On 2 Feb 2004 06:49:28 -0800, (A.) wrote:

I appreciate I've rambled a bit here and you can't really judge
someone's standard without actually seeing them on snow but I'd really
appreciate some feedback from people who've done this kind of thing
and their general standard when starting.Doing the 10 week course
would probably mean giving up a well paid job. Does anybody have any
opinions on this i.e. other courses they'd recommend, etc.

As you seem to be unsure about the level, it might be worth your while
first going on a one-week public course run by the BASI trainers, so
they can give you absolute feedback about this.

I'd recommend www.inspiredtoski.com or www.improveyourskiing.com. They
use to be a single company (The Ski Company) but split last year, with
one (Phil Smith, with Emma Carrick-
Anderson) doing more specialised stuff (race clinics, off-piste. etc.)
and the other (Sally Chapman, etc.) concentrating on 'all-mountain
performance clinics'.

You'll notice that many of the instructors used do work with both
companies, as it's basically all the BASI trainers floating between
them and several other british teaching companies in the Alps. Many
aspiring and improving BASI instructors use them and their teaching is
very much geared towards this.

As for gap-year courses, I understand that these are quite popular in
Canada and down-under - a quick web search for 'gap year ski
instructor' picks up quite a few.

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.