 Poster: A snowHead
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With only a couple of year left till I turn 50 and the kids getting older (so a bit easier for me to get away for extended periods) I've been mulling over the idea of spending some more time skiing and how I might achieve this! As a member of the Tea Club for a few years I'm aware of (and have used occasionally) the reps service and am now considering applying to be one myself in the next year or so. I'm in a position where work will allow me some extra time off so would be able to commit to at least the 3 weeks a season required.
I'd be really interested to hear the views of other Snowheads on Ski Club of GB reps and particularly from any reps who could give me an idea of how they have found it. I'd also be interested to hear more about how they found the application process, the ski level required, if a language is necessary (and to what level) and how they found the reps course.
I've been skiing for 10 years or so (2-3 weeks a season) and feel confident now on all pisted runs and am developing my off-piste skills and knowledge. I've always really enjoyed taking the rest of the family and friends around resorts and have some experience of leading cycling groups as well as being a Level 1 British Cycling Coach. The idea of spending three weeks or more in a resort with a purpose and daily schedule is really appealing .
Any thoughts/comments/ do's and don'ts much appreciated.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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tomhan,
Hi, I know someone who runs some of the ski assessments that SCGB reps need to pass.
If you're interested send me a PM and I'll pass on their details on to you. You could contact them and they will tell what they are looking in ability. At least this will give you an idea of whether you're at the right level.
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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, Thank you I'll do that.
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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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answered
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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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Excuse me for breaking in here but could you let us know what level is required?
I'm in my 50's and contemplating a lifestyle change once kids are finished with uni (a few years yet alas). It is something I have daydreamed about and wondered whether it is way beyond me.
Thanks
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| zellmaniac wrote: |
Excuse me for breaking in here but could you let us know what level is required?
I'm in my 50's and contemplating a lifestyle change once kids are finished with uni (a few years yet alas). It is something I have daydreamed about and wondered whether it is way beyond me.
Thanks |
I don't think the benchmark is particularly high. Undoubtedly there are some seriously adept skiers within the ranks of the Tea Club reps but the couple of reps that I've skied with on their Tea Party days, when we plebby non-members are allowed to come along, were far from the strongest skiers in the group; limited by a slightly dated technique and, although well equipped, it was with less than ideal equipment. Naturally, I suggested they sought advice on these matters on snowHeads, which neither had heard of: really, what world are they living in? 
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Isn't there some mistake on the Flea Club website? It seems you have to pay 2 1/2 grand to be a rep. That can't be right.
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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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Yes but you do get a free jacket with special velcro powered detachable sponsors' panel.
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Excuse me if I stick my self-adhesive beard on again and throw some historical light on this:
If we go back to the very early 1960s, the Ski Club of Great Britain was the only game in town. There were no professional British skiers because there was no such thing as a British ski school.
Therefore, any ambitious skier (i.e. recreational skier) who wanted to prove themself worked through the bronze-silver-gold testing programme of the SCGB. It may be hard to imagine how influential and sophisticated these tests were, but they really did sort the maestros from the buskers. A skier wearing a SCGB gold medal could ski breakable crust on wooden skis with cable bindings, wearing leather boots (not much ankle support).
Activity on Cairngorm, Glencoe and Glenshee quickly changed all this, when the first permanent Scottish ski lifts were built. But where was the Ski Club at this crucial juncture? Suddenly there was a demand for qualified ski instructors, and BASI (which I think initially had a slightly different name) was born. But the SCGB was not involved. The old Club was preoccupied with losing its status as the governing body of British ski racers, due to problems financing the teams (does this ring a bell?) and seemingly couldn't see the light.
The birth of BASI, and the development of charter flights and package holidays in the early 1960s, changed history for the SCGB and I personally think that everything which has transpired since then - a progressive separation from the British skiing community - can be dated to that era.
Any deficiency in the standard of SCGB reps/leaders is simply explained by the fact that ambitious recreational skiers become ski instructors. And the SCGB could so easily have become BASI if it hadn't stuck up its Belgravian nose at the thought of sliding around in Scottish blizzards!
[ / removes beard]
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Thu 20-12-12 15:34; edited 1 time in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| davidof wrote: |
| Isn't there some mistake on the Flea Club website? It seems you have to pay 2 1/2 grand to be a rep. That can't be right. |
Yes, you have to pay to go on the 2 week reps course, skiing in Tignes with various trainers and having evening lectures etc.
The Ski Club Gold test was only discontinued a few years ago (I did it 20 years ago) and it was in 4 sections, each taking a large part of a day: A piste and mogul test, a powder test, a variable snow off-piste test (crud, heavy snow, breakable crust) and a race (which I failed the first time, never having done any race training).
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Thu 20-12-12 14:51; edited 2 times in total
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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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I do apologise that my browsing monkey (krakatoa) posted above. It's only employed as an anonymous sock-browser and is not supposed to express opinions. It's not really supposed to post at all.
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It states you need two 'Leader' references to apply for the course, although whether that would stop them accepting your £2.5K would be interesting to find out.
My understanding is that everyone that does the reps course is rated, which impacts directly on the resorts you are offered. At your standard tomhan, you're not going to be sent to Val, Cham or Verbier, more likely Soldeu or Sauze.
I know it's not fashionable, but the majority I've skied with are competent, strong skiers and also good leaders.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
ambitious recreational skiers become ski instructors
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I agree, however having come into the sport later in life it seems a rather daunting prospect. I just thought like tomhan, that it would be a purposeful way (excuse!) to spend a few weeks in resort.
Anyway I might try my hand at BASI 1 in a couple of years time and see what that is like! I'd better get practising!!
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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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tomhan, is there anything stopping you from being in resort for a whole season? If you put the £2K SCGB entry fee into your season pot, you could live in a shared apartment and work as a ski guide for a TO. They recruit over the summer, and I am fairly sure would be very grateful having a more mature member of the team through the season. You'd have to apply for it quite specifically, and there might be a few other bits and bobs to do to help getting dinner from the kitchen to the table, but you'd have everything provided for you and perhaps get a fair bit out of doing it that way instead of 3 or 4 weeks over a season flying backwards and forwards every other weekend.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| zellmaniac wrote: |
| Excuse me for breaking in here but could you let us know what level is required? Thanks |
Sorry but not a clue.
Personally I can’t see the point of the SCGB or their (unqualified) guides. It just seems to be one of those anachronistic organisations that still clings desperatley to faded glory whilst loudly proclaiming a spurious raison d’être; which, if it ever did exist, was based solely on circumstances which no longer do.
(No doubt some will disagree with is BTW )
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@tomhan,
as you're a new member, I thought I'd point out that you will get a lot of 'bias' in replies here, due to the relationship between snowheads and the Tea Club.
To be honest, your best bet is to talk directly either to some reps (and ideally more than one, they're all people, with quite widely different views and approaches), and also talk to the sort of people who you might be 'leading'.
I'm an active SCGB member, both on their holidays, and as a user of the rep service, my wife is seriously considering repping.
I would personally see repping, and Monium's suggestion, as being different sides of the same coin - the experience of leading a TO group, v an SCGB group, is (based on my experience being led) quite different - you may, or may not, prefer one. There are other threads on here that go into (great) length on the difference between 'leading', 'repping', and whatever the TO's are allowed to call their 'navigating customers around the mountain' (I was going to write 'guiding', but that is a reserved word!)
I think you probably know the answers to the questions you ask - perhaps you need to ask yourself "do you want to be responsible for strangers", do you want to have to sort out navigational/equipment issues, are you as happy at 'apres' as on the slopes, can you quickly recognise people when they're wearing hoods and goggles, can you get reliable reservations at mountain cafe's, and navigate a menu without embarrasment.
good luck, either way!
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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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BASI3 ISIA needed now (sorry posted on wrong section)
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Thu 20-12-12 19:10; edited 1 time in total
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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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| Boardban wrote: |
| I know it's not fashionable, but the majority I've skied with are competent, strong skiers and also good leaders. |
Based on the sole experience of 3-4 trips out with reps during one season then I was somewhat disappointed - I found them skiing slowly on the runs into schuss - frustrating when you're not allowed to overtake and you know you'll be poling, or at the opposite end being rather over ambitious compared to the advertised programme..
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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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| snowball wrote: |
| davidof wrote: |
| Isn't there some mistake on the Flea Club website? It seems you have to pay 2 1/2 grand to be a rep. That can't be right. |
Yes, you have to pay to go on the 2 week reps course, skiing in Tignes with various trainers and having evening lectures etc. |
Wow that's a pretty good thing they've got going for themselves there, and you say it is a club? Not a commercial organisation?
These rep people, erm I mean guides, sorry no... leaders, they then have to give up their spare time to work for "the club" for free each year?
It all sounds a bit like Norman medieval feudalism.
Admin, I think you are missing something here.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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davidof, thanks for that tip. Normandy is a new ski destination for me, but it's always great to venture into the unknown ...
http://www.j2ski.com/ski_chalets/France/Normandy/
| Quote: |
| Miniature golf 300 m |
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Thu 20-12-12 21:49; edited 1 time in total
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You've never skied in la Suisse Normande I take it? Best skiing on upper slopes.
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The only reason I've not skied in la Suisse Normande is the rubbish mini golf and sandy beaches. Mind you, it's always nice to be beside the seaside.
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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 am not a fl(t)ea club leader - a few years ago I had delusions but my skiing is still **** and I am now too old BUT as someone who skies by myself on many occasions it is nice to go out with a few like minded people and be led to places you might not otherwise spot or to ski places you might not consider/risk skiing on your own.
However the leaders course seems to me to be from what I have heard an exercise in silly macho skiing - high speed off piste, jumping off overhangs etc - this is where the tea pot has got it all wrong - a lot of skiers do not want to do all this macho stuff - just go round resort, try a bit of off piste and remember the flea pit rules are fairly restricted on this anyway and find the best eating places.......and also for the more advanced to arrange a group and fit up with a professional guide for a day out.
I cannot really relate to the experts comments above but all leaders I have been with have been more than competent skiers for what they are required/permitted to do, great people to be with - yes, they would all have been great TO reps - probably as a TO rep you have to cater for my inability every day whereas as a leader you have days where you are probably skiing with even better skiers than you on advanced days but you are not an instructor and probably a leader because you do not want to spend an entire season in one resort.
but please take a balanced view.
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But that's not the case at all! Over 6 days skiing the programme will cater for all skiing abilities except beginners. A typical one is copied below. However the leader has to join all 6 days so has to be capable of skiing all the terrain covered. That could include an off piste day with a guide.
Sunday Explore Alpe d'Huez All welcome (except beginners)
Monday Explore Alpe d'Huez Intermediate
Tuesday Powder Hunt Advanced/expert
Wednesday Cruise the Blues Early intermediate - on piste
Thursday Day Trip? / Mountain Guide? Advanced/expert
Friday Mystery Day Tour All welcome (except beginners)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It is many years since I skied with a resort rep with his Ski Club group but I only ever skied with one who objected to me going past him (except off piste, of course). The leader is trained to ski at the speed of his main group, not the speed of a skier faster than that day's group.
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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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| countryman wrote: |
| However the leaders course seems to me to be from what I have heard an exercise in silly macho skiing - high speed off piste, jumping off overhangs etc - |
Someone's been teling you porkies...
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I'd agree with feef that countryman seems to be a bit of a fantasist. Overhanging all the repping/leading and training is the responsibility of shepherding groups of skiers down a mountain. I've never witnessed the Tignes training camp but can't imagine that it involves "silly macho skiing".
Remember that these reps/leaders may carry a huge burden of responsibility if they make a bad avoidable decision on a mountain that results in the injury or death of a member of the group. It's not all hopping between mountain eateries and gluhwein stops. At the end of the day (as I'm sure the training impresses) the leader's performance will be judged on the experience and the fun of the day. That's a critical responsibility, and it demands a great deal of a volunteer leading what may be a mixed-ability group (to some degree).
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You know it makes sense.
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I was in Tignes last week and encountered several groups of ski club leaders being assessed. It didn't look like macho skiing to me. They looked to be skiing well and very sensibly.
SM.
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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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I was in Tignes last week and encountered several groups of ski club leaders being assessed. It didn't look like macho skiing to me. They looked to be skiing well and very sensibly.
SM.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
carry a huge burden of responsibility
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I presume that the ski leaders are provided with comprehensive insurance to cover the liability of others in the group and third parties.
I coach athletics (sprinting) to some kids at my local athletics club. I am covered by England Athletics for liability associated with any incidents that could happen.
I do appreciate this only covers for financial loss not the legal/moral responsibility angles.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| zellmaniac wrote: |
| Quote: |
carry a huge burden of responsibility
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I presume that the ski leaders are provided with comprehensive insurance to cover the liability of others in the group and third parties.
I coach athletics (sprinting) to some kids at my local athletics club. I am covered by England Athletics for liability associated with any incidents that could happen.
I do appreciate this only covers for financial loss not the legal/moral responsibility angles. |
leaders are fully insured while leading.
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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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| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
I was in Tignes last week and encountered several groups of ski club leaders being assessed. It didn't look like macho skiing to me. They looked to be skiing well and very sensibly.
SM. |
Interesting first post. I can't help but wonder what IP address to expect...
You evidently didn't see the club members crashing into other members of the general public from above while on a fairly straightforward run only a week before. I wouldn't have skiied with the individuals involved, let alone be lead anywhere by them!
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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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| Monium wrote: |
| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
I was in Tignes last week and encountered several groups of ski club leaders being assessed. It didn't look like macho skiing to me. They looked to be skiing well and very sensibly.
SM. |
Interesting first post. I can't help but wonder what IP address to expect...
You evidently didn't see the club members crashing into other members of the general public from above while on a fairly straightforward run only a week before. I wouldn't have skiied with the individuals involved, let alone be lead anywhere by them! |
Members or leaders?
There was the leader training course, with the trainees all in leader jackets. There was also a leader there with ski club members, doing their own thing too.
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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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I was on the course long ago in the late 80s. We never skied anything steep and I found it rather frustrating that we never skied as fast as I normally did (usually more like half speed). Obviously sometimes we simulated leading very slow groups of snow-plough skiers, which obviously needed to be done - but I had hoped we would just occasionally ski fast and do steeper slopes. Of course it might be different now.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| snowball wrote: |
| I was on the course long ago in the late 80s. We never skied anything steep and I found it rather frustrating that we never skied as fast as I normally did (usually more like half speed). Obviously sometimes we simulated leading very slow groups of snow-plough skiers, which obviously needed to be done - but I had hoped we would just occasionally ski fast and do steeper slopes. Of course it might be different now. |
There's been quite a few changes to the course in recent years.
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| Monium wrote: |
| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
I was in Tignes last week and encountered several groups of ski club leaders being assessed. It didn't look like macho skiing to me. They looked to be skiing well and very sensibly.
SM. |
Interesting first post. I can't help but wonder what IP address to expect... |
Sorry, didn't realise there was some etiquette about where I post first. I've been lurking for a while, but chose this thread as one where I thought I had something to contribute. Thanks for the warm welcome 
| Quote: |
| You evidently didn't see the club members crashing into other members of the general public from above while on a fairly straightforward run only a week before. I wouldn't have skiied with the individuals involved, let alone be lead anywhere by them! |
Nope, as you say I didn't see the club members crashing into people. Was this a whole group of folk in SCGB jackets or one or two individuals amongst them?
SM.
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sugarmoma666, welcome. I think Monium may have been wondering if you were from the Ski Club of Great Britain. A few people seem to get aggressive on here when the Club gets mentioned (though I've somehow managed not to get on the receiving end so far).
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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'm thinking of organising a 'crash 'n dash' bash in Tignes for ambulance-chasing lawyers.
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FAQ
