Qualifying: the journey to level 1 success

From your previous reality to graduating as a ski or snowboard instructor. It can be one hell of a life-shifting moment. Those contemplating training as an instructor are usually eager to hear about what’s involved in the assessments, and having recently joined the professional instructor ranks on our program in Fernie, Elliot gives an insider’s view on the level 1 exam, the celebrations and the next steps in his training.

We passed

I don’t personally know what it’s like to graduate from university. Hell, I only pulled my A-Level results out of their envelope this year, and that happened on a rainy Thursday afternoon in a leaky bus stop outside college. I do, however, know what it’s like to shake the hand of a CSIA examiner, surrounded by mountain peaks, and have a mass of my friends erupt in cheer as we are welcomed with open arms into world of snowsports instruction.

I passed. We all passed. We can now proudly introduce ourselves to others as ski or snowboard instructors. We could legitimately make a career out of teaching skiing. We could do it for the rest of our lives. We could chase winter around the world, bringing new students into our sport, and it get paid for it.

The weekend’s celebrations that proceeded our success far exceeded expectations. We deserved it though, right? Our preparations for the exam in the weeks leading up to it had been intense. Naturally we were all a bit nervous but the training we had received put us in the best position to pass. We knew what we needed to do. We’d spent weeks honing our technical skills on snow and practice teaching our peers. We were all ready to smash it.

A trial of improvement

The CSIA level 1 exam is a three-day course involving on-snow assessment as well as indoor tech sessions. These three days were presented as an “improvement course”, and were a much more enjoyable experience than I’d prepared myself for.

The practical side of the course saw us continually working on our own technique whilst learning how to conduct safe and enjoyable lessons for our future students. We learnt how to teach lessons and use drills by practising on our peers, and I was reassured to see how the lessons work when I received them from some of my best mates! Words can’t describe how much joy we took in pretending to be whiny 8-year-olds and seeing how well our course mates could deal with it.

Our lessons covered the full teaching experience, from making first-time guests feel comfortable with their equipment and showing them around the mountain, to identifying the flaws in their technique and deciding the best way to fix them, all while making their time as fun as a day skiing should always be!

We were continually assessed throughout the three days, to the point where we often forgot we were even being examined. When we made mistakes, we were told how and shown how to fix them, rather than scolded and marked down (as some may expect). It really was a trial of improvement, and our success came from our attitude towards our own improvement as well as our skiing and teaching skills. The agenda was backed up at the end of each day by discussions with our group and instructors about different parts of instructor life, and we presented various topics to the wider course group to make sure we knew what we were talking about.

There is no writing section to this particular qualification, but we’ve been backed up with plenty of resources with which to study up on teaching techniques whenever we like. There is so much opportunity for further study laid out in front of us, and the Canadian system presents itself in a way that it accepts suggestions for improvement. It’s more of a community than a dictating authority, where the ideas and suggestions of every member (which we now are!) can be considered and potentially woven into future teachings.

The training continues...

So, what’s next? The level 1 group has been split between those of us choosing to continue to the level 2 qualification, and those heading on Nonstop’s All Mountain Pro (AMP) program, where the focus purely turns to your own riding.

The level 2 training is set to step up in intensity. There's a big jump up in the level required of our own riding and teaching, so we need to be on our game and committed to the learning process. As certified instructors, we’re now being offered volunteering and shadowing opportunities on weekends to help out the local ski schools, both observing regular lessons and lending a hand to get that all-valuable experience which will help launch us into our potential upcoming careers.

Nonstop are also helping us out with applications for jobs and visas, giving valuable insights into where’s best to go to work and how exactly to get there. There’s a big drive for us to chase the snow to New Zealand this year and ski there for a few months. The ski industry is all about contacts and there are some incredible people here to meet and swap stories with!

A few goodbyes

There was a teary goodbye at the halfway stage as those on the 5 week level 1 course headed home after their shorter stay in Fernie, happy with their fill of the stoked life we lead out here. It was a sad time, but seeing those crazy Fernie smiles still burning under their streaming eyes was a remarkably heartwarming experience. It goes to show that some people can enjoy a shorter stay just as much as we might enjoy a longer one. If you’re skeptical about dedicating to a full season with Nonstop, I’d seriously recommend looking at some of the shorter courses offered; if you end up half as happy as those crazy diamonds seemed, you’ll never want to forget your time here. Either that, or if you end up with half of the international invitations we’ve now received to go and see them all back in their own countries, you’ll have holidays sorted for a few years.

The wheel never really stops turning in Fernie, but if you close your eyes for just a moment while you’re here, it really feels like the rest of the world has.

Qualify as an instructor

Fancy qualifying as a ski or snowboard instructor? Follow in Elliot's footsteps to Canada, or check out his earlier post on life in Fernie.