Alpine level 4 ISTD Qualification

One of the pre-requisites for the Level 4 ISTD Technical & Teaching courses is 200 hrs Teaching Experience. These hours must be completed between successful completion of the Level 3 ISIA Teaching Course and commencement of the Level 4 ISTD Technical or Teaching courses of the Level 4 ISTD Qualification. It is strongly recommended that the majority of these hours are completed in a mountain environment. A maximum of 50 of these hours can be coaching hours and a maximum of 35 hours can be completed at slopes using Maxxtracks technology, such as Skiplex or Chel-ski**.

Please Note: The 200 logged, signed teaching hours (shadowing hours will not be accepted) must be on your Snowsport School headed paper or other official document and signed by the Snowsport School Manager or Director to demonstrate proof that you have completed this requirement. 

Students should have completed their teaching hours prior to booking the Level 4 ISTD Teaching or Technical course with the office to ensure they are accepted. 

It is recognised that some people may wish to book onto a course before completing all the hours. In order to accommodate this, BASI will accept a booking on theLevel 4 ISTD Teaching or Technical prior to receiving the 200 hours, however it must be stressed that: 

If all the signed teaching hours are not recieved at the BASI office TWO weeks prior to commencement of the course, then you will not be eligible to attend the course and there will be no refund.

For a BASI Log Sheet Click Here

Course Price: £435
This is a 5-day on-snow training and assessment course  with lectures and seminars. 

At the end of the course students must demonstrate the necessary knowledge, ability and understanding to teach skiing to the highest level.

Course Price: £435
This is a 5-day on-snow training and assessment course  with lectures and seminars. The aim of the course is to increase the students technical competency and understanding of skiing.

NB: If you are not quite at the level or would like some additional training be fore attending the Level 4 Technical course, there is an optional, 5 day Training course (Alpine Level 4 Performance Training) which we strongly recommend you attend, in preparation for the Alpine Level 4 Technical course. Students booking the Alpine Level 4 Performance Training course at the same time as the Alpine Level 4 Technical course running in the same resort the following week, will receive a discount of £50 off the Alpine Level 4 Performance Training. Please contact the office to make your bookings and to get the discounted price.

Course Price: £405
This is a 4 day training course which progresses on from the BASI Mountain Safety course. It trains the student to lead tours out with the ski area boundary and deal with all the hazards which can be encountered while on day tours. Very little time will be spent revising ISIA material, so come prepared. The course can contain long days on the hill with big ascents carrying a rucksack. It may be necessary to be on steep, exposed terrain. A typical ascent may be up to 1000m. 

For a full equipment and reading list Click Here

Level 4 European Mountain Security Log Sheet Click Here, for Log Book Guidelines Click Here and for the Log Book Policy Click Here

The course will train candidates in the following: 

Before attending the 3-day assessment courses, students must have completed a minimum of 6 days of quality day-touring where students have been practising the role of leading, decision making and navigation. Map reading, snow profiling, transceiver searching and the use of ropes must already be very competent. This log must be given to the Guide at the commencement of the Level 4 EMS Assessment Course.

Level 4 European Mountain Security Log Sheet Click Here, for Log Book Guidelines Click Here and for the Log Book Policy Click Here

Students will be able to book onto the Assessment course without having completed the logged days, but proof of these logged days must be given to the Guide on the first night at the welcome meeting. If proof of these logged days is not given to the Guide or are not to a satisfactory standard, they may be allowed to proceed with the course however a deferral will be issued and an admin fee attached to the submission of their logbook. This fee is currently £75.

Course Price: £355
This course completes the Level 4 European Mountain Security. This qualification allows the holder to lead tours consistent with the laws of the country they are in. These tours must not include glacial travel, the planned use of axe, crampons or rope, any multi day excursions (using tents, snow shelters, bivouacs, manned or unmanned mountain huts or bothies), or setting out with the intention of leading a group in poor visibility. It is a three day course which may involve one day using uplift and the other two touring away from the ski area. The tours are big days and may contain up to 1000m of ascent carrying a rucksack. There may also be early starts to make use of winter’s limited daylight and stay safe before the sun warms certain slopes. Ratio 1:4 

You will be assessed in all of the techniques learnt on the training course. There will be a written paper on: 

• Knowledge of safety 
• Off-piste skiing 
• Mountain weather and environment 

Should you fail to meet the standard in an area which can be re-sit in 1 day then you will be invited back for the 1 day. 
Failing that, then a re-sit of the whole assessment may be necessary. If a candidate fails 2 EMS assessments then they will be required to redo the training course.

Important Note: Students will be able to book onto the Assessment course without having completed the logged days, but proof of these logged days must be given to the Guide on the first night at the welcome meeting. If proof of these logged days is not given to the Guide or are not to a satisfactory standard, they may be allowed to proceed with the course however a deferral will be issued and an admin fee attached to the submission of their logbook. This fee is currently £75.

The Eurotest is an integral part of the training of Ski Instructors in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria, Slovenia and the UK. Other EU countries are applying to join the system. The test is part of the Level 4 ISTD Qualification, BASI’s highest level of qualification. The test is run to strict rules on an international basis and validated by the nation/country in which the test is held.

The price of a Eurotest this season is £100. 

Prior to booking a test, candidates must hold the BASI Alpine Level 2 qualification as a minimum. 
BASI strongly recommends that Members receive appropriate training prior to taking the test. Please only consider booking a place when you believe that you have a chance of success.

BASI candidates will be entitled to take part in a maximum of 5 Eurotests per season however you will only be permitted to book 3 tests at one time. 
NB: In the event that you book 3 tests and pass the first or second test, cancellation charges will apply to any remaining tests. Cancellations/transfers must be received in writing.

BASI will support the 5 most popular Eurotests with a FIS Technical Delegate and an opener.

Due to the excessive administration costs involved, BASI will not be offering any 1 day Eurotests.

If you have less than 100 FIS points (men) 85 FIS points (women) in a technical discipline (SL and/or GS) during the last five years you are entitled to be exempt from the Eurotest. This exemption once awarded is applicable without time limit.

Course Price: £435
The BASI coaching Pathway is designed to equip the BASI instructor with an understanding and ability to adapt their education gained through their discipline specific instructors’ pathway to the competition environment.

The five-day coaching course is for the instructor to have the sound knowledge and competences to run competition training autonomously within the remit of the instructor qualification held.  For Snowboarding, this will be centred around freestyle as this is the predominate pathway for many entrants to competitive snowboarding.

View the equipment list for the Coaching - Ski course here. Please note there is no additional equipment required for the Coaching - Snowboard course.

In specific cases, such as course content not able to be completed on snow due to adverse weather, the trainer may ask you to complete the BASI Coaching Log Book which can be found here (with guidelines). (Do not feel restricted by the number of pages provided in this template; add more as you need to ensure you have a complete recording of all your experiences and learning.)

Students are required to submit a research project, as part of the Alpine Level 4 ISTD Qualification or the Snowboard, Telemark, Nordic and Adaptive Level 3 ISIA Qualification. 

It will be marked on the following areas: 

• Length (3,000 to 4,000 words)
• Bibliography
• Quality of print
• Grammar
• Presentation
• Layout
• Drawings/diagrams
• Research
• Accuracy
• Originality
• Personalisation
• Conclusion 

The subject matter for your project needs to relate to the Snowsport industry, but it also needs to be something that would be useful for your peers to read and should relate in some way to the profession of Snowsport teaching. 
If you are in any doubt about the acceptability of your chosen subject matter, please contact the office and we can advise you. 

Exceptional projects may be published in the BASI News. Please send your research project via email to basi@basi.org.uk and it will be passed on to the correct department for marking. 

BASI reserves the right to reproduce any submitted projects for the purpose of publication, research, (copyright remains that of the author).

The marking of the project(s) can take up to 3 months. If possible, it is best to try to submit projects in the Summer rather than Winter.

Written projects submitted for the first time will be assessed free of charge.

The marking of re-submitted written projects will be charged as follows:

• Second attempt £30
• Subsequent attempts £30

Click Here for Project Conditions

Click here for the Written Project marking sheet