Road to BASI level 4 / Eurotest over 30

[alpinebaseline]

Road to BASI level 4 / Eurotest over 30

Like many in these uncertain times, I am looking to add another arrow to my employment quiver, so am considering pursuing a ski instructor qualification.

As I live in the UK that means, unfortunately, BASI qualification is the default route.

I thought it might be fun to offer occasional insights on how this goes, trying to stay true to PMTS principles whilst ticking the boxes to get the qualification(s).

Before I begin, I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts/comments on the following:

1. Is BASI a sensible path to reach the goal of being able to instruct skiing in Europe, or is there another option?
2. Is passing the Eurotest as a mid 30's (probably 36) reasonably athletic man, with no racing background, achievable?

"The speed test is a timed Giant Slalom race that compares competitors against the best skiers in the world. Men are required to come in within 18% of their time and women 24%."

This video gives quite a good summary of the level required to pass:

Many thanks!

Jonny

[oggy]

1. Is BASI a sensible path to reach the goal of being able to instruct skiing in Europe, or is there another option?

Depends on where you want to teach. You can usually get a qualification from a local system at a lower level. E.g., you can get Level 1 certification in Austria/Switzerland with a week or so long courses, which allows you to work in the ski schools there. I did an Austrian level 1 as a non-EU person and a non-resident, and there were people there who passed it even without a working knowledge of German. As far as I know, in Switzerland you also used to be able to teach with foreign qualifications lower than Eurotest, maybe paying a fee to get the qualifications recognized. In France you will have to do the test technique, a slalom race test similar to (but less stringent than) the Eurotest to qualify for working there.

I've never done any racing so I can't really comment on your chances of passing the Eurotest...

[HeluvaSkier]

Moved to social chat.

[ErikCO]

Coming within 18% of the top world cup skiers on the same course, when you have no prior race experience and are at the age where most WC racers have moved out of the technical disciplines sounds like an uphill battle. Having no race experience myself, I don't know what the chances are, but it sounds hard. It seems like they should age handicap the test.

[dougtee]

also seems to get at the heart of what pmts is railing against - being a superior athlete and skiing fast doing things only you can do and could never teach is really what they are looking for?

[oggy]

I don't see why PMTS would rail against an objective test of skills. The PMTS accreditation process also requires you to be able to ski at a high level. If you can't teach yourself to perform at a high level, why should you be trusted to teach others? The fact that the skills that you want in that test are not what they end up teaching is a different matter, of course.

I'd still be curious to hear an answer to the original question from someone like Helluva (I think he should also be in his 30s these days?), how he would fancy his chances. It does sound like a very tall ask; you're asked to come within ~10 seconds of the hypothetical best GS racer on the planet skiing the same ~1 minute course. For comparison, in the Bansko GS race today, 4 seconds behind would've landed you in the top 30 after the 1st leg! Granted, the course in the video is nowhere near as demanding as the Bansko one...

[Max_501]

I don't see why PMTS would rail against an objective test of skills.

Mastering the essentials doesn't mean you'll be fast in a race course and being fast in a race course doesn't mean you've mastered the essentials.

[oggy]

Mastering the essentials doesn't mean you'll be fast in a race course

That I understand, I think that's kind of what alpinebaseline was asking, if your essentials are in place, what are your chances of being fast enough without a lifetime of racing experience.

and being fast in a race course doesn't mean you've mastered the essentials.

This I don't really agree with. If you look at the linked video, there's a very clear correlation between essentials and the finishing times.

[HeluvaSkier]

and being fast in a race course doesn't mean you've mastered the essentials.

This I don't really agree with. If you look at the linked video, there's a very clear correlation between essentials and the finishing times.

If you spend any quality time around good racers, you will quickly find that Max is 100% correct with both points he made in his post.

[Marc]

The route to the top of the instructor food chain in EU might be closed for now for non-EU citizens after Brexit!?
https://blog.basi.org.uk/brexit-updates/

Eurotest has been replaced by CTT:
https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/34445

[alpinebaseline]

Thanks for all the responses guys, I really appreciate it.

I should have made clear in my original post that I am committed to improve my personal skiing by following the PMTS method. I view a ski instructor qualification as something that would ultimately enable me to spend more time on the snow.

Some really good points have been raised, my comments:

- Oggy re not needing top level qualification in order to teach - yes this is correct, the highest level is only really required in France & there are ways of getting around it even there.

- Teaching in the EU in general - no doubt this is going to be much more difficult now post Brexit. However, I know of British instructors who operate in Switzerland so I think it is still possible. French speaking Switzerland would be an ideal location for me personally.

- Difficulty of the Eurotest - this has been alluded to already but it seems logicial that getting within 18% of a WC racer on an 'easy' course would be much easier than getting within 18% of a WC racer on a WC course. Easier is still not easy of course.

I don't want to set myself a goal that is impossible to reach, hence the original question.