IASI

hawkwind23

http://www.iasisnowsports.com/

Anyone advise on taking some courses?

Are they worth it just for personal development? IE not to teach etc but just to do alongside your own skiing?

Are they for people with large pensions and nothing else better to do with their time and money? IE could regular joe soap do them and maintain progression?

Looking at the calendar etc on the site the obvious place to start is Alpine level 1
Would i be right in saying that would cost €590? (assessment,training and pre selection)

What are the benefits etc?

I think its great there is an Irish element to snowsports and would like to hear peoples views on taking a course?

khc

It's a lot of money if you're not planning to teach - better spent on good lessons, with a good instructor

The courses are for people who want to teach - level one allows you to teach on dry slope, level two on snow. the standard for level one isn't very high (although that's relative), yes regular joe soap can do it and does do it

hawkwind23

khc wrote: »

It's a lot of money if you're not planning to teach - better spent on good lessons, with a good instructor

The courses are for people who want to teach - level one allows you to teach on dry slope, level two on snow. the standard for level one isn't very high (although that's relative), yes regular joe soap can do it and does do it

Thanks ,
No interest in teaching at this time , but would have been nice to have accreditation as my skills increase.
Money be better spent as you say on lessons or specific courses

khc

there are courses like this that you can do - http://www.powder-extreme.com/verbier-powder-camp/ (probably a bad example as it's pretty expensive, there are plenty of other cheaper options in cheaper euro resorts) but you get the idea. a few days or a full week on a powder course, or a freestyle, or race, or carving etc etc. i'd be more inclined to do something like that for personal improvement

hawkwind23

Yeah thats the sort of thing ive been looking at , looks pretty class the one you linked but i reckon id faint once i factored everything in

This one on the IASI site looks ok Personal Performance (Alpine) as does the Mountain Safety Level 1 Off Piste Security both around €575

Some courses run into tens of thousand when searching online !

khc

You have to have your level two for mountain safety level 1, it's a module in the level three

but there's plenty of alternatives, if you look around. try snowheads, they know a lot

khc

Do you mean gap year courses? I've never seen anything like what we're talking about over €10,000, or even €1,000

hawkwind23

Yeah came across a few , didnt save then mind , just made a mental note of how expensive they were!
Heres 1st link in Google search http://www.snowskool.com/ski-instructor-courses , £7500 for 11 weeks.

Yeah on that snowheads site, its very good but thought i would ask here as its the Irish Snowsports website.

Ill maybe wait a year or two and decide on specific courses once i can actually ski well and in the meantime spend the hard earned on lessons

Fattes

hawkwind23 wrote: »

http://www.iasisnowsports.com/
Anyone advise on taking some courses?
Are they worth it just for personal development? IE not to teach etc but just to do alongside your own skiing?Are they for people with large pensions and nothing else better to do with their time and money? IE could regular joe soap do them and maintain progression?Looking at the calendar etc on the site the obvious place to start is Alpine level 1 Would i be right in saying that would cost €590? (assessment,training and pre selection)What are the benefits etc?I think its great there is an Irish element to snowsports and would like to hear peoples views on taking a course?

Yes is the short answer, most skiers have issues with their foundation level skiing that carries through to their higher end stuff, issues they never fix, instructor courses like this help to weed out those issues and rectify the problem.
Yes a regular Joe Soap can do them, most instructor qualifications are expensive, be it BASI, IASI, Swiss snow sports or Casi. However if you look at the cost of getting access to a ISTD instructor for a week it probably is cheaper to do an instructor course. The great thing about the IASI L1 is you dont have accommodation and travel costs if you are based near the Ski CLub of Ireland.

What are the benefits? You will have a much better understanding of ski technique and an ability to self-analyse and correct. You will get access to an ISTD instructor which will be very focused and detailed, you will also build long term relationships with trainers and other instructors, which will aid future development. You will also have an internationally recognized qualification that will allow you to teach either on artificail surfaces or in an alpine environment. It gives you the chance to have a free ski holiday, a number of ski schools and operators will cover your travel costs in peak weeks, you wont make a lot of money but you will get free snow time. Also there are some special discounts for members :D

As for saying it is a Low standard That is quite funny, it is amazing how many "Brilliant skiers" :rolleyes: can not do a accurate and correct snowplough or a plough parallel/stem christie turn. Or people who think they can carve suddenly realize they can not.

khc wrote: »

It's a lot of money if you're not planning to teach - better spent on good lessons, with a good instructorThe courses are for people who want to teach - level one allows you to teach on dry slope, level two on snow. the standard for level one isn't very high (although that's relative), yes regular joe soap can do it and does do it there are courses like this that you can do - http://www.powder-extreme.com/verbier-powder-camp/ (probably a bad example as it's pretty expensive, there are plenty of other cheaper options in cheaper euro resorts) but you get the idea. a few days or a full week on a powder course, or a freestyle, or race, or carving etc etc. i'd be more inclined to do something like that for personal improvement

That depends how you look at it, when you do an instructor course you are going to be dealing with a L4 ISTD for the exam portion, when you do a course like you recommend, you could get either a L2, L3 (ISIA/Swiss Brevet) or a ISTD L4 for example Powder Extreme have 2/3 ISTD from 14 instructors. Also as above alot of these high end causes fail to deal with the basic issues that are causing the performance issues. This is mostly due to limited time and varying group standards. Very little benefit to be gained from a high performance course i your core skiing is not up to scratch first.

As for the opportunities with the qualification, so the Irish qualification has a transfer option into the Swiss System so an IASI L2 can be swapped for a Swiss Snowsports Aspirant or treated as equivalent in other cantons. Most Austrian Ski Schools will take the L1 as a Kinder Anwärter equivalent, allowing you to work in Austria with a L1. Same for Switzerland as legally you dont need a qualification just the ski school to say you are competent. (Only applies in Switzerland and Austria). The IASI L2 is accepted in New Zealand, Canada, USA, Switzerland, Italy (Working rights vary by region),Austria (Again workign rights vary by region), Chilie, and Argentina. List is not exhaustive. Also a number of options in terms of transfers etc.

The PPC courses in Hintertux in December are run bye Alpine Coaching and Pete Gilelspie, they are excellent courses if you want to dip your toe in the water and get an idea of how IASI and its system works without committing to the Instructor pathway. It also takes place when a number of IASI courses are taking place. So you will see L2, L3 and L4 candidates and it will give you an idea of standards etc. The Mountain Safety course, despite being an excellent course has very little to do with skiing, it is designed for Avalanche rescue, and navigating in mountain environments with groups and very little focus on skiing.

Hawkwind, There are a number of benefits outside of the stuff I have outlined above, there are also a number of options to you. You can do the pre selection and training without taking the exam. The pre-selection exists because to many people think they are at the standard only to realize they are not near it on day one of the course. As a trainer and a full time instructor it is something I see regularly from people interested in becoming an instructor. However, if you are interested and come to the process with an open mind, your skiing, and knowledge will be greatly expanded.

Any questions please give me a shout.

hawkwind23

thanks Fattes for in-depth reply.
I think its great that we have an Irish element to skiing and instruction and its great to hear all views on the type of training and benefits etc.
As you say maybe the taster is worth doing just to see the standard etc , i presume it doesnt expire once you start taking various modules.

Fattes

hawkwind23 wrote: »

thanks Fattes for in-depth reply.
I think its great that we have an Irish element to skiing and instruction and its great to hear all views on the type of training and benefits etc.
As you say maybe the taster is worth doing just to see the standard etc , i presume it doesnt expire once you start taking various modules.

I should apologies for the length of the post but there is a lot of information to cover in relation to it. Once you have done the pre assessment you are fine to come back in your own time. Once you have been assessed and known to a trainer it is less risk to IASI if you are way off the standard turning up on a course.

IASI has quite a good reputation in the ski world, they attend interski every 4 years, have two members on the Intentional Ski association board, and have good transfer ability for their qualifications with other organisations. For example, I walked into Swiss Snow sports and could get a Swiss Brevant card, once I produced my IASI (L3) card with ISIA stamp. (ISIA) is a the international organisation. To give you an idea if you do a GAP course with Warren Smith, the qualification is Irish.

Qualifications have to be refreshed every 2 years, this could be as simple as taking another course, or attending the refresher weekend at the ski club of Ireland, or just spending a few days with an ISIA trainer, such as alpine coaching etc.

khc

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Yeah came across a few , didnt save then mind , just made a mental note of how expensive they were!
Heres 1st link in Google search http://www.snowskool.com/ski-instructor-courses , £7500 for 11 weeks.

Yeah on that snowheads site, its very good but thought i would ask here as its the Irish Snowsports website.

Ill maybe wait a year or two and decide on specific courses once i can actually ski well and in the meantime spend the hard earned on lessons

Yeah they're gap year courses, quite a different thing

Snowheads is good, you'll actually find more IASI members over there than here

Fattes

khc wrote: »

Yeah they're gap year courses, quite a different thing

Snowheads is good, you'll actually find more IASI members over there than here

Snowheads has about 10-15 L1 Iasi members nearly all of whom did their course in Hemel,outside of that, there will than be me, Scott (Inside outside skiing) He is an IASI member but transferred in from another system and has only done one course, his business partner Rob, then Pete, IASI chairmen. Most of the IASI snow heads are conversions form BASI or Hemel L1!

The past 12 months has seen a shift in the UK with a large number of BASI certified instructors moving to other systems due to an ongoing legal issue.

khc

That's my point, there's more of them on snowheads than boards

Fattes

khc wrote: »

That's my point, there's more of them on snowheads than boards

Sorry I am probably explaining this badly, there is only 1/2 people on snow heads with a good knowledge of the IASI system including me. The vast majority of the rest are members for less than 12-18 months. Approx 70-80% are transfers from another system and may not have actually done a full IASI course. I know most of the personally, have trained or coached most of them.

Post BASI Armageddon at their 2014/2105 AGM's, a lot of their members applied to transfer to IASI. It added approx 100 new members to IASI. But most have not much experience of the system or courses.

Also for every knowledgable opinion on snow heads there is a whitegold, or another 9/10 uneducated posts

charleville

Hi,
Interesting thread, i would love to become a ski instructor, more for personal reasons - to teach my kids, extra knowledge/skills etc.

I have enjoyed many trips as a snowboarder, however I have never learned to ski or even stepped into a pair of skis, would you have an idea on how long it would take me to learn to ski then become a level 1 iasa instructor and what would the process be ?

It is something I have always wanted to do so I'm figuring now is the time to start.

Could anyone advise me of any contacts/clubs or associations that I could join and become a part of in ireland ?
I feel that this is something I would really like to get into.

Tks

Fattes

charleville wrote: »

Hi,
Interesting thread, i would love to become a ski instructor, more for personal reasons - to teach my kids, extra knowledge/skills etc.
I have enjoyed many trips as a snowboarder, however I have never learned to ski or even stepped into a pair of skis, would you have an idea on how long it would take me to learn to ski then become a level 1 iasa instructor and what would the process be ?
It is something I have always wanted to do so I'm figuring now is the time to start.
Could anyone advise me of any contacts/clubs or associations that I could join and become a part of in ireland ?
I feel that this is something I would really like to get into.
Tks

Hey Charleville, you have a few options in Ireland, either the ski club of Ireland or the SKi center in Sandyford. All instructor qualifications in Ireland will be awarded via IASI & both locations host courses. Personally I would say the ski club is a better route for a number of factor but the ski center has its merits, and both have a lot of instructors who teach at both.

How long would it take??? That depends on how much time you put in and how quickly you learn, normally those that board/ski can make the transition across quicker than somebody who has not.

Normal rule of thumb is that if you have 6-8 weeks ski experience, and you did a GAP course you should be ok to pass the L1 & 2 on it. But that is with 9 weeks of skiing every day under tuition and coaching.
As for teaching your own kids, good luck with that :D:D:D:D

If you need anything please give me a shout, I am involved in most of the above, or am related to someone in the one I am not :P

man_no_plan

Fattes wrote: »

As for teaching your own kids, good luck with that :D:D:D:D

Its like trying to teach your girlfriend how to drive. Don't go there!

Good advice on this thread, I've been looking at the courses on and off for 2/3 years now but haven't been able to get going at it ...yet. That said every year I go skiing I get a few 1 on 1 lessons to try get the technique right so hopefully when I get to do this I'll be fairly competent myself.

Problem with skiing is that its very easy to get moving, then get moving fast and feeling like you're a great man on the snow. Its only when you get a good instructor who gets you into the right habits that you'll actually make progress in my opinion. That's the main reason I want to do this is to be able to self correct fully when I feel I'm a bit off. And I think we all know when we're not fully on control. That's grand til you plough some little kid out of it at the bottom of a run cos you can't stop. (Better hide the go pro when la policia arrive)

Fattes

man_no_plan wrote: »

Its like trying to teach your girlfriend how to drive. Don't go there!

(Better hide the go pro when la policia arrive)

The coach/ trainer that introduced mr to ski racing and guided me through some early instructor stuff, turned up to a kids lesson I was giving with his kids. I thought it was strange he wouldn't teach them, he replied, "consider this the final thing I can teach you" than ran away

That GoPro line

If you need any further information or support in relation to becoming a ski/ snowboard instructor don't hesitate to get in touch

charleville

Some good advice guys thanks a million.

And yes maybe it's best to leave the kids with an instructor, never thought of it like that before although luckily my wife could drive before I met her haha 😄

I'm going to book in my first lessons for a couple of weeks time, unsure about the venue but I might switch between both places to see the advantages/disadvantages of either, might start off in the Sandyford place, I've never tried indoor skiing before (actually I've been to that place in Dubai which was strange) have either of you been and what's it like ? Is it busy ?
This is definitely something I am going to do now I've made my mind up ðŸ˜႒

Fattes could you pm me contacts etc if you are involved in this type of thing ? I really would like to become a part of something and getting to know people always helps, it would be mucho appreciato

Also I've been thinking of taking a weeks trip (maybe do this twice) for some intensive lessons which I'm sure will greatly help and give me an all round experience from artificial to the real thing, have you any recommendations for a good intensive ski school for the likes of myself that do a good weeks lessons or so ? Hoping to keep it to Europe.

Sorry for all the questions, but this is awesome to have people who are willing to help with advice thank you so much ðŸ˜႒

Fattes

charleville; PM sent with the relevant details, if anyone has any questions in relation to IASI, the Ski Club or the ski center please let me know. I am not involved with one of them, but some of my family are and plenty of my colleagues.

Will be happy to point people in the right direction.

In relation to week long intensive courses in the alps the best two operators are Snowworks in Tignes, (Emma Carrick Anderson and Phil Smith) own it, and the Warren Smith SKi Academy in Verbier, owned by Warren smith funnily enough!

Other options like Alpine coaching are excellent but they dont run a full calendar compared to the two above.

charleville

@ Fattes

Thank you for this well invested information, I have since booked myself in for a 2x day intensive training course for one of the first classes back in September at kilternan 4x classes over the 2 days... It's a start anyway.

I might book in for some lessons before that in the ski centre too just to keep the momentum up, btw I did not receive any pm from you ??
If you could send on with any info and contacts that would be great

As for the intensive lessons on the real stuff, I've looked into snoworks and they sound like the perfect place for me to do what I need to do, this thread has been great I genuinely appreciate your help and have been following through with the advice, Tk you.
I will be booking in for a weeks lessons after I figure out dates etc.

Im not bad on a snowboard and am very very quick to learn new things (so much so I have a reputation for it) so I'm hoping this time next year I may be able to go for my level 1 instructor, tell me I'm crazy but do you think that's possible ?

Aim for the stars and hit the ceiling ay

Tks

hawkwind23

Thats great news , glad the thread inspired you
Im going to head down to Kilternan myself in the coming months and have a chat about progression and accreditation and try to master the dendex!

Fattes

charleville: I might be the one delivering one of those 1 day courses, I normally take a good few of them early in the season. will resend the PM now.

Looking forward to meeting both you and hawkwind23 in a few weeks and walking /skiing you through it.

Progress is all relative! Some people pick it up super quick others dont, I would say with a lot of work and good instructions nad support it is realistic to pass the L1 alert 1-1.5 seasons. But that is with putting in serious hours and having good support.

I have just packed the bag as I am off to one of the snowdomes later for a couple of days

charleville

Great stuff guys, Fattes I pinged you back a pm there cheers.

Booked in and ready for the challenge ahead... Hawkwind23 I'll hopefully get to meet you at the slopes in kilternan, maybe with Fattes showing us the ropes
good luck with your progression.

Fattes

Just to give you guys an idea, of the scale of instructor training in Ireland. Here is a photo of the L1 trainees and assessment groups today

hawkwind23

Fattes wrote: »

Just to give you guys an idea, of the scale of instructor training in Ireland. Here is a photo of the L1 trainees and assessment groups today

Wow!
did any do tests?
What was the pass rate like?
Everyone looks happy anyways
Hopefully we make one next year

Fattes

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Wow!
did any do tests?
What was the pass rate like?
Everyone looks happy anyways
Hopefully we make one next year

There is 3 Training groups and one exam group. 1/6 exam group passed today, the rest will be told next week.

They successfull pass today did one of his test days last week when everyone was off due to scheduling clash. I will update with the passes next week.

A couple of the people in the trainee groups are quite strong so the next exam batches in Jan and Feb will be interesting

Fattes

All the group passed today, it's been a long time since i can remember 100% pass rate on a course here so well done to all involved including trainers for getting them over the line

hawkwind23

Fattes wrote: »

All the group passed today, it's been a long time since i can remember 100% pass rate on a course here so well done to all involved including trainers for getting them over the line

brilliant!
well done

charleville

Fattes wrote: »

All the group passed today, it's been a long time since i can remember 100% pass rate on a course here so well done to all involved including trainers for getting them over the line

Wow..

Amazing stuff, inspiring to say the least

Sorry I'm only seeing these replies to the thread now,
I have since been on the snowworks course (early December - thank you fattes for recommending) the guys are serious about skiing and absolutely obsessed with it which is what you need in a course imo, it was in incredibly helpful with my skiing, I had done around 15-16 hours in kilternan before I went out there and on the second day (out of 5) I was put into private lessons for 2 days which helped me massively, by the end of the week I was back in with the level 3 group and running red and black runs with no problems, I'm booked in to kilternan again for the next few weeks so hoping to progress even more.


How are you guys getting on any trips planned ?