ones that are published fill up very quickly.
Personal development days, whereby we can get together with other BASI instructors and socialise/train, etc - this would be great from a continous development perspective.
Taster courses for Level 3 - so that I don't spend a lot of money on a Tech level 3 course (for example), before finding out I've got no hope of passing it
Better manuals - why 2, why so many words, etc
New website - navigating around the current one is a bit random at the least
Better examination and assessment regime - the current Level 2 examination does not follow good practise for examination construction, the questions don't examine what knowledge is really required at that level
Some new merchandise - I'm quite proud of my BASI instructor status, it took a lot of time and money to get it, the BASI merchandise is not exciting at all (check out the CSIA merchandise, you can buy all sorts of goodies!, and I do too!)
Job site - where can I get a job with a BASI qualification
BASI instructors abroad - if I'm going to Morzine, for example, who could I find that's BASI qualified to book lessons with
BASI events - the open day at Hemel last year seemed a great idea (I couldn't make it, but would definitely go to another one)
so, a few suggestions, it will be interesting to see what he plans to do
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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'd agree strongly with many of the comments above, less so with some, namely:
- Happy to see common theory continue at Glenmore - after all everyone should have the opportunity to see the cradle of BASI and for some this may be their only chance. Maybe as a compromise the odd one-off course could be run at Hemel or a similar centre further south but I think it's important BASI maintain and strengthen it's links with Glenmore and maintain and wherever possible expand courses in Scotland and the Scottish mountains.
Other than that, these are the most important issues for me (some, as I say, are the same as points made above):
- More courses on Scottish mountains (such as L1/L2 Coaching) - I know that there are people willing to run them but internal BASI politics seems to be preventing their happening, not good enough IMHO and BASI shouldn't forget it's own backyard in favour of other places!
- Continue with BASI events like the Hemel open day and perhaps consider more such events across the year and across the UK.
- Website - the website is currently pretty poor to be frank and is a nightmare to navigate. We have been promised a revamped site but this has not materialised, why is this and can you speed up the process and if necessary bring new people in to sort the issue out.
I would also like to see more videos on the site demonstratinig drills etc. as suggested by others above and also build up a downloadable archive of old issues of BASI News and any other articles/information of interest such as drills, fault finding/correction, instructing tips etc.
- Look after the interests and needs of *all* the membership, meaning all ages and grades - I think the feeling is that currently the emphasis is on the highest levels.
- Better and more informative BASI News as others have suggested and sorry but I don't consider it good enough to simply suggest, as some do, that we should write better and more informative articles ourselves - I consider that a cop out! I didn't join BASI to become a journalist and I don't have the time to start a writing career. We pay a mambership fee and I think the least we can expect is a magazine that has a clear mission to inform and keep us up to date with the theory and practice of the profession we have worked hard to join so let's get an editorial line sorted out and start comissioning some articles or even reprinting stuff from elsewhere.
- More, and better, discounts would be good, for example my local dry slope gets better discounts than BASI on one major brand of skis, boots and gear ... surely that's not the way it should be?
I also like the following new ideas that others here have come up with:
- More training for teaching children
- Personal development days
- Taster courses for Level 3
- New merchandise
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I am the only one who things that although some stuff could be tweeked a little, BASI is mostly OK.
The only thing I would like is a BASI uniform. A real one (like all other national ski assoc's have), not just some hashed together cheapo that we get offered from North Face.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Wayne, hmm, not sure about that. Maybe, but I'd only have it for higher levels. I wouldn't want L1s to parade around in it whilst free skiing in the Alps for example, I don't think the technical standard of personal performance is high enough to be a good advert. Or L2s either really.
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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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Wayne,
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The only thing I would like is a BASI uniform
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Noooooooooooooooo ! Bad enough in free skiing in a ski school one 
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I agree, no wayyy I'd even consider stumping up for a uniform!
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You know it makes sense.
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| beanie1 wrote: |
| I wouldn't want L1s to parade around in it whilst free skiing in the Alps for example, I don't think the technical standard of personal performance is high enough to be a good advert. Or L2s either really. |
Yeah good point.
Only me, phil Smith and Chemmy then.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not sure if any has, but all of the suggestions above could be mentioned as the next basi agm. I went to the one down in Hemel and it was fun (me and telemark - fun for anyone watching).
I agree with stewart woodward that the board are the people to speak to. They all go to the basi thingies so may be an idea to speak to someone and see if you can get the suggestions onto the list of things to vote on. Not sure if that's how it works, so if someone else knows better.... may be more productive than posting onto a web forum.
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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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| Wayne wrote: |
| (bit of race training with emma seems a bril idea) |
Yeah, I thought that as well. Did a week of slalom with her. Hardest week's skiing I've ever done.
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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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Take on the ESF on behalf of its snowboard members would be popular here.
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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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| skimottaret wrote: |
| BASI members, what do you want your new CEO to do? |
My BASI membership lapsed years ago, so I don't qualify to answer that question, but I've some clear views about what the new CEO should do. My invalid views are that it should be quick, straightforward and relatively inexpensive to train to be a ski instructor. The present system is over-expensive, too time-consuming and too complex. Teaching skiing should be less about rocket science and more akin to gliding.
It is really very straightforward to teach classes up to parallel, which is where a high percentage of the business lies. It should not be necessary to work so much to pay off an instruction course, for a seasonal occupation that probably won't be part of your life for more than two or three winters.
In 1975 it took two weeks and cost about seven weeks' wages.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| George W. Bash wrote: |
| In 1975 it took two weeks and cost about seven weeks' wages. |
Did you have to do the Foundation Week before attempting the Grade 3 assessment? What about a 1st aid course, was that not mandatory? Any shadowing hours required before your licence was issued?
To reach an equivalent level of qualification (Level 2) it now takes 15 days training/assessment (5 of which can be done indoors or on plastic), a 2-day 1st aid course, 70 hours of shadowing and a small online module. Cost of the course fees to reach this point is less than £1000 (although when you are half way through the process and have gained Level 1 you can work at an artificial slope in the UK to help defray the cost of further BASI courses).
Although BASI courses are expensive (believe me it starts to get very expensive once you move past Level 2) I think they are extremely good value for money. Typically £380 for 5 full days of instruction plus a couple of hours of theory each evening compares extremely well to anu ski instruction I've ever had.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
To reach an equivalent level of qualification (Level 2) it now takes 15 days training/assessment (5 of which can be done indoors or on plastic) |
You can do it with 10 days indoors, 5 on the mountain, by going the L1 - UKAI - L2 route.
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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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Spyderman, yes, I'd forgotten about that. That's potentially a way to reduce the cost of travel and accommodation if you live near to a snowdome.
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rob@rar, It's the way that Kitty has gone. It cuts down on cost hugely, only 1 week's lift pass, as well as the accommodation you mention.
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FAQ
so see ya there (bit of race training with emma seems a bril idea)
