Apart from just adding random comments to this forum I thought I would add something that might be something of value to some people.
Following is a list country by country of how you can work as a ski instructor in various countries around the world, what qualifications you need. I'll try to add in some data about pay too but of course that varies.
GETTING IN
In order to become a ski instructor it follows that you you have to be a reasonable skier to start off with. Most people then dip their toe in the water and get certified with the most basic level in the national system of the country they want to work in, or in another country's system that is accepted by the country that you want to work in.
Most systems have two elements to their instructor exams, the performance skiing side and teaching side. Both increase in difficulty the further up the ladder you go.
The other super useful thing to have is languages. Currently, I teaching in both English and French. I've also done in the past a 3 hour lesson only using 5 words of Portuguese and I have a few Italian and Spanish phrases. The more languages you speak the more in demand you will be.
FRANCE
France is known as the most difficult country in the world to obtain your certificate (Brevet Federale) in. In order just to get in at the entry level to become a trainee (stagiere) you'll need to ski a timed slalom run called the test technique. For this, you'll have to ski a slalom run to with 18% (male, 25% female![[Image: tard.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/new/tard.gif)
) of 0FIS points. Zero FIS points is the best slalom skier in the world (Marcel Hirscher).
Once you get through this, you have around 4 or 5 years to get all of your teaching, off piste mountain safety technique exams. You are assigned a mentor and he trains you and gets you through the system before you sit the exam at the top of the system which is called the Europeans speed test. The same applies as per the test technique (18% rule) except that it's giant slalom and you have to get to within 0FIS (ted ligety anyone...).
For both this and the Test technique, you get 2 goes a year, each of two runs. I've personally tried this and the pressure on the frenchies not to fuck up their runs is immense. I should mention that realistically, the only ski schools that can take on stagieres is the ESF (Ecole de Ski Francais).
After all this, they are full cert and can go on to earn anywhere from EUR50 an hour and upwards. They also have the right to establish their own ski school and teach anywhere in Europe.
Arguably the French system is geared towards racing as they get a lot of drop out from their ski racing program at a local level and these guys have to do something in winter otherwise they would have no money so the French system incentivises ex racers.
The French ski beautifully at the highest levels and have a pronounced early edge inside knee pushing movement. Very fluid with their upper body.
ITALY
In Italy it's a little more complicated. The instructor qualifications are all handled regionally but you can expect more or less the same as the French.
HOWEVER, The Italians don't have a test technique, they have the Euro Speed Test as the entry to their system. So basically you have to be able to race before you can start to learrn how to lay down a decent snowplough.
The Italians have in their system all of the same ingredients, so exams on teaching, skiing performance, off piste mountain safety etc etc
Once they've done all this, they get the Maestro di Sci qualification and can teach anywhere in Europe. Again their system incentivises ex racers because they have a lot of them due to their racing pyramid. Interestingly, there is no moguls assessment in their technical skiing exams.
Pay scale and right of establishment similar to France.
Italian skier are characterised by a quite up and down style of skiing and are unsurprisingly quite flamboyant.
AUSTRIA
The Austrian system is different to the above in that the entry level is much lower and anyone with languages and a bit of skiing ability can turn up and do a qualification called the 'Anwerter'.
This is basically a kiddie qualification that lets you loose to teach kids and teach up to a basic level. It is about 10 days long. You will need to be able to speak German in Austria as they require a basic level of knowledge
If you want to continue in the Austrian system, there are two more levels of increasing difficulty, containing all of the elements described in the French and Italian systems) until you reach the top of the Autrian system and you come across the Euro Speed Test.
Pay rates similar at the highest level to what was mentioned about and decreasing for the lower levels of qualification.
Austrian skiers ski in a strong bull like stance. Are technically solid but you can recognise them a mile off like skiing terminators.
SWITZERLAND
Switzerland is slightly different to the other 'alpine nations' in terms of how they qualify their ski instructors. Firstly, they don't yet recognise the speed test. In their level 2 patente exam, they have what is known as the ISIA speed test which is less fast.
The curious thing about the whole Swiss system is that you can work in it with no qualifications at all. If the ski school director thinks that you are good enough, he can sign you off and that will do. This is gradually changing but if you speak loads of languages and can ski well, there are jobs a plenty in Switzerland. This also means that if you aren't fully qualified in your own countries system or you have a qualification from a different system, Switzerland is a good bet to look for jobs.
In Switzerland you have a number of qualifications at the lower level. There is a kiddie qualification, like the Anwerter that gives you the basics. After that, there is the degree 1 which is the basic ski instructor and then the degree 2 which includes a bunch of other stuff like the ISIA speed test, off piste mountain safety and second discipline (snowboarding, telemark etc etc).
After that there are some other written exams on tourism and how to run a ski school and you can then set up independently or start a school (brevet Federale).
Pay rates for degree 2 are around 60fr per hour and for full Brevet Federale, they basically keep what the client pays. When you become degree 2, the ski school that employs you has the right then to employ a further 5 ski instructors of lower levels so you are much in demand. At the bigger resorts one can also have a retainer just to keep your degree 2 on the wall.
The Swiss system has a large focus on agility and whilst they have some strange ideas here and there about skiing, most of it makes sense and produces some very elegant and agile skiers.
BRITISH
The British have a system called BASI. There is lots of useful and well presented information on their website.
The British have 4 levels in their system. Levels 1and2 are the super basic ones and teach you how to teach up to basic parallel level. Levels 3 and 4 are where it gets more serious and you have to do the off piste mountain safety, second disciple, second langage test, and various other modules. At the top of their level 4 is also the Euro Speed Test.
The British tend to have a quite functional, all mountain style but looks a little robotic compared to some of the alpine nations.
One the British system is completed to level 4 you have right of establishment to start a ski school in France for example but the majority of people qualified in this system tend to not reach the heights of level 4 and go to work in other places in the world like Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand etc with whatever levels that they have.
IRISH
The Irish system is identical to the British and very similar in style and working rights at the end of it. However, at the top of the Irish system, you have an option t take the Euro speed test or the ISIA speed test. The reason for this is that some of the Irish members would prefer to then convert into the Swiss patente system.
NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA
I don't know much about these systems. If anyone wants to know, I can research and add later.
I do know that this pay rates are terrible though. Because all of Europe and the northern Hemisphere's instructors wants to ski in the summer, Aus and NZ get flooded with applications for work. They only take the best and pay around 10-15 dollars an hour. Most people break even on a Southern Hemisphere summer.
The NZ and Australian system have got a weird, keeping low style about them and they suck up their legs in the transition between the turns so they look like they are skiing in a tube or tunnel. They have taken some odd ideas lately from the Japanese and Koreans.
USA
The key difference in the US is that the mountains are owned by the operator of the ski resort. As a result, compared to their Euro counter parts, the per hour rate for ski instructors in the US is fuck all with the instructors relying on tips.
The US tends to have a solid all mountain style that isn't so focused on racing as they euro guys. If you look at US resorts and the controlled off piste and prevalence of fatter skis, this makes sense.
There are 3 levels to the PSIA system in the US. The level 1 is fairly basic and teaches you how to tech the basics. As you progress though the levels the technique and teaching requirements goes up. Their website is fairly comprehensive and is found easily online.
CANADA
Similar to the US in terms of reward for work, the Canadian instructor system has 4 levels. The Canadian 1 and 2 levels are at the lower end of the spectrum but the guys at level 3 and 4 really can ski.
Pay structure and reliance on tips similar in Canada to the US.
The PSIA and CSIA (American and Canadian) quals are widely recognised in Europe and I know plenty of people who use those qualifications here in Switzerland.
I know that we have a large US-centric forum base here so I am sorry about my limited knowledge of what it takes in the US and Canada but I am Euro based and focused so my main bulk of knowledge lies here. I also know nothing about Japan or Korea or China.
This information is the framework for a book I plan to write later this summer on how to go about becoming an instructor.
Any questions, I would be happy to answer.
SP
Following is a list country by country of how you can work as a ski instructor in various countries around the world, what qualifications you need. I'll try to add in some data about pay too but of course that varies.
GETTING IN
In order to become a ski instructor it follows that you you have to be a reasonable skier to start off with. Most people then dip their toe in the water and get certified with the most basic level in the national system of the country they want to work in, or in another country's system that is accepted by the country that you want to work in.
Most systems have two elements to their instructor exams, the performance skiing side and teaching side. Both increase in difficulty the further up the ladder you go.
The other super useful thing to have is languages. Currently, I teaching in both English and French. I've also done in the past a 3 hour lesson only using 5 words of Portuguese and I have a few Italian and Spanish phrases. The more languages you speak the more in demand you will be.
FRANCE
France is known as the most difficult country in the world to obtain your certificate (Brevet Federale) in. In order just to get in at the entry level to become a trainee (stagiere) you'll need to ski a timed slalom run called the test technique. For this, you'll have to ski a slalom run to with 18% (male, 25% female
) of 0FIS points. Zero FIS points is the best slalom skier in the world (Marcel Hirscher).Once you get through this, you have around 4 or 5 years to get all of your teaching, off piste mountain safety technique exams. You are assigned a mentor and he trains you and gets you through the system before you sit the exam at the top of the system which is called the Europeans speed test. The same applies as per the test technique (18% rule) except that it's giant slalom and you have to get to within 0FIS (ted ligety anyone...).
For both this and the Test technique, you get 2 goes a year, each of two runs. I've personally tried this and the pressure on the frenchies not to fuck up their runs is immense. I should mention that realistically, the only ski schools that can take on stagieres is the ESF (Ecole de Ski Francais).
After all this, they are full cert and can go on to earn anywhere from EUR50 an hour and upwards. They also have the right to establish their own ski school and teach anywhere in Europe.
Arguably the French system is geared towards racing as they get a lot of drop out from their ski racing program at a local level and these guys have to do something in winter otherwise they would have no money so the French system incentivises ex racers.
The French ski beautifully at the highest levels and have a pronounced early edge inside knee pushing movement. Very fluid with their upper body.
ITALY
In Italy it's a little more complicated. The instructor qualifications are all handled regionally but you can expect more or less the same as the French.
HOWEVER, The Italians don't have a test technique, they have the Euro Speed Test as the entry to their system. So basically you have to be able to race before you can start to learrn how to lay down a decent snowplough.
The Italians have in their system all of the same ingredients, so exams on teaching, skiing performance, off piste mountain safety etc etc
Once they've done all this, they get the Maestro di Sci qualification and can teach anywhere in Europe. Again their system incentivises ex racers because they have a lot of them due to their racing pyramid. Interestingly, there is no moguls assessment in their technical skiing exams.
Pay scale and right of establishment similar to France.
Italian skier are characterised by a quite up and down style of skiing and are unsurprisingly quite flamboyant.
AUSTRIA
The Austrian system is different to the above in that the entry level is much lower and anyone with languages and a bit of skiing ability can turn up and do a qualification called the 'Anwerter'.
This is basically a kiddie qualification that lets you loose to teach kids and teach up to a basic level. It is about 10 days long. You will need to be able to speak German in Austria as they require a basic level of knowledge
If you want to continue in the Austrian system, there are two more levels of increasing difficulty, containing all of the elements described in the French and Italian systems) until you reach the top of the Autrian system and you come across the Euro Speed Test.
Pay rates similar at the highest level to what was mentioned about and decreasing for the lower levels of qualification.
Austrian skiers ski in a strong bull like stance. Are technically solid but you can recognise them a mile off like skiing terminators.
SWITZERLAND
Switzerland is slightly different to the other 'alpine nations' in terms of how they qualify their ski instructors. Firstly, they don't yet recognise the speed test. In their level 2 patente exam, they have what is known as the ISIA speed test which is less fast.
The curious thing about the whole Swiss system is that you can work in it with no qualifications at all. If the ski school director thinks that you are good enough, he can sign you off and that will do. This is gradually changing but if you speak loads of languages and can ski well, there are jobs a plenty in Switzerland. This also means that if you aren't fully qualified in your own countries system or you have a qualification from a different system, Switzerland is a good bet to look for jobs.
In Switzerland you have a number of qualifications at the lower level. There is a kiddie qualification, like the Anwerter that gives you the basics. After that, there is the degree 1 which is the basic ski instructor and then the degree 2 which includes a bunch of other stuff like the ISIA speed test, off piste mountain safety and second discipline (snowboarding, telemark etc etc).
After that there are some other written exams on tourism and how to run a ski school and you can then set up independently or start a school (brevet Federale).
Pay rates for degree 2 are around 60fr per hour and for full Brevet Federale, they basically keep what the client pays. When you become degree 2, the ski school that employs you has the right then to employ a further 5 ski instructors of lower levels so you are much in demand. At the bigger resorts one can also have a retainer just to keep your degree 2 on the wall.
The Swiss system has a large focus on agility and whilst they have some strange ideas here and there about skiing, most of it makes sense and produces some very elegant and agile skiers.
BRITISH
The British have a system called BASI. There is lots of useful and well presented information on their website.
The British have 4 levels in their system. Levels 1and2 are the super basic ones and teach you how to teach up to basic parallel level. Levels 3 and 4 are where it gets more serious and you have to do the off piste mountain safety, second disciple, second langage test, and various other modules. At the top of their level 4 is also the Euro Speed Test.
The British tend to have a quite functional, all mountain style but looks a little robotic compared to some of the alpine nations.
One the British system is completed to level 4 you have right of establishment to start a ski school in France for example but the majority of people qualified in this system tend to not reach the heights of level 4 and go to work in other places in the world like Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand etc with whatever levels that they have.
IRISH
The Irish system is identical to the British and very similar in style and working rights at the end of it. However, at the top of the Irish system, you have an option t take the Euro speed test or the ISIA speed test. The reason for this is that some of the Irish members would prefer to then convert into the Swiss patente system.
NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA
I don't know much about these systems. If anyone wants to know, I can research and add later.
I do know that this pay rates are terrible though. Because all of Europe and the northern Hemisphere's instructors wants to ski in the summer, Aus and NZ get flooded with applications for work. They only take the best and pay around 10-15 dollars an hour. Most people break even on a Southern Hemisphere summer.
The NZ and Australian system have got a weird, keeping low style about them and they suck up their legs in the transition between the turns so they look like they are skiing in a tube or tunnel. They have taken some odd ideas lately from the Japanese and Koreans.
USA
The key difference in the US is that the mountains are owned by the operator of the ski resort. As a result, compared to their Euro counter parts, the per hour rate for ski instructors in the US is fuck all with the instructors relying on tips.
The US tends to have a solid all mountain style that isn't so focused on racing as they euro guys. If you look at US resorts and the controlled off piste and prevalence of fatter skis, this makes sense.
There are 3 levels to the PSIA system in the US. The level 1 is fairly basic and teaches you how to tech the basics. As you progress though the levels the technique and teaching requirements goes up. Their website is fairly comprehensive and is found easily online.
CANADA
Similar to the US in terms of reward for work, the Canadian instructor system has 4 levels. The Canadian 1 and 2 levels are at the lower end of the spectrum but the guys at level 3 and 4 really can ski.
Pay structure and reliance on tips similar in Canada to the US.
The PSIA and CSIA (American and Canadian) quals are widely recognised in Europe and I know plenty of people who use those qualifications here in Switzerland.
I know that we have a large US-centric forum base here so I am sorry about my limited knowledge of what it takes in the US and Canada but I am Euro based and focused so my main bulk of knowledge lies here. I also know nothing about Japan or Korea or China.
This information is the framework for a book I plan to write later this summer on how to go about becoming an instructor.
Any questions, I would be happy to answer.
SP
![[Image: dodgy.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/dodgy.gif)
with a girl from a different city but the guys I see who slay it the best are always seen out with girls and have usually slept with most of the village. They literally don't give a fuck, say what they want, do what they want. This attracts both local girls and girls here on their week long holiday. Every week a different crop of tourists ![[Image: smile.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/smile.gif)
