Beginning instructor training

Hi,

I'm a computer developer in my early 30's and have become a keen skier
over the last few years. I read about the BASI GAP course a year or
two ago and became very interested in it. I've recently returned from
a week in Soldeau and had a chat with my instructor about the course,
which he strongly recommended, albeit he thought it was an expensive
option!

The entry conditions specify having 16 weeks of previous skiing
experience - I would find it hard to accumulate this! I've been skiing
one week a year for about the last 6 or 7 years, mainly in Andorra.
Also, I'm only aware of one dry slope in Ireland - which I'm dubious
about the use of at my level. I usually take a week long ski school
and have been in the Level 4 classes in Arinsal and Soldeau for the
last couple of years. I can confidently ski reds and manage blacks (in
Andorra, don't know how these compare with Alps, etc.) - I say manage
because my linked short turns are very skidded and not very rythmic
(more linked hockey stops - effective but not too pretty).

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.

Thanks,
A.

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.

Get an expert opinion :-) Go ski with a trainer. There's links on the
Basi web site but http://www.theskicompany.co.uk/trainers/trainers.htm
come well recommended. There's individual trainers listed (I think) on
the Basi site.

You can read on the Basi site how it works but I'd have thought you want
to get out with a trainer, reassure yourself you're at a the right
standard and book in on the foundation course (as per the Basi site).
It's not a pass or fail course but you'd probably want to be at or near
a reasonable standard.

If you call Basi up you can order their manual although it's free when
you book a course anyway. Probably worth having in advance though.

Ian

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.

On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 16:13:27 +0100, Ian Spare
wrote:

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.

Get an expert opinion :-) Go ski with a trainer. There's links on the
Basi web site but http://www.theskicompany.co.uk/trainers/trainers.htm
come well recommended. There's individual trainers listed (I think) on
the Basi site.

That link (and the rest of the contents of the website) is now
out-of-date, although I see they've finally updated the main page
http://www.theskicompany.co.uk to point to the two new ones (see my
other post).

--
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.

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

A.

(A.) wrote in message . com...
Thanks for the feedback everyone!

A.

If you are based in Ireland, you could also use IASI, the Irish
version of BASI. Same standards expected, same trainers as BASI etc.
Leads to the International license and beyond.

You could also do a beginner instructor course with the Austrians in
November and teach for the season there. I'm also involved in
computers and thats what I did for a season. Email me if you want any
more information about IASI or anything else.

Why not take a private lesson and get the instructor to
demonstrate to you what level ability you need to pass
the course. I did this and found out my ability to carve
and not skid a turn at low speed let me down. It was
a valuable lesson and far cheaper than doing a course
and being told the same thing. I think we as recreational
skiers are limited in our ability to acheive "instructor level skiing
ability"due to the low number of days we have available in a season

Peter

"Mark" wrote in message
om...
(A.) wrote in message
. com...
Thanks for the feedback everyone!

A.

If you are based in Ireland, you could also use IASI, the Irish
version of BASI. Same standards expected, same trainers as BASI etc.
Leads to the International license and beyond.

You could also do a beginner instructor course with the Austrians in
November and teach for the season there. I'm also involved in
computers and thats what I did for a season. Email me if you want any
more information about IASI or anything else.

peter.creagh wrote:
Why not take a private lesson and get the instructor to
demonstrate to you what level ability you need to pass
the course. I did this and found out my ability to carve
and not skid a turn at low speed let me down. It was
a valuable lesson and far cheaper than doing a course
and being told the same thing. I think we as recreational
skiers are limited in our ability to acheive "instructor level skiing
ability"due to the low number of days we have available in a season

Good points. I do ski with trainer sometimes, I did 10-15 days last year
with a trainer and so far this season I've skied about 30 days in total
I think. The number of days required to turn the sort of things they
tell you into second nature on any slope or in any conditions is pretty
high. For me the two barriers have been years of skiing badly and
fitness, even someone skiing way less than I do could avoid either of
those traps :-) With hindsight I really, really wish I'd had more
lessons over the years.

Anyone that has the option and wants to ski well should move somewhere
they can do more and get high standard training :-) Even if you're not
aiming for a BASI level then I can't personally speak high of the
returns on good training, it's increased my skiing enjoyment hugely and
I was having a good time before. For the money spent the returns on
lessons are way better than this years skis or boots :-)

Ian

(A.) wrote in message . com...

Thanks to everyone that replied to my original posting. I've got a lot
of useful information now. I've come across some courses run by
Skivolution that look like they could be useful.

Regards,
A.

(A.) wrote in message . com...
(A.) wrote in message . com...

Thanks to everyone that replied to my original posting. I've got a lot
of useful information now. I've come across some courses run by
Skivolution that look like they could be useful.

Regards,
A.

"I'm dubious about the use of [dry slopes] at my level"

Hmmmmm. You think that you will find it too difficult?

I disagree, standing up on skis on a dry slope is easier
than the same activity on snowg.

My feeling is that dry slope training is probably VERY good for
developing ski technique. I find it however, a miserable business
and have done very little of it.


The key to improving my skiing was (and is) the recognition that my
skiing was completely crap. I suspect that this may apply to other
people too.


Good luck.